I am having an excruciating time preparing files. I don’t really know illustrator and I’ve been creating png files in photo shop and doing image trace on illustrator to make the lines curable. It’s a mess and it’s stealing all my glowforge joy… I thought I could just make designs on photoshop and cut them out with the forge… not so much. Can someone who speaks English help me lol! I’m pleasant… I’d be down to Skype with someone even. Thanks. I saw a video of him drawing a coin for his kids and cutting it out so easily. WHATS WRONG WITH ME!!! Sorry I’m pregnant and everything is so emotional lol!
ALSO SOMETIMES PROOFFRADE SETTINGS DONT WORK. Makes me preggo hulk rage.
Chuckle! You might have scared a few folks off by admitting to hormonally induced irritation, but there are a lot of starter tutorials for using Illustrator here, and a few folks who are fairly proficient in it.
(@jbv…that’s a cop-out you coward!) He’s one of the experts.
I’m going to start by pointing you at a few tutorials to read - they’re all written for Illustrator and fairly clear. After that, if you have specific questions about how to do certain steps just ask. We’ve actually got a great reference library for using Illustrator.
The tutorials are short, just a couple pages each, but they’ll really speed your understanding of what is going on and save you a ton of time. I’m currently experiencing internet outages, so I might not be able to respond fully until tomorrow if you have any questions…it’s been up and down for the last couple of days.
Here you go:
For Using Photoshop, GIMP and Paintshop:
For using Illustrator, Inkscape, CorelDRAW and Affinity Designer:
The last one listed there is a link to the Matrix where we have basic functions broken out for the major vector drawing software - including Illustrator.
I might be able to help. I’ve been using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for a while (since version 3, they came in boxes only back then) and have learned to use a few other drawing and image editing apps too. Inkscape is not one of my strong points, but can make things work eventually, the terms used in the drop-down menus are often new to me, even through English is my first language.
Lastly, I’m a dad. My kids are 9 and 13, but I have memories of my wife dealing with her side (the most intense parts) of both pregnancies. I was there during both deliveries for support and to cut the umbilical cords. I am fairly certain that I got the easier side of both experiences.
When is a good time for you to talk? (EDIT: I just realized that I don’t have Skype any more, uh oh! I must have lost it when the old laptop died!?)
Realistically you are going to be far better served going on youtube and watching illustrator basics courses. There are literally 100’s of them a lot of which have well planned out videos with curriculum being reviewed by professionals.
I still have my Macintosh Illustrator 3 box – complete with the old-time discs and manuals!
I highly recommend Adobe’s Classroom in a Book series. There is probably one available for whatever version you are using. And it can probably be found on Amazon.
The book is laid out like a tutorial course, with a CD in the back (at least my latest version CS5.5 has a CD (don’t know what Adobe is doing for the later versions.)
It is very easy to follow. You really just have to devote some (not much) time in following the tutorials and before long you will OWN Illustrator!
I used to professionally teach Illustrator and Photoshop, but now think this book is a great way to learn.
