Rant about Illustrator

[GVP]

Firstly, I know it's me - all part of the learning curve, etc.

But Illustrator (CS4) seems to irritate the heck out of me - it seems so clunky. Nothing seems to do what I want it to do, it seems to never select the item I want and at this point in my experience trying to get to grips with it I can't understand how it became the "industry standard". Things I can do with CorelDraw or Signlab that take me next to no time, seem convoluted and awkward...

Anyway, rant over. Once again, I know it's primarily my own shortcomings, but I just had to sound off to someone!

 

[ForgeInc]

GVP, not sure if you used CS3 or not, but I found when I went to CS4 it was a pretty big jump as to how stuff was selected, working with masks, etc. It seemed to me the biggest change from version to version I had experienced, and I started using it with (version 88 I think?) when you couldn't even work in full color mode, everything was wireframe only then you switch to preview in color to view the work.

But as with anything, you'll get used to it. About to jump to CS5 myself, and this will be the first time I didn't get a new version immediately after it came out, because of that curve dealing with CS4 last time.

 

[The Vector Doctor]

On occasion if I use Corel it takes me 5x longer to do anything. None of the shortcuts are the same, tools are different in how they act. So I feel exactly the same way about Corel.

It's all in what you are used to

 

[GAC05]

Yep it is hard going from something you know to something new.
My way around it is to do everything in Illustrator with my right hand and do everything in CorelDraw with my left.
I put my Flexi icon as far into the right hand corner of my desktop as I can so I am not tempted to drag it into the recycle bin.

wayne k
guam usa

 

[James Burke]

I run a combination of AutoCAD, SignLab 8, and Illustrator CS5. Each program does a few special things that the others can not do, or do very easily. My main design program is Illustrator, but I do node editing in ACAD and any precise drawing /layout or vectoring. Everything gets exported out to SignLab and then cut.

Illustrator is fantastic when it comes to working with .dxf or .dwg files (ACAD format).

Hang in there...it'll get easier the more you work with it.

JB

 

[CES020]

I'm right there with you! I HATE HATE HATE the selection tool in Illustrator. I have a number of objects, all on a background, and I want to grab them all and move them around my background, I can't find a way to do it. If I draw a box around the items I want to move, then it ALWAYS selects the background I don't want to move. So I have to select it all, then deselect the background. Or, I have to lock the background, which is a pain because once it's locked, then I can't align things to it. Makes me crazy. I just don't get the logic. How often, as someone that's drawing in a graphics program do you have to grab contents inside an object and move them around? (hint: all day long). Yet that's a feature I can't work out. I'm sure there's a way, but it's probably something like "Crtl,Shift, right click, scroll wheel, F9,Alt. Space Bar, Tab, Tab, Caps Lock". You know, something easy to remember

I love the results of Illustrator, but boy, it's not a "use it once a week" program

 

[Letterbox Mike]

You might consider jumping to CS5, if I remember I had similar complaints about CS4, like it wasn't quite "dialed in" or something and seemed clunky. For me, CS5 seems much smoother. The same goes for Photoshop, CS4 was very hiccuppy but CS5 is much improved.

 

[Rick]

I'm right there with you! I HATE HATE HATE the selection tool in Illustrator. I have a number of objects, all on a background, and I want to grab them all and move them around my background, I can't find a way to do it. If I draw a box around the items I want to move, then it ALWAYS selects the background I don't want to move. So I have to select it all, then deselect the background. Or, I have to lock the background, which is a pain because once it's locked, then I can't align things to it. Makes me crazy. I just don't get the logic. How often, as someone that's drawing in a graphics program do you have to grab contents inside an object and move them around? (hint: all day long). Yet that's a feature I can't work out. I'm sure there's a way, but it's probably something like "Crtl,Shift, right click, scroll wheel, F9,Alt. Space Bar, Tab, Tab, Caps Lock". You know, something easy to remember

I love the results of Illustrator, but boy, it's not a "use it once a week" program

You might want to try going to...
PREFERENCES> SELECTION & OBJECT DISPLAY>"click on" OBJECT SELECTION BY PATH ONLY.

I also have "SNAP TO POINT" on as well....

 

[Mason]

You might try locking your "backgrounds" Select the background and Ctrl+2 to lock Ctrl + Shift +2 to unlock... or get accustomed to working with layers (which IMO is the correct method)

 

[CES020]

Yeah, I mentioned in my post I didn't want to have to lock the background, because then you can't align to it until you unlock it.

