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How can I create inked edges effect in Illustrator

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
July 22, 2021
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I want to make an inked edge effect / style in Illustrator. Everything is too uniform. I want to be able to just apply it to shapes and be done, no tweaking every time. I want to come as close to this as possible - this is a pic of actual ink on paper. The dark line at the edge and wonky shading / gradient on the inside is what I'm after.

This is what I've been playing with. I like this look but not the inside of the stroke. I was thinking I could blend 2 together - is there a way to knock out the fill color and leave the effect behind - the inner glow - like you can in Photoshop?

And this is just boring and too uniform.

How to

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Correct answer Ton Frederiks

You could try custom semi transparent art brushes.

I used 2, one is a copy that goes in the other direction.

I added a simple 1 point stroke at the top.

This stroke will be used by the Pathfinder Crop effect at the bottom to clip the art brushes.

Ton Frederiks

Correct answer

Community Expert

You could try custom semi transparent art brushes.

I used 2, one is a copy that goes in the other direction.

I added a simple 1 point stroke at the top.

This stroke will be used by the Pathfinder Crop effect at the bottom to clip the art brushes.

melissapiccone

Author

Community Expert

Looks great and much faster then my way. How did you make your brushes? I don't make them in AI, just in PS. Did you just draw some lines and turn it into a brush?

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist

Ton Frederiks

Community Expert

I played with some of the watercolor brushes, dragged them out of the brushes panel and roughened them (and simplified them because they became too slow, they are still quite heavy). Dragged them back and used Tints for the colorization method.

See:

https://shared-assets.adobe.com/link/388870d8-be62-476b-5cb8-8c6c15511d26

melissapiccone

Author

Community Expert

I got the look I was after but it's not a style. I would have to do it individuallly to each shape. I offset the path to make a second shape. The back one is brown, top one is white. I created a blend between the 2 and applied roughen to the white, smaller one on top. then I created another full size shape to use as a clipping mask so the edges are straight. It works but it would be fantasic if I could make it a style.

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist

Mohammad.Harb

Community Expert

In my openion, i would save my time by downloading a stock ink edge vector from adobe stock

have you checked Kyle's sampel brushes pack which are available in adobe marketplace (all libraries) in the creative cloud app?

melissapiccone

Author

Community Expert

That is a great idea except that I have different shapes, not just rectangles.

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist

Monika Gause

Community Expert

You can try knockout groups. From your description I'm not quite sure what exatly you are after, otherwise I would try.

melissapiccone

Author

Community Expert

How do the knockout groups work in Illustrator? I know how to do it in PS. I was playing with the check boxes but couldn't figure it out - I'm guessing its very similar.

Melissa Piccone | Adobe Trainer | Online Courses Author | Fine Artist