How to Create a Technical Flat of Leggings in Adobe Illustrator Final Project Example PDF

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How to Create a Technical Flat of Leggings in Adobe Illustrator Final Project Example, Professor Shinall...

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Table of Contents 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................2 2.

Technical Definition and Description.......................................................................................3

3.

Parts and Equipment List.........................................................................................................3

4.

Instructional Steps....................................................................................................................4

5.

End Product............................................................................................................................11

6.

Conclusion..............................................................................................................................12 6.1

7.

Troubleshooting...............................................................................................................12

Back Matter............................................................................................................................12 7.1

References.......................................................................................................................12

7.2

Glossary..........................................................................................................................13

HOW TO CREATE A TECHNICAL FLAT OF LEGGINGS IN ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR 1. Introduction In this tutorial, you will learn how to apply basic knowledge of Adobe Illustrator to create a technical flat of leggings using a lay figure. The contents of this tutorial include: how to open and effectively format Adobe Illustrator, import a lay figure or croquis to create the basis for a technical flat, outline half the form, consider and decide design, seam, and style lines, duplicate and reflect the line, group together, and export a finished technical flat for personal or workplace applications. In terms of necessary background knowledge, the tutorial will cover which tools to use, but it will not cover how to draw lines, create curves, or select objects with a mouse. The tutorial is also designed for creatives with a design in mind; therefore, there will be a step in which the user can customize their style lines and seams to customize their technical flat. The tutorial will also explain what format to use, but not all steps to create a format. User should have Adobe Illustrator downloaded before beginning. Before beginning, please have Adobe Illustrator downloaded to your device of choice. Tutorial is designed specifically for laptop and desktop users, but techniques should apply for tablets. User should have capability of drawing lines and paths using pen tool, selecting objects to see available options, and knowledge of how to open and select format options for an artboard. User should also have basic knowledge of seam and style lines on garments for deciding their desired appearance of the technical flat. User should also understand the following terms: stroke weight, dotted line, direct selection tool, selection tool, anchor points. However, a glossary is provided for the user’s knowledge. This tutorial is designed for entry-level fashion and apparel employees, interns, and high school or college students, who have basic knowledge of Adobe Illustrator. Although these instructions are intended for those with basic Adobe Illustrator knowledge, I intend for this tutorial to also be used for users who have a higher level of knowledge regarding Adobe Illustrator who have yet to learn how to make technical flats. The user can expect to create a technical flat from scratch, start to finish. Tasks include opening Adobe Illustrator, formatting the artboard, importing a lay figure or croquis, considering desired style of leggings, outlining half the form, duplicating the created line, reflecting the line, joining together, adding additional seams, and saving for export. The procedure should take approximately 15-45 minutes. A more complex design or style will take a longer amount of time to complete. These instructions should be used in conjunction with basic Adobe Illustrator knowledge to create a customizable technical flat. These instructions should not be used as a substitute to learning basic Adobe Illustrator knowledge and beginning without understanding the necessary capabilities may lead to issues in executing the steps

2. Technical Definition and Description The practice of making technical flats is essential for informing manufacturers on how to successfully produce your garment. Most students and entry-level designers have familiarity with fashion sketching or illustration, which allow you to express a concept or design in an abstract or creative way. However, technical flats are a necessity that helps designers express their exact design and components; flats should include, at least, a front and back view (Omotoso, 2019). A technical flat is a two-dimensional line drawing that shows as much detail as possible and all the design needs for construction, including but not limited to seams, pockets, buttons, stitching, etc. A technical flat also shows the manufacturer the proper proportions for your garment to avoid inaccuracies in production. Once finished and grouped, technical flats serve as the basis for color, texture, and pattern ideas that can be proposed to a client, workplace, or manufacturer. Technical flats are also implemented in garment specification sheets, which contain all the construction details, measurements, and tolerances for manufacturing a product (Omotoso, 2019).

