Holiday Hours Handout Design Tutorial

Hello, my name is Will Fritz and I am a graphic designer. I have recently started a YouTube channel and a blog, so feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel to stay up to date with all of the new videos coming out soon. I will do my best to make sure that each video has a blog associated with it for people who would prefer to learn this way. I appreciate your time in reading this blog.

My YouTube channel can be found here...
My Etsy Shop is here...

Before starting, go to the links below and download all the files needed. There are 2 font families and 1 stock image.
Open the text folders and install the fonts by double-clicking the .ttf or .otf files and clicking install.
They should be automatically installed to Adobe Illustrator.

https://unsplash.com/photos/BPWZ01FtySg
https://www.1001fonts.com/daisy-script-font.html
https://www.1001fonts.com/liberation-serif-font.html

1. Set Up Document
- File -> New Document
- Select 'Letter' or manually set up Height X Width to equal 8.5 X 11 (this is the size of a normal piece of paper.)
- Make Sure 8.5 is for Height, and 11 is for width. Also be sure that the preferred measurement is INCHES.
- After double checking to make sure your dimensions are correct, confirm your document set up is in portrait mode.
- Set 'Color Mode' to CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black) and PPI (Points-Per-Inch) is set to 300.
- Click Create.

** CMYK and 300 PPI are the standard for printing materials, if you are creating a web/digital advertisement, go ahead and use RGB Color Mode. **

- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)


2. Double Check Color Mode is in CMYK Color
- File -> Document Color Mode -> CMYK Color


3. Turn on Rulers and Guides
- View -> Rulers -> Show Rulers (CTRL + R).


- View -> Guides -> Show Guides (CTRL + ;).



** If it says 'Hide Rulers' or 'Hide Guides' then your rulers/guides are on. **

4. Set Rulers to Inches
- Right click on the Rulers that have now popped up on the screen and enable the measurement to be set to Inches.


5. Drag Out Guides Using Rulers
- Click on the Rulers on the left-hand side of the screen and drag 2 guides horizontally to 0.25 and 8.25 Inches.

** If you zoom in while inside the document, the rulers value will change and it will be easier to locate the 1/4 inch marks. Also try holding the spacebar and clicking to scrubby zoom across the document. **


- Repeat this step but with the ruler on the top of the document. Drag these guides down to 0.25 and 10.75 Inches.
- Once you have 4 guides, rename Layer 1 to 'Guides' by double clicking on the name, and lock it down by selecting the box to the right-hand side of the eyeball.
- Then create a new layer by clicking the 'New Layer' button at the bottom right of your screen.

** You can easily lock the guides by selecting the 'Lock Guides' button, but doing it this way makes it easier for me to visually see whether or not the guides are locked.
Before continuing, be sure that the 'Guides' layer is locked, and that you are currently on Layer 2. **

- Turn on Smart Guides by going to View -> Smart Guides (CTRL + U).

** If there is a check mark next to Smart Guides, then they are turned on. **
Smart guides are annoying but are useful. They help snap objects into place. If it ever gets annoying to the point where you are unable to complete what you need to do... Turn them off. I tend to leave them on 99% of the time.

-Save the File by going to File -> Save.

Congratulations! Your document is now set up properly!


Designing The Handout

1. Importing the Image Correctly
- Go to File -> Open (CTRL + O).
- Open the downloaded image into a separate Adobe Illustrator Document.
- Move the Image into our existing FloralSchedule document by selecting it and dragging it into our existing document.

** It is important to drag the jpg file into the documents rather than just dragging the image into our existing document. When dragging the image in, it will be embedded as a linked file vs an actual jpg image. We want it to be a jpg image so that it is easier to print/transfer our files.



- Once you have the image in the FloralSchedule document, proceed.
- Go to Object -> Transform -> Scale -> Enter 30% into the Uniform box.
- Make sure the 'Scale Corners' and 'Scale Strokes & Effects' are checked.
- Go To Window -> Align.
- In the bottom right corner of the Align Panel, select Align To: 'Align to Artboard'.
- In the Align Objects: select Vertical Align Object and Horizontal Align Object.

