Illustrator CS5: What’s new and what you need to know.

Several of the new features have to do with Web and mobile devices. The handful that are relevant to iStockers, and thus this article, are:

• Perspective Drawing
• “Beautiful Strokes”
• Bristle Brush tool
• Draw Inside/Behind

Let’s break it down:

Perspective Drawing

Holy cow, this is cool. Grids, Widgets and tools oh my! Draw in perfect 1-, 2- and 3-point perspective without spending an entire day working out the math.


Is it compatible? Totally. The grid is not part of the file, so if everything else in your illustration is kosher, just save down as usual and you’re good to go. 01_grid.jpg

Beautiful Strokes

First off, I don’t know why this feature is called “Beautiful Strokes.” You’re certainly free to create ugly art with it. Anyway, Beautiful Strokes is a set of enhancements to the Strokes panel. The three major components are as follows:
1. Variable-width stokes
The new Width tool lets you precisely adjust the thickness of any part of a stroke. You can also create and save custom “width profiles,” which you can reapply to any stroke. In the example below, each horse drawing is identical, but the width and profile of the strokes has been changed.


Is it compatible? Yes. You don’t even have to expand the appearance of the strokes — they are expanded when you save down to EPS v.8.


2. Dashed line adjustments
This lets you control the alignment of dashes symmetrically around corners — for the perfect coupon — and at the end of open paths.


Is it compatible? No change. To expand a dashed line, you must flatten its transparency. Even if it isn’t transparent. This has always been a little non-intuitive quirk about Illustrator, and it wasn’t changed in this version.

3. Precise arrowheads
You can now create arrowheads using the Stroke panel, and lock the tip or the base of the arrowhead to the endpoint of the path. It’s much more handy and precise than using a style, as in previous versions.


Is it compatible? Yes. When saved down to EPS v. 8, the arrowhead expands and the stroke is maintained. If the path is unfilled, you can leave it as an editable stroke. Or you can choose to expanded the stroke via the Object menu.

Bristle Brush Tool

Bristle Brush is a new kind of brush that attempts to mimic the appearance of a natural media, like watercolor or oil, in vector. If you use a tablet and Wacom 6D pen, the Bristle Brush responds to pressure, bearing, and tilt. You can create Bristle brushes with an infinite combination of characteristics, including tip shape, length, stiffness, and paint opacity.


Is it compatible? No. Since most Bristle brushes contain transparency, they need to be flattened before saving to EPS v. 8. Unless you have a single, simple brush stroke in your illustration, the result will be messy. Even Illustrator warns you if you have a large number of Bristle Brush strokes in your document. If you must use a Bristle Brush stroke, be extra diligent when checking for transparency and open paths.

Draw Inside/Draw Behind

This feature attempts to make drawing more intuitive by allowing you to draw behind other objects without fussing with layers or setting the stacking order. You can also draw inside a shape — Illustrator automatically creates a clipping mask from the top shape.



Is it compatible? Yes. Draw behind does nothing to alter the paths, it just draws them behind a selected object. Draw Inside creates Clipping Masks, which are compatible, but you’ll probably want to expand them afterward just to make the file easier for the buyer to edit.

Should you upgrade?

That’s up to you and your wallet. As with previous upgrades, you might wonder how you ever did without a certain new feature once you start working with it. Or you might be perfectly happy with your familiar, older version. Either way, it can be a challenge to remain compatible with EPS v.8. Knowing what to look out for in Illustrator CS5 will make that just a bit easier.