3. Parts and Equipment List -

Adobe Illustrator

-

Mouse or trackpad

-

Lay figure or croquis (downloaded to your computer or hard drive)

-

If desired: Wacom tablet or pen

4. Instructional Steps Opening Adobe Illustrator and Formatting Your Artboard 1. Open Adobe Illustrator. 2. Select Letter on the application’s home screen. 2.1. This will provide a blank white artboard with dimensions: 8.5x11 inches. 3. Click the file tab in the top left corner. 4. Select open (Ctrl + O).

1, 2: Adobe Illustrator Home Screen

2.1: Artboard

3: File tab, top left

4. Select open (Ctrl + O)

5. Browse your computer’s files and select your predownloaded lay figure or croquis. 5.1. The file will open in a new window in Adobe Illustrator 6. Select and drag the image onto the blank white artboard. 6.1. When dragging the image, you will see a rectangular box and + sign (pictured), that let you know that the image will be moved to that tab. 6.2. The lay figure will create a proportioned canvas of the standard fashion figure and allow you to easily see how your leggings will appear when put to production.

Deciding Design and Style 1. Decide desired style and seam lines. 1.1. i.e.: high-waisted, low rise, midrise, crop or capri length, etc.

5: Computer files: lay figure/croquis

6: Select and drag;

1: Common styles

rectangular box and + sign symbol

Creating the Technical Flat 1. Outline one leg of the leggings on the lay figure or croquis using the pen tool (P). 1.1. Reminder: always select the last anchor point if you deselect and reselect the pen tool. 1.2. Start with the middle point of the waistline and draw out towards the side. 1.3. Follow the same path and anchor point down and on the curvature of the leg. 1.4. Decide where the hem sits and draw. 1.5. Follow inner curvature of the leg up to the crotch point.

1.2: Waistline 1.3: Follow leg curvature

1.4: Decide and draw hem 1.5: Inner leg to crotch

2. Delete, move, or hide your lay figure or croquis. 3. Select your path using the selection tool (V). 3.1. The outline should be one piece connected by the anchor points. 4. Copy (Ctrl + C) the line and paste (Ctrl + P). 5. Select the pasted path using the selection tool. 6. Click the object tab in the top left corner.

2,3: Delete lay

4: Copy

5: Select

6: Click

figure and select

and

the pasted line

object

outline

paste

with (V)

tab

7. Select the transformation bar and, then, the reflect option within the bar. 7.1. A box with reflect options will pop up. 7.2. Ensure that the axis is vertical and the degree is set to 90. 7.3. Click OK.

7: Select transform > reflect

7.1, 7.2, 7.3: Reflect options, OK.

8. Select and drag either path until the waistlines are parallel to each other. 8.1. You will know that the lines are parallel when a purple dialog says ‘intersect.’ 8.2. Leave a little bit of white space between the two lines. 9. Select the two anchor points at the crotch point using the direct selection tool (A). 10. Click the join option in the options tab or type Ctrl + J. 10.1. Joining the two lines together creates one object from the two outlines next to each other by filling the white space between the anchor points with an extension of the line. 10.2. By joining the lines and creating one object, the technical flat can be used to create a clipping mask in further applications. 11. Select the two anchor points at the waistline with the direct selection tool (A). 12. Click the join option in the options tab or type Ctrl + J.

8: Outlines

9: Select

11: Select

10, 12: Join

13: Copy

dragged together

anchor

anchor

(Ctrl + J)

and

leaving white

points at

points at

to fill white

paste

space

crotch

waistline

spaces

13. Copy and paste the joined flat path. 13.1. This copy will act as the back of the flat.

Specifying and Saving the Technical Flat for Industry Application 1. Draw additional seam and style lines using the pen tool (P). 1.1. i.e.: front/back or side seam, style lines at waistline, stitching at waistline or hemline, etc. 2. Check that all stroke weights are appropriate. 2.1. Standard for industry: 2.1.1. Outline: 2pt 2.1.2. Interior: seam lines: 1pt

2.1.3. Stitches: 0.5pt 2.2. This can be changed in the stroke tab. 2.3. Dotted lines can also be applied in the stroke tab for stitching. 3. Select all paths for front flat, including the outline, using the selection tool (V).

