BONUS: 3 FREE DISTRESS PATTERNS. In this tutorial, we'll show you have to apply a distress effect to your artwork in Adobe Illustrator. This non-destructive method will keep your artwork editable for future use.
Distressed or eroded t-shirt graphics may look like the result of years of wear and tear. The reality is this look can actually results from a few clicks in Illustrator. Applying a distress pattern to a good graphic and printing it using our Vintage Print Formula results in an amazing t-shirt.
A while back we showed you how to knock out shapes in Illustrator. We're back to show you another way that is non-destructive. Non-destructive means that the design will still be editable. You can add in more design elements that receive the distress effect. It also means you can revert the design back to it's non-distress state with little effort.
And last but not least, here are 3 Free Distress Patterns that you can use for your next hipster design. These are the actual distress patterns that we use on the Vintage samples we display at our trade shows.