Illustrator has offered a range of 3D tools for some time and this tutorial aims to get you started familiarizing yourself with them. We'll be creating a can of beans, built entirely from vectors, using the Symbols palette, the Extrude tool and Illustrator's Image Mapping. Enjoy!
Final image
To begin with let's have a look at the image we'll be creating. This tutorial focuses on showing how to Map Artwork to a 3D object in Illustrator. It assumes some basic knowledge of Illustrator.
Step 1
Create a rectangle 400px high by 900px wide. Fill it with whatever design you wish (I appreciate not everyone feels the same way about baked beans as I do) and group it together.
Step 2
I've created a second group of vectors to make a simple pattern for the can top. A few rings of equal thickness and a pull-tag (or whatever they're called) with a combined height and width of 230px.
Step 3
Now we need a circle which will become the basis for our can. Set it to 250 px diameter and a shade of #D3D2D1.
Step 4
We now have our three elements; a "Bean Can" label, a "Can Top," and a circle. Next we need to make the label available for applying to a 3D surface. Open the symbols palette (Window > Symbols) and drag the label into the window.
Step 5
The label is now a symbol and can be accessed for all manner of uses. The original instance of the label can be deleted from the artboard (to keep things clean). If you ever want to play with it again, just drag a copy from the symbols window back onto the page.
Double-click on it's icon to open the Symbol Options. Give the symbol a name, such as "Bean Can." This will make it identifiable should you have a number of symbols in the list.
Step 6
Repeat the last two steps for the "Can Top" object, making it available as a symbol.
Step 7
Now it starts to get interesting! Select the circle you made earlier. Then go to Effect > 3D > Extrude & Bevel. This opens up the 3D Extrude & Bevel Options dialogue.
Step 8
Extrusion is the simpler of the 3D options Illustrator offers. It basically stretches the selected 2D object (or group of objects) along one axis. To begin with we'll concentrate on just three of the options as highlighted in the image below.
- Rotation: can be specified by entering values or by dragging the cube manually with the mouse cursor.
- Perspective: again, can be entered with the keyboard or dragged with the mouse to get the value you want.
- Extrude Depth: determines how far along the axis your original shape will be stretched.
Fill in the values below to get the same effect as the can in this example. Keep in mind, that if you have Preview selected, alterations you make to the values will need more time to take effect as Illustrator renders the object after each change.
Step 9
For this step it's easiest if you have Preview selected. Click on Map Art within the 3D Extrude & Bevel Options dialogue to open up another dialogue.
Map Art allows you to cover your object's surfaces with symbols from the Symbols palette. Search through the object's surfaces using the arrows (as highlighted) until you reach the Side of the Can. You'll see the surfaces on your object being highlighted to show you exactly what you're about to cover. In the case of an extruded circle, you'll have just three surfaces to choose from, which keeps this relatively simple.
Step 10
Next we need to select our "Bean Can" symbol from the drop-down, which will Map our label around the can. Click on Scale to Fit forcing the image to match the dimensions of our object. Then select Shade Artwork (which results in even slower rendering) for that 3D feel.
It's also likely that Illustrator will have rendered your symbol upside down which it often does when dealing with cylinders. Should this be the case, just rotate the image within the Map Art dialogue by dragging one of the corners.
Step 11
Repeat the previous steps to Map your "Can Top" image. Select the correct surface, choose your "Can Top" symbol from the drop-down and scale/rotate into the desired position. Once you're happy with the Mapping, click OK to return to the 3D Extrude & Bevel Options dialogue.
Step 12
This step isn't vital, but introduces you to further options available with Illustrator's 3D tools (and finishes the job off nicely).
Click on More Options to expand the Options dialogue. You'll be presented with options for altering the lighting on your object; light intensities, light positions, number of light sources, etc. In this case, drag the only current light source further to the right of the object (see image below). In doing this, you'll create a greater lighting contrast on the object. Then click OK.
Editing
Should you wish to edit the 3D options of your object (perhaps revolve it to see the reverse) open the Appearance window (Window > Appearance). Then click on the 3D Extrude & Bevel attribute in the list. You'll be taken back to the 3D Extrude & Bevel Options dialogue.
Conclusion
You should now be the proud owner of a fully scaleable, vector-based, 3D can of beans! Following these steps has given you a good introduction to the 3D capabilities of Illustrator, which are excellent for manipulating vectors. If you work with different 3D objects, symbols, and settings, you'll find the possibilities limitless! If you ask questions or leave comments, I'll answer them, as I'd like to improve on my teaching skills.
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Gustavo Lemos July 11th
Good one..
Paul Tebbutt July 11th
Hey excellent tut, can you do Ravioli?
pica July 11th
well.. it’s not exactly realistic
but that tool is quite amazing, i remember using it for some packaging stuff i did, whoa did it help me
great tip!
