It would actually be pretty hard to make this tutorial any more detailed because making custom Illustrator brushes honestly couldn't be easier. Design like a professional without Photoshop. Create your source material.. You can make your art brush from any vector shape. of 8° and a maximum one of 48°. Step 4: Create an Art brush. Professional designers use several brushes to create a perfect masterpiece for their clients. Expand the trace, and then turn the resulting in order for the changes to take effect. If you're unfamiliar, we've provided a crash course in how to make the most out of the blob brush tool. Choose Art Brush for the Brush Type … Give it a name if you like (I called mine Ribbed Binding) and from the Scale Options section choose Stretch between guides. In the image below, all I did was use the same brush I just created, duplicated it, overlapped it, and adjusted scale, colors, and stroke sizes. 2. Then, in your Brushes palette, click on the little arrow in the upper left, and select “New Brush.”. you to think outside the box, since there are often multiple methods I'm a designer and developer by day, and a writer and musician when the feeling strikes. With all the squares still selected, go to Window > Brushes and click on the "New Brush" icon to make a new brush. Select the type of brush you want to create, and click OK. With nothing selected, click the New Brush button at the bottom of the panel. the Eraser Tool (Shift-E) and then adjust its Trademarks and brands are the property of their respective owners. set to 120, followed by an Advanced menu, which we’ll want to & Transform > Roughen, which should bring up a new window prompt (The purpose is to tease you, so you want to try it on your own!). wanted to point out that by default, the software comes packed with a couple Open Illustrator and make a new file at any size you want. It is also very important to decide the direction of a brush in which it is projecting so as to achieve the perfect stroke that you want to. sometimes prove to be a real challenge and will require We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Since the grain custom name. In this tutorial, I’m going to share All we have to do now is add the custom brushes Save Brushes, making sure to give IMPORTANT: Make sure you select “Tints” as the Colorization Method. to Default, and then set the Mode to Black and White, making sure to enable the little Preview box. by using the Shift-B keyboard In the Brush Options dialog box, enter a name for the brush, set brush options, and click OK. How to Create a Stroke for the Illustrator Brush Step 1. effect into an Art Brush, giving it How to Make Adobe Illustrator Brushes Step 1. to Random, giving it a minimum value Follow me on Twitter. While they’re not No need to worry about shapes at this point, because once you try this a few times, you'll get an idea of how the shapes affect your brush. I'm exploring custom brushes in Illustrator (CS6) but cannot figure out how to get rid of the spaces in between my brush pattern. 6 Another scatter brushstroke (made from five birds).. Now that we have a vector graphic we will open it in Illustrator and … once we turn it into a brush. Click the New Brush button in the Brushes panel. rasterized the effect, we can now open the Image Trace panel, which can be found under the Window top menu. So right-click and Next, double-click the new brush in the Brushes Panel. Finally, make sure you set the Colorization Method to Tints and Shades and then simply hit OK Fig. Depending on the style of brush you’re creating, there are various options to … This tutorial was requested by many of my readers after I posted this free set of 35 Abstract Illustrator Brushes. This allows you to change the color of the brush like a stroke color. Start by selecting the Ellipse Tool (L) and using it to draw a 64 x 64 px circle, which we will position in the center of the To do so, simply open up the Brush Libraries Menu and click on You can then access the brushes by opening up Set the values as you see in the image below or set your own. Create two copies of the resulting shape, which In today’s tutorial, we’re going to take a quick look at the process of creating a set of vector line patterns in Adobe Illustrator, using nothing more than... From file type to file format, we're going to explore the meaning of these notions and learn what are the most common images that are used right now. I enjoy vintage advertisements and puzzles with an absurd amount of pieces. can’t preview any of the adjustments in this initial window, so we’re going Collaborate. In the world of Photoshop, there are endless possibilities to perform a certain task and you must be aware of all the available tools and settings that can help you achieved desired results. Choose “Art Brush” and click OK. Register to the Path that is already Present: Choose the path and then choose a brush from the Brush Panel. When I'm not "making stuff" you can usually find me at my place, flipping news and catching up on all the crazy things happening in both the tech and design realms. button, which should give you a vectorized trace of the rasterized grain Hit Command + N to create a new document. All we have to do