andrew's vector plugin's volume 17 manual for illustrator

Plug-ins notes

file:///C|/...ndrew/Products/Documentation%20NOT%20FOR%20RELEASE/Illustrator%20plugins/Volume%2017/GX17_Documentation.htm[30/10/2008 19:32:36]

PatternPrint Plug-in (Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 17)

Introduction

The plug-in blends two paths and and the path's patterns content. Now, the latest version creates a single path and creates astyle and uses the fill patterns and blend modes etc to create unusual and unique patterns.

The plugin set comes with 100s of patterns (some basic, some less so) that can be used in the plugin.

The end result Pattern can be used as a style or symbol (and the style can be further modified or used via the appearancespalette) and the style / symbol exported for use in a style / symbol library file.

The patterns must be defined in the swatches palette.

If there are no patterns in the swatches palette, the plugin will not create the pattern blend.

The plugin can be used to fully explore patterns, stretching, shifting, shearing, blending, reflecting, and more

Installation of plug-in

Please place the GX17_PatternPrint.aip file in the c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins folder [pc Illustrator ® CS] orc:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins [pc illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4

For the mac, please place the GX17 PatternPrint file in HD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator CS:plug-ins [mac Illustrator ®CS] orHD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator 10:plug-ins [mac Illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4

Possible installation paths

PC CS4 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS4\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS3 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS3\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS2/12 c:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS2\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC CS/11 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins\graphicxtrasPC 10 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins\graphicxtras

OS X CS4 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS4:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS3 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS3:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS2 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS2:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X CS HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS:plug-ins:graphicxtras OS X 10 HD:applications:adobe illustrator 10:plug-ins:graphicxtras

(if the 'graphicxtras' folder does not exist, simply create it in the plug-ins folder or use another folder name if you wish. Youcan also just place the file in the top level plug-ins folder if you wish but putting it in a sub folder makes it easier to find at alater date)

Alternate plug-in installation location

Plug-ins notes


Because of recent improvements in security, you may wish to install the plug-in sets in an alternate location such as an useraccount and not the default plug-in folder. If you are using a basic level account and one without admin features, you mightnot be able to save the AIP plug-in files to the usual folder. Set up an alternate or secondary plug-in folder in your useraccount and then copy the files there.

To specify an alternate plug-in for Illustrator ®

1) Go to the edit > preferences > plug-ins

2) Check the additional plug-ins folder option

3) Specify / browse for your required file in your user account (such as 'third party plug-ins' etc)

Install of pattern swatches

Pattern swatches need to be placed (if required.. you can just ignore them) in the presets swatches folder. I wouldrecommend adding them to a sub folder just as an indicator to their purpose (otherwise you will just see a long list ofswatches folders). Access via the standard swatches menu / palette

Drag swatches from swatches to document.

As you need a swatch, simply drag from the swatches library file to the swatch palette for the document, as above and thenaccess via the plugin. The plugin access to the pattern swatches is not pretty, it is currently by a number (an internal numberat that) so I would suggest not to have too many swatches in the document palette and at least you will know more or lessthe swatch you are accessing. You can, of course, fill the swatches palette with 100s of pattern swatches and just runthrough the swatches in a random order and pick the one you like (if you have the time). I hope to update the display atsome point to display the pattern swatches as is, making it easier to use.

Pattern numbering

One issue you will find, along with the pattern numbering, is if you decide to color the patterns using the color modification inthe tweak menu. Perhaps you will never use that feature and use the patterns as is but if you decide to explore the colorsettings, there are a few things to point out.

Patterns combo

The plug-in uses two patterns, they could be the same pattern. If you color tweak pattern 1 and 2 and they are the samepattern then the pattern for both will be changed to the same color (to Illustrator, they are the same pattern, even if theplugin dialog is split to two patterns). The swatch will be changed external to the plugin, so even if you change your mind andgo to another pattern swatch, any color modification to the swatch will be preserved in the swatches palette (why, don't ask,not my doing) So if you have a palette of Black and white swatches, on exit, you might find a number of them with differentcolors (depending on the swatch plugin settings). To get around this, perhaps copy the pattern swatch beforehand and atleast you have a backup copy (you will need to drag the swatch to the document and then re-copy it back into the palette) ordrag a copy of the swatch from the original (untouchable) swatch library.