** This should put the image directly in the center of the Artboard. **



- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)

2. Creating Rectangle and Clipping Mask
- Create a rectangle the size of our document... so width = 8.5 inches / height = 11 inches.
- Using the align panel, go ahead and center align this new rectangle by clicking Horizontal Align Object and Vertical Align Object. ** Make sure that it is aligned to the artboard.**
- Select the rectangle using the Selection Tool (V) while holding Shift to select the image as well.
- Right click on the selected objects (the rectangle and image) and select 'Make Clipping Mask' Your image should now be the size of our artboard, eliminating all the excess.
- Make a second rectangle using the rectangle tool (M) , set the height to 9.5 Inches and the width to 7 inches.
- Make sure that the rectangle is on top of our image, and that it has a fill of White.
- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)

Your document should now look like this...



3. Naming Layers and Creating Text Layer
- Now Press Ctrl + A to select everything and press Ctrl + 2. (locks layer)
- Double click the Layer with the rectangle and clipping mask to rename it. Name it 'Background'.
- Create a new layer and put it on top of our Background layer.
- Double click this new layer and name it 'Text'.
- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)



4. Creating The 'Thanksgiving Holiday Hours' Text Box
- Select the Text layer to activate it.
- Using the Type Tool (T), Drag a text box that is 8.5 Inches Wide, and 3 inches tall.
** It is important to drag out the text box and not just click with the Type Tool activated.
-If illustrator is giving you problems, simply move the text onto the Text layer in the Layers panel by dragging it up.
- On the Text Layer, click inside the newly created text box and type...

Thanksgiving Holiday Hours

- Highlight the text and select the font 'Daisy Script'.
- Make the font size set to 70 pt (Character Panel).
- Select Center Align (Paragraph Panel).
** If you do not have Daisy Script, you must download and install it from the link provided. It is free.
- Move the text box towards the top of the Artboard so it looks something like this.





- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)

5. Creating The Second Text Box
- Create a Text Box about 7 inches wide and 7.8 inches tall, so that it covers the white rectangle.
- Put this Text Box below the first one.
- Align Center this text box as well.
- Choose 'Liberation Serif' for the Font.
- Set font size to 30.
- Type the following, pressing enter after each line.

Wednesday, Nov. 24th | Hours 9-1pm
Thursday, Nov. 25th | Office Closed
Friday, Nov. 26th | Hours noon-5pm

- Highlight the text and go over to the Leading or Line Height and set it to 48.
- You can do so in the character section of the properties panel. See the image below.


- Press Enter twice (2) times after 5pm, and type the following...

Wishing you a safe and wonderful holiday!

- Highlight the text 'Wishing you a safe and wonderful holiday!'
- Select the Italic version of Liberation Serif.
- Set the font size to 40 pt.
- You probably noticed that the word wonderful is hyphenated. Hit the 3 dots in the Paragraph panel (right below the Center Align) and deselect 'Hyphenate'.
- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)



- After the word 'Holiday!' , press enter 5 times and type the following...

In case of emergency, please call 911.

- Highlight the text you just typed (In case of emergency, please call 911.)
- Select the Bold Liberation Serif font.
- Change the Font Size to 22 pt.
- Select the 3 dots in the Character Panel.
- Select the ALL CAPS button.
- Press Enter after the comma and the word 'emergency'.
- Highlight the last line of the page that reads 'PLEASE CALL 911.'
- With the line highlighted, decrease the leading from 48 down to 28.
** If you hold shift while hitting the down arrow, it will decrease by 10 to the nearest 0 (48 -> 40 -> 30).
- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)

Your image should look something like this...



- Select both of the text boxes, so that all of the text is selected.
- Using the Top Menus, go to Type -> Create Outlines (Shift + Ctrl + O).
- Select the bottom text box, right click, and select 'Ungroup'.
- Save the File by going to File -> Save. (CTRL + S)



This should make it so that each individual letter is now it's own individual object. We won't be editing each individual letter, but now we will be able to click on the white background without selecting the font. It just gives us an easier space to work with. It is also important to note that by creating outlines, if we were to send this File over to a Print Shop, the file will have all of the fonts within the document, whereas if we left the fonts as text instead of the outlines, we would have had to package all of the fonts we used within a folder and send over the document folder. Creating outlines is just best practice when you are finished with editing the text.