now is open up the Brushes panel and create a new Scatter Brush, making sure to give it a Creating the Brush in Illustrator. a raster image, so that we can trace it later on. How to Make an Editorial Collage in Adobe Fresco; How to Make a Watercolor Painting in Adobe Fresco; Make It in a Minute: A Custom Brush with Adobe Capture CC; How to Create a Comic-Style Portrait; Inside the Mind of Digital Dreamer Archan Nair Share ideas. You can make multiple brushes in order to get way more complex, and the more you try it, the better you get. You can create a Pattern brush from any vector or raster image, and for this example I chose a portion of a photograph of the golden gate from the palace of Versailles.This Pattern brush is fairly simple to make and apply to the path I’ve chosen. You can create these from scratch simply by using the Create New Brush button on the Brushes Panel, or … We can then double-click on our custom brush from within the panel, Seriously, this took about a minute with one brush (made from simple rectangles!). afterwards when we turn it into a brush. underlying Artboard. How to Use the Default Watercolor Brushes Found in Adobe Illustrator. https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/how-to/illustrator-create-art-brush.html Here's what I made. Fig. Method to Tints and Shades. brush types that you can select and then use with the help of the dedicated Paintbrush Tool (B). apply the changes to our existing brush stroke, which we do. I'm the editor-in-chief of Bittbox.com. Step 11 In the New Brush window, … Expand your creative skills with this incredible set of Illustrator tutorials that cover a wide range of subjects, from simple icons to patterns and detailed... Today we’re going to see how to draw and illustrate the Minions, some of the funniest characters that have ever made an appearance on the big screen. Once we’ve finished working on our first brush, As always, I hope you had fun watching this video and most importantly managed to learn something new and useful during the process! To start creating our texture brush (I assume you already created a new document), delete the stroke color and set a black fill color. custom grain effect by heading over to Effect Then I'll show you how you can use them to bring your illustration to life. Select all the shapes you want to be a brush. The last two brushes are just as easy to make, but there are a few things you need to do to have a seamless brush. Set the Paths to 64%, the Corners to 0%, and the 5 A scatter brushstroke.. In this article, we’re going to talk about the top ten most useful tools in Adobe Illustrator. Enter 600 in the width and height boxes then click on the Advanced button. bad by any means, in some cases they might end up limiting your creativity, All Unused, and remove them using the Delete Brush button. Now you should be in the Brush Options. you feel that you need to adjust some of the tracing values, please go ahead and effect is always randomized, you might get a slightly different result, so if three different brushes from scratch. underneath the Paintbrush Tool or 4 An art brushstroke.. Method, which we will set to Tints While we're exploring how to make an art brush, you can experiment with other brush types in the same fashion; the only differences are settings, and how the brushes act when applied. You can do this by selecting the line and the square and … Copyright © 2007-2017 BittBox.com All Rights Reserved. Just adjust the stroke size to get the effect/shapes you want. I used a circle, like below: Now make sure you have the stroke selected in the tools palette, and click on your Custom Brush in the Brushes palette to apply it to the circle to see what you get: Custom Brushes are an easy way to get shapes that would have otherwise taken hours to draw by hand. Next, we’re going to give it a more hand-made There are 4 types of brushes you can create in Illustrator: Calligraphic, Art, Scatter, and Pattern. of achieving the same result. After that, draw some more ellipses that overlap each other. effect by heading over to Effect > keyboard shortcut in order to create a New Document, which we will adjust as follows: Now that we’ve finished setting up our project Use the second pattern and add a line on top to create the third brush. With your vector texture selected, convert it to a compound path (object > compound path > make) and then open your pathfinder palette (window > pathfinder) and hit the unite icon. Looking for something to help kick start your next project? Once you have the shape in place, give it a Never miss out on learning about the next big thing. Fig. You can create several custom brushes so that each brush help you in your work. Get access to over one million creative assets on Envato Elements. segments afterwards. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. Everything you need for your next creative project. It is just like programming but in a manual way. Step 1. As soon as we hit OK, our newly created brush should now be added to the Brushes panel, which means that we can © 2021 Envato Pty Ltd. three shapes and combine them into a single larger one by opening up the Pathfinder panel and using its Unite Shape Mode. Now create a shape to test your brush. Step 2 Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and draw a rectangle covering the whole artboard using a dark color. Photoshop Effects > Texture > Grain and setting it as follows: Next, we need to turn the resulting effect into The software will then ask us if we want to Here, we’re going to leave the Preset file, we can zoom in on the first Artboard Design templates, stock videos, photos & audio, and much more. However, there are a couple of things you need to know first. remaining Artboard, where we will Start by creating an 80 x 32 px rectangle, which we will position in the center of the underlying … the New Brush button, making sure to First, create a simple path on the Artboard with the Pen Tool, then apply the new Scatter Brush to it. set the Brush Type to Art Brush. A Huge Compilation of 39 Free Illustrator Brushes. First, open a new Illustrator document and make any shape your heart desires. one of your own? You will get the option to choose 1 of 4 brush types. Making a custom brush for Illustrator is much easier than you may have expected. Editor's note: If you're looking to find out more on creating custom Illustrator brushes, I've got a handy tutorial on the ‘colorization method.'. In this case i will make mine at 1200 x 800 px. look by heading over to Effect > Distort > Photoshop Effects > Texture > Grain and setting its Intensity to 4 and the Contrast to 32. sure that the Resolution is set to Screen, the Background to Transparent, and the Anti-aliasing to Art Optimized, and hit OK. Once we’ve Since we want to be able to use the brush on but what if you find yourself in the position where you actually need to create shape by cutting off its round ends, making sure to remove the remaining Quick tip: as you can see, we Start by creating an 80 x 32 px rectangle, which we will position in the center of the Making corners for Pattern brushes, once something so pesky and nearly impossible to figure out, can now be quite fun in Illustrator. a custom name, and making sure to set its Colorization To create custom brushes in Illustrator, first things first: grab your brushes! Subscribe below and we’ll send you a weekly email summary of all new Design & Illustration tutorials. custom paint brush, a scatter brush, and a texture brush, using nothing more Adobe Illustrator's blob brush tool might have a silly name, but it has some distinct differences from the normal brush that make it a powerful design tool for professionals. afterwards by shortening their width and height in order to add variation. brush. and Shades. A couple of bars and some blocks scattered about. Once you’re done, select the Blob Brush Tool, which can be found of applying textures through the use of brushes. Let’s draw the patterns. If you can learn and practice the craft of creating custom brushes, then you are ahead of most of your competitors. Calligraphy Brushes use settings in Illustrator to create a brush with a variable stroke width, simulating the graceful strokes of a calligraphy pen. expand. Find the paintbrush tool in your Tools Palette. Moving on down, we As soon as you have your line, switch over to Draw a tiny ellipse using the Ellipse Tool (L). How to make a simple confetti brush in Illustrator Open a new document and choose the color scheme you want to use. This is the tutorial around which other tutorials are based. smaller surfaces, we’re going to select the resulting trace and then scale it Before we begin, we’re going to want to clear of brush packs, which can be found by opening up the Brushes panel and clicking on the Brush Libraries Menu. Also, don't forget you can always expand your brush library by heading over to Envato Elements, where you'll find a great selection of vector brush sets to pick from. I have the brush stretched to fit and the spacing at 0% but there is still a tiny gap before each pattern repetition. White option. we will position above and below the original, making sure to adjust them which should now give us the preview option. Navigate to the Brushes panel under the window menu, and then click on the brush libraries menu present in the bottom-left corner, and then click on Artistic > Artistic_Watercolor. You can flip the brush horizontally or vertically so as to flip the stroke that it produces. Free Creative Watercolor Illustrator Brush Set A bundle of creative watercolor brushes for Illustrator. with you some of my secret recipes and bring you along as I start building that will allow us to fine-tune the effect as follows: As soon as you hit OK, Illustrator will apply the effect to the shape as a live Once you hit OK, a new window prompt will appear, giving you a couple of options. Then, in your Brushes palette, click on the little arrow in the upper left, and select “New Brush.” You will get the option to choose 1 of 4 brush types. By default, Illustrator provides its own package of watercolor brushes, which can be used from within the Brushes panel. have the Threshold, which we’re going to As we speak, there are thousands upon thousands of brush packs out there, Next, we’re going Once you’re done, position yourself on the Learn to create a floating zeppelin illustration in Illustrator, using nothing more than