Ultimate Inking and Coloring Tutorial for Adobe Illustrator (short version)

[@jayhive4884]

I was one who commented when this channel was so new. Now it's on a million views. Years later, this one's still a classic.

[@claybutler]

Funny how it worked out like that. Such an anomaly.

[@WhiteNorth]

I took a simple course in college that taught the basics of Illustrator and Photoshop. I learned a lot of useful tips and tricks for photo manipulation and how to build simple graphics for social media. I've always drawn in photoshop because I never understood how to shade and colour in illustrator. I mostly painted, but I have tried my hand at making vectors because I know the usefulness of it and the absolute uselessness of a drawing in photoshop if I painted too small. This tutorial even though its 8 years old has helped my shading skills so much. I appreciate that you explained everything you were doing as you did it and why you do it that way. Instead of other tutorials where there long stretches of silence and little explanation. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

[@claybutler]

You're very welcome!

[@amalgamatewisdom]

Instruction Steps! 1. Draw! 2. Select All 3. Group 4. Duplicate 5. Profit!!! ~ Just kidding. 6. Object > Expand Appearance 7. Object > Live Paint > Make 8. Object > Live Paint > Expand 9. Tweak & clean lineart. 10. Object > Live Paint > Make 11. Paint & Save!

[@claybutler]

Bingo!

[@EpicSavage718]

thank you

[@pavlusabanik5810]

Thank you

[@nicklasgustavsson1722]

Clay Butler when I save the image it has white lines all over it? Can you help me!

[@claybutler]

@@nicklasgustavsson1722 Please read the video description for ideas on that issue.

[@AuBurnedLime]

That's truly the best Tutorial on Illustrator inking on KZbin. All others are awkward and time wasting, with a lot of headache.

[@cursodedesenho]

perfect tutor

[@claybutler]

Thanks. I just like to explain things the way I would like them to be explained to me.

[@3ScoopsProductions]

Right! Intuitive, straight to the point, and very helpful tools and methods!

[@every_username_is_taken]

Hands down the best Illustrator tutorial there is, thanks for keeping it short and to-the-point.

[@claybutler]

Thanks!

[@3DxPOD]

That's INSANE! haha That's better than any illustration I've ever done, and in only 8 minutes :) Plus you were explaining the whole time. Great work and thank you so much for this tutorial! Good luck with everything!

[@claybutler]

+Pavlin “3DxPOD” Dimitrov Thanks!

[@malcolmtaylor7074]

My thoughts exactly. I wish I could like this video multiple times hehe

[@tobey_maguire_]

Finally some useful video which actually helped me. I was searching for videos for recent versions of Adobe but none of em actually told the basic thing of how to paint in Illustrator ( never would I've thought that painting could be such a hard thing to figure out ), all they did was do things from here and there and never getting to the point. I was hesitant to watch a 6-7 yrs old video because it may be outdated... but I'm glad I watched it... it helped me a lot. Thanks a lot mate... you are just awesome! This video still rocks in 2018.

[@claybutler]

Thanks! I'm really lucky that this basic illustrator functionality has not changed in years which is kept this video very relevant.

[@claybutler]

PLEASE READ THE VIDEO DESCRIPTION BEFORE POSTING QUESTIONS. CONTAINS LINKS TO DOWNLOAD THE BRUSH AND MASTER FILE IN THIS TUTORIAL! I'm one of the featured artists in Walter Foster's new book Art of Cartooning & Illustration. All of my illustrations, that are in the book, were done using this inking and coloring method. No lie! I really do use this technique all the time. www.quartoknows.com/books/9781633226203/The-Little-Book-of-Cartooning-Illustration.html

[@jenninexus]

awesome!! great tuts!

