Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template in Adobe ...graphics-tutorial.ced.berkeley.edu/newpage/illustrator/D-1 Creating... · Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template

Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template in Adobe Illustrator

Tutorial Created by Brijesh Bhatha, 2004. Updated 2006 by Corinne Stewart ([email protected])

GRAPHICS TUTORIAL # D1Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template in Adobe Illustrator

CP-208 Plan Preparation Studio - Prof. Elizabeth Macdonald 2

In this exercise we will learn to create a sheet layout and title block template. This should be the first step before organizing the presentation boards with information.

NOTE: In Adobe Illustrator, the work area occupies the entire space within the Illustrator window and includes more than just the printable page containing your artwork. The printable and non-printable areas are represented by a series of solid and dotted lines between the outermost edge of the window and the printable area of the page. It is important to understand some basic terminology and concepts used in Adobe Illustrator before beginning.

Understanding basic Illustrator terminology and concepts:

1. Imageable area: The imageable area is bounded by the innermost dotted lines and represents the portion of the page on which the selected printer can print. Many printers cannot print to the edge of the paper.

2. Non-imageable area: The non-imageable area is between the two sets of dotted lines representing any non-printable margin of the page.

3. Edge of the page: The page edge is indicated by the outermost set of dotted lines.

4. Artboard: The artboard is bounded by solid lines and represents the entire region that can contain printableartwork.Thereisadefaultartboardsizewhenanewfileiscreated,butitcanbeenlargedor reduced as required. The U.S. default artboard is 8.5” x 11”, but it can be set as large as 227” x 227”. You can choose to show or hide the artboard.

5. Scratch area: The scratch area is the area outside the artboard that extends to the edge of the 227- inch square window. The scratch area represents a space on which you can create, edit, and store elements of artwork before moving them onto the artboard. Objects placed onto the scratch area are visible on-screen, but they do not print.


CP-208 Plan Preparation Studio - Prof. Elizabeth Macdonald �

STEP - I Creating a New Illustrator file: 1. Open Adobe Illustrator. 2. Inthe“FileMenu”select“New”tocreateanewIllustratorfile.3. A“NewDocument”dialogboxwillappear.Enter“Template-1”oradesirednameforthetemplatefilein the“Name”fieldasshownbelowandhit“OK”.

4. In the “File Menu” select “Document Setup.

5. A “Document Setup” dialog box will appear. 6. In the same dialog box select “inches” in “Units” from the available options by scrolling the choices. 7. Also in the same dialog box select Artboard if it is not already selected and then enter the required paper size. One can also select a custom size by changing the “width” and the “height” of the Artboard. • For this tutorial select 36” X 48” as the Artboard size. Note that the Artboard size in not the same

as the printable area. Hence, the printable area needs to be set up. See STEP - II

8. FinallyselecttheOrientationoftheArtboard,eitherLandscapeorPortraitandhit“OK.• For this tutorial select Landscape as the orientation.

File Menu Document Setup Menu



STEP – II. Setting the Printable Area (Paper size): Note: The Printable area is basically the output paper size, in other words the size of the final presentation board.

1. The print area now visible in the form of two dotted lines is a default size setup by the software. 2. In the “File Menu” select “Print Setup”. �. “Print Setup” dialog box will appear. Select the appropriate plotter from the available selection. Select theplottersothatitwillsupportthefinalpapersizetobeprinted.(Inthiscaseitis36”x48”)4. In the same menu in “Selecting the Paper Size” select the paper size from the available printer default paper sizes. To customize a paper size select “Properties”. File Menu Print Menu Select the appropriate plotter

5. A new dialog box will appear for “Paper Sizes”. Enter the required width and the height of the required paper.

• For this tutorial select 36” for height and 48” for width 6. In “Orientation” select one option for the paper to be in landscape or Portrait format. • For this tutorial select Landscape orientation 7. Hit“OK”inallopenwindows.8. A Printable area of required size will be visible in the form of two boxes of dotted lines. Note here that the printable area with the dotted lines will appear on the screen at a random location.

