3. Canvases, artboards, clones, actions - designs for Redbubble

Canvases, artboards, clones, actions - designs for Redbubble

  • H

    I'm still learning VS hard, but I'm new to multiple canvases and arboards .
    While I think that concept is great, I'm wondering how to use it in the most efficient way for my task:

    Let's say I have one design for Redbubble and I have to upload it in 5 different dimensions.

    My goal is to have one original and 4 clones which will update automatically in case of tweaking the original design.

    My idea is to have one original design, use transform tool to move and scale 4 clones into defined earlier artboards with various dimensions. Since all 5 designs are on 1 canvas, I could export them all at once to PNG files using File/Export Artboards command.
    To make the process faster I could record an action.

    Any ideas how to use master and reference canvases for this to make it fast and efficient?
    Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

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  • administrators

    @Harry I think, for this case, it is best to use a single canvas, maybe 5 artboards (original + copies).
    Maybe references are more suitable than clones (clones can detach easily from the original).

    One good process could be:

    • setup the original design on the first artboard.
    • use lots of styles in this design (everything can be styled: colors, effects, transforms, etc).
    • create a single group from the original design (there are other ways too but this simplifies it).
    • create references (Edit -> Reference) of this group and move thee to the other (4) artboars.
    • use the Overrides panel to redefine the styles in the references (select a reference object and adjust values in the Overrides panel).

    Remember: in VS styles are always linked, and presets are always copied. So when a style is used, and it is modified (or an override is set) all instances of that style are updated automatically.

    The best way to use Reference canvases is to place symbols, or other assets directly there. These remain editable, while then show up as Symbols or Styles while editing on other canvases.
    Please explore Object Roles for this also: this can be used to automatically define some aspect of an object (color, shape, effects, etc) as a "virtual" style. Editing the attribute of that object will "update" the style.

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    H
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  • H

    @VectorStyler Thanks for this comprehensive answer!

    Still a long way ahead, but when I master references I feel like i could be great shortcut.

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