Illustrator CS help

[Korgoth]

Hi,
Can anyone help me here, I am wondering, if I'm creating or tracing a drawing that has an out line. Is it better to use the pen to or the brush tool? I ask because, with the brush tool, can I give it a fill and not just a stroke, but using the pen tool for outline just seems clunky.

[toaster leigh]

It really depends on what you're tracing. For example, those Aperture Science posters that I did but to which I am too lazy to link? I used the pen tool for that to just get a basic outline, then took the "convert anchor point" (or whatever that one thing is?) tool under the pen tool to get the curves basically the way I wanted them, then went over anything that was still too choppy with the smooth tool. That was mostly because I wanted it to look very precise and inorganic; if I had used the pencil tool, it probably would've ended up too organic-looking for those posters. Of course, other things you'll want to look more organic and free-flowing, in which case you would use the pencil.

You can put a stroke and fill on any shape, though, regardless of what tool you used to create it.

Edit: Oh, I'm using CS3, though. But... that shouldn't make too much of a difference?

[Naph]

I'm thinking of buying illustrator and the other CS3 versions. Do these come in a pack or separately?

[toaster leigh]

You can get them in a pack, yes. I think there are several different packs to choose from, too. I'm not sure if it's a better deal, though, since I don't exactly pay for my Adobe software. :>

[Korgoth]

Ah that makes sense, thanks toaster-chan... there are some good tuts at
http://www.gomediazine.com/
for anyone who doesn't know bout' em... I'm slowly getting my head around this whole vector thing.. i have had illustrator forever, but never got into it, as I only used photoshop for everything... But I love illustrator the more I play with it!

[Vegeta897]

You can get them in a pack, yes. I think there are several different packs to choose from, too. I'm not sure if it's a better deal, though, since I don't exactly pay for my Adobe software. :>
What do you pay for?

[toaster leigh]

In terms of things that can be pirated? Movies that I really like (I usually download it first, then buy if I enjoyed it), video games, music if it's a really indie band and most/all of the money is going directly to them, or foreign/ultra-obscure music that would be too much of a pain to find on the intertubes.

[Raziaar]

I suck at vector art.

Which is funny, because I also suck at raster art.