EEK!!! NEWBIE NEEDS HELP PLEEEEASE!!!!!

[alensing67 0]

Hey ya'll!!!

 

 Ok so I need to know how to separate colors (NORTH DAKOTA BISON) in Illustrator so that I can cut and then layer them in Sure Cuts Alot Pro.  I also have photopshop if I need to separate them in there and then import to Illustrator.  I have been watching videos all day and I am still coming up short and need this figured out as the project is needed to be completed soon.  Please be very specific and use long version as I am not familiar with any shortcuts either!!!The image I need to separate is attached!!!  Thanks so much for your help!!!

 

[Sue2 920]

TM?

[alensing67 0]

Thats just what I was given as what they are looking for.

[MZ SKEETER 4,709]

Thats just what I was given as what they are looking for.

Just because someone gives you a design that they want, it does not mean it is legal,  You need permission from the owner of the design to reproduce it..  That is trademarked.

 

Maybe you can learn from this thread.

 

http://forum.uscutter.com/index.php?/topic/17644-warning-to-everyone/?hl=dewalt

[mb20music 760]

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/ndsu-bison-0

[skarekrow 1,842]

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com/logo/ndsu-bison-0

 

Gotta read the fine print;

 

The above logo design and the artwork you are about to download is the intellectual property of the copyright and/or trademark holder and is offered to you as a convenience for lawful use with proper permission from the copyright and/or trademark holder only. You hereby agree that you agree to the Terms of Use and that the artwork you download will be used for non-commercial use without infringing on the rights of the copyright and/or trademark holder and in compliance with the DMCA act of 1998. Before you use or reproduce this artwork in any manner, you agree to obtain the express permission of the copyright and/or trademark holder. Failure to obtain such permission is a violation of international copyright and trademark laws subject to specific financial and criminal penalties.

 

... and this Disclaimer is all they need to get around purveyance lawsuits?

[Wildgoose 4,200]

So, just in case you are feeling picked on right now, know that this forum is very particular about protecting copyright or trademarked material. Forum rules are against posting any of that type of file specifically vector versions. Now if you are trying to learn to build a cut file to something LIKE the above graphic we can help you learn the ins and outs of vector work. We just aren't going to be helping you with that particular design. Clear? Once you learn to do this yourself you will then have to decide if you are going to abide by the laws that protect such designs which in turn may impact your ability to keep your home and all the modern conveniences of life rather than giving them away to a team of lawyers who are trying to settle a massive lawsuit brought on my trademark infringement. 

 

I to help you, what version of Illustrator and PS are you running? Many of the functions are the same from version to version but there are differences. I pretty much suck at PS but am fairly handy with Illustrator and designs similar to the above are perfectly suited to Illustrator. 

[alensing67 0]

Thank You Wildgoose!!!  I am in no way trying to use something trade marked.  I was just given the design of waht they are looking for.  I have no issue recreating or doing what I need to to create this design correctly.  As I said I am very new to this and am very much still in the learning process of it.  

 

I am running Illustrator CS5.  Thanks for any help you can provide me.  I very much appreciate it.  

[Wildgoose 4,200]

Ok well at least we are talking exactly the same AI version for the two of us which will be helpful if you get stumped on something.

 

In basic terms the program is way bigger than it needs to be for the vinyl trade. This is good and bad. good because you don't need to know every facet of the program to design basic vectors but bad because there is a lot of other "stuff" you have to learn to look past that is aimed at print and web graphics. Illustrator is probably the hardest to learn but in my opinion offers the most once you get there. There are certain things that are irritating but I won't point too many of them out so maybe you won't notice. 

 

To start with I would recommend starting in your preferences with the following changes that will probably help you out. With AI open go to Illustrator>preferences>General. Set the keyboard increment to 0.20. You can go on down but this seems to be about the best and allows better control when moving things with the arrow keys. 

 

Move to the next section in preferences which is in a pull down menu at the top of the box you are working in and check the box that says "object selection by path only" 

 

Next move to the Units section and make sure it's in points rather than picas or whatever. Inches are nice sometime but as a rule points are a little finer and I find points are better if you are trying to do some specific layout. If you want inches later you can just turn on the ruler in the "view" pull down on the regular workspace and once it's on just right click on the ruler and it will let you swap out for inches and then everything switches over. I do this if I am trying to be sure my art board is the correct size for a specific job or vinyl width. 

 

Then move to the last option in the preferences where it says "appearance of black" and make sure it says "display all blacks accurately and the next box down says output all blacks as rich black. This isn't completely necessary but is a good idea. 

 

That's it for the main preferences panels next move to the "view" pull down ad go down to "Hide Bounding Box" this will remove the pesky bounding box and with your selection setting set to select by path only you will be able to just select the edge of an object or picture rather than accidentally selecting things you didn't mean to. This single option in my opinion elevates Illustrator into another level of greatness. Now when you select something it will be highlighted just the way your brain expects rather than having a box around it. Once in a blue moon you may want a bounding box for a quick stretch or whatever and all you have to do is go back and "show bounding box" or learn the shortcut if you do it a lot. 

 

From that point you can begin to learn how to draw a vector. (many vids on youtube)  I'm running out of time tonight to go into this but will later if you want me to. There are some other important things to know about how AI deals with objects. DO some searching for posts in the Illustrator section (possibly elsewhere on the forum) and I have detailed several at one point or another. The most critical is that AI deals with objects in Groups, subgroups and also as compound paths. (most other programs deal in layers which AI also does but I rarely bother with it since the stack within the groups is the same thing but some outputs need separate color layers, etc...). Most think of a compound path as something like a letter with a hole in it such as an R or O. This is true but you can make a compound path out of any group of objects like a string of text or whatever and then AI will treat it as one single object which lets the operations in the pathfinder panel work correctly. If you have a string of text that is a group and you try to do some of the subtract from front or rear etc options it will only do the top object leaving all the rest or they all disappear etc.. can be upsetting, If it's turned into a compound path then it works like you thought it should. BE careful too because AI will often turn objects back into groups after some functions and you find yourself having to create a new compound path. Compound path is an easy quick key to remember: Command+8 on mac or Cntrl+8 on pc (which do you use btw? mac or pc)

 

(side note there is also such a thing as a compound shape, not to be confused with compound path. these are not completely joined and are more useable for printed graphics. I avoid them because if you forget to convert them you will end up with a mess at the cutter)

[jarrotto 78]

That was a good post Wildgoose.  Something else that can be very helpful is the Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book series.

 

The books also deal with print and web graphics, but if your serious about learning illustrator it is a good read and will teach you the basics.

 

I learned illustrator with the CS6 version,  it came with a disc with start files and you did tutorials to learn the program.  I was already familiar with Photoshop so some aspects of Illustrator came naturally, but i learned the program much faster with that book than i could have on my own.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Illustrator-CS5-Classroom-Book/dp/032170178X/

[Wildgoose 4,200]

That was a good post Wildgoose.  Something else that can be very helpful is the Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book series.

 

The books also deal with print and web graphics, but if your serious about learning illustrator it is a good read and will teach you the basics.

 

I learned illustrator with the CS6 version,  it came with a disc with start files and you did tutorials to learn the program.  I was already familiar with Photoshop so some aspects of Illustrator came naturally, but i learned the program much faster with that book than i could have on my own.

 

 

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Illustrator-CS5-Classroom-Book/dp/032170178X/

Couldn't agree more. I actually took an online course type thing. Spent about 3 months working through it every evening when I got home from my regular job. Best investment in time I may have ever made (now that I have the side business going and need the skill-set).