MONSTER July 11th
Top notch tutorial.
Very useful.
Carl July 11th
That is one of the most useful tutorials I have ever seen. Take this into Photoshop now and you have a real rendering you can show a client. Nice job!
indy July 11th
Good tutorial. I would love to see more tutorials on Illustrator 3D capabilities. I got to take package design soon and would love to know more about Illustrators 3D functions. Beats me having to spend more money just to get a cereal style box
Diego July 11th
great tip
ali July 11th
im a fireworks person, and never knew you could do this in illustrator.
great technique, thanks
Burticus July 11th
Hey that was a great tutorial. I’ve seen a map article tutorial on Computer Arts magazine but this one is simpler and to the point. Loved it. I made a Can o’ Woop Ass and sent it co-workers.
RUGRLN July 11th
Fantastic, this has explained and showed to me a lot of things I’ve wondered about how companies make their adverts of these kind of products.
RUGRLN July 11th
@ ali
Me too! Hehe, and the transition to Ps ain’t easy!
Keith July 11th
Holy Crap, Amazing tut. thanks!
Gary Spedding July 11th
I was/am quite familar with this type of project in Illustrator but this was a very nicely written and useful tutorial. Certainly should help those who are not familiar with this aspect learn it very quickly. Yes it is not 100% realistic but pretty darn useful. I use it to create beer label mock-ups and the like - just for fun. Also if you take the ellipse tool and scale/rotate fit it to the top of the can (after mapping and instead of putting the can top on)- you can apply a metallic gradient and use the gradient tool to make it look like a “hollow” cylinder representing a curled label that would wrap to a can or bottle. Quite versatile and yes it is odd and a bit frustrating that Illustrator puts labels upside-down - for no rhyme or reason. Thanks for diligently pointing that out as I know if would be a bit surprising to those who have not seen this before.
You write well and cover nit-picky details that others would miss that lead to confusion for new comers. I look forward to more from you.
Mr Kuzio July 11th
Thi is exactly what i need.
Thanks!
Daniel Geraldi July 11th
Very nice!
Thanks for sharing!
Mark July 11th
Something I haven’t done for a while and would have struggled if I had to do it again. Thanks for that
Danny July 11th
Simple but very effective!
Serpentarius July 12th
nice one
Ali July 12th
Nice tutorial!
Gary Spedding July 12th
Following on from this, and a posting at Illustrator World on labeling bottles and realistic glassy looking objects, the topic of how to make the mapped objects look more realistic arose. The environment of the object can have a huge impact. As such I have turned to and suggested to Bert Monroy that he might cover this at PixelPertfect. Bert, as many of you probably know, is master at creating realistic photographic-like Illustrations. Lets see if he comes up with a tutorial on this.
Also I encourage any interested folks to drop Bert a note on other topics at PixelPerfect. He mainly covers Photoshop but will sometimes get into Illustrator in a bigger way. After 70 or more episodes now he has covered about a half-dozen on Illustrator. Check those out to learn more about this wonderful software. A couple include guest speaker Mordy Golding. What a combination of Illustrator Guru’s.
Ian Yates July 12th
@Gary - Good points and useful references, thanks for that.
@Burticus - Let’s see it on flickr then!
@Everyone - Great response, i’m glad it went down well.. a lot to live up to for my next tut!
Braden Keith July 12th
You’re covering some good stuff here! Keep it up!
smeegy July 13th
thank for this !
Shane July 13th
Wow! A very detailed tutorial on an illustrator technique that I wasn’t particularly familiar with - the more I read about it, the more I want to learn
Thanks a lot for posting.
Mark Abucayon July 13th
wow great technique used.. great job.. Thanks for sharing this one.
Andrei Constantin July 14th
Very nice and useful
iStockdiary July 16th
I love the 3D tools. I have also written a tutorial on mapping squares on a sphere to create a cool disco ball effect. You can view this amazing disco ball technique here: http://www.istockdiary.com/illustrator/illustrator-disco-ball-tutorial/
Tim July 16th
good deal!
Maggie July 17th
Wonderful. Worked great, even for a beginner like me!
bleak July 19th
great q. tut!
Brand Aspect July 21st
You’re a legend, we were working on a can design a couple of weeks ago, nothing as good as this though. Really useful stuff
carlitos July 21st
thanks you, its oks
Chris July 22nd
Thanks for the tutorial. Informative and Inspiring.
Online Advertising July 24th
Really cool tutorial. If only Andy Warhol had use of illustrator we would have 3D Cans of Campbell’s soup.
Ian Yates July 25th
@Online Advertising - Good point! Campbell’s Soup Can
Imran November 10th
Really amaze …
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