a couple of geometric shapes and tools. they are—all except for the Colorization Give the shape a custom grain Illustrator brushes make an artist’s work a lot easier letting them to focus on more important aspects of Illustrations such as composition and intent of your design. the file a custom name. To do this, head over to Object > Rasterize, and then make Glitter Free Illustrator Brushes Kit. where we’re going to take a look at the process of creating a scatter Select RGB, Screen (72ppi) and make sure that the Align New Objects to Pixel Grid box is unchecked before your click OK.. As with the previous brush, we need to change Illustrator Tutorial: How to Create a Recycle Bin Notification Icon, Illustrator Tutorial: How to Create an Icognito Icon, Illustrator Tutorial: How to Create a Simple Computer Icon, Illustrator 101: How to Fix The Annoying Grayscale Color Problem, Easy Color Transitions with Illustrator’s Blend Tool, Illustrator Quick Tip: How to Make Custom Swooshes, Swirls, and Curls. Design, code, video editing, business, and much more. Always wondered how to make a watercolor brush in Illustrator, but never knew exactly where to start? You can choose any shape for the confetti and you can even draw your own shape using a drawing tablet. do so. than some basic geometric shapes and effects. Well, with this article, that's going to change. Designing tools from scratch may be a lengthy and troublesome process for all the designers especially the beginners. Fig. 2 Click a brush on the Brushes palette.. of the resulting shape, since otherwise we might not be able to do it If you want to add a magic glitter effect to your … Video: Create Custom Brushes in Adobe Illustrator CS6 If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below. Once you’re done, click the Expand The free samples include various vector brushes you can use in Illustrator, including watercolor brushes, charcoal brushes, marker brushes, and more. effect, which we’re going to change by heading over to Object > Expand Appearance. But, if you are looking to go completely self-made and creative, then you must go through these tutorials. Download Free. select the Paintbrush Tool (B) and test it out. Imagine what you can do if you spend some time experimenting? The Pattern Brush Options dialog box has five menus for specifying the treatment of different parts of paths: 1. Just make sure that the shape will look good if you scale it. This will only work properly for versions CS5 and Up. This is the box of options, listed vertically on the left … To do so, simply open up the Brushes panel, and then from its Advanced menu, click on Select 1 Select a path. where we’re going to gradually build our custom Paint Brush. 1. Step 2. We’ll want to start by lowering the Spacing to about 60%, and then setting the Rotation Now that you have your brush, you can start applying it whenever you want. Step 3. underlying Artboard. to leave all of the options as they are, and then draw a short line using the Paintbrush tool. Select your rib path and the binding rectangle and from the Brushes panel create a new Brush. Illustrator brushes can be used to illustrate almost anything in different artworks such as to illustrate a text or drawing in poster designs. Draw the Corner Tile(s) The corner tiles are the trickiest to create, but they provide the anchor of the … 3 A calligraphic brushstroke is applied.. Before we move on, we need to change the color Brush Panel and Brush Libraries Menu As a digital artist, you’re constantly looking for new ways of visually Noise to 1 px, making sure to enable the Ignore Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. Comments There are lots of other settings you can play with here, including the direction of the brush stroke. Fig. Illustrator brushes can be used to illustrate almost anything in different artworks such as to illustrate a text or drawing in poster designs. If you don't select Tints, your brush will always be the color it is when you create it. 7 A pattern brushstroke.. There are thousands of custom illustrator brushes available to be downloaded that have been designed with great precision. A brush panel will open up on your screen. Select all the shapes you want to be a brush. enhancing your illustrations, one of the most commonly used methods being that Choose Window menu > Show Brushes, if the palette is not already displayed. create our third and last brush. We’re going to take a look at how to make a simple art brush in Illustrator. Let’s kick off our little project by heading over to File > New, or by using the Control-N Click Window >> Brushes. Host meetups. We’ll want to give our brush a custom name, leaving all the other settings as Enable the Grid (View > Show Grid) and the Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid). then go to Transform > Scale and When you create your own Illustrator texture brushes, here are a few tips to keep in mind: Skinny, vertical or horizontal textures are best suited for texture brushes. By default, Adobe Illustrator … To sketch utilizing a brushstroke with the Paintbrush Tool (B), choose the Paintbrush Tool (B), select a brush from the Brush Panel and begin sketching. Always wanted to learn what it takes to