Any changes to the swatch will not change the swatch library version (unless you are editing the actual swatch library AI file)

Plug-ins notes


Complex patterns

The pattern can get fairly complex (if you set the repeats to 3 or 4) or just keep the default settings for a fairly basic mix ofpattern swatches.

Graphic styles

The graphic style can be further tweaked via the appearance palette and a new style saved.

Plug-ins notes


The style can then be applied to other paths or text etc

Appearances palette

Expanding the appearance palette you can see all the individual fills and different blending modes that go into making a fairlyabstract design (perhaps not the cleanest of designs but one to show all the various possible settings).

The plugin also can randomize the pattern to be selected as well as the applied angle and scale (though less controllable asthe value goes from the current value to 1% of the original size - that is small)

You can always select the item and modify the appearance, such as changing the fill color or perhaps the order of patterns orfills and perhaps remove the stroke

Plug-ins notes


Initial use of plug-in

Please access via the filters menu of Illustrator ® via the <AVP Create> menu (CS3 CS2 CS 10)

Please access the plug-in via the object > filters menu (CS4)

The plugin screen is split into 5 screens: front pattern, behind pattern, size, tweak, and settings.

Plug-ins notes


The plug-in creates by default a square filled with the first pattern in the swatches list. The plugin manipulates the variousfactors associated with the pattern and path (square or circle).

If the random colorization is set or negative color option, the pattern is manipulated directly in the pattern swatch palette.Any occurrence of the pattern currently in use will be modified to the new color settings as well (manipulation only works onelements of the pattern arts such as CMYK or RGB path elements and not any gradient etc elements of the pattern art).

Text can be used in patterns (converted as well as otherwise) and also images.

Or use text (a single word or a paragraph etc) as a pattern

Plug-ins notes


Or use converted (outline) text to use the colorization features (as well as apply multiple items using repeats along withrandomization of rotate angle and reflections)

Shuffle button

The shuffle button only works if there is a random element to be applied such as color randomization or randomization of anangle or shear has been set to ON. Use the reset button to return to initial state.

Tumble button

The tumble button randomizes most of the settings (not all.. most of the checkboxes are ignored). The tumble button isuseful for trying out a vast range of different pattern designs

Tile

The generated tile is not a pattern though, it is a style. You cannot save the pattern combo as a new pattern. You can trimthe pattern, duplicate, rotate, and create a new pattern if required. The generated tile can be exported to other applicationssuch as Photoshop ®

Patterns

The plugin set comes with a very basic set of starter patterns which can be used as required.

They are swatches and need to be stored in the presets swatches folder (in Illustrator presets folder).

The patterns are all royalty-free, and can be used in any commercial projects / hobby projects as required

Interactivity

Some of the fields have a small box beside the field. Click the button and hold the shift down and drag across (in some cases,up and down) the document to interactively change the setting. Release the shift / mouse to stop

Applications support

MAC OS X 10.2 .3 .4 .5 98 ME NT XP Vista Adobe ® Illustrator ®10 CS1 CS2 CS3 CS4

Questions

Please contact me on [email protected]

Other plugins available on the site

http://www.graphicxtras.com Upgrades are generally available, either as free updates or inexpensive updates/upgrades.Please store the reference serial number or details of order

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.graphicxtras.com/

Plug-ins notes


Copyright

The plugins are copyright of 2005-2008, Abneil Software Ltd (Andrew Buckle). This product was released by Abneil Softwareltd (UK based company)

Trademarks

Illustrator and Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. We have no connectionwhatsoever with Adobe. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Plugin use

Dialog - 'Front' screen

This is the screen to manipulate the pattern instance of the 'front' pattern.

'Front pattern': Use this to select the pattern to apply (the patterns are held in the swatches palette). You can use thenative swatches or use your own pattern swatches.

Patterns can be easily defined and use and even a basic square can be used to great effect with the plugin by a few tweaks toreflection and scale.

If the pattern swatch number is set to a number greater than the existing swatches then the number is ignored and a validswatch is used. If the swatch setting is on then the pattern swatch is ignored and the selected swatch is used. The patternsfor the front and behind can be the same or different.

