Adobe Illustrator for beginners: 11 top tips

Adobe Illustrator is a vector drawing tool, meaning you can create artwork that can be scaled infinitely without any loss of quality. It's a fantastic tool for logo design, creating complex vector artwork and playing with illustrated typography design. But coming from Photoshop you may not be savvy with Illustrator and its unique ways: so we're here to help.

From using Bézier points and curves to strokes and fills and adding a more natural look to your vector artwork, read on for some Illustrator secrets for those new to the application.

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access

Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1

Rob Carney

Rob is editorial, graphic design and publishing lead at Transport for London. He previously worked at Future Publishing over the course of several years, where he launched digital art magazine, ImagineFX; and edited graphic design magazine Computer Arts, as well as the Computer Arts Projects series, and was also editor of technology magazine, T3. 

Latest in Graphic Design Software
Photgraphs of freelance workers
Build a professional, on-demand team with Fiverr Pro
Canva design trends 2024
Canva thinks these will be the hot design trends of 2024
Figma and Adobe logos on a white background
Adobe won't buy Figma after all
Figma and Adobe
Adobe and Figma finally reveal what their partnership might look like
Generative recolor panel
I just saw Adobe's new Illustrator AI tools – they're going to save you a ton of time
Images from Adobe Firefly Image 2 from Adobe MAX 202
Adobe's just added huge new AI updates to Firefly, Illustrator and Lightroom
Latest in Features
Lenovo Legion Go
I talked to Lenovo's monitor boss about the future of screen tech, and it's big news for creatives
iPhone 12 box
The beigeification of design: Why are brands so afraid of colour?
Puma
"There is a fundamental shift happening in society": Puma's bold new campaign flips the script on sports advertising
Wax Heads; a digital illustration depicts a young woman holding a record, surrounded by a variety of displayed items in a store
How Wax Heads hand-drawn 'cosy-punk' aesthetic was made using Godot
Tesla logo
The history of the Tesla logo: from car badge to global tech brand
Nintendo and AI art; a vibrant illustration showcases a large group of popular video game characters, seemingly from the Mario franchise
Mario and Zelda creator rejects AI to "find what makes Nintendo special" – what we can all learn from Shigeru Miyamoto