[@Esthiem]

Hey, Ive ran into a problem. For the past two days whenever i try to use the knife tool so i can add shadows and highlights. My illustrator slows down dramatically and gets stuck on the progress bar until i stop the progress. Any idea on how i can fix this? Ive tried simple things like deleting files and uninstalling programs and cleaning up my computer for better performance and its worked for everything except this issue. Its even gotten to the point where everything will start to crash with illustrator claiming i dont have enough RAM to run operations yet ive barely even scratch the surface of my computers RAM. Help if able.

[@claybutler]

BMOFilms I wish I had some advice on this one. Using the knife tool is not a processing intensive task, nor a heavy user of ram, so I don't know why that is causing problem. However, you didn't post your specs so I can't really know.

[@claybutler]

***** Check out the video description. It has all sorts of info including the file used in this lesson and links to resources.

[@claybutler]

Tanzil khan Read the video description please.

[@DJSherman]

Awesome! You not only clearly and simply show how to do it, but take the fear out of making a mistake, which may be the most valuable part of this lesson. I'm no expert yet but I know when it's time to clean up the lines where you overshoot, you can hit Q and custom-select lines together and delete them, instead of having to delete one at a time.

[@claybutler]

That's one of the fun parts about this method is that it frees you up. You don't have to be so anal all the time. And yes I know you can select multiple lines at once and delete them but in my tutorials I like to show the most basic way to do things without keyboard shortcuts because that can be confusing.

[@randomshashi6638]

old but gold. best tutorial on youtube! thank you! you're like the only one who explained about the live paint option rather than just doing it.

[@claybutler]

You're welcome. It's amazing this tutorial is still relevant. All the techniques work just like they did seven years ago!

[@SIRAZRAI]

Such a very short and nice tutorial!

[@bobsibg]

My Knife tool doesnt make the slice, or atleast I cant see it. Any help?

[@Project2013B]

GOOGLE

[@cursodedesenho]

help?

[@alsalsabila]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THIS! SAVED MY LIFE

[@claybutler]

+ALSA You're welcome.

[@DetunedCreepers]

Please don't ever remove this video. I come back to it every time I'm working on a project. You save my ass from hours of frustration constantly. Thank you. - C

[@claybutler]

Don't worry. This video is not going anywhere.

[@NickCheng93]

I've seen many methods for shading, but this is by far the quickest and most effective!

[@SaeSawanoguchi]

Thank you so much!!! I've beem looking for this for ages! hahahaha Finally some useful tutorial for inking and coloring! :) Subscribed! You're wesome

[@claybutler]

Sayaka Sawanoguchi You're welcome. That's partly my inspiration for making the video. It's a super useful shortcut I stumbled upon by accident . Since I couldn't find a single reference about it on the web I decided I'd provide the reference. Judging by the number of views and likes, I assume many others are having the same "ah-ha" moment I had when I stumbled upon this solution.

[@PingasMonster207]

"That's a horrible eye. Even for a tutorial that's unacceptable." I shit my pants when you said that.

[@DoctorThenyn]

Wow, you make it look so easy! Thanks so much for the video. It really helped me. Needed to do a Logo for school and didn't know how to colour the thing. :) I'll check your other videos out.

[@wrangelinhabitant161]

You can explain so good, slowly and detailed that everyone understands and can repeat it. Thank you!

[@claybutler]

Thanks! I just try to explain things the way I like things explained.

[@heatherfaust7643]

You just made my first animation project go so much smoother. I have been crying every time I just want to fill in something a drew and nothing was happening. All hope was lost but I have found the light, you have shown me the way. Thank you. Thank you.

[@claybutler]

Yeah!

[@Simplifiedcryptow]

Clay, amazing work for an 8 minute video, your skill is on another level. I have a quick question, When I use the knife in my drawing it leaves a faint grey line almost like pixel blur or tearing. Any idea why this is happening?

[@claybutler]

Matthew Meijer Read the video description for my thoughts on that and different exporting options. Some people see them, some don't. I've never seen them print that way. I think it's a screen rendering fluke. Zoom in to 1600%. You'll see they don't get any bigger. Because they aren't really there.

