A transparency tool similar to Coreldraw in CS5 version?
Posted by Curt Stenz (Member # 82) on :
Hi Bob, I don't know about Corel draw, or what it has, but yes Illustrator has a transparency tool.
I have CS3/Mac and it is located in the main menu. Make a selection, and in the menu- windows> transparency. This brings up a palette on the desk top. I use it frequently. I would bet it is in CS5 as well.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Hi Bob -
Yes, Curt is correct. The 'Transparency' function in CS5 can be found in two different locations: At the top of your screen, you can select the 'Window' heading and it will display a drop-down of options - one of which is the 'Transparency' option. Simply 'click' onto the word 'Transparency' and it will display a checkmark to the left of the word indicating that it is 'activated.'
It should appear in the buttons along the 'right-hand' side of your screen as two overlapping circles.
Experiment with the 'opacity' slider as well as combining that adjustment along with the 'blending mode' to the left of the Opacity slider.
If you go to Illustrator's 'HELP' menu, and select the Adobe Illustrator icon within the menu and type in 'Transparency' into the search box, it will show you several helpful topics related to transparency. I just did it and I see there are some things I need to read up on that I hadn't known before.
Hope this helps! Have fun!
Posted by Mike Pipes (Member # 1573) on :
Yes. and it only took Corel like 6 releases of CorelDRAW to finally copy the tool from Illustrator. Posted by Bob Sauls (Member # 11321) on :
I have learned that the tool that I am looking for in Illustrator was added after CS3. It is in CS5. Corel had this tool as far back as Coreldraw 9. Mike, I am not sure that you follow my question at all. Thank you all and especially Douglas Handcock of Alachua Fl.
Posted by Brad Ferguson (Member # 33) on :
I am curious to know if anyone is using Signlab 9 and how its transparency tools compare. The sales videos make it look good. We still run version 7 here, so any transparency work, fades, glows, etc., has to be done in Corel or CS5.
Posted by jack wills (Member # 521) on :
I have CS 2 and it works just fine...
Posted by Bob Sauls (Member # 11321) on :
I am not talking about the ability to turn down the opacity of an object. I am talking about placing one color on opposing ends of a gradient and fading one end to 0%. That is what Joe was doing to some of his shapes for his blending effects.
If this tool or effect can be done simply or at all pre CS5 I would love to know how?
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Bob - that sounds like a traditional gradient.... can you provide us with a screen-shot of a sample (of Joe's ?) and then we can *see* what you're trying to explain. I'm sure it can be done.
Todd
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
Todd, it sounds like he is referring to a transparent gradient. The only way I knew to do that was with masking. I guess I'll have to upgrade.
Posted by Joseph Diaz (Member # 5913) on :
quote:Originally posted by Mike Pipes: Yes. and it only took Corel like 6 releases of CorelDRAW to finally copy the tool from Illustrator.
I'd be interested to hear when or what version you think CorelDraw included the interactive transparency tool?
[ November 18, 2011, 08:16 AM: Message edited by: Joseph Diaz ]
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Transparency gradient over a solid color in Adobe Illustrator... just selected the 'transparency' and then changed the 'blend' mode to 'multiply.' Without doing that, the gradient would appear as black fading to white.... over the top of the red box.
Transparency over a solid color in CorelDraw using the interactive Transparency tool... pretty simple too.... showing it without transparency applied and with it applied.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
I guess I never noticed this before... unless I didn't do something correctly, but it appears the Illustrator 'transparency' fade appears much better a color blend/ fade-off than the Corel version. The CorelDraw version shows 'whitish' cast as it fades out whereas the illustrator doesn't?
Maybe Joe can help out with this.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Ok... got it looking better in CorelDraw by selecting the 'Subtract' blending mode.... quite similar to Illustrator now... cool! :-)
The top fade was a straight 'transparency' fade with 'normal' blend mode in CorelDraw.
The bottom fade was a 'transparency' fade with a 'subtract' blend mode in CorelDraw.
[ November 18, 2011, 12:23 PM: Message edited by: Todd Gill ]
Posted by Joseph Diaz (Member # 5913) on :
Todd your color issue is most likely due to your color management setup and/or the colors you are using.
Here is a quick clip I made showing off the Interactive Transparency tools in CorelDRAW X5:
I apologize for the video quality. I made it on the fly.
And for the record many of these transparency tools appeared in Ver. 7 (1997) it was improved a bit in Ver. 9 (1999). Not a whole lot has changed with how this works since then.
[ November 18, 2011, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Joseph Diaz ]
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Nice Joe - thanks! Once I selected some of the correct 'blend' modes (noted above) it worked fine.
What video capture program are you using for the YouTube video?
I have SnagIt Version 10.... haven't tried it yet in this new version, but the last version (9) seemed like I could NEVER get a sharp image... it was always really blurry - about 2-3 times worse than what yours displays. Maybe the new version is better.... I have checked the settings too.
Posted by Joseph Diaz (Member # 5913) on :
I have an older version of Camtasia.
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
I learned a new trick today, thanks to this discussion.
I hadn't used the opacity option in the gradient tool. Didn't even know it was there until today. I opened the gradient, set both ends to the same color, and gave one an opacity of zero. Nice trick.
Posted by Todd Gill (Member # 2569) on :
Hey that's pretty good Russ... I never messed with those settings. Just tried it - it's funny how there are several methods for getting the same results within the *same* program. Thanks for the tip.
Posted by Russ McMullin (Member # 5617) on :
I like to think I'm pretty familiar with Illustrator, but it's obvious I am not really using all of the features
Posted by Bob Sauls (Member # 11321) on :
I would like to thank everyone who has participated in the discussion to my inquiry. i took an introductory coarse to the CS3 back several years ago. the Teacher in Our community college said only Photoshop could do this. Joe, although corel's function is all-in-one as opposed to the older Adobe's it will prove to be adequate. most of us will never go to the blended vectoring regiment that you have mastered.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
