Plug-ins notes
SymbolTexture Plug-in (Andrew's Vector Plug-ins Volume 9) Introduction Use the plugin to create static textures / backgrounds / illustrations / designs or animated (via layers) designs. The plugin uses symbols (stored in the symbols palette) and also comes with a large selection of bonus symbols (though you can use your own or native symbols). Symbols are a very handy feature of Adobe ® Illustrator ® and can store gradients / images / text and many other elements Andrew
Installation of plug-in / symbols Please place the GX09_SymbolTexture.aip file in the c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins folder [pc Illustrator ® CS1] or c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins [pc illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4 equivalent
for the mac, please place the GX09_SymbolTexture file in HD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator CS:plug-ins [mac Illustrator ®CS] or HD:Applications:Adobe Illustrator 10:plug-ins [mac Illustrator 10] or CS2 or CS3 or CS4 equivalent The symbols files (*.ai files) should be placed in the c:\program files\Adobe\Illustrator...\presets\symbols folder (or mac equivalent). Access the symbols files via the windows\symbols menu (please consult the Illustrator documentation) If there are multiple folders marked 'Plugins for Illustrator etc', please put the folder and all the contents of that folder into the plugins folder. For CS2 / mac OS X all the items in the plugin folder must be included
Possible installation paths PC PC PC PC PC
CS4 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS4\plug-ins\graphicxtras CS3 C:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS3\plug-ins\graphicxtras CS2/12 c:\program files\adobe\adobe illustrator CS2\plug-ins\graphicxtras CS/11 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator CS\plug-ins\graphicxtras 10 c:\program files\adobe\illustrator 10\plug-ins\graphicxtras
OS OS OS OS OS
X X X X X
CS4 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS4:plug-ins:graphicxtras CS3 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS3:plug-ins:graphicxtras CS2 HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS2:plug-ins:graphicxtras CS HD:applications:adobe illustrator CS:plug-ins:graphicxtras 10 HD:applications:adobe illustrator 10:plug-ins:graphicxtras
(if the 'graphicxtras' folder does not exist, simply create it in the plug-ins folder or use another folder name if you wish. You can also just place the file in the top level plug-ins folder if you wish but putting it in a sub folder makes it easier to find at a later date)
Alternate plug-in installation location Because of recent improvements in security, you may wish to install the plug-in sets in an alternate location such as an user account and not the default plug-in folder. If you are using a basic level account and one without admin features, you might not be able to save the AIP plug-in files to the usual folder. Set up an alternate or secondary plug-in folder in your user account and then copy the files there.
To specify an alternate plug-in for Illustrator ® 1) Go to the edit > preferences > plug-ins
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Plug-ins notes 2) Check the additional plug-ins folder option 3) Specify / browse for your required file in your user account (such as 'third party plug-ins' etc)
Trademarks Illustrator is registered trademark of Adobe. Photoshop is registered trademark of Adobe. We have no connection whatsoever with Adobe. Adobe product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Copyright Plug-in set is (c) 2000-2008 Abneil Software Ltd / Andrew Buckle
Application / OS Plug-in set is for Adobe 速 Illustrator 速 CS4 CS3 CS2 CS 10 Windows Vista Windows XP + MAC OS X 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5
Plug-in page http://www.graphicxtras.com/products/aiplugin9.htm support at graphicxtras.com (mail address)
Initial use of plug-in 1) Go to the symbol palette 2) Select a symbol (CS3 CS2 CS 10) Requires dialog for (CS4) 3) Go to filter menu and AVP <Create> (CS3 CS2 CS 10) Go to object > filters menu (CS4) 4) Set the symbol to be used via the symbol no field (CS4) NOTE if nothing is selected (CS3 CS2 CS 10) then the first symbol will be used NOTE If there are no symbols in the symbols palette, the plugin will not work NOTE If the random or ordered setting is set, the symbol selected or symbol no is ignored Symbols can be text, images, paragraph text, gradients, meshes, and many different path combinations Symbol texture dialog below (CS4)
Symbols are displayed in the symbols palette (as below) Note, text etc can be added to the symbol palette
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Plug-ins notes
Plugin dialog Texture / layers The plugin is split into two functions, the texture dialog or the layer (animation) feature. The basics are the same for both dialogs. If the layers are set to 0, then the layer settings have no value. To access the layer settings, change the top drop down to layers (the layer settings are accumulated)
Presets / start point If you have no idea how to start with the dialog, I would suggest using the presets at the right side as a starting point. This will show some possible options such as scaling / angle / distribution / midpoints. You can also set all the values back to the default settings by setting the 'reset' default.
