How to Make a Greeting Card in Adobe Illustrator
Use the rectangle tool to create card work area., Make your #2 rectangle into a guide., Your work area should now look like the following image., Draw any picture you like., Use the direct selection tool to adjust your shape., To add other elements...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use the rectangle tool to create card work area.
Cards are generally a standard size of 5 inches (12.7 cm) by 7 inches (shown here as rectangle #1), so you should keep the elements of your text/images within the boundaries of this safety line.
Rectangle #2 is a cutting line, or a tolerance around your card, and should be bigger than your safety line around
0.25 inches (0.6 cm). -
Step 2: Make your #2 rectangle into a guide.
Click on the #2 line and go to View > Guides > Make Guides.
Create an another line.
This line is a bleeding line, extending the background color all the way to the edges of your card.
Set it bigger than your cutting line by about
0.25 inches (0.6 cm) so that it serves as another guide. , Remember, #1 is the safety line, #2 is the cutting line, and #3 is the bleeding line. , The overall look will, of course, depend on the type of greeting card you wish to send.
This card is an example of a birthday card, so the picture will be of balloons.
To create an image of a balloon or any other circular object, use the ellipse tool, as shown here. , In this example the circle's sides are tapered downwards so it starts to resemble a balloon. , Here a small triangle is drawn and positioned at the bottom of the balloon, as shown, then seamlessly connected using Pathfinder > Add to shape area > Expand. , For candy apple red with a bit of shine, set the first color to C = 1, M = 90, Y = 50, K = 0 and second color to white, with border stroke = none.
Use radial mode to complete this step. , Make a new circle and make it fit like a shadow.
Then select the circle and the copy of the original balloon and go to Pathfinder > Option-click on Minus Front ( also called subtract from shape area) > Expand.
Drag the shadow to the original balloon and choose Multiply for the transparency.
You might want to change the color. , Use the pencil tool to draw thin lines or other details, like strings on the balloons here. , Select the portion you want to write on and set it to transparency = 30, or more if you'd like the background to be fainter. , If you want any kind of effect on the text you put you can go to Effect and select it from there. , This will show you if your text is too small or too big, or if your images look strange in the way you've positioned them.
If you are satisfied with the appearance of your card, go ahead and print out however many you need.
Congratulations--you've successfully created your very own greeting card in Adobe Illustrator! -
Step 3: Your work area should now look like the following image.
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Step 4: Draw any picture you like.
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Step 5: Use the direct selection tool to adjust your shape.
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Step 6: To add other elements to your initial shape
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Step 7: use any of the shape tools or even the freehand drawing tool.
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Step 8: Color your image using the gradient tool.
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Step 9: If you want several of the same shape you can duplicate your image.
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Step 10: You can also make your shapes various colors or add shadows using the pen tool.
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Step 11: If you'd like to write over a part/all of your image
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Step 12: position them at your work area.
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Step 13: Use the type tool to write your text.
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Step 14: Print a sample copy of your card.
Detailed Guide
Cards are generally a standard size of 5 inches (12.7 cm) by 7 inches (shown here as rectangle #1), so you should keep the elements of your text/images within the boundaries of this safety line.
Rectangle #2 is a cutting line, or a tolerance around your card, and should be bigger than your safety line around
0.25 inches (0.6 cm).
Click on the #2 line and go to View > Guides > Make Guides.
Create an another line.
This line is a bleeding line, extending the background color all the way to the edges of your card.
Set it bigger than your cutting line by about
0.25 inches (0.6 cm) so that it serves as another guide. , Remember, #1 is the safety line, #2 is the cutting line, and #3 is the bleeding line. , The overall look will, of course, depend on the type of greeting card you wish to send.
This card is an example of a birthday card, so the picture will be of balloons.
To create an image of a balloon or any other circular object, use the ellipse tool, as shown here. , In this example the circle's sides are tapered downwards so it starts to resemble a balloon. , Here a small triangle is drawn and positioned at the bottom of the balloon, as shown, then seamlessly connected using Pathfinder > Add to shape area > Expand. , For candy apple red with a bit of shine, set the first color to C = 1, M = 90, Y = 50, K = 0 and second color to white, with border stroke = none.
Use radial mode to complete this step. , Make a new circle and make it fit like a shadow.
Then select the circle and the copy of the original balloon and go to Pathfinder > Option-click on Minus Front ( also called subtract from shape area) > Expand.
Drag the shadow to the original balloon and choose Multiply for the transparency.
You might want to change the color. , Use the pencil tool to draw thin lines or other details, like strings on the balloons here. , Select the portion you want to write on and set it to transparency = 30, or more if you'd like the background to be fainter. , If you want any kind of effect on the text you put you can go to Effect and select it from there. , This will show you if your text is too small or too big, or if your images look strange in the way you've positioned them.
If you are satisfied with the appearance of your card, go ahead and print out however many you need.
Congratulations--you've successfully created your very own greeting card in Adobe Illustrator!
About the Author
Diana Howard
Enthusiastic about teaching hobbies techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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