Dimension for Illustrator users

Adobe Dimension CC makes it easy for Adobe Illustrator CC users to truly visualize their creations.

You'll see how adding assets you create in Illustrator CC, including a logo and pattern to branding collateral in Adobe Dimension CC allows you to visualize what it will look like in real life, making 3D design simple.

In Adobe Illustrator CC, I've created a few versions of a logo, - each on a separate artboard - and some stylized text to go along with it, as well as several patterns, all to be used as artwork for the brand collateral pieces in Adobe Dimension CC.

Back in Adobe Dimension CC, you can open this cosmetic_branding_start file from the practice files if you want to follow along.

You can see there are series of 3D models already on the canvas for a cosmetic product line.

Some with the logo and pattern already applied.

You'll add another model to this scene and then add logos and the pattern to it.

From the Starter Assets panel on the left, where you can see a lot of assets that come with Dimension CC, scroll down and drag this tall box into your design, placing it here.

Now, to resize the box, select the Scale tool on the left.

You can also press the letter S to switch to it.

Pressing the Shift key, drag here to make it smaller.

Now to rotate it, select the Rotate tool on the left, you can press the letter R to access that as well, and drag this green or Y value.

You can select the Move tool again by pressing the letter V and drag the box into position.

Now, if you look in the Scene panel on the right, you'll see a layering of all the content in the scene, including the new box.

From this panel, you can hide and show content as well as lock content in your scene.

Come out to the artwork and you're going to start by setting the material on this box.

So, double click the box to see the properties for it on the right.

To change the color of the box, you can click the Properties swatch here and with Color selected, you could apply a color.

Now, instead of applying a color to the box because we have a pattern we can use, you can also apply content from Illustrator CC as a material.

So, select the image, then click the folder icon and navigate to this Patter.ai file from the downloadable assets.

Click Open and the pattern's applied.

Now to select the right artboard from the Illustrator CC file so you can choose a pattern, choose the artboard from the menu here.

You should see the pattern applied.

After you apply it, you'll see a series of options like Repeat and Position that you can now set for the pattern to make it just right.

Click away from the menu to hide it and the box is also deselected.

Next, you'll ad the Illustrator CC logo to the box.

You can do this by copying and pasting content right from Illustrator CC onto a selected model or importing an Illustrator CC file.

Double click the box to edit the properties again.

To place a graphic on it, like a logo, click the Place Graphic on Model button in the Actions section here.

In the dialog box that opens, select the Logo.ai file from the practice files you downloaded to embed it in this document then click Open.

Once the logo is on the box, you can rotate the logo by dragging here.

To scale it, press the Shift key and drag any of these points.

I'll make it a little bit larger.

You can also position it where you want by dragging in the middle of the logo to move it.

Now, because this was imported as an Illustrator CC file, you can select which logo to use by choosing the correct artboard from the Illustrator CC file, right here in Dimension CC.

In the Properties panel, to try one of the alternate logos, click the image swatch to see the logo then choose another artboard from the menu here to apply it.

Now suppose you're looking at the logo and you realize you need to make some changes in Illustrator CC.

You can either click this pencil icon or you can double click the logo thumbnail to open it directly in Illustrator CC.

You can see the layered content now in Illustrator CC and make any changes necessary.

I'll change the color then save the file.

Returning to Adobe Dimension CC, you should see the logo change Next, you'll add another graphic to the box, so you can add some text that was stylized in Illustrator CC.

So double click the box to select it again and in the Scene panel, you can see what you've already applied.

The first graphic and the material.

Now to add another graphic, click the Place Graphic on Model button, navigate to the lesson files and select the Logo.ai document one more time.

The text in this file, is on a different artboard in the logo document.

So, to choose a different artboard, click the Properties swatch and choose the artboard from here.

You can now come out to the graphic and adjust it so it's just right.

With the content in place, you can now do some things like adjust the overall lighting of the scene.

In the Scene panel, to show everything again, click the arrow here.

Then click Environment so you can adjust the lighting.

You can then make some lighting adjustments in the Properties panel down here.

Now, there are other lighting adjustments you can set, like Sunlight.

Click the arrow to show the options for sunlight if they aren't already showing and make sure the option is selected.

You can then make some other adjustments.

With the scene ready, you can render or create the final image.

So, click Render in the upper left corner to switch to Render Mode.

In the Render Settings on the right, you can configure your final rendered file.

You can select which views to render, in this case, the Current View will work fine.

You can set the filename, you can change the quality.

Know that Low (Fast) takes less time to render but doesn't look as good.

You can choose a location to save the file and finally choose a format.

You can either choose a PSD (16 Bits/Channel) to get a layered native Photoshop CC file which you can then edit in Photoshop CC or you can select to render as a PNG or both.

After choosing a format, click Render and know that depending on the design content and the render settings you set, the time it takes to render may vary.

Thanks to the ease of its editing capabilities, Adobe Dimension CCs gives Illustrator CC users the ability to visualize product shots, packaging designs, branding collateral and unique digital images.

Adobe Dimension CC makes 3-D design simple.

So, give Dimension CC a try today.