As Larry says without knowing how you created the pattern it is hard to tell you a specific way to color it. However, one technique that I can offer can be used regardless of how the pattern was created using blending modes. To do so create a duplicate of the shape that the pattern is in and fill it with color. Then select it and use one of the blending modes in the Transparency Panel. See screen shot below for two examples: If your pattern is actually an Illustrator pattern tile then you can select the shape and choose Expand under the Object Menu to turn it into editable Illustrator art. ... View more

The use of swashes as alternate characters applies only to certain fonts that come with these specific characters (known as glyphs). It's a little hard to find fonts that have them but doing searches on different font sites will inevitably turn up the names of some that do. Look for OpenType versions of fonts since they have many more glyphs provided per font than either Truetype or Postscript Type 1 fonts. Once you've found a font it is easy to substitute swash glyphs for regular ones using Illustrator's glyphs panel. The example below uses Bookman ITC Std: ... View more

Apparently you've asked this same question today in two separate posts. In the other posting I posted an answer which I'll copy here: It sounds like you’re talking about a situation where several illustrator files have linked art from the same links folder and you’re trying to move individual files to a different location (possibly to another drive) without duplicating the links folder multiple times. To me the best way to do this—and the way that I usually would recommend handling placed art in Illustrator—is to embed placed art rather than keeping it linked. When you do so Illustrator makes a pixel-by-pixel copy of the formerly linked raster art, retaining the resolution. If the original Photoshop image is later changed in any way simply clicking on “Relink” in the Illustrator links panel will update the edited image in Illustrator. Then it can be reembedded. This way you can keep a single folder of Photoshop links that all Illustrator files can get their raster art from prior to embedding and you’ve saved the space on your hard drive. ... View more

Reinstalling Illustrator alone will not help a problem like yours if the old, possibly corrupt, Illustrator preference files have not been deleted and then recreated. To reset preferences automatically: Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. After the reset new preference files will be automatically created. ... View more

It can be done using some set type and the pen tool: Start with the pattern (Picture One above). Set the type you want and place it to your liking. Convert the type to outlines and make sure that the outlined text is ungrouped and no longer a compound path (Shift-Option/Alt-Command/Control-8) (Picture Two). With the pen tool draw the outline of the flowers you want to overlap (Picture Three). Select each letter and its overlapping shape one at a time and use the Pathfinder Unite function to combine them into one shape (Picture Four). When all the letters are done select them all and make them into a single Compound Path (Command/Control-8) (Picture Five). Then select the compound path and the background pattern and make a clipping mask (Picture Six). Place a black square behind it for the final result. Once you get the black square in place you might want to tighten the pen tool paths around the exposed flowers using the direct-selection tool. ... View more

If your panels are not opening it could mean that you have to reset your Illustrator preference files. To do so: For Macintosh Users: With Illustrator closed launch a Finder Window in column view and click on your home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. Within the Library folder find the following two files and delete them: “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist”. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults. After you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, it is a really good idea to create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete. For Windows Users: Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. ... View more

If everything is working correctly in your version of Illustrator then drawing two circles, as you have, and filling one with 80% Black and the other with either 0% color or white will produce the results below: In the first example I used the Blend Options (Found through Object Menu>Blend) to set up the Smooth Color method. This way will usually provide a blend smooth enough for most uses. The second method used Specified Steps and I (arbitrarily) chose 100. In either case the keyboard command Option/Alt-Command/Control-B will apply the blend after you've chosen the blending method. The third option in the Blend Options Dialog Specified Distance does not apply to what you've asked about. In either of the cases above if you want to expand the blend to live Illustrator art you can select it and choose Expand under the Object Menu. If your program is not working like this then you might need to delete your Illustrator preference files. To do so: For Macintosh Users: With Illustrator closed launch a Finder Window in column view and click on your home folder. With the Option Key pressed choose Library from the Finder Go Menu. Within the Library folder find the following two files and delete them: “Adobe Illustrator <Version #> Settings” (earlier versions of Illustrator might just say “Adobe Illustrator”) and “com.adobe.Illustrator.plist”. When Illustrator is next launched it will create new preference files and the program will be restored to its defaults. After you’ve reset up the program (make sure that no document window is open) to your liking, it is a really good idea to create copies of your personalized “mint” preference files (make sure that you quit the program before copying them—that finalizes your customization) and use them in the future to replace any corrupt versions you may need to delete. For Windows Users: Hold down Ctrl + Alt + Shift when launching Illustrator and respond affirmatively when asked if you want to reset. ... View more