Hello, if you're here that probably means you attended my workshop at the DATTA VIC Tomorrow's Innovators Conference 2023. Thanks again for that. I hope you got something valuable out of it. I've made these resources and videos so you can go over anything you might have missed. The Pen Tool is one of the most useful things in the whole Adobe suite and you can do so much with it. Unfortunately, there's no quick way to master it. The steps are fairly simple, but it just takes practice to learn how to work with precision and accuracy. I'll leave this page with the resources and videos up until the end of February 2024, so make sure you've had a go with the tutorials before then. Good luck!
PART 1: PEN TOOL WORKSHEETS 1 & 2
I designed these two worksheets with the idea of teaching the Pen Tool the way that I wish it would have been taught to me many years ago. I started each one by introducing all the relevant tools and shortcuts, then one new concept at a time with the exercises. If you go through the worksheets and just keep practicing, you'll master the pen tool in no time!
PART 2: DISC BRAKE EXERCISE
I came up with this exercise because I designed a whole electric bike in Fusion 360 this semester for Uni. The first component I made for it was a disc brake rotor. Here's the exact method I used to make it. This is a real world example of what the Pen Tool can do and it shows you how to export Illustrator files for laser cutters and 3D programs.
PART 3: THE PEN TOOL IN PHOTOSHOP & INDESIGN
This exercise shows you what the Pen Tool can do outside of Illustrator. And you can also learn a few really cool tricks in Photoshop and InDesign. You'll design a basic layout that can be used for articles or portfolio pages, which is a really useful skill to have.
