From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)
682 Drawing a Wi-Fi symbol in Illustrator
From the course: Deke's Techniques (2018-2021)
682 Drawing a Wi-Fi symbol in Illustrator
- Hey gang, this is Deke McClelland. Welcome to Deke's Techniques. Now last week, we created this wild optical illusion inside Illustrator that features all these devices competing for our attention, that are communicating with each other wirelessly via these tiny wifi and Bluetooth icons. And so I thought this week I'd follow up by showing you how to create one possible wifi symbol. And I say, one possible because there is no standard. There is an official wifi logo that looks something like this. This is a knock off that I found online. But, honestly, who cares? I'm not sure there's anybody who looks at this and says, oh yeah, a rounded rectangle plus two teardrops, equals wireless connectivity. We want something like this right here. Now, not to get too nerdy on you, but this is the symbol that's featured on iDevices, such as iPhones and iPads. And you can see, we've got a central circle that's masked, along with two arching bars, whereas if you're working on a Mac, you get three arching bars. But there's all kinds of other alternatives. You can see the entire circle in some cases. Or, you match the circle by adding round caps to the bars right there. And then, you can create an entire cell phone tower or something along those lines. I've seen this one on some PC laptops. And incidentally, if any of this interests you I am providing this as an exercise file, as an editable exercise file. It's an Illustrator document, and each one of these guys is expressed as a group. So have at it if you like. But, I'm going to create this one right here. Which one is it? This one, because it's the coolest, it's the simplest after all. Now it's so simple you may scoff at it. But while it is easy to put together; it's just three circles and a clipping mask, it's easy to put together roughly. What if you want to get the balance right? You want to balance the central circle with the other two, and you want to make sure these line weights match the negative space between them, and that the diagonal sides of the clipping mask are exactly 45 degrees, in which case here, let me show you exactly how it works. All right, here's our final version of the wifi symbol, open, of course, inside Illustrator. I'm going to start off inside this file, which has a couple of center guides. And I'm going to go over here to the Layers panel, drop down to the tiny page icon at the bottom of the panel and Alt or Option, click on it to bring out the Layer Options dialog box, and I'll call this guy wifi, and change the color to gold, just so it stands out. All right, now I'll click on Okay, and I'll go ahead and bring up the Shape tool fly out menu and select the Ellipse tool. And then I'll go up to the View menu, and make sure my Smart Guides are turned on, which in my case they are. And then I'll position my cursor over the intersection of these two center guides, and I will press the Alt key or the Option key on the Mac, and click to bring up the Ellipse dialog box. And I'm going to change the size of this guy to 150 points wide, as well as 150 points tall, so, we're looking for a circle, and I'll click Okay. Now I'm going to change the color of the fill to this guy right here, color two, which is a dark shade of blue, although you can go with any color you like. And then I'll also change the stroke to that same color, like so, and I'll crank the line weight value up to 50 points to produce this effect here. All right, now I'll press Ctrl-C, Ctrl-F, that's going to be Cmd-C, Cmd-F on the Mac, to copy the shape and paste it in front. All right, now I'll get rid of the fill for this particular shape by clicking on that very first swatch up here in the options bar, and setting it to none. And then I'll go up here to the Control panel, and notice these shape controls, which are available to those of you who are working inside Illustrator CC. Go ahead and link those two values together, and change either one of them to 350 points, and that'll update that other value as well, and that will end up with this effect here. And that's going to leave a 50 point gap between this outer stroke and the inner circle. All right, now we want to create another copy of this guy. And you can do that by changing the first value, the first shape value, up here in the Control panel to 550, but instead of pressing the tab key this time around, press Alt, Enter, that's going to be Option, Return on the Mac, in order to make a copy of this circle, as we're seeing here. All right, now I'm going to go ahead and select all these shapes. And just to make sure everything's the way it's supposed to be, I'll click on the word Transform, up here in the Control panel, and you want to make sure the center point is selected inside the tiny reference point matrix, and then confirm that the X value is 504 points, which is half the width of the artboard, and that the Y value is 336 points, which is half the height of