Examples And Tips For Using Illustrator's Warp Tools

Adobe Illustrator is a very effective program for creating vector artwork. The features and tools present in Illustrator allow it easy to generate digital illustrations, whether from grazing or by tracing a photograph. Nevertheless, this is not the only thing that Illustrator can do; businesses can produce exciting graphs using Illustrator's warp tools. Marketers can use the remarkable type features and type tool to design a single - page advertisement. Designers make logos and other graphics that need to be scalable using Illustrator. In short, Illustrator is a complete vector program that is hard to master. Warp tools are also called as Liquify tools. These are same as Photoshop's Liquify tool; apart from that, the Liquify effects in Photoshop are divided Illustrator into seven different tools: Warp, Crystallize, Pucker, Scallop, Bloat, Twirl, and Wrinkle. These seven tools are all a division of Illustrator's Liquify package.

At first glimpse, some of these tools may look similar, but each has an own special effect. In addition, designer will discover the variety of effects by making an attractive illustration involving vines, branches and flowers. The designer will be able to add and save each of the design elements to his/her collection of Illustrator symbols. Open up, and get ready to jump into an illustrator learning experience that is sure to enhance logos, posters, illustrations and more.

Procedure to Access Tool

In versions CS to CS4, the warp tools are placed in the toolbar directly underneath the rotate tool and on top of the Live Paint Bucket tool. In version CS5, the Warp tools are in the similar position but now below the new Width tool.

Just click and hold the Width tool to view a menu of the 7 Liquify tools. Then release the mouse over the tool for further use. Alternatively, use the keyboard shortcut Shift + R to get into the basic Warp tool. To keep the Warp tools convenient, simply click on the "Tear off" arrow to the right of the pop-out box. This separates the tools from the toolbar so that one can access them without any difficulty while working.

Basic use of Warp Tool

Before getting into a design plan, one should know some of the features of the Liquify tools. The entire Illustrator wrap tools can be used to warp an object inward or outward. While creating an inward warp, one needs to begin with the crosshairs exterior of the path. The reverse goes for an outer warp, keep the crosshairs in the interior of the path.

While using the warp tools, just click one time to reform the image, as done through the Bloat tool. With a basic Warp tool, this feature does not work. On the other hand, haul the tool across the image for a more amazing effect.

For improved results all along paths, make sure that the crosshair image in the middle of the brush is on the path that designer want to reform when clicking on the matter. This will make sure that the brush selects the real path, rather than having extra of a pushing effect next to the path.

To change the setting for a tool at any time and to open option box, just double click on the tools icon. All of the warp tools have similar basic brush dimension options, which mainly include width, angle, height and intensity. The height and width options change the shape of the brush. Brush shape can be adjusted quickly by holding down the option /ALT while dragging the mouse across the monitor or screen. The angle of the brush can be adjusted by angle option available. For example, if the brush is an oval shape, it would be at an angle to the right at -120°and to the left at 120°. The intensity option adjusts how much of an alteration each stroke creates. If more control required to then choose a lower number. If dramatic change is required then choose a higher number. If a pressure-sensitive tablet device is used, the "Pressure Pen" option can be used to control the intensity with the pressure of the pen on the tablet.

The lower half of the "Options" box consists of adjustments particular to the reforming of selected brush. Tools include "Simplify," and "Detail" but several other good options available in the tool like Pucker, Wrinkle, Twirl and Crystallize. Best way to learn the warp tool application is to play with the options available.

Warp to Create Vines and Flowers

The Warp tools do a wonderful job of making wood grain and vine shapes. The easiest method to do this is to make a brown rectangle and then fill up with lines. Use the Line Segment tool to duplicate and create line patterns in a little darker brown than the rectangle background.

Double-click on the Warp tool, and then change the height to 50 points, the width to 50 points and the intensity of 30%. This is the fundamental and most famous of the Liquify tools, but perhaps only because it is first in the menu. With this tool, one should move the mouse to make changes; simply clicking in one place does not reform an item.

To get a glance of how this specific tool works, drag the tool across the top of the rectangle and shake it slightly up and down. The Warp tools be likely to deform if overused, so if one feel  that  effect created is not good then hit Ctrl + Z to erase all and try again. The container is sweeping the Warp tool across the rectangle in minute sections until the lines created look like wood grain.

Here is the easy way to create flowers using the warp tool. Begin by creating an elliptical shape and filling up with a gradient. Intensity can be changed using the Pucker tool. Click and hold on the middle of the oval until sides come near and together in the middle. The pucker tool does not delete points but simply shrink the total area and gathers them together. Patels can be created using puckers tool by selecting angle degree and hitting copy key. Now select the Warp tool, and with an intensity of 30% and a suitable size, sweep it up across the petals to form a wilted look.

In conclusion, the Liquify tools in Illustrator are a hidden gem of sorts. Not many tips available online, yet each tool can create a unique effect. All are highly useful for various projects. Keep in mind that the best way to learn the warp tool is to use it extensively. Create amazing designs by playing around with warp tool and share it online to make it better or understand the gap.

Author bio: Sachin is a tech enthusiast who writes about technology and web designing. He works in an Indian web design company and also writes a blog about his experiences in the field. Recently he has shared very useful articles on using illustrated maps which should be surely checked out.