Important Illustrator Shortcuts to Speed up Your Workflow

Most of the designers use Illustrator not only for interface and mockups designing but also for the design of entire projects for websites, print. Even if you feel like you have mastered all the tools in Illustrator perfectly, the truth is there is always scope for improvement. In this blog, we have provided a list of tips and techniques to shelp individuals streamline the vector art workflow, speed up their illustration work and fine tune the common techniques they will be using.

Whatever the type of project, the ability to work proficiently in Illustrator means accomplishing the desired tasks in a day. It's also about completing work as quickly as possible and maximizing the productivity of your working time.

1. Plan in Advance

Always remember to start the illustration work with a pencil drawing. The aim should be to produce a clean, finished sketch from the outset, ensuring that no time will be wasted in Illustrator later on. So, plan everything in advance, draw every single detail, perfect the composition and ask the client to sign it off before start working on the Illustrator.

2. Know Some of the best Tools for Tracing

It’s always good to know which tool to use when. For example: Pen tool can be quite time-consuming. If you are looking for smooth lines then Pencil tool can be a faster option. For certain kind of artwork, Image Trace can also be useful. Place your scanned image into the Art board, select it and click Object>Image Trace>Make and Expand.

3. Speedy Copy and Paste

If any design uses elements which are repetitive, they need to be created only once. Create the line work, select it, hold down the Opt/Alt key and drag a copy of the group. With the selection of object, one can hold down the Shift key to enable rotate or resize the object while keeping it in proportion.

4. Try to Use Shortcuts

Knowing shortcuts for every tool you use is important as it can fasten the work. Learning all shortcuts can save hours of time over the course of a project. The control bar changes as per different tools, offering the option of performing common functions associated with a particular tool.

5. Save Your Colors

Colour Group plays an important role if one needs to speed up the colouring process, where all the related swatches can be stored. Simply click the 'New Colour Group' icon at the bottom of the Swatches panel and drag all the required colours into the folder.

6. Alignment is Everything

Always make sure your elements are perfectly aligned. The smartest and rapidest method to do this is to select the elements which requires alignment, it is always recommended to use the Alignment keys which appears on the Control bar to make them properly aligned. These will appear automatically when two or more elements are selected.

7. Creating Effects

The Blend tool can be used for creating a series of lines between any two objects, blending one into another. Select the Blend tool, click both of the lines and the blend will be created. Settings can be adjusted by double-clicking the icon in the Tools panel.

Hope these tips will be of some help! Illustrator is a great tool and implementing the above-mentioned tips can be helpful in re-using objects, symbols, styles which are already created, thus improving the overall workflow. The best way to learn techniques of Adobe Illustrator is joining any professional graphic design institute which can impart training from basic to advanced level. If you know would like to share some other great illustrator tips or know some keyboard shortcuts, don’t hesitate to leave a comment.