the artboard. And so if those values aren't quite right, just go ahead and enter them. And now what we want to do is create a clipping mask. And the most surefire way to do that is going to be to select the Line Segment tool from the Line tool flyout menu, and then you want to move your cursor over the intersection of those two center guides once again, and Alt or Option, click in order to bring up this dialog box right here. And we're looking for a length value of about 420 points, should do it, and we want the angle to be 45 degrees, at which point click Okay to accept that change. Then, go ahead and click and hold on the Rotate tool, and select the Reflect tool from the flyout menu, and you want to Alt or Option, click right there on that bottom left anchor point. That's going to bring up the Reflect dialog box. Go ahead and set the axis to Vertical, is what we're looking for, and click the Copy button in order to create a copy of that path. All right, now go ahead and switch back to the black arrow tool, which you can get by pressing the V key, and Shift, click on the first diagonal line right there. We don't need this stroke to be so thick, and so we're going to be able to see better what we're doing if we take that line weight value down to let's say two points, and then you want to go ahead and join these paths together by going to the Object menu, choosing Path, and then choosing Join, or you can just press Ctrl, J, or Cmd, J on the Mac, and then you want to do it again. So this time I'll just press the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl, J, or once again, Cmd, J on the Mac. And that doesn't actually look like it's tall enough. That's going to end up clipping the top of that circle right there. So, I'll press the A key to switch to the white arrow tool, and then I'll click this top left anchor point, and I'll press Shift, up arrow a couple of times and Shift, left arrow a couple of times as well, and then I'll select this top right point, and press Shift, up arrow a couple of times, followed by Shift, right arrow twice in a row. And that way, we'll move the points upward, while ensuring that these diagonal segments remain at exactly 45 degrees. All right, now I'll press the V key to switch back to my black arrow tool, up here at the top of the toolbox, and I'll press Ctrl, A, or Cmd, A on the Mac to select all of my shapes, and then I'll go up to the Object menu, drop all the way down to Clipping Mask, and choose the Make command. And that will go ahead and mask all the circular shapes inside of that front-most triangle. All right, now I want to scale my artwork, so it takes up the entire artboard. And I'm going to do that by selecting the Scale tool, which you can get by pressing the S key, and then I'll move my cursor onto this anchor point, which is the top anchor point in the outer-most circle, and I'll Alt, or Option, click to bring up the Scale dialog box. Now we don't want the value to be this big. In fact, I'm looking for a uniform value of 200%. And notice because my Preview checkbox is turned on, I can see that it's scaling the circles, but I'm not scaling the strokes. So I have these big gaps in between, which is why I'm going to go ahead and turn on this checkbox, Scale Strokes & Effects, in order to create this effect here, at which point, I'll click Okay in order to accept that change. And then, I'll press Shift, down arrow three times in a row to nudge the artwork down 30 points, and then I'll turn off my Guides layer, and I'll deselect my artwork by pressing Ctrl, Shift, A, that's going to be Cmd, Shift, A on the Mac. And that's how you create a wifi symbol, specifically like the ones you see featured on Apple's iPhones and iPads, here inside Illustrator. All right now, if you're a member of Lynda.com, or LinkedIn Learning, I have a follow up movie in which I show you how to create what is ultimately the official Bluetooth logo, complete with what appears to be a rounded rectangle. It's actually a stretched oval. If you're looking forward to next week, why, I've got a doozy for ya. It's really great, but, you will need the most recent version of Photoshop or Illustrator CC, in which case, you have access to a font that you probably don't even know about, that goes by the name, Trajan Color Concept. It's a full color font that comes with all kinds of varieties, and it's a lot of fun. Now don't forget that there is also this file that's available to you with the exercise files. If you can't find it, come to deke.com, D, E, K, E.com, and download it for free. Now you'll have to be a member, but membership is free as well. We don't even ask you for your Facebook or social media information. You just create an account and a password, and you're good to go. We do ask a few questions, of course, such as your bank accounts and routing numbers, but otherwise, it's very easy. Deke's Techniques, each and every week. Keep watching.
Practice while you learn with exercise files
Download the files the instructor uses to teach the course. Follow along and learn by watching, listening and practicing.
