Expert: Tom Rouze - 3/1/2006

Question
I REALLY need to know a process on illustrator that I know is possible but I have no clue how to do it! I need to open drawings that I have already completed onto illustrator and actually be able to do something with them. Such as create gradient meshes, fill color, warp and add other things to, as well as crop certain selections instead of just a square or circle. I have tried select all, create path etc. and nothing worked! I need this answer asap! Thanks so much!

Answer
Hi Christi,

I'm not sure exactly how to answer this.  My answer is going to depend on where the "drawings" were created.  My first assumption,based on the subject name imported illustrations, would be that you are importing a Raster image (jpeg,tif,bmp).  Meaning that the graphic is pixel based instead of point or vector based.
If you created the art in Illustrator then you may have some locked layers or grouped components.  If the art was created in Raster based program or scanned then you will not be able to manipulate the image like you want.  Photoshop may be a better program for you.

I hope this helped.  If you can give more specific information about what you are trying to do I can help more. I can take you through steps for each of the things you mentioned but first lets make sure you can make some selections.
Which Illustrator version are you working in?  How long have you been using Illustrator? Are you familiar with Photoshop?  I'm just trying to get an idea of your level of experience so I can help and explain better.
Thank you,

Tom