The patterns used throughout these notes to display the features of the plugin, are not the most exciting of patterns, but theyshow the use of color as well as the text 'pattern 1' and 'pattern 2'

'Rotate(o)': Rotate angle for 'pattern art' before fill

Plug-ins notes


Scale(%)': Scaling applied to 'pattern art' before fill. Scaling can be used to create thin pattern art or large chunky patternart

'Shift(o/p)': Angle and distance to shift 'pattern art' before fill

Plug-ins notes


'Shear(o)': Shear angle and axis for the shear

'Reflect angle(o)': Axis for the reflection

'Reflect': To reflect or not (reflection is ignored if off)

Dialog - 'Behind' screen

This is the screen to manipulate the pattern 'behind'.. well, the pattern in the other slots in the appearance palette

'Behind pattern': The same as front pattern but used to fill the path behind the top path. The pattern is purely a reference(though the original pattern art can be modified using the plugin). The pattern can be the same or different to the frontpattern.

'Rotate(o)': Rotate angle for 'pattern art' before fill

Scale(%)': Scaling applied to 'pattern art' before fill (as 1)

'Shift(o/p)': Angle and distance to shift 'pattern art' before fill (as 1)

'Shear(o)': Shear angle and axis for the shear (as 1)

'Reflect angle(o)': Axis for the reflection (as 1)

Reflect': To reflect or not (as 1)

Plug-ins notes


Dialog - 'Size' screen

This is the screen to manipulate the dimensions as well as the number of entries or repeats in the appearance palette and thefinal shape of the pattern.

'Dimensions': Height / width / starting points of the the shape (if a square, fairly straightforward, if a triangle or star etc,the settings are based around the 0,0 of the document and might require some tweaking of the inner and outer radius togenerate a star design)

'Repeats': The number of repeat fills to appear in the appearance palette. The more fills, the slower the responsiveness ofthe design but the more complex (as well as perhaps cluttered) the final design. If you set the blend mode to normal and thesame pattern is used and the settings are the same, there will be no visible change). Using two different patterns, differentangles, etc and multiple repeats will generate a number of overlapping fills and different designs. You can tweak the endresults via the appearance palette. There are a number of link options to tweak the fill 3, fill 4 etc in the appearance palette

'Type of shape': Oval or square or stars and other shapes. Each have a slightly different setup required in the dimensionssettings.

Plug-ins notes


Dialog 'Tweak' screen

Various dropdowns to manipulate the transformation, blending of patterns, and linking

'Blending mode': Combines the two patterns (though not completely as a pathfinder.. you might like to group the pathsafter use) using different blending modes such as soft light or difference, to great effect

'Linking': Links the settings of 2 (behind) to 1 (front) pattern dialog settings (not the internal or calculated settings such asrandomization). The linking might not even use the second dialog. The linking settings might be more useful for multiplerepeats

Plug-ins notes


'Color Modifications': This dropdown directly modifies the pattern swatch and should be used carefully (if you have thepattern elsewhere in your artwork they will also be modified) The dropdown randomizes the color of the pattern artwork.Effective if the patterns are different, if the two patterns are the same, color changes will modify both paths.

If you use converted text, you might find nothing happens. Sometimes un grouping the path helps as the compound pathscan be an issue for the plugin.

'Fill combo': By default, off. If set to another setting, a randomized fill will be generated using the current color model andplaced above the current patterns. The blending mode of the fill will be set as required (or randomized if that option is set).Great for creating a color overlay or unusual color blends.

Plug-ins notes


Dialog - 'Settings' screen

Additional settings such as randomization of elements or use of swatches or single pattern use

'Rotate 1[R]': Randomizes the rotation setting, works only if the rotation has a value, if it is set to 0 then there will be norandomization. The generated angle is 0 to current value.

'Rotate 2[R]': Randomizes the rotation setting, works only if the rotation has a value, if it is set to 0 then there will be norandomization. The generated angle is 0 to current value.

'Scale 1[R]': Randomizes the scaling of the pattern for the front pattern, from close to zero to the current setting.

'Scale 2[R]': Randomizes the scaling of the behind pattern from close to zero to current setting

'Shift 1[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current

'Shift 2[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current

'Shear 1[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current

'Shear 2[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current

'Reflection 1[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current (though reflect needs to be set to ON)

'Reflection 2[R]': Randomizes the setting from 0 to current (though reflect needs to be set to ON)

'Opacity 1[R]': Randomizes the opacity of the path between 0 and 100%, creating a blurred pattern effect

'Opacity 2[R]': Randomizes the opacity of the pattern behind from 0 to 100%

'Pattern 1[R]': Randomizes the pattern (uses all the existing patterns stored in the current document)

'Pattern 2[R]': Randomizes the pattern

'Use swatch': Instead of using the pattern setting or randomization of pattern, if you set this to ON, please select a patternswatch. The selected swatch will be used for both pattern paths. If no pattern swatch is selected, the plugin will not create thepatterns

'No permanent style': The plugin doesn't need to create a style in the styles palette, if you set this to on then the style willbe discretely removed.

