Another point. If you save to various formats using Export, Illustrator appends the file name with the name of the Artboard. So if only using one artboard, it will add _01 to your file name. Big pain in the ass - which I am not alone in feeling. Any known work-arounds other than manually changing yo...

I know the subject line alone should get me banned, but I don't think I'm alone. In the technical writing world a lot is still done in Word - for better or worse. It's a good option for collaborative writing, editing, feedback, outlining, etc. I'm working on some manuals with a lot of line-art in th...

This thread has become a bit of a chat-board, so going to add to the conversation. James, the Turboprop Engine Cutaway is still one of my favourite pieces of yours. http://jamesprovost.com/portfolio/cutaway/turboprop-engine-cutaway Without giving away too much, can you tell me what your approach was...

I've just started on with a company that 's looking to improve on their manuals. One big expectation is much improved technical illustrations. Currently their manuals use busy engineering drawings - mostly section-view . These are great for details and such, but do nothing to illustrate a workflow o...

Thanks James. Always one to answer my threads (when on one else will).

A little premature, but I may be looking at getting the vector nut and bold library created by Kevin Hulsey. This looks like it could be a huge time saver. A couple of questions though. These don't look to be isometric as they look to have perspective, and are available at various angles. How would ...

Now that I've discovered the stroke thickness tool, thanks to a blog post by James, my line art is starting to look a lot more, well, like James'! Before, I was creating tapered brushes which just didn't give you the same control as multiple thickness control points. As with everything is to find yo...

New site looks good James.
I like how easy it is to sort through your portfolio.
Also like how your Recent Work reads like a blog.
Cheers.

To be fair I've done work for this client before and they've always been okay with my quote and happy with the product. I think it's more an issue this time of wanting to make certain I understand what it is they want so I don't waste my time and their money. Planning on meeting with their technical...

Hi Don,

Very good points...thanks. I think I've build enough into my quote to give them something, but nothing fancy. I can probably use components from other work I have done as well.