How to quickly create a mosaic effect in Illustrator CC 2018 2017 (using the crop image tool)
Click the crop image (for the vector mosaic effect in Illustrator)
Set rectange for the crop
You can set the PPI to 300 or 2 or 1 etc (set to 1 for a mosaic effect)
Click apply
Video tutorial on the subject by graphicxtras.com (youtube)
The result can then be manipulated further by using the trace and other tools such as perhaps using the color adjust balance and the color guide tool to recolor the artwork
100 "P" shapes artworks for use in AI (V169) gallery
PPI : The key thing here is the PPI. You can create an interesting effect by using PPI to 1 or 2 etc. OK, you could also create the effect in a raster application and then import the design into Illustrator (probably just as easy)
Example on a placed image : Go to the file menu and then use the place image and click embed and resize image and make a lot smaller.
You can then go to the crop image command and set PPI to 1 and click the apply
The result should be a very blocky set colors and they can be manipulated further by using a variety of tools in the application
Re-color the artwork : You can re-color the design such as turn it red or green etc
Select the modified image and then go to the edit menu and the edit colors category and select the adjust color balance command and set the panel's preview to ON. Set the red and green etc sliders as required to change the art into a more yellow or red design etc and click OK
You can also use third party plugin tools to re-color or you can, of course, just re-color the art in Photoshop etc
How to convert to vector paths Tricky but certain it can be done. I have found it fairly difficult to achieve with tools such as the image trace.
You could, of course, use the eyedropper tool and then create your own squares using the displayed grid. It can be done using that approach but slow.
You can also just use squares and create an abstract design loosely based on the colors of the squares. You could fill them with gradients instead.
Online vector trace tools : Another option would be to export the result and then use an online vector conversion tool or something like corelTrace (which also has a similar effect)
Image trace conversion : Using the image trace probably can result in a good result but I have ended up with many different and unusual shaped squares during my tests on converting using the image trace.
Select the generated artwork and click image trace button and then goto to the image trace panel. Click ignore white. Set noise to minimum and set corners to less and set paths to high. Set mode to color. Set palette to document library. Set colors to all. Once you are happy with the vector result, expand via object menu and then use ungroup command as well if you want to manipulate the separate parts of the vector mosaic.
Abstract art via trace : Tweaking the paths etc settings with the trace, all kinds of abstract designs can be generated looking nothing like the original artwork but these paths can then be manipulated further by using other tools such as color tools and curvature etc.
Keywords : How to create a mosaic in Illustrator tutorial
Commercial use - Royalty free - No time limit, no credit - All by graphicxtras.com - Secure sales via shareit.com (c) 1995-2018 Andrew Buckle, Maidstone artist, tel: +44 1622 / 688 375 E-mail: support@ graphicxtras.com