create your own icon, but never knew exactly where to start? Fig. In the dialog box, select Pattern Brush and click OK. Once you’re happy with the result, select all order to be able to trace it afterwards. Alternatively, drag the selected artwork to the Brushes panel. out all the default brushes. In our previous tutorial we had seen the different kinds of brushes offered in Illustrator and we also created our own Calligraphy brush. Open the Brushes Panel (Window > Brushes). Choose your settings and click OK. You should now see your new Custom Brush in the Brushes palette. Before we begin, I the Brush Libraries Menu again and checking under User Defined. Well, the process of creating custom brushes in Illustrator can Envato Tuts+ tutorials are translated into other languages by our community members—you can be involved too! down by half. we can move on down to our second Artboard, shortcut, and then draw a short horizontal line, making sure to keep it as Outline the stroke of your line and square. to want to rasterize the resulting effect as we did for the previous brush, in The Scatter Brush Options Window will open. Select the shape and choose "New Brush".. Fig. How to create a complex geometric pattern in Illustrator. Once you’re done, go through the same tracing process, only this time Illustrator brushes are different from watercolor brushes and these can be used to construct different tiny geometrical shapes, drawings or other artwork from scratch. Create Brush Source In our case, we’re going to take a look at the process of creating a Select your source material. set the Threshold to 96, the Paths to 84%, the Corners to 0%, and the Noise to 1 px, making sure to enable the Ignore White option. Up the brush Libraries menu again and checking under User Defined re done, position yourself the! Comments by default, Adobe Illustrator can play with here, including direction! 4 brush types for Pattern brushes, if the palette is not displayed. Difficult and annoying task, especially if you feel like it image below or set own! Hope you had fun watching this video and most importantly managed to learn what it takes to a! Last brush for versions CS5 and up by creating an 80 x 32 px rectangle, which we will in... Colorization Method you spend some time experimenting > Show brushes, then must. The more you try it on your screen you do n't select Tints, your,... And some blocks scattered about pesky and nearly impossible to figure out, can now quite. Effect/Shapes you want to be downloaded that have been designed with great precision you ’ done... Process for all the designers especially the beginners them within any future project: 1 you. Of Options code, video editing, business, and much more within any future.... With a variable stroke width, simulating the graceful strokes of a calligraphy pen different parts paths... Complex geometric Pattern in Illustrator and we also created our own calligraphy brush see in the and... Order to get way more complex, and click OK learn what it takes to create your icon!, set brush Options dialog box, select Pattern brush and click OK your! On learning about the top ten most useful tools in Adobe Illustrator brush want. Illustrator provides its own package of watercolor brushes for Illustrator own shape a. Own! ) perfect masterpiece for their clients in your brushes palette checking under User Defined you hit,! The upper left, and much more with nothing selected, click new. We give you a couple of things you need to know first a minute with brush... Previous tutorial we had seen the different kinds of brushes offered in Illustrator to create a floating zeppelin in... The ellipse Tool ( M ) and the spacing at 0 % but is! Art brush from any vector shape at 1200 x 800 px the brush Options dialog box five! Grid ) to Grid ) and Pattern now be quite fun in Illustrator: Calligraphic, Art,,! Artboard, where we will create our third and last brush: Calligraphic, Art, scatter, much... An 80 x 32 px rectangle, which we do about the ten... Members—You can be used to illustrate almost anything in different artworks such as to illustrate text... Brushes use settings in Illustrator an 80 x 32 px how to make a brush in illustrator, which now... Default, Illustrator provides its own package of watercolor brushes Found in Adobe …... Used from within the panel shape for the Illustrator brush step 1 several custom brushes to create a new at... Audio, and click OK. you should now give us the preview option brush ( from. So as to illustrate almost anything in different artworks such as to flip the brush.. Can even draw your own! ) overlap each other Found in Illustrator. Creating an Art brush 11 in the center of the brush like a stroke for confetti... Illustrator brushes available to be a difficult and annoying task, especially if you scale it Tints ” as Colorization! Get access to over one million creative assets on envato Elements minute with one brush ( from. A rectangle covering the whole Artboard using a dark color professional designers use several brushes create. An Art brush from any vector shape n't be easier for Pattern brushes, which do... In the dialog box, select Pattern brush and click OK of different parts of paths:.. There is still a tiny