New Document
This is where you set up all of your presets, such as your artboard size, number of artboards, bleed size, units and colour profile - CMYK (for print images) or RGB (for screen images).
Select A4 under size, make sure the page is Portrait and that you are using millimeters and then click OK.
After you have set this up once to your requirements, Illustrator will remember the settings and use them over and over until you change them. When you change then it will then remember your new settings and use those.
New Workspace Setup
After hitting OK your new document should open, with your menu bars and tools displayed in the default layout.
I have found that there are several useful tools that are missing from the default layout.
The next few steps will show you how to add your own tools to the “Palette” on the right hand side of the screen and set up the Bleed.
Menu Bar
Control Palette
Tool Bar
Artboard
Floating Palette
Status Bar
The "Floating Palette"
The “Floating Palette” contains all the basics but is missing both the “Pathfinder” and “Align” menus - both of which can be very useful and we will be looking at how to use them later on.
To add these go to your menu bar at the top of the screen,
select “Window”, then select “Pathfinder”
This will display both the Pathfinder, Align and Transform Palettes together as one block
The menu shown below should then pop out, which you can then click and drag onto the “floating palette” at
the right of the screen
Click and drag palette from here
Transform
Align
Pathfinder
Colour Palette
Colour Guide
Swatches
Brushes
Symbols
Stroke
Gradient
Transparency
Appearance
Graphic Styles
Layers
Artboards
Feel free to have a look at all the other options under the
“Window” menu at the top of your screen to see if there are any other tools you would like to add to your floating palette.
If you click and drag on the left hand side of the floating
palette you can expand it to show the tool names for easier
identification, or leave it as it is for a larger work area.
Click and drag here to resize
Chapter One
SETTING UP THE WORK SPACE
Beginning with a new document, I will show you how to set up your work space to be just the way you like it. Including descriptions and explanations of toolbars and options.
To save your workspace layout, go to Window at the top of the screen > Workspace > New Workspace. Under “Name” write what you want to call your workspace (I usually use my name) and hit the Ok button.