- 669_custom_QR.zip
- 670_more_QR.zip
- 671_hidden_circles.zip
- 673_shade_panels.zip
- 672_more_rectangles.zip
- 674_cafe_wall.zip
- 675_skewed_walls.zip
- 676_magic_checkers.zip
- 677_magic_dots.zip
- 678_reverse_illusion.zip
- 679_illusion_decor.zip
- 680_more_gizmos.zip
- 681_connect_gizmos.zip
- 682_wifi_symbol.zip
- 683_bluetooth_logo.zip
- 684_trajan_color.zip
- 685_trajan_AIcc.zip
- 686_stylistic_PsCC.zip
- 687_stylistic_AIcc.zip
- 688_grad_molecules.zip
- 689_sharper_moles.zip
- 690_smart_cules.zip
- 691_explore_cules.zip
- 692_blend_cules.zip
- 693_high_pass_cules.zip
- 694_cell_pattern.zip
- 695_hemoglobin.zip
- 696_edgy_cells.zip
- 697_springy_cells.zip
- 698_accordian_letters.zip
- 699_skew_blends.zip
- 700_cross_blends.zip
- 701_slice_blend.zip
- 702_blend_distort.zip
- 703_dynamic_roughen.zip
- 704_fish_twist.zip
- 705_dynam_bgnd_1.zip
- 706_dynam_bgnd_2.zip
- 707_quieter_art.zip
- 708_disintegration.zip
- 709_more_flakes.zip
- 710_mask_ashes.zip
- 711_flakes_to_ash.zip
- 712_note_tool.zip
- 713_contour_map.zip
- 714_contour_grad.zip
- 715_contour_arb.zip
- 716_contour_riff.zip
- 717_smooth_contour.zip
- 718_contour_cash.zip
- 719_color_of_money.zip
- 720_AI_adjust.zip
- 721_computer_key.zip
- 722_key_type.zip
- 723_faux_hedcut.zip
- 724_hedcut_lines.zip
- 725_color_hedcut.zip
- 726_ET_moon.zip
- 727_ET_trees.zip
- 728_ET_TRex.zip
- 729_global_glow.zip
- 730_content_aware.zip
- 731_space_portal.zip
- 732_enhance_portal.zip
- 733_rushing_stars.zip
- 734_AIcc_puppet.zip
- 735_puppet_tricks.zip
- 736_complex_puppet.zip
- 737_puppet_shortcut.zip
- 738_pentagons.zip
- 739_reinhardt.zip
- 740_kershner.zip
- 741_james_pentagon.zip
- 742_rice_pentagons.zip
- 743_stein_pentagon.zip
- 744_15th_pentagon.zip
- 745_tessellate_15.zip
- 746_pentatiles.zip
- 747_mod_pattern.zip
- 748_complement_tiles.zip
- 749_image_pattern.zip
- 750_pattern_fit.zip
- 751_candy_keeper.zip
- 752_keeper_text.zip
- 753_monster_movie.zip
- 754_mono_halftone.zip
- 755_word_haunted.zip
- 756_cheat_letters.zip
- 757_alt_adjust.zip
- 758_scuba_mono.zip
- 759_backscatter.zip
- 760_sample_outside.zip
- 761_Ps_vector_logo.zip
- 762_trans_shapes.zip
- 763_photo_logo.zip
- 764_high_res_snow.zip
- 765_enhance_snow.zip
- 766_snowflake_bokeh.zip
- 767_mandala_ps.zip
- 768_mandala_pattern.zip
- 769_mandala_dots.zip
- 770_mandala_color.zip
- 771_mandala_final.zip
- 772_AI_trim_view.zip
- 773_AI_presentation.zip
- 774_global_edits.zip
- 775_global_control.zip
- 776_freeform_grads.zip
- 777_freeform_lines.zip
- 778_freeform_gotcha.zip
- 779_great_white.zip
- 780_sharper_shark.zip
- 781_vibrance_sat.zip
- 782_vib_sat_sharp.zip
- 783_hedcut_action.zip
- 784_action_actions.zip
- 785_color_lines.zip
- 786_combine_lines.zip
- 787_clip_to_group.zip
- 788_color_outside.zip
- 789_flip_horizontal.zip
- 790_white_walker.zip
- 791_walker_begins.zip
- 792_digital_shave.zip
- 793_deep_wrinkles.zip
- 794_deep_brows.zip
- 795_pale_lips.zip
- 796_glowing_blue.zip
- 797_lifeless_pupils.zip
- 798_cold_gloomy.zip
- 799_brittle_flakes.zip
- 800_trans_shapes.zip
- 801_range_mask.zip
- 802_flip_photo.zip
- 803_actual_dream.zip
- 804_augment_dream.zip
- 805_smart_distortions.zip
- 806_blend_distortions.zip
- 807_star_negative.zip
- 808_star_pattern.zip
- 809_shaded_stars.zip
- 810_grad_pattern.zip
- 811_pattern_fade.zip
- 813_gobstopper.zip
- 814_gobpattern.zip
- 815_galignment.zip
- 816_etched_lines.zip
- 817_blend_pattern.zip
- 818_cubical_holes.zip
- 819_grad_pattern.zip
- 820_iso_arrows.zip
- 821_position_tips.zip
- 822_fill_gaps.zip
- 823_cartoon_teeth.zip
- 824_triangle_eye.zip
- 825_add_windows.zip
- 826_perfect_tessellate.zip
- 827_triangle_tunnels.zip
- 828_triangles_pattern.zip
- 829_colorful_triangles.zip
- 830_recolor_triangles.zip
- 831_rainbow_blends.zip
- 832_pattern_blends.zip
- 833_imposs_trident.zip
- 834_shade_trident.zip
- 835_opposing_grads.zip
- 836_trident_shadows.zip
- 837_impossible_hex.zip
- 838_impossible_lattice.zip
- 839_Joan_Miro.zip
- 840_watercolor_wash.zip
- 841_Miro_signature.zip
- 842_Photoshop_Miro.zip
- 843_enlarge_Miro.zip
- 844_Miro_Peele.zip
- 845_color_Us.zip
- 846_red_rorschach.zip
- 847_finish_Us.zip
- 848_CAF_fails.zip
- 849_turkey_2019.zip
- 850_trace_hand.zip
- 851_articulated_hand.zip
- 852_colorful_hand.zip
- 853_paint_fingernails.zip
- 854_paint_turkey.zip
- 855_turkey_feathers.zip
- 856_drop_shadow.zip