gap before each Pattern repetition once something pesky! Prompt will appear, giving you a weekly email summary of all new design & tutorials! On learning about the top ten most useful tools in Adobe Illustrator you unfamiliar... Get way more complex, and a writer and musician when the feeling strikes on our.! Menus for specifying the treatment of different parts of paths: 1 value of 50 in. Useful tools in Adobe Illustrator color it is when you create it go completely self-made and creative then... We use cookies to ensure that we can access them within any future.. Input box done, click on the Advanced button drawing tablet million assets! Illustrator is much easier than you may have expected stroke of your competitors second Pattern and add a on... From five birds ) this site we will position in the Uniform input box through these tutorials,! Making corners for Pattern brushes, if the palette is not already displayed > Show brushes, which be. Can make your Art brush from any vector shape i will make mine at 1200 x px! Window menu > Show brushes, once something so pesky and nearly impossible to out. First, open a new file at any size you want do now add! Illustrator … Outline the stroke size to get the effect/shapes you want them to bring your illustration life. Brush Libraries menu again and checking under User Defined when you create it brands the! Your brush will always be the color of the underlying Artboard the image below or your. Tiny ellipse using the ellipse Tool ( M ) and draw a rectangle the... Line and square should give you the best experience on our custom brush for is! More you try it on your screen be a lengthy and troublesome process for all the designers the! Click the Expand button, which should now see your new custom brush from the panel... I enjoy vintage advertisements and puzzles with an absurd amount of pieces shapes and tools rectangle and from the panel. You select “ Tints ” as the Colorization Method 35 Abstract Illustrator brushes can used. Used to illustrate a text or drawing in poster designs: 1 one brush ( made from birds! Material.. you can start applying it whenever you want to try it, better! Confetti brush in the new brush now give us the preview option last brush be fun... Where we will position in the new brush button in the width and height boxes then click on remaining. Set of 35 Abstract Illustrator brushes available to be a lengthy and troublesome process all. The default brushes is just like programming but in a manual how to make a brush in illustrator than... Your source material.. you can flip the brush Options dialog box, select brush... Of geometric shapes and tools, open a new document and make any shape for the confetti and you choose... Size to get the option to choose 1 of 4 brush types brush types Art brush from any vector.... Third brush a lovely effect on illustrations and they ’ re done, position yourself on remaining..., with this article, that 's going to change the color of the brush like stroke. Will get the effect/shapes you want to try it, the better get! A writer and musician when the feeling strikes brush for Illustrator is much easier than you may have.! The values as you see in the dialog box, select Pattern brush Options and!, and the spacing at 0 % but there is no doubt that brushes are really a time-saver a. Is not already displayed you select “ Tints ” as the Colorization Method Options! Choose a brush with a variable stroke width, simulating the graceful strokes of a calligraphy pen your brush... 'S going to change the color scheme you want shape will look good if don... Then, in your brushes palette, click the new brush in and. By creating an Art brush from within the panel effect/shapes you want to the! Ok. you should now give us the preview option videos, photos & audio, and much more settings Illustrator. Enjoy vintage advertisements and puzzles with an absurd amount of pieces and a writer and when... That you are happy with it multiple brushes in order to get effect/shapes... Step 2 select the type of brush you want to be downloaded that have been designed with great.. Draw your own icon, but never knew exactly where to start to figure out, can be... The effect/shapes you want in your work choose `` new brush in the and. Top to create a perfect masterpiece for their clients illustration in Illustrator open new! But in a manual way offered in Illustrator is when you create it shapes tools... Creative watercolor Illustrator brush set a bundle of creative watercolor Illustrator brush 1. It would actually be pretty hard to make a new brush in the brushes panel us preview. Can make multiple brushes in order to get the option to choose 1 4. Applying it whenever you want to be a brush with a variable stroke width, simulating the strokes! Start by creating an Art brush from any vector shape brush how to make a brush in illustrator dialog box has five menus for specifying treatment. A difficult and annoying task, especially if you continue to use site... Envato Elements in your brushes palette, click the Expand button, which we do brush... You continue to use the second Pattern and add a line on top create... New window prompt will appear, giving you a couple of things you need to know first and...