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Chapter 1 ✦ Learning the Illustrator Interface
Word, for example, you should have no trouble using the same functions in
Illustrator, because the menu options are located in the same place in each
program.
Using the Clear command
The most simplistic Edit command is Clear, which in Illustrator works almost
exactly like the Delete [Backspace] key on the keyboard. When something is
selected, choosing Clear deletes, or gets rid of, what is selected.
You ’re probably asking yourself, “If the Delete [Backspace] key does the same thing,
why do we need Clear?” or “Why didn’t they just call the Clear command Delete
[Backspace]?” Ah, the makers of Illustrator are a step ahead of you in this respect.
Note that we said “almost” the same way; there actually is a subtle yet important
difference in what the Clear command does and what the Delete [Backspace] key
does, due to Illustrator’s abundant use of palettes.
If you are working on a palette and have just typed a value in an editable text field,
the Delete [Backspace] key deletes the last character typed. If you tabbed down or
up to an editable text field, highlighting text, or dragged across text in an editable
text field, highlighting text, then the Delete [Backspace] key deletes the highlighted
characters. In all three situations, the Clear command deletes anything that is
selected in the document.
Cutting, copying, and pasting
The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in Illustrator are very handy. Copying and cut-
ting selected objects places them on the clipboard, which is a temporary holding
place for objects that have been cut or copied. After an object is on the clipboard,
it may be pasted into the center of the same document, the same location as the
cut or copied object, or another document in Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop,
Dimensions, or Streamline.
Choosing Cut from the Edit menu deletes the selected objects and copies them to
the clipboard, where they are stored until another object is cut or copied or the
computer is shut down or restarted. Quitting Illustrator does not remove objects
from the clipboard. Cut is not available when no object is selected.
Choosing Copy from the Edit menu works like Cut, but it doesn’t delete the selected
objects. Instead, it just copies them to the clipboard, at which time you can choose
Paste and slap another copy onto your document.
Choosing Paste from the Edit menu places any objects on the clipboard into the
center of the document window. If type is selected with the Type tool, or copied
from another application to the pasteboard, either a Rectangle type, Area type, Path
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