Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
Using Kuler, Image Trace, & Live Color
Overview:
Trace a photograph with Image Trace; recolor artwork using a downloaded Kuler
color theme; recolor color with Live Color; create and upload a color group; use a photograph
to add detail; use artwork to mask a photograph; create a flare.
How can you enhance a photograph of a beautiful flower? Steven Gordon sought the
answer with Illustrator's Image Trace and Live Color tools—and a trip to Adobe's
Kuler website—in making this vibrant advertisement for a botanical garden.
1 Tracing a photograph, expanding the tracing, and moving artwork to new layers.
Gordon
began by placing a photograph of a calendula flower in Illustrator. Because he want-
ed to simplify the photograph, Gordon decided to posterize the image by tracing it.
To do this, he chose Objects> Live Trace> Tracing Options. In the Tracing Options
dialog, he chose the preset “6 Colors” from the Preset menu, and then modified the
settings by changing Max Colors to 5. Knowing that he would need to select and ma-
nipulate some of the traced artwork later, he expanded the trace (Object> Live
Trace> Expand) and ungrouped the artwork. Then he added two layers in the Layers
panel, one for the green shapes and the other for the orange shapes. He selected and
moved all of the green and orange shapes to their respective layers.
1
The original photograph of the calendula
2 Browsing Kuler, downloading a color group, and recoloring the traced artwork.
After re-
viewing the traced artwork, Gordon decided to make the traced green leaves and
stems more vivid. For inspiration, he opened the Kuler panel (Window> Extensions>
Kuler; in
CC
it's Window> Kuler) and browsed the color themes for one with a vari-
ety of bright greens. Instead of recreating its colors using the Color panel, he down-
loaded the theme to the Swatches panel as a color group by clicking the Kuler panel's
“Add selected theme to swatches” icon. Next he selected all of the green artwork and
double-clicked on the color group he had just downloaded. In the Assign panel of the
Recolor Artwork dialog, Gordon needed to assign three of the color group's five col-
ors to the three greens that had been produced by Live Trace. With Recolor Art en-
abled he then clicked the “Randomly change color order” icon several times until the
green shapes in the illustration looked the way he liked, then clicked OK.