[@BayFromVA]

I trace Sneakers and color them using the pen tool (it takes forever) would this technique work better?

[@claybutler]

+Bay FromVA For the coloring part, most definitlely

[@BayFromVA]

Clay Butler ok Thanks A lot

[@claybutler]

"This tut goes hard"...love it. Every time I read this line I keep seeing Snoop Dog saying it.

[@oemergyo]

Dude, I've been meaning to come here and thank you for making this. You have no idea how much I learned and used this method. I wish I could shake your hand, seriously. Thank you, very much... 6 years later. I'm a bad person

[@claybutler]

Hey, better late than never. Thanks!

[@KevinFinkbeiner]

Speaking as a long-time artist still familiarizing myself with the Illustrator workflow, this tutorial was a life-saver. Thank you very much; keep doing more!

[@mistafisha]

"They are no longer edible strokes". lol

[@pdbooch]

I want to cry at how awesome and effective this tutorial is! Thank you so much for uploading this!!!

[@mrshaheer2999]

Finally, in 2021 I found the tutorial which is super easy ... I think most people still don't know this technique in 2021.... hats off you sir

[@claybutler]

Thanks. I think it's pretty easy as well to understand. I actually just used this this week on an illustration. It went so fast.

[@VirtuousStar1]

Thank you so much! I've had illustrator for about a week now. I learned how to navigate through it pretty quickly, but coloring stuff was killing me. The explaining is done well and steady, and the things you forgot to say where added in as annotations. Couldn't have found a better tutorial.

[@claybutler]

You're welcome. Like you I can create vector art using a wide variety of techniques. Some are quite tedious but look great and have more flexibility for post editing. But for my bread and butter cartoon illustration work, it's hard to beat the efficiency of this method.

[@remytv]

oh my god, I've used illustrator for I don't know, 15-16 years, and I'm a graphic designer, and never used this tool! Amazing. Though I don't consider myself an illustrator, I never use the live paint and slicing tool..! I feel like I just got an epiphany! Great tut!

[@claybutler]

You can add a gradient to any object, Just select it then pick your gradient or drag a gradient swatch over to the object.

[@claybutler]

@Mari Sabedoria That must be a requirement of the platform you use to ell your work. I buy vector stock art with lots of gradients from DepositPhotos all the time. Shutterstock too.

[@claybutler]

@Mari Sabedoria Browse there forum for options to your problem. forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/92556-vectors-with-gradients-not-accepted/#:~:text=Dimension%20400PX%20on%20longer%20side,%2Dtime%2D762114082%20are%20accepted. forums.submit.shutterstock.com/topic/71115-new-to-vectors/

[@claybutler]

I noticed that too. It's actually the clear smooth protective plastic surface I taped to my Wacom because I didn't like the paper like resistance on the Intuous 4. It heightens the sound of my pen. My nib is also worn out to so it has a bit of back and forth play that makes a clicking sound.

[@DrunkenChicken101]

God, I've been trying to do this kinda stuff on photoshop for ages but this morning I got illustrator and everything seems so much easier for me. Your tutorials and tips are really helpful

[@JoshBraunz]

I came here specifically for what happened just after the 5:00 mark. EXCELLENT PIECE! This is quality work I hope you're still out there killing it in the graphic design world. Well done. This looks like a logo that could or maybe even was in the old Blitz the League games for custom sports teams.

[@davidpereira573]

I would like to thank you for the video. You just helped me with my illustrations. I ask you not to stop creating essential materials like this. I'm Brazilian and you saved my arts.

[@claybutler]

You're welcome

[@cher6932]

I really liked the video. The quick and dirty crossing of the lines and your unique way of using the paint application was fascinating.

[@claybutler]

+Cheryl Ellis Thanks. It really helps speed things up and keep you lose. When I get fussy I'll use the pen tool and get really specific with anchors and handles and make everything just so. But for many projects, that's overkill. Brush strokes and live paint does the job perfectly.

