Apply Distress Using Adobe Illustrator CS6

Learn how to apply a distress file using Adobe Illustrator with this quick "How To" guide.

Open Artwork

• Open the downloaded artwork the distress file should be applied to. 

Bring in the Distress

• In this example, the Distress file was dragged right into Illustrator.
• Another option would be to use the Place option under the File menu.

Resize the Distress to Fit the Canvas

• In this example, the sizing tabs around the image were used, but there are other ways this can be accomplished.

Rasterize the Distress

• From the Object menu, select Rasterize.

Options to Select when Rasterizing

• Select Bitmap in the Color Model dropdown, as well as the Transparent option under Background.

Change the Fill Color to White

• The Fill Color should show a "?" at this point, click it so the Color Picker comes up and assign White(#FFFFFF).
• Click Ok when done.

Ready to Print

• Some final touching up may be required depending on the art, but it should be ready to print.