Locate and Use Swatch Libraries in Adobe Illustrator CS6

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Video: Locate and Use Swatch Libraries in Adobe Illustrator CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we're going to show you how to find and use swatch libraries in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7.

1. 1
   To begin, you should open Illustrator either from your desktop or by coming down to the bottom-left corner of the screen and clicking the Windows icon

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   This will reveal a list of your recently used programs. You may find Illustrator there. It has a brown-and-orange icon with the letters "Ai".

   

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2. 2
   If you still can't see Adobe Illustrator, use your search bar along the bottom of the start menu to type "Adobe Illustrator"

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3. 3
   Click "Adobe Illustrator CS6" to open it

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   It will immediately start loading and take us directly to our workspace.

   

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4. 4
   Once you're at your workspace, click "File" in the upper-left corner of the window

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5. 5
   In the drop-down menu that appears, click "New..."

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   You can also use the keyboard shortcut "Ctrl" + "N". A new window will appear in which you can specify settings for your document. To learn how to do that, you can check the following video tutorials: "How to Create a New Document in Adobe Illustrator CS6" and "How to Open Existing Files in Adobe Illustrator CS6".

   

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6. 6
   Let's click "OK" to create a document with the default settings

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7. 7
   Double-click the "Fill" color

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8. 8
   Click a color

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9. 9
   Click "OK"

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10. 10
    Let's create a filled-in shape by clicking "Rectangle Tool"

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11. 11
    In the expanded menu for "Rectangle Tool", click "Ellipse Tool"

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12. 12
    Then, create a circle by clicking and dragging the mouse cursor within the document

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    You can hold "Shift" to keep the shape as a circle. There is another VisiHow tutorial on how to create those shapes.

    

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13. 13
    Click the "Selection Tool" black arrow

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    It is at the left side of the screen in the vertical toolbar.

    

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14. 14
    Ensure that the shape has been selected by clicking it

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    A blue frame and corners will appear around the object, letting you know that it is ready to be edited.

    

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15. 15
    Click the swatch square drop-down menu

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    The colored swatch square is in the horizontal toolbar at the top of the window. A menu pops up with a variety of colors.

    

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16. 16
    Click "Swatch Libraries menu" in the bottom-left corner of the new menu with swatches

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    Clicking this icon will reveal a list in alphabetical order of a variety of swatch libraries.

    

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17. 17
    You can browse this list to find and click a swatch library that suits your work

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    For this tutorial, let's move the cursor to "Art History".

    

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18. 18
    In the expanded menu, click "Russian Poster Art"

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    When you click a library, a small dialogue box will appear.

    

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19. 19
    You can click and drag this dialogue box away from your document

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20. 20
    Browse this color palette using the up and down arrows or the scroller on the side of the window

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21. 21
    You can select select additional swatch libraries

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    For example, let's click the swatch, click "Swatch Libraries menu", move the cursor to "Foods", and click "Vegetables". This swatch library will appear in the same dialogue box as a different tab, so that you can work with more than one library at the same time.

    

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22. 22
    Click the swatch color in the small dialogue box

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    The object fill color will be changed to the swatch color.

    

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23. 23
    If you have more than one object, you can click the "Selection Tool' black arrow

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    Then, click the object which requires changing colors. Then, click the required swatch color.

    

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24. 24
    When you have finished, you can press the "X" in the top right-hand corner of the small window

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    This will close all of opened the swatch libraries.

    

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This is a VisiHow tutorial. We've just shown you how to find and use swatch libraries in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them in the comments section below. Thank you for watching VisiHow!

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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