It's easy to look at all the Effects available in Adobe Illustrator and think, "wow, I can do all sorts of neat stuff with these". And you can. But if you look a little closer at why Effects are used in Illustrator, you can understand how they add flexibility to your creativity.
A Menu of Possibilities
The Effects menu in Adobe Illustrator contains two sets of Effect groups: iIlustrator Effects, which modify objects through vector-oriented changes, and Photoshop Effects, which create artistic effects along the line of rasterized images. Apply these effects changes the appearance of an object.
And that's a key point: it changes the appearance of an object. It actually doesn't change the object. It changes how it appears to be.
Try this out: create a rectangle and then apply the "Stylize > Round Corners" Effect. Then click on the object and move it, observing the object. Note that the object shape of the moving item is still a square-cornered rectangle. The round corners only appear to be round because they are an effect placed on a rectangle. Try applying a couple other Effects like "Warp > Arc" and "Stylize > Drop Shadow" and you'll have a round-cornered arc-shaped object with a drop shadow. But click and move the object and moving shape will still be the square-cornered rectangle.
Nothing is "Carved in Stone"
How is this helpful? Consider how it used to be: older versions of Adobe Illustrator had "Filters" that could apply effects to artwork, but they actually changed the physical appearance of an object. So if you applied a "Round Corners" filter to a rectangle, it was actually changed into a round-cornered rectangle with anchor points and curved paths in the corners. It was "carved in stone" (unless you chose "undo" immediately).
And if you applied the above group of effects as Filters, physically changing the rectangle, you would lose the flexibility to make changes easily. But with Effects, you get the ability to pick and choose which Effect to edit. Using the "Appearance" palette, an object's characteristics can be listed, and you can choose to edit a certain effect without changing the other effects applied.
So, you could remove the arc shape of the rectangle (the second Effect) without changing the rounded corners (the first Effect) or the drop shadow (the third effect). But if these were all Filters in earlier versions of Illustrator, you'd have to Undo the artwork until the arc effect was removed, losing the drop shadow and needing to apply it again if you wanted to keep it. And if a filter was difficult in getting the right effect, it might be impossible to duplicate it again.
Greater Possibilities for Creative Flexibility
That's why Effects are so powerful and useful. They give you the ability to manipulate artwork in countless ways and provide flexibility for changes. A file can be saved, returned to in an hour, a week, two years down the road, and still be editable because the original state of an object is retained while the appearance of Effects is maintained.
So if you or a client wants a change to artwork created, you don't have to go back and invent the wheel all over again. A couple quick Effect edits can transform a design with very little effort.
For example, what if you applied some 3-D and arc Effects to a logo for a product, and then the client said, "we've changed the name". With Effects used, all you have to do is edit the original text and the Effects will remain in the design, so you don't have to start over with some new type. And if you labored over the Effects choices to get the design you wanted, you won't lose all that creative work.
Adobe Illustrator Effects can help you create work that allows greater freedom to try things without having to commit to them for the life of a file, giving you flexibility to make simple changes to a complex design, even at the last moment before a project goes to print.
David Borrink - David Borrink is a graphic designer who lives in Rockford, Michigan and is a partner with his wife in their design and writing business, ...
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