Illustrator Your Way: Custom Shortcuts and Actions to Speed Up Your Workflow

1. Intro / Smooth Tool Shortcut: Welcome to the quickest. My name is feel. I'm a graphic designer and illustrator in this quest. I'm gonna show you how to optimize your workflow and make drawing in Illustrator more easy and fast. But I sit in your own keyboard Shortcuts in actions Illustrator is very flexible, and we can shape the illustrator settings according toa our own or full to make working with the program more natural, more easy and comfortable. So in this case, I'm going to show you my essential shortcuts and actions that really helps me, and it will be a good starting point for you. And after that you can add your own. So let's start with the shortcuts. For example, one of my favorite too in The Illustrator is smooth too. You can find it here under the pencil toe, so it is very useful to, especially when you're drawing without the table. Well, like I do So, for example, in this illustration, I draw this wind or clouds ones, whatever it is with pencil to something like this. And then I said, Let's smooth too. And just dragon it grows the uncle points moving duck this so this is very useful toe. I use it very often and even draws shapes with it. So but unfortunately, in illustrator by default, there is no shortcut for the smooth too. So let's go to hate it. Keyboard shortcuts. Let's find our smooth do here. Here it is smooth. Well, let's click. Here is you see by the full. There is no shortcut for this. I don't know why. So let's improved personally, I said. Is that this for smooth? Because it's smooth and they see illustrator warn us that it is already used by scale toe. But I don't know anyone who use a keyboard shortcut for scale toe. If I need to scale something, I just select the object and scale it with the bounding box. So feel free to erase a zits, This default skill. Let's hit. Okay, new list, type some name forward. And he said my short guts. Okay, Okay, now everything. We heat this. Yeah, it's just medical. And every time we get to this issue, which is more stool so it's much easier and faster Draw like this. So now you can joy and keep this. It's moving it out so very fast. Very easy. So this is my number one shortcut. I use it in every off my our ports. So let's move on to the next lesson, and I will show you more essential shortcuts. 2. Expand Appearance Shortcut: the next thing I use a lot administrator is expand comment. So let me show you what I mean. For example No, we need to add some waves. Two of illustration. They can make it easy by making a line. Yeah, then selected and go to fit, distort and transform ZIC this heat review and let's play with sliders. Let's set it with smooth. Yeah, something like this. All right. No, we get our wave began replicated whatever. But it is. You see, it's still a line so we still have a line and this wave is just an effect. So if we go to appearance is a six year is our effect is exact but still have the power line so we can cannot change The uncle points off this girlfriend and dragon It is also not so easy because you need to click in the center We can drink by these so we need to expand the effect I used the expense coming to Very what? So by default you need to go toe headed No So object and expand appearance? No, we get the Kobe line, which can which we can ate it. So? So I suggest to to set the keyboard shortcut for this comment. So let's go to edit and keyboard shortcuts. Well, it's selected the menu Commons object Expanded appearance. So personally, I said it to control a comment e expand and again, instructor warn us that control he was already in use by GPU. Preview comment. I don't know what it is, so I hit. OK, Yes, all right. And now it's I do this so we can have an effect now and to expand it just hits country E. Now it's expanded. Expand. Expand it standing. So this is easy and fast, and I use a lot of fits in my illustrations. So expand appearances, a common that I use very often. So this keyboard shortcut comes very candy. It's it's really optimized my look full and feel free to use it to 3. Outline Stroke Shortcut: Sometimes we don't want our strokes to be a stroke anymore and maybe want to convert it to shape. So there was a comment for this is the Object bus. How old? One stroke and now we get in shape. So this is also very common. Well, common. I use it a lot and many illustrators use it a lot. And personally, I think it is very candid to get to keep it short cut for this. So let's good. Let's go to hated He bought your guts. The new comments object bus outgoing stroll Personally, I am setting to control Oh come o country because it outlined stroke. It's easier to remember should cut country was already is by open. But you know, I don't know anyone who used control for open new document. Everyone used file like open on. I personally use the file menu too. So I hit OK, right, right. You sure? And now every time we need to outline the stroke, just he got all and it's Oakland easy and first 4. Custom Actions: actions is a very cool feature in Illustrator that awas to set the multiple comments toe one keyboard shortcut. Let me show you what I mean. For example, I got this circle here and I want to divide it. Maybe in three for Bart's Still enjoy strokes Grossett So let everything and go to Petfinder. Divide option. You divide xango toe on group and now we get like different parts full circle. So I use this divide toe black So every time I use it, I need to he divide then right click hit on group So it is. It is three actions that I repeat every time I do this woman So we can set this three access to one the keyboard shortcut but using illustrator actions. So I didn't show you how to do it. So let's go to window fictions. Here is a folder with protections. Let's create a new folder. Its name it you know my actions. Let's create new exit Let's not divide, Okay? Do they function key? So this is a key where you set your actual let's set it for F two, for example, in this heat right there after we should record everything you do is recorded into recording into inaction. And before you heat stop report. So let's get breaker. Okay, Now everything is recording. So let's assume that shape hit De right? It seems there is, um, but finder when piers they heat right click on Group on. Good. All right. And it stops the action. Okay, stop it. And now we got the three, like comments like that finding the right right leak on group and everything is reported into one action which was said to f to button. So no, every time we need to be white, something all right, it's select everything and heat if to button, that's it. And now we get the shapes. So it's so easy now, you know, just one bottom, and it seems divided. So in as action that I use that is the reflect action. So, for example, I need reflected copy off this leaf on the right side, so I need to select the object. Right? Click, transform, reflect. Let's just hers until a copy. Okay? And now we've got it. So why don't decided to one action? Let's do it. Okay, let's go to extra pale. Create new Nixon this name. It's peach horizontal and exited, for example, to in the function Keeper fell in my cases F three records. Okay, so now let's selected transform Reflect for is until copy. Let's stop that recorded. And now every time we need to reflect something, we just hit their three and we get it, you know, very easy. Very handy. Uses the same principle. You can set the reflect vertical action and any other action you want. Just wanna Lazio work full. And if you see some patterns off repeated steps I tried to set up to our necks in, There are a lot of father useful comments that you can set the actions, for example, copy and paste in place. It's going slowly. Engine example centre backs and object front, and so you name it. So try to experiment. Find your own best actions. I hope you enjoy the class and see him