Since the introduction of Web features into Illustrator, there’s been some confusion about the Knife tool. Many users select the Slice tool thinking it’s the Knife. After all, it sure looks like a knife, but that’s where the resemblance ends. The Slice tool is used to cut up an Illustrator file for use on a website. The Knife tool, which is easily recognized by its sawtooth edge, is hidden in the Tool palette under the Scissors tool. Press on the Scissors to reveal and select the Knife tool.
Using the Knife is a lot easier than finding it. Select an object that has a Fill and Stroke, then switch to the Knife tool. Click and drag the tool over the selected object to cut the object with surgical precision into two totally separate closed paths. The objects can then be selected and moved separately and are in no way related or grouped. But with the way the objects fit back together along the cut line, you’d think they were made for each other
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.
Author: jeff witchel
Jeff Witchel graduated from Pratt Institute in 1973 with a B.F.A. (Cum Laude) in Advertising Design and Visual Communications. He has been an award-winning advertising art director, writer, designer, illustrator, and TV producer ever since.
Before starting his own advertising agency in New Jersey, Jeff built his career at top New York ad agencies such as Young & Rubicam, Grey Advertising, and Wells, Rich, Greene. Over the years, he has created award-winning work for many clients including AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Jell-O Pudding, The Plaza Hotel, and Pfizer. His many prestigious awards include N.Y. Art Directors Club Gold Award, One Show Gold Award, N.J. Art Directors Club Award, multiple Andy Awards, Graphis Annual, numerous readership awards, plus an Emmy Award nomination.
Jeff is a self-taught computer artist with over 19 years of experience. His initial introduction to the computer was with PageMaker, but he switched to Quark 1.0 when it was first introduced in 1987. Having arrived on the desktop publishing scene so early, Jeff became the “go to” guy for answers when others started getting into computer graphics.
As an Adobe Certified Expert, he’s provided online support for Adobe and is now an Adobe Certified Training Provider for both Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe InDesign CS2. Jeff is one of just a handful of Adobe Certified Instructors in the New York metropolitan area. He also is a Quark Certified Expert in QuarkXPress 6 as well as a master of Adobe Photoshop and related applications. He counts among his training clients ad agencies, design studios, magazines, illustrators, and photographers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