[@MsSimplySaucy]

Oh. Em. Gee. I've been using Illustrator for a month now, and gave up in coloring because I couldn't, for the life of me, find a convenient, easy way to do it. Thank you so much, Clay! I hope you plan to do more tutorial in the near future!

[@claybutler]

You're welcome. I know those weird slice lines can be pretty freaky at times, but I've been using this technique for years and my stuff has always printed perfectly on posters, trade show pop ups, t-shirts, postcards - everything really - without issues. In fact I just finished a series of lessons on character design for Walter Foster for their new "how to" book on character design and all my art was done using this method. No problems at at. Coincidentally, they found me from this tutorial.

[@bingoditko8476]

Hi Clay, thank you for this wonderful tutorial! Can you please tell me how to get rid of those slice lines when saving as a PDF or other file type? They show up any way I save & I can't find the answer by googling. This tutorial helped me so much.

[@claybutler]

@@bingoditko8476 in the video description I offer several options to remove the lines.

[@edengirmatsion2014]

seriously the best tutorial i've ever come across in the graphic design/illustration world... you're awesome!

[@claybutler]

In illustrator every stoke is an independent object. So a drawing can have hundreds of objects and each one is independently editable and can be moved anywhere you want (not just vertically and horizontally but also in depth as objects are arranged like layers automatically). I only use actual layers when I need to organize my objects in a logical way (example: a package design has a dieline layer and an art layer).

[@alavinsky]

Wish I could upvote this more than once. So helpful. Thanks very much.

[@claybutler]

Thanks!

[@tintinautonomous]

Can you complete this process of deleting overlapping paths by selecting ---> Object > Expand Appearance > Pathfinder > Divide ? Thank you for the quick and easy tutorial.

[@claybutler]

You would think so but no. This is because when you try to use live paint again it won't fill in the blank areas completely as there are still residual invisible paths from the deleted strokes. For it to work correctly you need to expand live paint, then delete stray lines, then make live paint again. I just tested it and it still has that quirk.

[@tintinautonomous]

Ahhh I see...thank you for explaining. Cheers

[@SCillustr8R]

Thanks Clay for this real time speed drawing, the information is original, professional, and extremely helpful for not only newbies, but advanced artists like myself that are bogged down with having to zoom in and adjust tons of anchor points once the lines are laid. You literally just gave me a raise and eliminated a dreaded task. I can't thank you enough man. :)

[@claybutler]

Depending on where you are in the process, you can change the gap settings on the Live Paint Tool (Object > Live Paint > Gap Options). Alternately you can just draw a little tooth shape with the pencil tool, fill it white, and then send it to the back.

[@Comradenby]

To expand before converting to live paint is GENIUS... It just never kept my strokes and I didn't know why.. So this is no longer a problem now.. thank you.

[@claybutler]

True, when you make a group you don't "see" anything happen but when you use the selection tool and touch any of the objects you'll see they are all connected. I made a copy with keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl+C for copy and Ctrl+V for paste) You can also use the menu Edit> Copy and Edit > Paste.

[@fattkidd7944]

I've been using this method for a few weeks. Its the best one for me so far. Just back to say thanks.

[@claybutler]

Glad it's working for you.

[@Dnrjhn7]

After a few years... Pandemic brought us back on our past hobbies.. and there we go, Clay... It's been a while! Thank you!

[@claybutler]

You're welcome!

[@wesen.666]

This was super helpful - thanks so much! Being someone who worked with Photoshop for 15 years and having to learn Illustrator for vector illustrations was a small nightmare but your tutorial helped smooth out my transition so much.

[@claybutler]

+Meryx Valentine (Nekophilliac) You're going to love Illustrator once you wrap your brain around it. Photoshop feels so clunky to me know. I use it as little as possible and only what it was intended for (natural painting, raster image manipulation and web design)

[@claybutler]

You can do the live paint and knife part easily. Just select your scanned drawing and choose Object > Image Trace first. Play with the settings until the drawing looks the way you want. Then expand Live Trace. Once it's vectorized just follow the tutorial from the second live paint part.

