Paint brush

[contro]

I was wondering if anyone knows how to do this:  I have Adobe Illustrator CS2 and I wanted to know if it's possible to ink with the paintbrush.  I've tried opening up a pic, and when I select the paintbrush tool, it won't allow me to use it.  And I'm just too impatient to do all the inking with the pen tool.  So is there a possible way that it can be done?

[Netlatino]

you can't ink ON the actual pic, you have to create a new doc and import the picture you want and THEN create a new layer for the inks...

[contro]

you can't ink ON the actual pic, you have to create a new doc and import the picture you want and THEN create a new layer for the inks...

Ok, I can see that...here's the thing though:  How do I import in Illustrator CS2?  Don't get me wrong, I know how to do it in Photoshop and Flash.  When I looked for "Import" in my option menus for Illustrator, I didn't see it.  I only saw Export.  Is there a different way where I'm suppose to import in Illustrator?

[Netlatino]

Under "File" there is the option to "Place" an object into the new document, then you can create a new layer to use the paintbrush (or at least, that's what I do to use the paintbrush... I don't like to ink on the same layer as the picture)

[GreySheepDuo]

I'm assuming you're using a tablet -- if you're not, you want to use the pen tool.

The difference between the pencil and the paintbrush tool is small, but important: The paintbrush tool will apply the selected brush to the path when you finish drawing, whereas the pencil tool strips any brushes, leaving you with the simple line.

[Netlatino]

True, but if you have a tablet the brush tool is better if you want to use pressure to vary the weight of the line...

However, if you do not have a tablet, or cannot get the line working the way you want to with the tablet, I highly recommend the pen tool, like grey said... cleaner lines and less hassle.

[aprendiz]

Well, my strong side is photoshop, however, here-s another way you can import the image, you create a new document and risize the window and then using the mouse, just drag the file into the illustrator window, and i say the same as the others, you must ber concient of the differences between pen tool and brush tool, and knowing the differences, you can chose which one to use depending on if you have a tablet or you don-t.

Also, i recomend you to ink in photoshop, despite it is not vectorial, the tools are better to ink, of course i say so because i don-t know illustrator very well, so i can be wrong but still, try photoshop.

good luck

        -Miguel

[contro]

I have a tablet, and I have found a way to get the pressure sensitivity I was looking for. Took a while.  What sucks is that I'm not able to quickly use the eraser tool with my pen like I can in Photoshop or Flash.  Illustrator is a bit annoying for the paint brush, but I will say I don't have to edit that much when I'm finished inking.  Cuz when I finish the main parts of inking in Flash, I have to edit almost every single line.  Yay....  LOL 

And no way would I want to use the pen tool.  I haven't used it in a long time, and I'm more comfortable with the paint brush...even though the pen tool can work wonders...Thanks for your guys' input.