Symbols for Adobe ® Illustrator ®

Andrew Buckle

Symbols This guide shows some of the uses of the symbols, as well as a selection of the sym-bols from http://www.graphicxtras.com. The symbols are (c) 2010 Andrew Buckle. All screenshots are shown with kind permis-sion of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Adobe and Illustrator are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

example: alien circular symbol (pack 26)

Symbols are accessed via the symbols libraries, Illustrator comeswith a selection of symbols libraries but many more can be purchased or freely obtained on the web. Graphicxtras.com has a huge selection of these librariescovering a wide range of designssuch as hearts, embellishments, Christmas designs and more

Access the AI (they are stored in native Illustrator AI format) via the symbolspalette (find the symbols palette via the window menu)Click on the right side menuof the palette to display all the available libraries, you can also browse for them. The browse option means you can install the AI files in anyfolder, system, application orpersonal / private folders. Once opened, the symbols are displayed as above. Clicking on a symbol will add the symbol to the current open document’s symbol palette.

Once added to the symbol palette, the symbol can bemodified, double click the design in the symbol paletteto edit the design (if required)You can also edit the symbol on the artboard

Above are two examples of the top left symbol and direct editingof the symbol, the first example has been colored red and the secondexample shows the design changed into purple with black and bluedots added. The symbol can be used as a starting point for millionsof different designs. Changing the symbol by editing the symbol willchange all instances so if you wish to keep a particular design, you might like to create a new symbol or break the link with the symbol (right click menu)

Different arch symbols from pack 51from graphicxtras.com

The top left symbol can be combinedwith other symbols, also by simply selecting allthe symbols together as a group, you can also just drag the symbols to the symbol palette andsave the design (if you wish) as a new symbol

The symbol can be quickly combined with other paths to create a new design, in this case an arrow symbol from pack 59 is added to a brown rectangle

The design above is made up of one symbol (an arrow design) but thedesign has been duplicated 5 times and rotated. The symbols can beused to create many millions of new designs.

By breaking the symbol link (right click menu) you can also re-color the designs, so any circular design (or any othermultiple symbol design) can be re-colored in seconds.

Example of combining the symbols and then using the color guide to re-color the designs (after breakingthe link with the original symbol)

The symbols can also be great for backgrounds or overlays, this is an example from thepack 7 set

Many of the graphicxtras symbols packs includes the symbols designs in a single color, some of thesymbols also combinethe original singlecolor design andother elements, an example beingthe holly on the Christmas baublefrom pack 61

The design can also be used for a quick andeasy frame. This example shows the designwith the text and symbol and no wrap etc.

the design can also

be used as a text area, defining the limits

of the text. The Christmas bauble can be used to add a message and much more.

You can use the basic outline of the symbol to

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The symbols can be used with thetype on path tool but it does requirea bit of preparation such as expanding the symbol and then object > compound path > release and then pathfinder add. OK, not all that difficult but it would be great if you could just click on any symbol and use the type on path tool.

Just clicking on the symbolwith the type tool displays adialog saying non non etc .. but it can be done with a fewseconds conversion.

The borders pack are great as a source of framesfor any images in Illustrator

The borders frames designs arein pack 28. The frames can be usedat any angle or any size, they don’thave to perfectly frame the underlyingimage

The symbols can be applied asframes or overlays, the designscan be modified, opacity can be set to less than 100%, the symbols can be combined, appliedmultiple times, re-colored and much more

Multiple instancesof the same symbolcan be used to create simple aswell as complex designs. Also as it is an instance of the symbol, exportingthe design for usein Flash is fairlylow impact on resources.

Butterflies from pack 42. Thedesigns can be exported to other applications such as Photoshop (just use the clipboardor use the export or save features)

You can apply effects in those applications, though you can also apply powerful raster effects in Illustrator (as well as save the effects as graphic styles)

You can also modifythe various effectsat a later stage of the creative processvia the appearancepalette.

Christmas trees symbol from pack 63.The symbol can be turned into a ‘sort of’ 3D design by using the 3D effect in Illustrator

The symbol can also be exported to other applicationssuch as Xara Photo and Graphic Designer 6 and 3D effects can be applied there,with even more bevel, lightingetc options.