[@fluffymeh9418]

I think some people who are new to the program might have selected the SLICE tool instead of the knife tool. I'm currently on my third day with the program so i'm still learning and I had no idea there were other options under certain tools. So, I can say I was one of those people. Amazing tutorial. Thanks man!

[@Sackxay]

I am often intimated by Tutorials, I'm glad I clicked on yours. You made it quick, easy and very informative. Will save me so much time down the road. Thanks!

[@DanoLefourbe]

Man, that thing with live paint, to clean overlaping strokes. It's exactly what i've been looking for since I started using illustratot. I'm an amateur and never quite got that. I'm so glad I found this simple trick. Thank you. It fits my style perfectly an will be very helpful and make my work that much easier. I'd only wish you made more of those tutorials because you're quite good at it. But I undersant this is a one-of spare-time thingy. Nice of you to share the tips. Thanks.

[@NewFreeSol]

I've just started picking up illustrator, and this tutorial is incredibly useful. A practical demonstration always helps me advance more quickly as an artist, thanks for sharing your process.

[@dennisharris144]

I am a complete noob and this has given me the courage to give it a try. I just subscribed to your vids.

[@claybutler]

Yes. After you've painted in the areas and explanded out of Live Paint but BEFORE you start slicing with knife duplicate the art layer. On the top layer delete all the color. On the bottom, delete all the line work. Now you have two layers, One ink line on top and one color on bottom. You can then start cutting up with the knife, add new object and shapes or create highlights.

[@LTM1993]

I really hope you read this message, because of you and this video you have made, I advanced to another level. All I can do I be grateful. Thank you !

[@CherylVargas]

I think you've changed my graphic design life! I was always using photoshop to shade, frustrated because I couldn't accomplish shading in illustrator. Your technique makes so much sense and you demonstrated it eloquently. Thanks!

[@claybutler]

Awesome. Photoshop is cool but the fact that it's not vector is a deal killer for me most of the time. I need graphics that are infinitely scalable.

[@anddyyxx]

Great tutorial! I have not painted on illustrator in about two years and this was an excellent video to watch to get me back in the groove. Great tips too with the expanding again before painting. Thanks again!

[@4diamondz318]

Years ago, I jumped on KZbin to watch other artist and designers do wonderful things with illustrator. I still don't discount photoshop but vector art is the way of the future ;)

[@hideftone]

Great video for anyone trying to understand Illustrator. I haven't applied anything you said just yet but I am totally encouraged. Will definitely do a follow along tomorrow. You ROCK!

[@devosadvocate]

This is so brilliant - you just expanded the possibilities of Illustrator so much for me! I would have hated drawing all those highlights and shadows as separate paths, but this method is so quick and easy - awesome.

[@claybutler]

+devosadvocate Yeah, it really takes a load off and lets you draw more freely.

[@XDeminox]

Sooo glad I saw this video. What I used to do if i were to make the lighting on the face, was to copy +paste in front the main part of the face, then start deleting one side and moving the remaining lines.. heck you get the point..it worked but it was an overly complex mess!

[@carefulplants]

using these tools in a new way (to me) like this is just blowing my mind! great video.

[@mr559]

I've watched this video back in 2013. I have now switched to using the blob brush tool so I can do more detail/sophisticated shading (plus I don't have to worry about closed line art) but this video has always been helpful to me years later because it really taught me the fundamental techniques of coloring in Illustrator.

[@claybutler]

Thanks buddy!

[@jay2theloo]

Great video! Some extra tips: -If you save your copy in a new layer (and hide it), it will stay in position as well. -Pathfinder Divide does the same as the Make Live Paint / Expand Live Paint trick.

[@claybutler]

Actually the pathfinder won't work for this method. What happens if you use the pathfinder divide tool, you will leave these invisible paths behind. And then when you go to live paint you won't be able to fill in all the areas without constantly bumping into invisible paths that block the filling of color. Try it, it's really weird. But if you do it my way, that doesn't happen.

