Using Symbols in Adobe Illustrator
A lot of designers don’t realize the power of Adobe Illustrator. Many designers prefer Photoshop, but I prefer a mix of both. The reason is that each one has their strengths and weaknesses. One of the great things that can be found in Adobe Illustrator is the use of symbols. Symbols are small and compact, and they can be highly useful when you want to have multiple instances of the same object. There are several advantages of using symbols in Adobe Illustrator. That’s why in this week’s tutorial video, I’ll be showing you methods for using symbols in Adobe Illustrator.
You can use the symbols feature in Adobe Illustrator to your advantage in several different ways. One way is that if you use something frequently, such as your company’s logo, then you might consider making it a symbol in your copy of Illustrator’s library. From the Symbols Panel, you can simply drag the symbol of your logo to the canvas. Here you have two choices. The first choice is to keep it as a symbol, which keeps it linked to your symbol library. If you do this, and update your logo later, it will automatically update your logo in all of the documents that contain your logo symbol. The other option is to right-click on the logo symbol and break the link to the symbol library. This doesn’t delete the symbol from your symbol library, it just makes this instance of your logo just like a regular vector that you’d get from opening a file.
What do you think about using symbols in Adobe Illustrator?
Do you use this method in your workflow, or do you avoid using symbols altogether? Using symbols for frequently used objects can save you time from hunting for files on your computer. It can also save you time by giving you the ability to update all instances of a symbol at once. Do you have any tips for using symbols in Adobe Illustrator? Feel free to leave your tips and thoughts in the comments section below.