'Create symbol': Create a symbol from the current selected shape and style

'Swap': Instead of using pattern 1 / pattern 2 / pattern 2... etc for all the fills, the plugin will create the pattern order in arandom way, pattern 2 pattern 1 pattern 1 pattern 2 pattern 2 etc (this might extend in future to allow for multiple patternssuch as a pattern 3 and also skipping and creation of patterns)

Plug-ins notes


'Link patterns': Link the pattern 1 and 2 (though this is not reflected on the panel)

'Link scaling': Links the vertical scaling to the horizontal scaling (not reflected on the panel)

Plug-ins notes


Pattern examples

Plug-ins notes


Plug-ins notes


PatternPrint -> graphic style tutorial

Plug-ins notes


Installation of swatches

The plugin set 'PatternPrint' comes with a set of bonus material. These are found in the bonus material patterns swatchesfolder. They are all native AI format files

For ease of use, please place them in the swatches folder, you can, if required, place them in another location but Illustrator,by default, searches the swatches folder. The swatches folder can be found in the presets folder

PatternPrint is not a pattern creation plugin, it manipulates patterns. To manipulate patterns it needs to have access topatterns and Illustrator, by default, stores very few patterns in its swatches palette. You need to load a few patterns. You canload your own (use the define pattern) or native AI patterns or patterns from the bonus set.

It can be used to create graphic styles and that is the main part of this tutorial

Plug-ins notes


Access the swatches in Illustrator via the swatches libraries menu or use the load additional files option

Once you have opened the file, the swatches appear in a library swatches folder. They are still not part of the documentswatches. You need to select one or all and drag to the document swatches palette. Once loaded there, you can use them inthe pattern plugin

Plug-ins notes


Pattern manipulation

Now startup the pattern plugin. You don't need to select anything, the plugin creates its own path, a square or circle (thepoint about the graphic styles is that the style is a store of the pattern details and can be applied to other paths at a laterpoint)

The plugin display is not very visual, but by changing the pattern number you can scroll through the patterns in the currentpattern palette. Some patterns are not even visible in the palette, Illustrator comes with a number of 'hidden' patterns insome versions), but these will show up as you modify the pattern number. Change the pattern to say a linear line set or rings

The plugin works with two patterns, a 'front' and 'back' pattern, basically just think of the plugin as combining two patterns,especially when you extend the plugin to include multiples of those two patterns in a style.

Plug-ins notes


Change the rotation to 45 degrees for the pattern 1

Change the pattern for the back to the same pattern as the front (doesn't have to be the same). Change the scaling of thefirst to 50 - 50 and the second to 200 - 200, creating smaller and bigger versions of the original pattern

Plug-ins notes


Increment the number of patterns (this means that multiple lines will be displayed, especially useful when you apply therandomization settings). You can also change the pattern's fill. I would suggest that you make a backup of the pattern beforedoing this if you want to use the pattern elsewhere in the document as the fill color change will also be reflected in the swatchpattern fill and any other paths using the pattern will also be changed (selected or not)

The plugin comes with a wide range of pattern fill change options such as randomization of pattern 1 and 2, or just therandomization of pattern 1, the inverse etc

The plugin comes with a number of randomization features.To use these, simply click the ones with [R] beside the settingssuch as rotation. If the rotation is 0 in the other panels, the randomization is ignored. Setting the randomization to 45degrees means the rotation or angle will be (for different patterns) between 0 and 45 degrees. Click the shuffle button to re-randomize

Creating graphic style pattern

Plug-ins notes


Unless you click the no permanent style, a style is created for the collection of pattern fills and this will be listed with anunique name. If you wish, you can then export this pattern and use the pattern at some point in the future. The patterndoesn't even need to be installed, the style stores the relevant appearance information. The no permanent style option isthere if you have no intention of saving the style for future use or you might wish to modify the pattern appearance, add sayan effect or fill and then save the style.

Applying the style to a path or text etc afterwards.

andrew's vector plugin's volume 17 manual for illustrator

Documents

plugins pc illustrator

level plugins folder

graphicxtras folder

secondary plugin folder

default plugin folder

cs3 hd

usual folder

sub folder