Selecting the Paper Size Hit “Done” When Finished



STEP - III Adjusting the placement of the printable area to be on the Artboard:

NOTE: You need to adjust the placement of the printable area of the page. This is a good way to avoid having the artwork extend past the boundaries of the current page. You can adjust the page from any view. You may finditeasiesttochooseView...FitInWindow(orCtrl+0)soyoucanseeallofyourartworkwhileyouadjustthe pages.

1. Select the page tool ( ). The pointer becomes a dotted cross when you move it to the active window.

Page tool in the “Tool box” is located along with the “Pan tool”

To open the “Page Tool” press and hold the cursor with the mouse, roll on the right and click on the tool

2. Drag the page to the new location. As you drag, the page tool responds as if you were moving the page from its lower left corner. Two gray rectangles are displayed. The outer rectangle represents the page size, and the inner rectangle represents the printable area of a page. NOTE: You can move the page anywhere on the artboard; however, any part of a page that extends past the printable area boundary is not printed. STEP - IV Creating Layers and Layer Groups:

Understanding the concept of working with Layers:Every document contains at least one layer. Layers act like clear sheets containing one or more objects. Where therearenooverlappingfilledobjects,youcanseethroughanylayertothelayerbelow.Creatingmultiplelayers in your document lets you easily control how artwork is printed, organized, displayed, and edited. You can create and modify objects on any layer without affecting the artwork on any other layer. Once you create layers, you can work with them in various ways, such as duplicating and reordering them, creatinglayerswithinlayers,andmerging,flattening,andaddingobjectstothem.Youcanevencreatetemplate layers, which you can use to trace artwork. In addition, you can import layers from Photoshop. You can use the Layers palette to do any of the following to layers, groups, and objects (It is explained in detail in the following page in the sequence shown below: 1. Select, create, and delete them. 2. Hide and lock them. 3. Mergeandflattenthem. 4. Apply appearance attributes, styles, effects, and transparency.

Tool Box

Layers Pallete



Understanding Nesting layers, groups, and objects in the Layers palette: To help you organize your artwork, you can create layers, groups, and objects within layers. Each of these can be displayed and selected through the Layers palette.

The following guidelines apply to the hierarchy in the Layers palette: You can create any number of layers, groups, and objects. Layers can contain other layers, groups, and objects. Only layers can exist at the top level of the hierarchy. Groups can contain other groups and objects, but not layers. Applying a command such as Lock or Hide to a layer or group locks or hides everything within the layer or group but preserves its previous settings.

1. Click the New Layer button ( ) on the bottom of the Layers palette or choose New Layer from the Layers palette menu to create a layer with default options. The new layer is created above the current layer, group, or object. 2. Double click on the newly created layer in the “Layer palette” to edit the name of the layer. �. “Layer Option” dialog box will appear. 4. Entertheappropriatenameforthelayerandhit“OK”andthelayernamewillappearinthelayer palette 5. Repeat steps 1-4 to create the following layers.

• For this tutorial create the following four layers - Line, Editable text, Uneditable text, Guides.

Click on this icon to create a new

sub layer

Click on this icon to create a new layer

Layers showing such symbols have objects nested within them. To see the nested objects click on this logo

Layer Group Nested Objects within the Editable text layer

Double-click on the layer name

Click here to delete the selected layer

Enter the desired layer name



STEP -V. Locking and Hiding Objects:

You can use the Lock and Hide commands to isolate parts of your artwork on which you do not want to work. Onceanobjectislockedorhidden,itcannotbeselectedormodifiedinanyway.Thesefeaturesareusefulwhen you are working on objects that overlap.

In addition, the Hide command makes objects temporarily invisible, and so may speed performance when you workonlargeorcomplexartwork.Lockedobjectsremainlockedwhenfilesareclosedandreopened.How-ever,hiddenobjectsreappearwhenfilesarereopened. 1. To lock or hide artwork: Choose from the following options: To lock objects, select the objects and choose Object > Lock. To hide a selected object, select the objects and choose Object > Hide Selection.

