Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer - 1/26/2011

Question
I am a technician who works in the Land Surveying industry. I prepare maps and drawings for home builders. I have found that I can bring my AutoCAD drawings into Adobe Illustrator. I have a file that was set up with shaded (solid color) lots in a subdivision. My question is:  I would like to covert the solid shaded colors into a watercolor look. I don't want to redraw anything, just convert the solid color into what looks like watercolor. I have played around with Illustrator but my knowledge is limited. I have found the watercolor effect but when I try it the colors just turn black. I have Illustrator 10 and was wondering if you might have any suggestions.

Many Thanks,
Chip

Answer
Hi Chip,

Unfortunately, Illustrator is not going to do what you need. Photoshop is really the program that can create a watercolor look for the fills. The watercolor filter you are trying to use is from Photoshop and is meant for photographs or continuous tone images. You could reduce the opacity using the Transparency palette but anything else would require a lot more work and tearing apart your image.


Sorry

Kevin