6. Downloading Art Using Vecteezy.com
Next, head on over to www.vecteezy.com and download the file from the link below.
https://www.vecteezy.com/vector-art/1313742-fun-turkeys-banner-for-thanksgiving-day

THIS FILE IS FREE TO DOWNLOAD, HOWEVER, ATTRIBUTION IS REQUIRED FOR ALL FREE DOWNLOADS.
IF YOU WANT TO DOWNLOAD FILES WITHOUT ATTRIBUTING THE ARTIST, YOU MUST PURCHASE A PRO LICENSE.
PRO LICENSES ARE $14 A MONTH, AND ALLOW DESIGNERS TO DOWNLOAD AND USE THE ARTWORK FOR PROFIT.
IF YOU WANT TO SIGN UP, USE MY AFFILIATE LINK. OTHERWISE, JUST GO TO THE LINK, DOWNLOAD THE ART, AND ATTRIBUTE THE ARTIST CORRECTLY...

6. Using Encapsulated PostScript Files in Illustrator
- Once you have downloaded the file, make sure to open the .eps file format.
- In the new file, select the art using the Selection Tool (V).
- Right click and select 'Ungroup'.
- Press (Ctrl + Shift + A) to deselect everything.
- Using the Selection Tool (V), hold shift and select the big orange turkey and the two brown turkeys, leaving behind the smallest turkey.
- Press Ctrl + C to copy the three turkeys.
- Go back to our FloralHandout file, and press Ctrl + V to paste the three turkeys into our document.
- Once again, go to Object -> Transform -> Scale and enter 25% into the Uniform text box.
- Make sure that 'Scale Corners' and 'Scale Strokes & Effects' are selected.
- Press Okay.


- With the Turkeys still selected, press Ctrl + G to group them together or right click and select 'Group'.
- After grouping the turkeys, go to the align panel and select Horizontal Align Center.
- Holding Shift, move the turkeys down until they are evenly spaced between the font in the blank space so that it looks like this.



Save the File by going to File -> Save.

If Smart Guides are on, Illustrator should've showed you when the turkey was directly in the middle of the font... If the smart guides were not on. It is okay, I will show you how to do this in the following steps without relying on smart guides.

7. Distributing Objects Evenly
- Using the Select Tool, highlight the font that reads 'Wishing you a safe and wonderful holiday!'
-Group it together by pressing Ctrl + G or right-click and press 'Group'.
- Do the same thing and group the font that reads 'In case of emergency, please call 911.'
** Remember, pressing Shift + Ctrl + A will allow you to deselect everything.**
- If you have done the steps correctly, you should have three groups...

1. One group that is 'Wishing you a safe and wonderful holiday!'
2. Another group that is the three turkeys.
3. A third group that reads 'In case of emergency, please call 911.'

- Now, with the direct selection tool (V), hold down Shift and select all three groups.
- Open the Align Panel by going to Window -> Align.
- With all three groups selected, in the bottom right of the Align Panel, click the 'Align To' button and select 'Align to Selection'.
- Now look in the Distribute Objects portion of the Align panel and select 'Vertical Distribute Center'.

There you go, the three objects are distributed evenly and the handout is complete.

Personally, I clicked on the group with the three turkeys using the Selection Tool (V) and pressed Shift + Down Arrow twice. I felt it looked better a little closer to the 'In Case of Emergency, please call 911' text.

Congratulations! You have created the handout.

If you did everything correctly, you should have something like this...



If you edited to your liking or switched out a font, then more power to you... As long as you have learned something and got what you needed, then I am happy with the outcome.

-Save the File by going to File -> Save.

8. How To Save and Print as PDF
- File -> Save
- File -> Save As
- In the 'Save as type' dropdown menu, set it to save as an Adobe PDF.
- Select Adobe 7 for compatibility.
- Leave these three options selected...

1. Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilites
2. Embed Page Thumbnails
3. Create Acrobat Layers from Top-Level Layers

- Select Save PDF.


- Your document should now be FloralSchedule.pdf
- Go to File -> Print, select your printer and hit Print!

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