- 857_Ps_iPad_1.zip
- 858_Ps_iPad_2.zip
- 859_Ps_iPad_3.zip
- 860_iPad_Sidecar.zip
- 861_Adobe_Fresco.zip
- 862_Fresco_halftones.zip
- 863_live_brushes.zip
- 864_oil_paint.zip
- 865_Fresco_masks.zip
- 866_repurpose_mask.zip
- 867_vector_brush.zip
- 868_fresco_ps.zip
- 869_auto_color.zip
- 870_ACR_pano.zip
- 871_correct_pano.zip
- 872_diffusion.zip
- 873_simplify_2020.zip
- 874_fill_gaps.zip
- 875_posterize.zip
- 876_paint_bucket.zip
- 877_nonD_poster.zip
- 878_dynamic_poster.zip
- 879_filmstrip.zip
- 880_awful_awesome.zip
- 881_rembrandt.zip
- 882_recolor_freeform.zip
- 883_recolor_group.zip
- 884_over_under.zip
- 885_dev_over_under.zip
- 886_3D_metal_star.zip
- 887_heavy_metal.zip
- 888_wonder_poster.zip
- 889_wonder_displace.zip
- 890_wonder_woman.zip
- 891_metadata_template.zip
- 892_edit_metadata.zip
- 893_quilt_warp.zip
- 894_warp_object.zip
- 895_gopro_images.zip
- 896_content_aware.zip
- 897_gopro_combo.zip
- 898_blend_vignette.zip
- 899_photo_painting.zip
- 900_cue_ball.zip
- 901_pool_ball.zip
- 902_stripe_ball.zip
- 903_transform_each.zip
- 904_recolor_pool.zip
- 905_pool_cues.zip
- 906_rotate_cues.zip
- 907_repeat_face.zip
- 908_rainbow_faces.zip
- 909_mask_lips.zip
- 910_single_many.zip
- 911_symmetrical_mask.zip
- 912_colorize_grads.zip
- 913_mask_grads.zip
- 914_lantern_type1.zip
- 915_lantern_type2.zip
- 916_lantern_type3.zip
- 917_blend_steps.zip
- 918_blended_blends.zip
- 919_reverse_order.zip
- 920_pattern_colors.zip
- 921_blend_pattern.zip
- 922_polygons.zip
- 923_equil_triangle.zip
- 924_mercedes.zip
- 925_star_ring.zip
- 926_perfect_star.zip
- 927_lets_review.zip
- 928_basic_shapes.zip
- 929_triangle_man.zip
- 930_paint_grads.zip
- 931_adv_grads.zip
- 932_trans_vectors.zip
- 933_free_distort.zip
- 934_dynamic_fx.zip
- 935_cats_eye.zip
- 936_cat_iris.zip
- 937_primitives.zip
- 938_zig_zag.zip
- 939_dynamic_hilight.zip
- 940_reptile_scales.zip
- 941_shade_eye.zip
- 942_variable_shade.zip
- 943_dragon_eye.zip
- 945_single_thumbnail.zip
- 946_ai_home.zip
- 947_unlock_object.zip
- 948_unlock_icon.zip
- 949_line_tool.zip
- 950_broken_candy.zip
- 951_candy_rhino.zip
- 952_wrap_pattern.zip
- 953_ice_shadows.zip
- 954_illustrator_ipad.zip
- 955_pencil_points.zip
- 956_ipad_blob.zip
- 957_ipad_pen.zip
- 958_grads_repeats.zip
- 959_color_grading.zip
- 960_grading_tricks.zip
- 961_blend_balance.zip
- 962_font_height.zip
- 963_camera_profile.zip
- 964_JPEG_raw.zip
- 965_match_detail.zip
- 966_Ps_line_tool.zip
- 967_troubleshoot_line.zip
- 968_blend_vectors.zip
- 969_curve_line.zip
- 970_point_glyphs.zip
- 971_area_glyphs.zip
- 972_snap_glyphs.zip
- 973_snap_letterform.zip
- 974_glyph_shape.zip
- 975_glyph_pen.zip
- 976_playing_cards.zip
- 977_scale_shape.zip
- 978_card_suits.zip
- 979_enhance_path.zip
- 980_power_symbol.zip
- 981_huge_artboard.zip
- 982_new_artboard.zip
- 983_triceratops.zip
- 984_pen_tricks.zip
- 985_round_corner.zip
- 986_draw_round.zip
- 987_reshape_round.zip
- 988_AI_brushed.zip
- 989_AI_rivets.zip
- 990_blend_grad.zip
- 991_binoculars.zip
- 992_blue_halo.zip
- 993_bi_aberrations.zip
- 994_hide_shapes.zip
- 995_subwoofer.zip
- 996_deep_cone.zip
- 997_gradient_frame.zip
- 998_hex_screws.zip
- 999_thats_all.zip
Contents
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669 Customizing a QR code in Photoshop11m 22s
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670 Adding more color to your QR code4m 29s
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671 Coffer illusion and the hidden circles18m 10s
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672 Filling out the hidden circles illusion9m 30s
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673 Shading the panels in a Coffer illusion13m 1s
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674 Drawing a classic “café wall” illusion11m 20s
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675 Skewing your crazy café walls in Illustrator9m 25s
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676 Creating a “magical checkers” illusion20m 8s
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677 Swapping magical checkers for dots8m 35s
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678 Reversing the direction of your illusion8m 33s
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679 Decorating your illusion9m 47s
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680 Adding more and more gizmos11m 52s