[@javierserranoyoutube]

You are nothing short of a genius.

[@fabioheinriike2375]

Thank you !!!!!!!!!! I had difficulties in filling the colors as the brush not completed , the best tutorial I attended.

[@claybutler]

You can adjust the gap settings on the live paint tool so it will still fill in areas that aren't completely closed. Object> Live Paint> Gap Options

[@claybutler]

The size doesn't matter as it's vector. But I tend to draw on a 8.5 x 11 board because it gives greater control when making adjustments.You could draw perfectly on a postage size art board but if you bump a stroke from 1 to 2 points it will make a huge difference at that size where in a larger art board you have more incremental choices. Illustrator uses both layers and objects. You can have an infinite number of objects on a layer, each one is independently editable. Use save for web for JPG.

[@nicholemillo]

Hi Clay you made this tutorial 6-7 years ago and all i can say is its a master piece i just learnt how to colour in one tutorial if by any chance you see this please make more tutorials thank you.

[@claybutler]

Thanks a bunch Nichole!

[@streetgrapher]

I've been trying to get a grip on illustrator for ages now, and apparently books, long tutorials and unnecessary long pen tool explanations didn't help... this less than 9min video did. Thank you!

[@claybutler]

Thanks! Keep working on mastering the pen tool though (or at least anchor points and handles). Master that and you master Illustrator.

[@lucasgarcia6016]

You made the things so much easy !!! Thank you from Brazil!

[@HOODIZM3]

Perfectly Clear Explanation, Thank You Ki d Sir, Excellent Step by Step.

[@claybutler]

Thanks!

[@joshuabrown1300]

One of the best inking/drawing tutorials out there. thanks my dude

[@claybutler]

Thanks!

[@TenshiAkeela]

Dude you're like a wizard! I just got into drawing with illustrator and I must say, I really needed that tweak where i don't hafta sit there for hours erasing my line-throughs :D

[@claybutler]

Yes, I read every message. Thanks for the kind words.

[@tejasvisharma3647]

hey do we need to be good in our sketching skills to be a designer?

[@claybutler]

@@tejasvisharma3647 It helps for sure. I don't think there are any top designers who can't also draw. Even the top fashion designers can draw. It's a foundational skill. Now, do you have to be able to do life drawing? No. But you should be able to express yourself with a pencil and paper at a level sufficient enough to explain your idea to someone in a meeting. Watch Project Runway and look at the general drawing skills of the contestants. All of them can express an idea on paper even if their technical drawing skills are on the lower end. A designer should be able to draw at least as good as the worst drawer on Project Runway.

[@m6ry]

Thank you so much. They are irritating to say the least but as long as they don't print, that has made my day. Cheers so much, you are very generous with your knowledge. :)

[@claybutler]

Try Export > Tiff. That gives a clean export. So will Save For Web > PNG or JPG. In the Web save box you can change the pixel dimensions to any size you want so you can save some pretty huge, print quality images.

[@SriramHKSriram]

Thank you so much for this. I've been searching for hours on how to clean up the path lines that crossed another path

[@claybutler]

Yes, just change the gap settings on the live paint tool. The more generous the setting the less you need to close the shapes.

[@alisonrose1992]

this tutorial is awesome, i'm fairly new to Illustrator but i found this easy to understand and it is brilliant

[@JessyPebble]

Genius! You just solved a huge issue I had with colouring. Thanks!

[@claybutler]

You're welcome!

[@BL1TZEN]

Very handy. I just followed it entirely and found it very helpful. Thank you!

[@darthabadon]

Thanks so much bro, I have to say that's the first and most straight forward answer that I've received since I've asked the question. You sir are a God send. Again thanks for you vid and time to respond.

[@JuanCardenas-nf7fk]

thanks, I really need to try this on my hand drawn illustrations. just need to transfer them over to illustrator-every time I did I would have trouble getting the lines right, having them cross over like that really does make the job a bit more efficient than having to go back and worry about having that perfect line the first time around.

