Trick or Trace

1. Unzip TrickOrTrace_StudentFiles.zip. In Illustrator, choose File > New. Make one artboard, Width 1800 px, Height 1200 px, Color Mode RGB. Click Create.
2. Choose File > Save As. Name the file LastName_TrickOrTrace.ai, format Adobe Illustrator (ai). Click Save, then OK in the options box.
3. Open Window > Swatches. From the Swatches panel menu, choose Open Swatch Library > Other Library (or Window > Swatch Libraries > Other Library). Open Palette/TrickOrTrace_Orange.ase from the unzipped files.
4. In the Orange library, add Night, Moon, Pumpkin, Glow, Pumpkin Light, and Pumpkin Shade to your document Swatches panel. You can drag each swatch into the document panel. Stem can stay in the library until you try the optional layers.
5. Inspect the six document swatches. A global swatch shows a small white triangle in its bottom right corner. If one has no triangle, double-click it, check Global, and click OK.

• No white triangle means no link. A swatch without it will not recolor in Step 7.

1. Choose File > Place, pick Pumpkin_Class_Pexels_673073.jpg from the Starter folder, and click once on the artboard. The photo is bigger than the artboard and hangs off the edge. That is expected. You scale the pumpkin later. Keep the photo selected.
2. Open Window > Image Trace. Set Mode to Black and White and check Preview. Wait for the preview to draw.
3. Look at the preview at the default Threshold (128). At the bottom of the panel, read the Paths count. This is what an untuned trace looks like.
4. Now tune it. Type Threshold 175. Click the arrow next to Advanced and type Paths 20%, Corners 30%, and Noise 50 px. Wait for the preview to update.
5. Zoom out until the whole pumpkin fits on screen. Check the outside edge and the spot where the stem meets the body. They should be one connected dark shape on white.
6. The floor shadow joins the bottom of the pumpkin. That is expected. You trim it in Step 3.

• Do not click Expand until the preview looks right. After Expand, the Threshold slider is gone for good.
• Threshold decides what turns black. Paths, Corners, and Noise decide how detailed the outline is.

1. With the trace selected, click Expand in the Properties panel, or choose Object > Image Trace > Expand. The preview becomes editable paths. Undo if you want to go back and retune.
2. Ungroup with Ctrl+Shift+G / Cmd+Shift+G.
3. Click the gray area outside the artboard so nothing is selected. Then press V and click the white part of the trace. Only the white shape should highlight. Press Delete. If the pumpkin highlights too, do not delete: click the gray area and try again.
4. Press M for the Rectangle tool. Draw a wide rectangle over the shadow strip, with its top edge where you want the pumpkin's flat bottom. Make it wider than the shadow on both sides.
5. Press V. Shift-click the pumpkin so both the rectangle and pumpkin are selected. Open Window > Pathfinder and click Minus Front (the second button in the top row). The shadow and the bottom sliver of pumpkin disappear. If it cut too much, Undo and draw the rectangle lower.
6. If a piece of shadow still sticks out to the side, draw a small rectangle over just that piece and use Minus Front again.
7. Delete any small stray pieces. If the stem and body are separate shapes, select only those two and click Unite (the first Pathfinder button).
8. Select the pumpkin and click the Pumpkin swatch. Save with Ctrl+S / Cmd+S.

• The flat bottom is on purpose. It is a graphic choice, like the base of a sticker.
• Expand turns a trace into paths. After that, it behaves like any shape you drew.

1. Press M and draw a rectangle that goes past all four edges of the artboard. Click the Night swatch for the fill and set the stroke to None. Choose Object > Arrange > Send to Back.
2. With the rectangle still selected, lock it: Ctrl+2 / Cmd+2. Now you cannot grab it by accident.
3. Frame. Press M, click once on the artboard, and type Width 1704 px, Height 1104 px. Click OK. Set the fill to None, click the Stroke square, click the Moon swatch, and set the stroke weight to 3 pt. In the Align section of the Properties panel, click Horizontal Align Center and Vertical Align Center. With one object selected, Illustrator centers it on the artboard, so the frame sits 48 px inside every edge. If it does not move, open the Align menu in that section and choose Align to Artboard, then click the two buttons again.
4. Press V and click the pumpkin. Hold Shift and drag a corner handle to scale it. Place it low on the left, big enough to feel heavy, with its flat base just above the bottom of the frame.
5. Press L for the Ellipse tool. Click once in the upper right of the artboard and type Width 320 px, Height 320 px. Click OK. Click the Moon swatch for the fill and set the stroke to None. Leave clear space between the moon and the pumpkin.
6. Press T, click in an open area, and type a short original title, such as AFTER DARK. Press V, then click the Moon swatch. Pick a plain, bold font and make it big enough to read zoomed out.
7. Add a small second line under the title. Press T, click below the title, and type a short all-caps line, such as ONE NIGHT ONLY / OCTOBER 30. Apply the Moon swatch and set the size to about 28 pt. Open Window > Type > Character and set Tracking to 200. Line up its left edge with the title's left edge. Keep both lines plain: no effects.
8. Save with Ctrl+S / Cmd+S.