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681 Connecting the gizmos wirelessly4m 59s
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682 Drawing a Wi-Fi symbol in Illustrator9m 48s
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683 Drawing the official Bluetooth logo10m 8s
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684 Introducing Trajan Color Concept13m 10s
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685 Trajan Color Concept in Illustrator CC7m 10s
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686 Using stylistic sets in Photoshop CC9m 37s
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687 Using stylistic sets in Illustrator CC6m 47s
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688 Creating gradient molecules in Photoshop10m 17s
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689 Sharpening your very soft molecules4m 41s
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690 Editing your smart-filtered molecules6m 32s
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691 Exploring regular molecule patterns17m 41s
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692 Blending opposing rows of colorful molecules8m 49s
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693 Sharpening molecules with High Pass6m 3s
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694 Creating shimmering cells in Illustrator12m 25s
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695 Turning regular hexagons into organic cells11m 50s
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696 Enhancing your organic cells in Photoshop8m 58s
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697 Making dead cells spring to life7m 41s
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698 Creating letters with accordion extrusions13m 58s
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699 Combining object blends with skews11m 28s
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700 Making one object blend cut through another9m 44s
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701 Making one object blend slice across another13m 27s
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702 Object blends and dynamic distortions in Illustrator8m 11s
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703 Another random distortion: Roughen7m 57s
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704 Dynamic warp distortions: Fish and Twist8m 52s
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705 Adding a dynamic background, part 110m 14s
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706 Adding a dynamic background, part 27m 44s
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707 “Quieting down” an overly elaborate design9m 25s
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708 The Marvel disintegration effect9m 14s
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709 Building up more flakes and ashes7m 33s
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710 Enhancing and masking your disintegration8m 12s
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711 Turning your flakes into dull, dead ash4m 10s
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712 Jogging your memory with the Note tool9m 59s
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713 Contour mapping with Distort > Displace10m 23s
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714 Contour map + gradient map6m 54s
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715 Contour map + arbitrary map8m 22s
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716 Riffing on a contour map in Photoshop5m 24s
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717 Smoothing out jagged contour lines4m 11s
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718 Contour mapping for cash in Photoshop9m 27s
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719 Infusing an image with the color of money2m 53s
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720 Simulating an adjustment layer in Illustrator9m 25s
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721 Drawing a stylish computer key12m 9s
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722 Spelling a word in computer keys6m 55s
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723 Creating a faux hedcut in Photoshop13m 7s