[@RiCeBo1]

awesome work didnt know about the "expand" option just made things a lot easier

[@thezombiemachinist01]

I have been fighting with coloring some icons that I have made for a project and your video just solved all of my problems! Thank you so very much!!

[@claybutler]

Awesome Possum!

[@claybutler]

I've tried vector and draw scribe, but I wasn't easy enough to put in the effort on mastering plugin. I've tried plugins throughout the years and generally come to the conclusion that it makes mores sense in the long run, at least for me, to master the program itself, as plugins don't increase your mastery of the program it piggy backs onto. So everything I learn in Illustrator itself, improves my master of all aspects of Illustrator, where a plugin has no spill over benefits.

[@Cogsac100]

At last! Someone that knows how to make a proper tutorial...Thank you!

[@claybutler]

Cogsac100 You're welcome. And I would agree as well. I get so frustrated when I click on a "tutorial" and it's really just a sped up screen grab of a four hour project set to music. That's not a tutorial, that's just showing off.

[@Cogsac100]

Clay Butler I agree, drives me crazy when they use hotkeys as well. This tut helped me out a lot though man. Appreciate it

[@minustwelve]

Dude!! You just saved my life! Well, academically speaking... :D This was precisely what I was looking for! Spent way too much time on a project, focusing on the nitty gritty details and then realized, I had no way of easily coloring the thing and the deadline is SOON! This just... You saved me! Thanks!

[@claybutler]

+minustwelve Awesome. It's interesting how many students comment saying almost the same thing. I only went to art school for one year on scholarship and then dropped out. And this was well before the invention of the interweb and fancy computers. So the idea of students using my tutorials to help with their assignments is kind of kick for me.

[@minustwelve]

I've only been learning Illustrator for a couple of weeks and it can be very confusing for a newbie. :)

[@NicholasBurgher]

When deleting the extra lines, you could probably use the group selection tool that would grab the entire path rather than specific points, minimizing the need to hit delete twice. It is located among the direct selection tool in the tool palette.

[@chemarivera]

Thanks for making such clear and helpful tutorials!!!!! You are truly an illustrator MASTER. THANKS THANKS THANKS. keep up the good work

[@davidnorman6348]

Excellent video, Clay! I work mostly in Photoshop but have come back many times to this "cut to the chase" tutorial when I have a vector job. Thank you!

[@claybutler]

Thanks David!

[@ahlemchouial4621]

AMAZING tutorial, still super useful even 8 years later! This was really helpful, thank you so much

[@claybutler]

I got super lucky. This quirk has stayed the same in every version of Illustrator.

[@hozefabarwaniwala5755]

@@claybutler Thats because you worked with a very effective technique as my mentor said go for effective tecchniques Could you tell me if you used a a pressured brush or fixed

[@claybutler]

@@hozefabarwaniwala5755 The brush ( which you can download by following the link in the description) has a natural taper on both ends. My tablet is always set to respond to pressure but I don't remember if this particular brush is pressure sensitive.

[@CharLaV]

Thank you! This tutorial was brief and to the point. I'll start using this method from this point.

[@TheMastersSeminary]

Clay is this still the preferred method, or has CC added/changed things to this process?

[@claybutler]

You can cut through as many objects as you want at a time. Just shift+click all the objects you want and then cut way. You can make as many cuts as you want too. When you're done click out by tapping an area of to the side or choose de-select. If you mean "can I just mentally project what I want to select and then it happens", well that's just magic.

[@Kerry_kit_slayer]

Wow. For months I've been trying to figure out exactly what you're doing. Thank you so much you just saved me another few months I'm sure

[@claybutler]

You can always ask and a link to the master file is in the video description.

[@orangefuzzz]

Thank you so much for this. I've been searching for hours on how to clean up the path lines that crossed another path (you explain at 2:50). You're amazing!