Saving looks as graphic styles in Vectornation by Zaweba

Building a good look can take a while: two strokes, a gradient fill, a soft shadow, a slight roughen. Building it again by hand on the next twenty objects would take far longer. Graphic styles in Vectornation by Zaweba save an appearance so you can apply the whole thing to other artwork at once.

Saving and applying a style

Set up an object's appearance the way you want it, with its fills, strokes and live effects. Save that appearance as a graphic style. From then on, select any other object and apply the style, and it takes on the same look in one step. The object's shape stays its own; only the appearance is copied.

This suits anything that repeats with the same treatment. Buttons in an interface mock-up. Labels on a map, all with the same outlined text and drop shadow. Badges in a set, each a different shape but with matching rims and shading. Headings in a poster series. A family of icons with the same stroke weight and soft fill. Apply the style and every item matches, without any risk of one being a little different because a setting was mistyped.

Style libraries as files

Graphic style libraries are .vnstyles files. That makes them easy to keep, back up and share. Build a library for a client's brand with their standard treatments, and the next project for that client starts with the looks already made. Pass the file to a colleague and they can use exactly the same styles. Keep a personal library of the effects you like, so you aren't rebuilding a favourite shadow from memory every time.

Styles and symbols

The Symbol styler can apply saved graphic styles. Symbols are reusable pieces of artwork that you place many times, such as trees on a map or seats in a plan. Being able to apply a graphic style to them means you can give a whole set of symbol instances a coordinated look, or try a different treatment across all of them, without editing each one. This was part of the work in version 0.9.15 and 0.9.16, which brought styles and symbols closer together.

How styles fit with the Appearance panel

The Appearance panel is where a look is built: several fills and strokes on one object, live effects in the stack, and basic appearance for new artwork. Graphic styles are how that look is stored and reused. Together they turn effects from something you apply one object at a time into a system. You design a look once, carefully, then use it everywhere it belongs.

Using styles well

Name styles for their purpose, such as Primary button or Map label, rather than for their appearance, so the names still make sense if the look changes. Keep libraries focused: one per client or per project type works better than one huge list. Test a style on several different shapes before relying on it, because an effect that looks right on a square may need adjusting for a long thin shape or a small icon. And when a design is finished, keep the library alongside the project files so the next round of changes can use the same looks.

Graphic styles are one of those features that pay back more the larger the job. On a single illustration they save a few minutes. On a full set of interface screens, a range of packaging or a series of maps, they keep everything consistent and save hours.