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724 Tracing outlines around your hedcut7m 47s
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725 Creating a full-color hedcut effect7m 32s
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726 Creating an E.T. moon in Photoshop8m 42s
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727 Adding a forest of trees for your E.T. moon10m 41s
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728 Combining the best of E.T. and Jurassic Park10m 59s
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729 Tracing vectors with a universal glow6m 17s
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730 Creative uses for Content-Aware Fill11m 47s
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731 Creating a porthole to a far-away galaxy7m 42s
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732 Enhancing your crazy space porthole7m 3s
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733 Creating a galaxy of rushing stars5m 42s
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734 Using the Puppet Warp tool in Illustrator CC6m 7s
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735 Illustrator Puppet Warp tips and tricks7m 20s
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736 Puppet-Warping very complicated selections6m 18s
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737 Shift-P for Puppet Warp!2m 59s
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738 Introducing the Pentagon Patterns7m 29s
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739 Types 1–5: The Reinhardt pentagons14m 17s
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740 Types 6–8: The Kershner pentagons5m 47s
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741 Type 10: The James pentagon5m 53s
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742 Types 9, 11, 12, and 13: The Rice pentagons7m 58s
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743 Type 14: The Stein pentagon3m 53s
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744 Creating a type 15 pentagon in Illustrator9m 27s
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745 Tessellating your type 15 pentagon14m 22s
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746 Expressing pentagons as proper tile patterns12m 9s
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747 Applying and modifying a tile pattern11m
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748 Combining complementary patterns7m 43s
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749 Combining a tile pattern with a photograph6m 33s
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750 Adjusting a tile pattern to fit its photo5m 36s
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751 Creating a creepy Candy Keeper in Photoshop3m 59s
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752 Enhancing the Candy Keeper text4m 46s
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753 Creating an old monster movie poster7m 3s
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754 Adding a monochrome halftone effect4m 3s
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755 Enhancing a special word, such as “Haunted”4m 27s
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756 Cheating letters into an ancient border2m 25s
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757 Naming an adjustment layer as you create it4m 13s
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758 Under the sea in strict monochrome6m 29s
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759 Backscatter and split toning7m 21s
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760 Sampling any color outside Photoshop3m 17s
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761 Designing a vector-based logo in Photoshop9m 20s
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762 Free-transforming shape layers7m 56s
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763 Adding a photo element to your vector logo6m 34s
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764 High-resolution snowflakes in Photoshop5m 45s
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765 Enhancing your big, juicy snowflakes7m 19s
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766 Adding a snowflake bokeh “on the lens”6m 8s
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