Home > Adobe Illustrator > The Illustrator Interface
Once Illustrator has loaded, you will notice that its interface has many features that will be familiar to you, that are commonly found in other programs.
First of all, you will notice the traditional File, View, Edit dropdown menus, that feature at the very top right of almost every computer program these days. From here, you can create a New Document, Open an existing one, or Save the current one etc.
In fact almost every feature of Illustrator is available from one of these drop-down menus, which we will explore in other tutorials.
You should also notice that in the centre of your screen there will be a white canvas, of a size determined in the presets of the previous window. What you may also notice, are various ‘floating windows’ called PANEL GROUPS. These are groups of commonly used tools, that you can personalise, and organise depending on which ones you use most often.
Bare in mind that Illustrator will load up the panel groups that were open in the previous session, so if you are using a public or classroom computer, the panel groups that are open may not be to your particular preference.
To open a panel group, and to display it on the screen, go to Window at the top of the screen, and tick the panel group you would like to use. You also have the freedom to drag these panel groups around the screen, if you need to reorganise the space around your work.
The Properties Panel
The Properties Panel falls directly below the File Menu, and differs depending which tool you have selected.
For example, if you are dealing with TEXT, this is where you will find options for changing the FONT, SIZE, BOLD, and ALIGNMENT etc. If you are dealing with shapes, this is where you can chose the FILL COLOUR, THE STOKE COLOUR, STROKE THICKNESS and BRUSH EFFECT.
Keep an eye on this area, as some interesting features may be available for each tool, which may generate features which you may like to include in your work.
You can also create interesting results by fading one element behind or in front of another, by decreasing its OPACITY. An elements opacity is basically the degree to which it is visible. If its opacity is 100% is it fully visible. If it is 0% it is not visible at all.
The Layers Panel
Perhaps the most important panel is the Layers panel. The layers panel allows you to freely organise any element on the canvas, separately and independently from one another. This is why it is a good idea to paste each new image or piece of text on a new layer.
To create a new layer, click this little icon here, which can be found at the bottom of the layers panel.
Layers are a fantastic way of organising and combining several elements into various different compositions. They are also great for experimenting. If you are not sure how a particular effect will look, you can Duplicate the layer and try it out. If the effect doesn’t look as good as you liked, simply delete the layer, and your original layer will be untouched.
Clicking this icon will hide the layer completely, enabling you to experiment what your project would look like with and without certain elements, without deleting them permanently.
Next to the eye icon, there will be a blank square. Clicking this square will generate a small lock icon, which will lock the layer in place, preventing you from accidently moving or deleting it.
Clicking this icon will delete the whole layer, and everything on it, completely.
Other useful Panel Groups
Another useful panel group that may already be open is the NAVIGATOR. The Navigator for will help you zoom in and out of your canvas easily, by sliding the scroll bar. This will be useful when you want to zoom in to check a particular area, or zoom out and see how your project looks in its entirety.
Another useful panel is the COLOUR PICKER, which will enable you to select an individual colour from a colour palette.
The ALIGN panel will enable you to select a range of different elements, and align them exactly, according to your preferences. For example you could align several elements of text to the left, so they all appear in a perfect line vertically down one side.
Further Illustrator Resources
About Adobe Illustrator
The Basics - Getting Started
Illustrator Interface
Keyboard Shortcuts
Tool by Tool
Using Filters and Effects
Download
Download the full Illustrator Help File as a PDF
