3 Ways to Add Texture in Illustrator (Tips Included)

Join The “Flat Illustration Masterclass“ course and Get the EARLYBIRD Discount: Learn 3 ways to add texture in Adobe Illustrator on your own vector designs and make them stand out. You will get a step-by-step process breakdown on how to apply these textured effects and where you can find them. The first way to add texture in illustrator is to make a copy of the shape you’re adding this effect on and from the Effect panel open up Texture - then select the Grain option. Download your 23 GRAIN BRUSH BUNDLE for Illustrator and Photoshop here: For more grain and noise texture in Illustrator, tutorials check out this playlist: That will show you a preview of what’s happening to the shape you’re using and on the right-hand side, you will have a couple of options you can actually play with to get closer to the texture effect that you like. For the second way of adding it, you will need a photo to work with. Using Unsplash you can search for paper and you’ll have a couple of options to choose from. Right-click, copy the image and then bring Illustrator back and paste this thing in. With the image selected, go to the tracing options on the top bar and select the black and white logo option. Afterward, you can keep only the dark shapes of the vector texture and apply a color that makes it blend in. The last of the three ways to add texture in Illustrator is through grain or noise brushes. In the tutorial, I’ll create a new one, as the process is pretty straightforward, try to organize the small vector shapes in a circular shape. Once you have them selected, go to Window and open up the brushes panel, from there click on the create a new brush and select the scatter option. Using the paintbrush and the draw inside mode activate, start drawing with the grain brush selected and you will get the texture effect you’re looking for. Quick access to each step: 0:00 Introduction to the 3 ways to add texture sketch process 0:30 Add texture using the effects panel 0:51 Using blending modes for the texture overlay 1:34 Adding a vector texture using a photo 2:43 Create a noise and grain brush in Illustrator 3:24 Add texture using a grain brush 4:09 Comparison with the 3 ways to add texture For this project I’ve partnered up with @jeremy mura who is an amazing designer from Sydney, Australia, and has a youtube channel you should definitely check out as he posts weekly design videos that could help you improve your skills as a designer: More grain and noise texture for Illustrator tutorials: #texture #illustrator #tutorial