Adobe Illustrator is the industry-leading vector graphics software that lets you create logos, icons, sketches, typography, and complex illustrations with a free trial today. Whether you are a beginner or a professional, Illustrator has the tools and features you need to bring your ideas to life.

In this article, we will show you some of the basics of Adobe Illustrator, as well as some tips and tricks to help you design faster and better. You will learn how to:

• Set up your workspace and preferences
• Use shapes, colors, and gradients
• Draw with the Pen tool and other drawing tools
• Apply effects and filters
• Use Repeat for Patterns or Global Edits
• Export and share your graphics

Before you start designing, you need to set up your workspace and preferences in Illustrator. This will help you work more efficiently and customize the software to your liking.

To set up your workspace, go to Window > Workspace and choose one of the preset options, such as Essentials, Layout, or Typography. You can also create your own workspace by arranging the panels and tools as you want, and then saving it by clicking on New Workspace.

To set up your preferences, go to Edit > Preferences (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences (Mac) and adjust the settings for various options, such as General, Units, Guides & Grids, Type, etc. For example, you can change the units of measurement, the color mode, the keyboard shortcuts, and more.

One of the most basic and powerful features of Illustrator is the ability to create and manipulate shapes. You can use shapes to create logos, icons, patterns, and more.

To create a shape, select one of the shape tools from the toolbar, such as the Rectangle tool or the Ellipse tool. Then click and drag on the artboard to draw the shape. You can also click once on the artboard and enter the dimensions of the shape in the dialog box that appears.

To change the color of a shape, select it and use the Fill and Stroke options in the Properties panel or the Color panel. You can choose from solid colors, swatches, or color libraries. You can also use the Eyedropper tool to sample a color from another object or image.

To apply a gradient to a shape, select it and click on the Gradient option in the Properties panel or the Gradient panel. You can choose from linear or radial gradients, or create your own custom gradient by adding and adjusting color stops on the gradient slider. You can also use the Gradient tool to change the direction and angle of the gradient on the shape.

If you want to create more complex and organic shapes, you can use the Pen tool or other drawing tools in Illustrator. These tools let you draw paths with curves and angles that you can edit later.

To draw with the Pen tool, select it from the toolbar and click on the artboard to create anchor points. Each anchor point has two handles that control the direction and curvature of the path. To finish drawing a path, either close it by clicking on the first anchor point again, or leave it open by pressing Ctrl+Enter (Windows) or Cmd+Enter (Mac).

To edit a path, use the Direct Selection tool or the Curvature tool to select and move anchor points or handles. You can also use other tools such as Scissors tool or Join tool to cut or connect paths.

Besides the Pen tool, you can also use other drawing tools such as Pencil tool or Brush tool to draw freehand paths. These tools have different options that you can adjust in their respective panels or double-clicking on their icons in the toolbar.

To add some flair and style to your graphics, you can apply effects and filters in Illustrator. Effects are non-destructive transformations that you can apply to objects without changing their original appearance. Filters are destructive transformations that permanently alter objects