It could also be that the videos you are watching are not showing you how to get to various Swatch and Brush Libraries that are being shown. In each of the two panels, there's a Library popup menu in the lower-left corner (looks like books on a shelf). ... View more

Another thought! Would it help to select your objects in the Layers panel? Select your first object in the Layers panel by clicking on the selection square to the right of the object's list. Shift-click on the selection square of other listings in the panel to select multiple objects even if they are within multiple Groups. ... View more

There's a little-kown tool in InDesign that might be helpful here in selecting multiple object within a Group. It's a tool that also exists in Illustrator, the Group Selection tool. The reason its little-known in InDesign is its not in the Tools panel. If you select the Direct Selection tool and hold down your Option (Alt) key, the White Arrow will have a Plus Mark to it lower right. This is the Group Selection tool. While holding down your Option (Alt) key, click on the first object in your Group. To select multiple objects, press Option (Alt) + Shift to add to your selection. ... View more

If your question has been answered, please mark the correct answer. Any of the above looks correct to me. ... View more

Have not heard of this problem. Have you tried Trashing your Preferences: Troubleshooting 101: Replace, or "trash" your InDesign preferences ... View more

The people who have been trying to help you here are definitely not trolls. These good people are some of the most knowledgeable Illustrator users around. I recommend that you take Monika's advice and Contact Customer Care ... View more

How old is your computer? It may not be capable of running Illustrator at the speed you'd like. ... View more

You want to Control-click on the Visibility Eye of the Gradient Mesh Layer in the Layers panel. Here's a video about the process that may help: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/01/gradient-mesh-magic/ At 3:30 into the video, you'll see what I'm referring to. ... View more

Most of the people answering questions on this site are volunteers who are here to help people. Most of us do NOT work for Adobe. What kind of computer are you working on? What System? ... View more

Here a video tutorial that might help: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/04/type-on-a-path-secrets-revealed/ ... View more

You want to use your Selection tool (V) to move the text using the controls (the start line, end line or center lime). ... View more

Take a look at Width Profiles and the Width tool (Shift + w). Here's a link to a video tutorial. http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/10/creating-beautiful-swirly-strokes-in-seconds/ ... View more

If you follow Bob's advice above and set your Display Performance Preference to 0 for "Greek Type Below," the type will render no matter how far you Zoom out. At some point you will not be able to read the type, but it won't be Greek. ... View more

Oh, CS5.5. Sorry! ... View more

Start by drawing the six-sided polygon. Then daw the diagonals to connect opposite corners using the Line tool. Select All and go to Object > Live Paint > Make. With the Live Paint object selected, press the Expand button. This should give you your first polygon. You can make it into a repeated Pattern using the the Pattern Options panel (Window > Pattern Options.) Under the Options menu of the panel choose Make Pattern. You may need to make some minor adjustments, but it should be close with the defaults. Here's a video tutorial about making Patterns to help: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/07/create-simply-amazing-patterns/ ... View more

Or you can create your own Width Profile using the Width tool. See video tutorial: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2012/10/creating-beautiful-swirly-strokes-in-seconds/ ... View more

Hmm! I was hopeful, but I guess it's not the answer. ... View more

Take a look in the Appearance panel. Is there a Transform Effect listed there? This is an Effect that can be turned on or off using the visibility Eye next to the listing in the Appearance panel. Or deleted by selecting the Transform listing and hitting the Trash at the bottom of the panel. ... View more

This is a screenshot with a Transform Effect applied. ... View more

In your screenshot, it looks like the object has been Moved and Scaled using the Transform Effect. Can you select the object and show a screenshot of the Appearance panel? ... View more

Do you have an Offset Effect applied? Open the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance), select the object and see if the Effect is listed. You can either Trash the Effect or as Jacob suggested Expand. ... View more

This is not the new default. It's really strange and you're right, no one could work that way. Have you tried trashing Preferences. How to set preferences in Illustrator See "Setting Illustrator Preferences." ... View more

I get the feeling that what you're doing in your first screenshot is actually working, but the Shaper tool is cutting through everything including the background color. Before using the Shaper tool to cut a hole in your objects, make sure your background is in a separate bottom Layer, which is Locked. In this way, the Shaper will cut a hole in just the unlocked objects, not the locked background. Hope this helps! ... View more

If I'm understanding your question, you're probably looking for the Shape Builder tool, not the Shaper tool. The Shaper tool draws shapes. Here's a video about how the Shape Builder tool works: http://www.jeffwitchel.net/2011/12/geared-up-for-shape-builder/ To "Subtract" a shape, you want to press Option (Mac) Alt (Windows) and it will make a hole. ... View more

Have the files in question ever be "worked on" on a Mac? ... View more

General rule of thumb with pixel images. If you start with a high-resolution (300 ppi) image and Place it in InDesign at 100% it will still be 300 ppi when you print. If you make the image any larger that 100% in your InDesign layout, the Effective Resolution will be less than 300 ppi. For instance, if you make the 300 ppi image, 200% in your layout, the Effective resolution will be just 150 ppi. It's the same number of pixels being spread out over a larger area. So you'll end up with less pixel per inch. ... View more