5 Adobe Illustrator tools I wish I knew about when I started Freelancing

(This blog post is for someone who has a beginner’s understanding to Adobe Illustrator.) 

It’s interesting. Gen Z is less interested in 4-year degrees vs. being self-taught. And for jobs in the design space (commercial, web, UI/UX), I tend to agree with them. My hope would be that apprenticeships come continually to the forefront of this type of education. 

In the meantime, YouTube offers so much content free of charge that can help us all learn and grow and become better designers. 

While I don’t plan to start a YouTube channel any time soon, I hope that I can distill the best content and bring it to you so that you don’t have to take the time to shuffle through it all. 

I opened Adobe Illustrator for the first time in 2003, and perhaps these tools weren’t available then, but I wish someone would have told me about them. Trust me, each of them will enhance your workflow as you take your design skills to the next level. 

#1 - Shape Tool. Are you wanting to create cleaner, more complex shapes, out of simple ones? This tool is for you! It’s also helpful for creating intricate monograms and word marks. No doubt, you’ll be able to elevate your skills by just learning how to use this one tool. 

#2 - Color Guide. Not too long ago I had a student who was legally color blind and had difficulty pairing colors. Once I showed them this panel it simplified their decision making process.  

#3 - Pathfinder. The unite feature is very similar to how you might implement the Shape Tool, but dividing and subtracting shapes can be very beneficial, let’s say, when illustrating a donut or a life-saving device. Hover each icon in the panel for a descriptor of each. And here’s a BONUS!

#4 - Join Tool. Did you make some edits to a path? Maybe you didn’t close the path with your Pen Tool. Use the Join Tool to merge corners together in order to create a complete shape.  

#5 - Rotate Tool. Trying to figure out how to make sun rays or starbursts or divide a pie. The Rotate Tools can help you create these illustrations and many more. Don’t forget the command + D shortcut! 

If you’ve found the filtering of content like this helpful, please let us know in the comments so that we know to continue to create content like this for you!