Here's an example file to see what I'm talking about. I feel certain it's user error.

In CorelDraw, if I drew the green box I did with the selection tool selected, it would select every item in the box, and nothing that was not fully contained in the box. If I held the "Alt" key down while drawing that box, it would act like Illustrator and include everything in the box and everything the box was touching.

For something so simple as this file, I can't believe I'd have to do layers, locking, etc. That's how I currently do it, so I'm familiar with it, it just seems so counterintuitive after using such a simple tool in Corel. However, I'm seeing plugin's for Illustrator that do very simple, common sense things too, so maybe they just don't care about us newbies

Rick, I tried that, it didn't resolve my issue, so I posted this example.

 

[Mason]

Drag a "box" around the objects, the background will be selected as well, hold down the shift key and click on the background to deselect it, move the objects to the position you desire.

 

[CES020]

You're missing my point. I do that as well. My point is why can't I just select want a I want to move. Adobe preaches about saving keystrokes and Adobe heads love to rave about how they will skip using something if it takes 2 keystrokes because it's not effective. Why do I have to select something and then deselect it directly after that?

In Corel, it's simple. Drag that box, it selects what's in the box, not the box itself.

In this example, it's very simple. However, when you get a customer supplied logo that's made up of 100's or 1000's of little pieces, then it can get almost impossible.

From what you're telling me, I'm doing all the things that you normally do to work around it. I was hoping for someone to say "Oh, you have to draw the box starting from the right, moving to the left" like programs like AutoCad used to do. The direction of the drag had meaning in those programs.

 

["Deposit Please"]

Hold shift down & click those shapes until you have them all selected.

 

[SignLogic]

Hold shift down & click those shapes until you have them all selected.

Or lock the layers that you don't want to select and move.

 

[CES020]

Here's a better real world type example of what I'm talking about and dealing with.

The first photo is what I want to capture (and what I would capture by using the selection tool in Corel). The second photo is of what WAS captured and what I'll have to figure out how to deselect.

It's 2 examples from different parts of the graphic.

I hope this better explains what I'm talking about.

EDIT: Sorry for the poor quality, I uploaded larger files that were clear and it resized and resampled them to poor quality when I uploaded them.

 

[Rick]

You're missing my point. I do that as well. My point is why can't I just select want a I want to move. Adobe preaches about saving keystrokes and Adobe heads love to rave about how they will skip using something if it takes 2 keystrokes because it's not effective. Why do I have to select something and then deselect it directly after that?

In Corel, it's simple. Drag that box, it selects what's in the box, not the box itself.

In this example, it's very simple. However, when you get a customer supplied logo that's made up of 100's or 1000's of little pieces, then it can get almost impossible.

From what you're telling me, I'm doing all the things that you normally do to work around it. I was hoping for someone to say "Oh, you have to draw the box starting from the right, moving to the left" like programs like AutoCad used to do. The direction of the drag had meaning in those programs.

It's not a work around, every software varies in their selection behavior.

I see your point, but the opposite can be said. The way I select is being able to touch just the edge to select... it's just getting used to that type os selecting, you are still stuck on Corel. I select inside that box and the background box is not selected (if I get rid of the center point.) If I jump back and forth between Illustrator, Auto-Cad and Corel, I have to remind myself of the selection behavior. I have used Illustrator in a production setting, and have used it just as well as Corel.

 

[Mason]

Or how about actually working in layers.
Or perhaps I should go on a rant of my own about learning to use the multitude of selection tools Illustrator offers??

If a customer provides you with a logo that has 1000s of objects in it, perhaps you could score thie job of designing one for them that is more suitable??

Just a thought

 

[CES020]

See above, you guys posted while I was posting

 

[Mason]

From the example: Are you using the "Selection" tool? (Black Arrow) or the "Direct Selection " tool (White Arrow)??

 

[Rick]

See above, you guys posted while I was posting

Thats a no brainer, with area select off, or "select by path" on, you do not encapsulate the whole graphic, just the edges of the inside....

Another thing, I always the "bounding box" off

 

[Mason]

Thats a no brainer, with area select off, or "select by path" on, you do not encapsulate the whole graphic, just the edges of the inside....

Another thing, I always the "bounding box" off

The bounding box wont change the way things are selected...