Tumble button Another useful start point is the TUMBLE button, this randomizes the settings in a variety of ways, and is a good starting point for possible designs
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Plug-ins notes
Dialog controls 'Copies': You can increase the number of copies of the selected symbol (in the palette) or decrease the settings. The more symbols selected, the slower the refresh. One good thing about symbols is that you are only using an instance so a complex symbol will have only the initial symbol overhead, all other instances add little overhead to the overall file (especially useful for output to SWF format). Also, the symbols can be changed at a later point by using the replace command and symbols can be manipulated further by tools such as the symbol sizer etc
'Scale': You can use this to randomize the scaling applied between the minimum and maximum scaling setting. You can use the link proportional setting to make sure the vertical and horizontal settings are the same.
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Plug-ins notes
'Scale (y)': Scales in the vertical direction to create flattened symbols. Use the link option if you wish to link the horizontal / vertical scaling 'Angle': Randomizes the angle of the symbols between a minimum and maximum value 'Distribution': A number of distribution settings are available, to distribute the symbols as a frame or cross or more at the top or left or in a circular design and more.
Midpoint': and edge settings: You can re-size the symbols based on the distance from the edge and middle/center of the document space. The midpoint has little meaning if the edge and scale are set to the same value but if you set the edge to 1 and the middle scale to 200 then the symbols will be larger in the center and very small around the edge. The mid point setting changes the position of the center of the distribution for this scaling, so you can force the symbols to be bigger on once side of the image If the edge and middle are set to 100%, then the midpoint is ignored
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Plug-ins notes
'Initial': Initial setting for the size and angle for the symbols (symbols are stored as they were created, this could mean very small symbols or super huge symbols, you may wish to re-size and rotate before use) 'Layers': if set to 0, then the layers settings have no real meaning. If greater than 0 then the values for the layers can be set, accumulating (so setting copies to 25 and then on the layers dialog to 1, the second layer will have 26 copies, the third layer, 27 etc.. and scaling can be factored to reduce or increase per layer) 'SymbolNo': Set the symbol to be used. If random or ordered options are set this is ignored. The first symbol in the symbol palette is 0, the second is 1 and so on (CS4)
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Plug-ins notes
To select the symbol '3' 1) Go to the symbol palette 2) Select the symbol 3 (CS3 CS2 CS 10) 3) Start up symbol texture dialog (CS4) 4) Select the symbolNo and enter 4 or use the up down control to set to 4 (CS4) If the random or ordered option is selected then the symbolNo or selected will be ignored 'Select symbols from palette [R]': Randomizes the selection of symbols from the palette. In this case you don't need to select a symbol from the palette but it does mean that you need to setup the symbol palette for the best effect. Say you have a green symbol, red symbol and blue symbol then the symbol texture will randomly select from those three symbols and place them up to the number of copies. If the ordered option is set then this takes over and will create a green then red then blue and so on in order (based on the palette order)
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Plug-ins notes
'Select symbols in order': You can select the symbols in order of the palette. If the symbols in the palette are 1 2 3 4 5 6 then the symbols will be selected 1 2 3 4 5 6 12 3 4 5 6 12 3 4 5 6 etc. Useful in some circumstances. 'Align symbols to midpoint': You can align the angle (it does depend on the initial angle setting though, so changing this will change the end result). More noticeable with designs as above but if the object is a circular shape, you might see no alignment.
'Midpoints vary across layers': Instead of just using the midpoint, you can randomize the midpoint across layer), especially useful for an animation jitter / dance. 'Link proportional': If the scaling is randomized, the vertical and horizontal scaling is set to the same value to preserve the proportionality of the shape.
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Plug-ins notes
'Copies per layer': Randomizes the number of copies across layers, so one layer can be 10 copies, the next 20 copies and so on 'Settings displayed': Randomizes many different settings, now been superseded by the tumble button functionality
Shuffle button If there is an element of randomization such as the minimum and maximum of scale or angle varies or a [R] checkbox has been set, the shuffle button will re-randomize the preview based on the current settings. It doesn't change the settings (the tumble button will do that)
Symbol libraries You can always just use the default symbols but there are very few in the default symbol set. To select a different symbols set 1) Go to the symbol palette 2) Go to the right side menu dropdown 3) Select the open symbol library option 4) Select one of the libraries stored in the presets folder 5) If you wish to select another, go to the other library option 6) Once displayed, select required symbols places the symbol in the symbols palette for the document
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Plug-ins notes
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