Illustrator Learning [ TOOLS ]Lesson ( 1 )

Illustrator 

Illustrator's diagram.
That is the illustrator over look to help understanding the explanation that I am giving.

• It shows the menu bar.
• The options bar.
• Tabbed Document windows. To move from document to another.
• The Tools panel that contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork, page elements, and more.
•  The control panel  (The option bar) displays options for the currently selected tool.
• The Document window shows the file you are working on.
• The status bar  at the lower-left edge of the illustration window. 

Please read more down .

I hope it is useful.

Tools Panel

TOOLS PANEL OVERVIEW

• To view hidden tools, hold down the mouse button on the visible tool.
• To view tool options Double-click a tool.
• To move the Tools panel, drag its title bar.
• To hide the Tools panel Choose Window > Tools
• To select a tool Do one of the following.

--Click a tool in the Tools panel.
--Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut.

 TOOLS 
Notice that for the tool you choose to work you should choose the item that you want to apply the effect to it first with the selection tool (v). 

Selection Tools.

• The Selection tool (V), selects entire objects. 
• The Direct Selection tool (A),selects points or path segments within objects.
• The Group Selection tool ,selects objects and groups within groups.
• The Magic Wand tool (Y), selects objects with similar attributes. 
• The Lasso tool (Q), selects points or path segments within objects. 
• The Artboard tool, creates separate artboards for printing or export.

Drawing, using the drawing tools in illustrator.
       Drawing simple lines and shapes in illustrator.

1. Draw straight lines with the Line Segment tool, by positioning  the pointer where you want the line to begin, and drag to where you want the line to end.
2. Draw rectangles and squares, with the Rectangle tools.To draw a rectangle, drag diagonally until the rectangle is the desired size.To draw a square, hold down the Shift key while you drag diagonally until the square is the desired size.
3. Draw squares and rectangles with rounded corners with the Rounded Rectangle tool. To change the corner radius while dragging with the Rounded Rectangle tool, press the Up Arrow key or Down Arrow key. When the corners are the desired roundness, release the key. To create square corners while dragging with the Rounded Rectangle tool, press the Left Arrow key. To create the most rounded corners while dragging with the Rounded Rectangle tool, press the Right Arrow key.
4. Draw ellipses, with the Ellipse tool.To draw drag diagonally until the ellipse is the desired size for drawing a circle; hold down the Shift key while dragging.
5. Draw polygons, with the  Polygon tool. Drag until the polygon is the desired size. 
6. Draw stars with the Star tool. Drag until the star is the desired size.
7. The Flare tool creates lens-flare or solar-flare-like effects 
8. Draw arcs with  the Arc tool. Position the pointer where you want the arc to begin, and drag to where you want the arc to end.
9. Draw spirals with the Spiral tool. Clockwise and counterclockwise spirals. Drag until the spiral is the desired size. Drag the pointer in an arc to rotate the spiral.
10. Draw polar grids with the use the Polar grid tool to quickly drawing.
11. Draw rectangular grids with the Rectangular Grid tool.
12. Draw circular (polar) grids the Polar Grid tool.
13. Drawing with the Pencil tool. It will draw open and closed paths as if you were drawing with a pencil on paper.
14. Drawing with the Pen tool. To draw straight and curved lines to create objects.

     Enter values in panels and dialog boxes.
       Do one of the following.
            •Type a value in the box, and press Enter or Return.
            •Drag the slider.
            •Select a value from the menu associated with the box.


Type Tool. 

• The Type tool (T) creates individual type.
• The Area Type tool changes closed paths to type containers . 
• The Type On A Path tool changes paths to type paths.
• The Vertical Type tool creates vertical type and vertical type containers.
• The Vertical Area Type tool changes closed paths to vertical type containers.
• The Vertical Type On A Path tool changes paths to vertical type paths. 

 You can edit all of them.

Painting Tools .

• The Paintbrush tool (B) draws freehand and calligraphic lines, as well as art and patterns on paths.
• The Mesh tool (U) creates and edits meshes and mesh envelopes.
• The Gradient tool (G) adjusts the beginning and ending points and angle of gradients within objects, or applies a gradient to objects.
• The Eyedropper tool (I) samples and applies color, type, and appearance attributes, including effects, from objects.  
• The Live Paint Bucket tool (K) paints faces and edges of Live Paint groups with the current paint attributes.
• The Live Paint Selection (Shift-L) tool selects faces and edges within Live Paint groups.
  The Measure tool measures the distance between two points.  
• The Blob Brush tool (Shift-B) draws paths that automatically expand and merge calligraphic brush paths that share the same color and are adjacent in stacking order. 

Reshaping Tools.

• The Rotate tool (R): rotates objects around a fixed point.
• The Reflect tool (O): flips objects over a fixed axis.
• The Scale tool (S): resizes objects around a fixed point.
  The Shear tool: skews objects around a fixed point.
• The Reshape tool: adjusts selected anchor points while keeping the overall detail of the path intact.
• The Free Transform tool (E): scales, rotates, or skews a selection.
• The Blend tool (W)  creates a series of objects blended between the color and shape of multiple objects.
• The Warp tool (Shift+R): molds objects with the movement of the cursor.
• The Twirl tool  creates circular distortions within an object. 
• The Pucker tool: deflates an object by moving control points towards the cursor.
• The Bloat tool: inflates an object by moving control points away from the cursor.
•  The Scallop tool : adds random curved details to the outline of an object.
• The Crystallize tool: adds random spiked details to the outline of an object. 
• The Wrinkle tool: adds wrinkle-like details to the outline of an object.