An important part of using any complex tool is setting things up for a comfortable working environment. This is the way I like to configure Illustrator; I set every new version up this way.
Fixing hidden defaults
First, you’ll want to double-click on the pencil tool (shown over there on the right). You’ll get a secret settings dialogue. It will look like this, but will have different values entered in it:
The one that really matters is the combination of ‘Keep Selected’ and ‘Edit Selected Paths’. With both of them on, the pencil tool is nigh-useless – you’re constantly editing what you just drew by accident. I find that being able to edit paths with the pencil tool is more important than leaving them selected when I’ve just drawn them; play around and see what works for you.
The brush tool (just to the left of the pencil tool) has the exact same settings dialogue, and the exact same unusable defaults. I strongly recommend doing the same thing to it.
Palette layout
Next on the list is the palettes. Some people like to hide them away, having the screen full of their artwork. I prefer to have the ones I use out and available at all times:
I’m constantly flipping values around in these. The ones I use less are piled up in tabs; the ones I use a lot are by themselves. If I still had a large desktop screen, I’d probably have all of these palettes constantly visible, but I’m on a laptop these days, with space at a premium.
Cleaning up the startup documents
This last bit is a little on the hardcore side. I’ve included it because it’s one of the things I do every time I get a new version of Illustrator. Feel free to skip it and get on with the less finicky tips!
If you look at the color swatch palette of your copy of Illustrator and compare it to mine, you’ll probably see a lot more swatches in yours. I’ve gone into the documents Illustrator uses as its models every time you say ‘file->new’ and deleted almost all of the swatches. This is part of how I’ve developed my color sense: if I want color in my work, I have to think about what I want, instead of just clicking on the first bright color that catches my eye. In my opinion, the highly-saturated default palettes of most art programs are an attractive nuisance that draws me towards naîve hues and harmonies. If you want to do the same, load up the ‘Adobe Illustrator Startup’ files found in your plug-ins folder.
You’ll see a bunch of stuff in there – color swatches, art brushes, symbols, graphic styles, fill patterns… I say nuke them all! Mix your own colors as you need them, craft your own styles. Clear these files out and save over them – though you might want to make a backup of the original ones first, in case you decide my austere ways are not yours!
CS3 stores these files somewhere differently, buried inside the program. I still use CS2, so if you’re on CS3, consult its manual about changing the startup files.
Oh, and if you’re wondering how I have the old-school Botticelli toolbar in CS2, try typing ‘venus’ at any time in AI. The flower will vanish, to be replaced by the traditional imagery.