1: Add seams and style lines

2: Check Stroke weights

3: Select all using (V)

4. Click the group option in the options tab or type Ctrl + G. 4.1. This groups all of the front flat so it can be moved as one object. 5. Select all paths for back flat, including the outline, using the selection tool (V). 6. Click the group option in the options tab or type Ctrl + G. 6.1. This groups the entirety of the back flat so it can be moved as one object. 7. To resize to fit page, select one or both and hold down shift while dragging the corner with the selection tool (V).

4: Group

5: Select all (back)

6: Group

7: Resize to fit page, drag corner

8. Save your work to your computer as an .AI file. 8.1. Reminder: if you used red as your stroke outline, change to black for industry applications. 8.2. This type of flat allows you to reopen and rework your technical flat. 8.3. For further applications, always save as an Illustrator file.

8: Save

8.3: Save as .AI file

5. End Product

6. Conclusion In finishing this tutorial, the user should feel in confident by having drawn and created their own technical flat of leggings in Adobe Illustrator. This product can be customized and applied to the user’s needs in the apparel industry, whether they are students, interns, or working designers. This tutorial also serves as a summary of the skillset needed to create other technical flats; therefore, the user should feel that this added to their basic knowledge of Adobe Illustrator.

6.1 Troubleshooting If any disparities occurred in the making of your flat, consider the following: -

Review images to ensure that your path and anchor points align with your lay figure. Review steps to make sure all were followed. Reconsider your design and style lines. Research others’ basic technical flats to get feedback from a wider scope as to how your flat could look. Use the Adobe Help Search bar for further clarification of basic Adobe Illustrator knowledge.

7. Back Matter 7.1 References Golding, M. (2018, October 15). Apply stroke on an object. Retrieved from https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/stroke-object.html#:~:text=Create dotted or dashed lines,-Adobe recommends&text=You can create a dotted,from the Stroke panel menu. Omotoso, M. (2019, February 6). What is a Technical Drawing in Fashion Design? Retrieved from https://fashioninsiders.co/toolkit/top-tips/what-is-technical-drawing/ Smith, J. (n.d.). Adobe Illustrator CC's Selection Tools. Retrieved from https://www.dummies.com/software/adobe/illustrator/adobe-illustrator-ccs-selectiontools/ What are Paths and Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.spellbrand.com/paths-anchor-points-in-adobe-illustrator#:~:text=A path is the black,direction of the curved path. What is the Direct Selection Tool in Illustrator? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.shutterstock.com/support/article/what-is-the-direct-selection-tool-inillustrator#:~:text=With the Direct Selection tool,part of the object's path. Wood, B. (2016, January 14). Working with Basic Shapes in Adobe Illustrator CC (2014 release). Retrieved from https://www.adobepress.com/articles/article.asp? p=2253413&seqNum=7#:~:text=Every shape and path, by,well using the Stroke panel.

7.2 Glossary Path: “the black [or other selected color] line that appears when you draw a line in Adobe Illustrator;” “made up of a series of points called ‘anchor points’” (What are Paths and Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator?) Anchor points: “a series of points” that makes up a path; have “control handles” on either end which “can be used to control the direction of the curved path” (What are Paths and Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator?) Direct selection tool: “allows you to isolate any single object or path, even if it is already part of a group;” shortcut: (A) (What is the Direct Selection Tool in Illustrator?) Dotted line tool: can be implemented from the Stroke panel; select object, check box and decide options, i.e. 1pt, etc. (Wood, 2016) Selection tool: “selects entire objects or groups;” “activates all anchor points in an object, path, or group at the same time, allowing you to move an object without changing its shape” (Smith, n.d.) Stroke weight: default is 1-point black stroke; can be changed in Stroke tab by adjusting the Weight option; industry standards listed in steps (Golding, 2018) Technical flat: “two-dimensional linear, diagrammatical rendition of your designs drawn in solid line, depicting as much detail as possible,” including “construction details, such as seams, darts, pockets, fastenings and topstitching;” “a fundamental necessity for a designer trying to relay their design blueprint” (Omotoso, 2019)...