Note: You can lock or hide entire objects only. Selecting part of an object (anchor points or segments) and locking or hiding it affects the entire object. 2. To unlock all objects: Choose Object > Unlock All. All previously locked objects are unlocked and selected. Any previously selected objects are deselected.

�. To show all objects: Choose Object > Show All. All previously hidden objects are shown. Any previously selected objects are selected.

4. The diagrams demonstrate using the Layers Palette to hide and lock objects

The line layer is hidden The line layer is visible

Click on this sym-bol to hide objects in that layer

Click on this symbol to lock objects in that layer

The Guides layer is now locked



STEP - VI. Using Guides and Grids for Reference: To help align text and graphic objects on the page, you can use background grids or you can create and dis-play alignment outlines called guides. On the screen the grids normally appear as lines or dots behind the art-work, and they do not print. You use grids to lay out objects or elements symmetrically. Selected artwork and toolssnaptothegridifSnapToGridisturnedon.Gridspacing,color,andstylecanbedifferentforeachfile.

a. Creating and Using Grids The visibility of the grid and snapping to the grid are controlled by the Show Grid command and the Snap to Grid command. 1. Inthe“View”menuselecttheoptionsfor“ShowGrid”and“SnaptoGrid”. b. Creating a Ruler Guide: Note: First step is having the layer for the element you are creating to be selected by clicking on the layer name in the layer palette.

1. Select the layer “guides” already created earlier in the exercise layer palette. 2. Position the pointer on the left ruler for a vertical guide or on the top ruler for a horizontal guide. Press Alt to switch the ruler guide from horizontal to vertical, and vice versa. �. Drag the ruler guide into the desired position. Note: To make working with multiple guides easier, place all guides on a single layer. You can then choose the layer to select all guides for moving or adjusting.

4. Repeat steps 2 and � to create additional guides. 5. It might be necessary to turn off the guides at various stages of work to make working easier. Toshoworhideguides:ChooseView>Guides>ShowGuides(orCtrl;)toshowallguidesor View>HideGuidestohidethem.

The ruler as it appears on the screen

The grid as it appears on the screen.

The ruler guides NOTE: The guide is seen in blue in this example, however the default color for both the guides and grids can be changed to preferred color. This is explained in the following page.


CP-208 Plan Preparation Studio - Prof. Elizabeth Macdonald �

GRAPHICS TUTORIAL # D1 • For this tutorial create the following guides for the paper size created earlier

The diagram shows typical dimensions for the location of the ruler guides. They will help to organize and coordinate locations of text and images. The 1 1/2” spacing around top and bottom side edges creates a sheet border; The 3 1/2” space at the bottom is where the title block will go. The other lines divide the main part of the sheet into 4 equal rectangles, useful for aligning and placing images.

Paper size (�6” x 48”)

Ruler Guides



c. Setting Guide and Grid Preferences

Note: The preferences setting for both the Grids and Guides can be changed using the same dialog box. Use the Guides & Grid preferences to set the color and style of guides and the grid, and grid spacing. Setting the grid dimensions to a smaller unit (for e.g.. 1 inch etc.) can be helpful while creating and composing the artboard. The colors on the screen for Guide and Grid software defaults. They can be changed to suit personal visual color preferences. However it is usually easy to work with the software default colors

To set guide and grid preferences:

1. Select “Edit”- “Preferences” and “Guides & Grid”. 2. Set options for guides and the grid: For Color, choose a color for guides, or the grid, or both. If you choose Other, click the color box, chooseacolorfromthecolorpicker,andclickOK.ForStyle,chooseadisplayoptionforguides, or the grid, or both. For Grid line Every, enter a new value (and unit of measure if necessary) for the spacing of primary grid lines. For Subdivisions, enter a value to subdivide the grid. For Grids in Back, select the option to display the grid behind all artwork; deselect the option to display the grid in front of all artwork. 3. ClickOK.