• The poster works without a carved face. A strong silhouette is enough.
• A big title plus a small, widely spaced line is the simplest type hierarchy there is. It is most of what makes a layout look professional.

Two gradients, two jobs. A Radial gradient makes even light that spreads from a center, which is what a glowing moon does. A Freeform gradient lets you place colors anywhere on an irregular shape, which is what moonlight on a pumpkin does.

Part A: Radial glow on the moon

1. Press V and click only the moon. Copy with Ctrl+C / Cmd+C, then choose Edit > Paste in Back, Ctrl+B / Cmd+B. A copy lands right behind the moon, already selected. This copy is the halo.
2. Choose Object > Transform > Scale. Select Uniform, type 200%, and click OK. The halo grows from its own center to twice the moon's size and stays lined up behind it.
3. Open Window > Gradient. With the halo selected, click the Radial Gradient button (the second gradient type). The halo fills with a white-to-black gradient.
4. Under the gradient slider, double-click the left color stop. In the popup, click the Swatches button and choose Glow. Double-click the right stop, choose Glow too, then set that stop's Opacity to 0%. The glow now fades out before the edge.
5. Open Window > Transparency. With only the halo selected, change the blend mode from Normal to Screen. Click the moon and check that it is still on Normal.

Part B: Freeform shading on the pumpkin

First, know the panel. With a Freeform gradient selected, the Gradient panel shows these controls:

6. Press V and click the pumpkin. In the Gradient panel, click the Freeform Type button and make sure Draw is set to Points. Illustrator adds a few points on its own. Each point is a small circle on the pumpkin.
7. Clear the automatic points. Click a point to select it, then click the trash can next to Stop (or press Delete). Repeat until one point is left. You will reuse it as point 2.
8. Build the four points in the table below. Match the picture.
   • To add a point: click an empty spot inside the pumpkin.
   • To color a point: select it, click the color button in the Gradient panel (or double-click the point), and pick the swatch from the Swatches list. Always pick the named swatch, so it recolors in Step 7.
   • To move a point: drag it.
   • To set Opacity and Spread: select the point and type the values in the panel.

   Point	Where	Swatch	Opacity	Spread
   1	Upper right of the body, the side facing the moon	Pumpkin Light	100%	40%
   2	Middle of the body	Pumpkin	100%	60%
   3	Lower left, near the edge	Pumpkin Shade	100%	30%
   4	Bottom edge, a little right of center	Pumpkin Shade	100%	30%

   

9. Zoom out and judge it. The Spread values are a starting point. If the light patch is too small, raise point 1's Spread. If the bottom is too dark, lower the Shade points' Spread or move them toward the edge. The stem picks up the nearest colors. That is fine.
10. Save with Ctrl+S / Cmd+S.

• Screen can only lighten. Over a dark sky, that reads as light. You use blend modes again for mockups in Session 6.
• Light comes from one direction. Put the light point on the side facing the moon and the shade points on the opposite side, and the shading will feel believable.

• Orange ASE loaded; four core global swatches in the document: Night, Moon, Pumpkin, Glow, each with the white corner triangle
• I tuned Image Trace before clicking Expand
• The white ground is deleted, the shadow is trimmed with Minus Front, and there are no stray pieces
• The pumpkin, background, moon, and title use the named swatches
• LastName_TrickOrTrace_Midpoint.jpg uploaded at the midpoint
• The halo has a Radial gradient that fades to 0% at the edge, and only the halo is on Screen
• The pumpkin has a Freeform gradient: Pumpkin Light on the moon side, Pumpkin Shade at the lower left and bottom
• LastName_TrickOrTrace_Orange.jpg uploaded
• LastName_TrickOrTrace_GhostBlue.jpg uploaded (unless the one-colorway cut was called)
• LastName_TrickOrTrace.ai saved for yourself (not uploaded)
• If you did the bonus, you exported and uploaded both finals again