We explore Artlandia's LivePresets, an Adobe Illustrator plug-in that creates live pattern swatches.
Author: Geetesh Bajaj
Product/Version: PowerPoint
Artlandia LivePresets is a new plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that creates live pattern swatches. Although Adobe Illustrator provides a few pattern swatches, the implementation in Illustrator is nowhere as featured and dynamic as it is within LivePresets.
The first time I used LivePresets, I was amazed by the possibilities and options. Use LivePresets and the patterns you edit or create update interactively as you edit, thus creating a workflow that's almost to good to be true. And all these patterns can be edited with Illustrator's native tools. LivePresets also lets the user edit symbols in the same fashion. Illustrator allows editing symbols too, but with LivePresets you can do that interactively.
BackLivePresets is an Adobe Illustrator compatible plug-in from Artlandia, an Illinois, USA based company that creates several pattern creating plug-ins. They also sell beautiful, symmetrical patterns.
Other than LivePresets Artlandia also creates SymmetryWorks again a Illustrator plug-in, and SymmetryShop, a similar plug-in that works from within Adobe Photoshop. You can learn more about Artlandia at their site.
BackDownload LivePresets from the Artlandia website. It is a ZIP file that you need to unarchive and place in Illustrator's plug-in folder. Make sure that you quit Illustrator before copying the plug-in.
The next time you run Illustrator, you'll find a Windows | LivePresets option in the menu. You'll also see a floating LivePresets palette (see Figure 1) and a LivePresets option in the Object menu.
Figure 1: LivePresets palette
By default, the plug-in runs in a demo mode that limits which configuration options you can change and apply. The full, registered version has no such limitations. Registration provides you with an Artlandia online account and an unlock key. The unlock key is tied to your Illustrator serial number so if you upgrade or change your version of Illustrator, you'll have to get in touch with Artlandia's support department.
The steps detailed in the rest of this review work identically for both the Windows and Mac versions of LivePresets. For this tutorial, I am using the Windows version.
BackTo use LivePresets, you must have some patterns in your Swatches palette. Access the Swatches palette through the Window | Swatches option to bring it up, as you can see in Figure 2.
Figure 2: Swatches palette
So, how do you get these pattern swatches to start with? Follow these steps to get started:
Now that you have enough pattern swatches to use as a starting point, follow these basic steps to use LivePresets:
Here's some sample patterns created with LivePresets.
Illustrator Versions: | Illustrator 10 or higher versions |
Platforms: | Windows, Mac |
Site: | Artlandia |
Price: | $134.00 (CD-ROM with printed user guide) $125.00 (download only) |
Trial Version: | Demo version available |
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This is the original page. An AMP (Accelerated Mobile Page) version of this page is also available for those on mobile platforms, at Artlandia LivePresets.
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