• For this tutorial enter 1” as the minimum grid dimension in the “Gridline every:” box.

Choose the color as required from the

“Color” dialog box.

Edit Menu> Guides and Grid Preference settings for Guides

Specifying the minimum unit of

the grid

Note: Grids are very helpful for reference when the “snap to grid “ option is activated in the view menu

Double-click on these icons to open the “Color” dialog box



STEP - VII. Drawing a line with the Pen Tool to create a base line for the title block:

• Below is the example of the title block to be prepared for this tutorial.

Note: Select the already created layer “line” in the layer palette before drawing the line.

1. To draw the base line for the title block, select the pen tool ( ).

2. Position the tip of the pen point on the left corner of the guides, and click to definethefirstanchorpoint(donotdrag).Theanchorpointremainsselected (solid) until you add the next point.

Note:Thefirstsegmentyoudrawwillnotbevisibleuntilyouclickasecondanchorpoint.Also,ifdirectionlinesappear,you’veaccidentallydraggedthepentool;chooseEdit>Undo(orCtrl+Z)andclickagain.

3. Tocloseapath,positionthepenpointeroverthefirst(hollow)anchorpoint.Asmallloopappearsnext to the pen tool ( ) when it is positioned correctly. Click with the mouse to close the path.

Note: For the line to be seen the artboard select colors for “Fill” and “Stroke” by clicking on the color palette which is shown below.

4. Click on the selection tool ( ), select the line. 5. Select black color for both “Fill” and “Stroke”. 6. To increase the width of the line, select the line with the selection tool ( ), In the “Stroke” tool Palette

• For this tutorial select 25 pt. as the width of the line.

Stroke Weight can be edited by changing the points here

Pen Tool in the Tool Palette

Displays Stroke Width and Fill Color



STEP - VIII. Creating Text for the Title Block:

1. Change to layer “Uneditable text” for all the text which needs to be identical for all the presentation boards. 2. Click on the ( ) on the tool box, which is usually on the left hand side of the screen. �. Click where you want the type to begin, and drag right and down to create a text rectangle. 4. To edit the type of the font, select the text, and in the “Type” menu select “Font” and select Times New Roman as your text type. 5. To edit the size of the font, select the text, and in the “Type” menu select “Size” and select the size as required. 6. To enter the new string of text repeat step 2-5. 7. Enter the text as shown below.

Note: Change to layer “Editable text” for all text which will be different on each presentation. In this case it is the drawing name, the sheet number, and the names of people. i.e. to layer “Uneditable text, which being common for all students. These layer names help you to better organize your drawing.

8. To edit the alignment of the paragraph, In the “Type” menu open “Paragraph” and a “Paragraph” tool palette will appear. Select the option for aligning of the text. You can also edit text size and type in the “character” tab.

Pick Color

Editable text

This symbol suggests that no color is selected for the stroke. In such a case the drawn line will not be visible. To assign a color to the stroke click on icon and select black from the Pantone swatches.

Uneditable textUneditable text

Editable text


CP-208 Plan Preparation Studio - Prof. Elizabeth Macdonald 1�

Note: Oncethetextsize,type,andlocationisfinalizedforthetextinlayer.Exceptthelayer“Editabletext”,which will be different in different situations, lock all other layers. To lock the layers, click on the location shown below with the arrow. All other layers can be active

• For this tutorial reproduce the text shown on the example or experiment with other text.

Character Tool Palette Paragraph Tool Palette

Tools for Aligning text in the paragraph

The font size can be edited here

Click on the space shown to lock layers except the layer

to be edited, i.e. Layer “Editable Text”

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Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template in Adobe ...graphics-tutorial.ced.berkeley.edu/newpage/illustrator/D-1 Creating... · Creating a Sheet Layout and Title Block Template