Begin by launching Illustrator and creating a new file. From the New Document dialog box, choose 468 x 60 from the Size pop-up menu and choose Pixels as your unit of measurement. For Color Mode, choose RGB (see Figure 15.1). Figure 15.1. Creating a new document in Illustrator CS2.By the Way Like it or not, designing for the Web is very much a "by the numbers" process. You're usually concerned with exact pixel dimensions, exact colors, exact positioning, and more. As you'll see throughout this project, you'll be performing tasks with exact values. Especially with web graphics, it's a discipline that will undoubtedly result in better-looking graphics and, ultimately, more free time on your hands. Next, you'll set up a few things in Illustrator to make the task of designing web graphics easier and more precise:
With your file set up this way (see Figure 15.2), you can be assured that you'll be creating high-quality web graphics. Now would also be a good time to save your file with the name of your choice. Figure 15.2. After all your options are set correctly, your screen should look similar to this. |