Designing a Simple Graph for Beginners

Creating a graph, frame and grid that makes a shape layer for the outline, which honestly is just a square, honestly, by the way, and one line for the little tick mark on the bottom for 50. If you want to add more visual lines, that's fine. I just didn't when I built it.

Okay, so I was trying to draw a graph that was kind of like, taught you the tools, but wasn't so complex. It would take like hours and hours and hours to make. So it's awesome.

Also want to show you some of the things like the ability to make some of the tools. Okay, creating the graphs legend. That's the numbers.

Then adding a headline and background image. Wait, wait, where's the grid? Where's the instructions on making the grid? Oh, I did not make it says creating the graph frame and grid. Okay, that that's where it says that I missed that part when I said about it.

Okay, so I zoomed out the graph frame rectangle tool. Make sure you have nothing selected. Clicking on the word fill would give you the menu to let you control whether it's a solid, non-linear gradient or radial gradient blends of color.

Okay, now if you don't want to open the menu, here's the other way to set one of those four options. If you hold down option or alt and click on the color box, the program will cycle between the choices. None, solid color, linear gradient, radial gradient, and then back to none.

So I set fill to none. I'll click on the stroke color box and I'll just make it black. Lower left-hand corner is always black.

Next to stroke is the stroke weight, the stroke size, stroke width they call it here actually by the way. So in the instructions I said 10 pixels. Okay, now if you want you can draw some more guidelines in, but I'm just gonna start in the upper left-hand corner, hold down shift, and mess that up miserably.

It snaps to that guide. Sorry, one second. I'm gonna give you that guide I had on top.

So if you want to make guidelines, you can. The program will snap to them like that for maybe for height. Might be nice for you.

Okay, you can also move existing guides unless you have locked them with view lock guides. You can get rid of them if you want. If you don't want them, clear guides.

View clear guides. So it's up to you. If I hold down shift while I create the rectangle, it's gonna make a perfect square.

Like that. I'll use the pin tool. I zoom in on the bottom.

Click and then click to make a line. Okay, by the way, the picture has a line that looks like it's rounded, but it's not I don't think. But if you want to round the top of that line or the bottom of that line, that is in properties.

Line cap round. So if you want to round it, no problem at all. Okay, the pin tool and the selection tool can move points.

So you want to adjust it. Okay, to make the grid in the background. What did I name this layer? Outline.

I renamed it outline. I'm not very imaginative apparently. Okay, then it has you make a layer new solid.

It has you make it the comp size. Color is irrelevant. Name is irrelevant too in that case.

It has you go to effects and presets and look for an effect called grid. The GRID. Grid makes a grid.

That's the grid. Okay, the effect controls. The grid has some size.

Size from it has you go to width slider so that you can basically control how big the grid points are. You can adjust this to your heart's content. It then has you just scale the layer down so it fits inside of the outline and it has you move it around with your selection tool.

Like that. But you're gonna adjust the width slider however you want. It does give you some numbers.

Whatever you want is fine. The color of the grid is controlled by the color option in the grid in effects and presets. So whatever you like that is fine.

I use a light gray but I mean enjoy it. Okay, it has you rename that grid and it has you move everything down to the bottom. Well, not below the background but you get the idea.

So it's behind stuff. Like that. I'm sorry, it has you move the grid to the bottom.

It doesn't have you actually move the outline to the bottom. It has you keep the outline on top. Because it wants to cover the bottom of the boxes.

So that's the grid. Okay, and then it has you make text layers. It tells you the size.

Okay, 85 percent. It tells you the color. It makes them black by the way but whatever color you want is fine.

What is the size of this? I'm sorry, it has to make 45 pixels but whatever you want to do is fine for that. Okay, and it is basically has you move them around, line them up, that sort of thing. So one note, when you're working with something really small, if you're not careful you actually scale it instead of moving it.

Just be careful like you don't want to zoom in on that, make it a little easier. Okay, one note, if this is the France's number right there, if I select all three, align layers to selection, that's the vertical align, I'll adjust the positioning. But it's designed to move everything so just be careful with that.

So it may push things that you don't want. So as you do that and just add the text layers and add the one to the bottom as well, that's the graph legend. Okay, then it has you add a text layer on top which you just type out the text and the color box on top is just a black rectangle.

Like so. So again, if I go to fill, I can set it to black. It's like we did the rectangles before.

It has you do no stroke and just draw a box up there and name it. So everything in the legend and the stuff is based on that. It has you then add the background image above the reference.

So effectively everything after like making the grid is pretty, we've done it before. So that finishes up 6a.