Many different Christmas designs can befound on the graphicxtras.com site. OK, I admit it: I love Christmas! Not so much thesnow though.. but give me a lovely Christmasmovie, mince pies etc ..

Christmas tree design from pack 75

Path offsets can be applied to symbols via the effects menu

The symbol can also be quickly re-colored without requiring any edit of the symbol or expand orbreak link command: use the appearance panel and add a new fill to the symbol. The new fill sitsabove the original color

The symbol on the far left gets a strokeadded (use the appearance paletteto add a new stroke)

The symbol also can have a brush strokeor ‘profile’ added to the stroke to give the design a hand-drawn look, again do this via the very powerful appearance palette

Original symbol designfrom pack 36

A fill is added via the appearancepalette

Blur effect is added to the symbol fill, creating a gloweffect for the design

A stroke is added to the designas well as a fill and a blur andprofile added via the appearancepalette

The symbol now has two strokes,one offset and with the same profilebut a different color stroke

The appearance palette can be used to add 1000s of stunningeffects and designs to the symbolsThe appearance can also be savedas a style.

Diamond symbols designs from pack 35

Graphic styles can be applied to the symbols but sometimes theeasiest way to use the styles is to expand or break the symbollink, and use the design as a pathThe diamond example uses one of thebutton styles that come with Illustrator

Diamond design above. Simply applying a nativestyle might result in the contents being displayedabove the effect, so you will see little of the actual effect. A quick and easy solution to this is to display the appearance palette and drag the contents entry to the bottom of the appearance palette as below.

Many of the graphicxtrassets are abstract designs such as hearts etc but there are also many morerealistic symbols sets included such as a dogs set

Doodles designs in pack 72 includingflowers, crowns etc

Symbols can be added to the artboard either via a plug-in (such as the symbolpaint tool) or using the symbol sprayer tool(native to Illustrator) or simply by draggingthe symbol to the artboard. Below shows thesymbol sprayer spraying pack 16 embellish designs

The symbols can be re-sized using the symbol sizertool, or stained using the symbol stainer tool

The symbols are all vectors, they can be re-sized, use either small or big. They can be rotated andmore

The symbols can also be warped.Select the symbol and then object > envelope distort > make warpThe symbol below has been warpedusing the flag warp. The symbol is still a symbol

Pack 49 embellish and swirlssymbols

Break the link with the symbolto use the freetransform tool

You can also keep the symbol as a symbol and distort by using the effect > distort > free distort command

Festive snowflakes symbols from pack 24

The symbols can also be quickly converted into brushes. Drag the symbol from the symbols palette tothe artboard and then drag to the brush palette. You can save the designas a scatter, artistic etc brush

A festive symbol applied as an artisticbrush using the tint option. In this casethe path is tinted pink.

The symbols (converted quickly to a brush format) can be used as a frame,the design above was created using a simple rectangle path

Use the transparency palette with symbols as you would normal paths. The symbol can be applied with a blending mode of normal or difference or darken etc

Pack 44 Greek ornament symbols, great for dividers, lines etc

Once expanded or link brokenthe symbol can be modified on a point by point basis to createmany different designs

Symbols cannot be used with the live paint tool (why??) but by expanding the path or breakingthe link, the design is then a normal path and can be re-coloredusing the live paint tool as below

Grids symbols from pack 2

Hearts symbols from pack 64

Actions can be applied tothe symbols, some work better than others (the rotate action below makeshardly any difference to thetile design) The opacity action sets the opacity to 60%

The symbols from pack 58The letters designs can be appliedsingularly or multiple times, use tocreate interesting distressed backgroundsand textures

Letters symbols from pack 58 re-applied then using a simple rectanglepath and object > clipping you can highlight a particular area of the design

Letters designs again clipped

Lines symbol from pack 8

3D symbols from pack 1

Pack 19 Art no uvea symbols designs

People symbols from pack 18

Pack 39 Radial symbol. SVG effects applied to a radial symbol

Pack 47 Scrapbooking tagssymbols

Pack 68 Spheres symbols using 3D gradients

Pack 54 Stripes symbols

The symbols can be used with the color guide palette and all the colors in a design can be re-colored using the re-color feature, but using the color guide will cause all the instances and the symbol to be changed. The best way to use the color guide andthe symbols is to expand or break the link with the symbol

Swirls symbols from pack 70