The Live Paint Bucket Tool in Illustrator is an effective way you can use to fill paths or shapes with color. To help you understand, we will color two objects in Illustrator.
One is a caterpillar outline illustration, while the other is some circular shapes I have created.
The live paint bucket tool only works with enclosed paths or paths joining into a complete shape. Objects used with this tool must be grouped together, or it will not work.
If you have ever used Photoshop’s paint bucket tool, then this will not be very complicated. It operates in almost the same way.
Live Paint Bucket Tool in Illustrator
Step 1: Choose the selection tool shortcut V and select the objects.
Step 2: Go to object>Live Paint>Make. This will convert your objects into a live paint group. Alternatively, you can click Control+G to group the objects.
The Live Paint Bucket tool will view grouped objects as one single object with different segments. This allows you to fill overlapping and enclosed areas as separate entities.
If you do not group or convert to a Live Paint Group, the Paint Bucket tool will not detect the spaces as one object with enclosed spaces but as different objects. It will not work.
Step 3: Go to Window > Swatches to bring up the Swatches Panel.
Step 4: Click K to pick the Live Paint tool and choose the swatch from the swatch panel. Click on the image to add the color picked.
Step 5: Click on another swatch to pick it. Click on another section to add the new swatch color. I will make it yellow and green.
Step 6: If you have not created swatches, you can double-click on the fill area to set a color. If you notice a prohibition symbol on the bucket, it is because the points on your shape are probably not enclosed.
Designing with the Live Paint Bucket tool
When you click the right and left arrow keys after choosing the tool, the next color is selected. You can either choose a solid color or a gradient.
To speed up your workflow, you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate between the selected colors.
In the below design, I have added swatches and then removed outlines to create the design. If the points are not joined to close the shape, the tool does not work. Below is an example. To solve this issue, you can either join the disconnected points.
Normally you would select the 2 points and click control + J to join. However, this will not work because you have already converted the object to a live paint group and are on different paths.
Choose the pen tool, shortcut P, and click on one point then the next to close the shape. You can now fill it with color. When you now use the Live Paint tool, it works. To know how many gaps there are, select the object and go to Object > Live Paint > Gap Options.
You can now add a swatch like on the other sections.
To modify the colors or just remove the stroke, click on the None (/) in the Swatches Panel with the Live Paint tool selected. If you want to edit a swatch, just choose the selection tool, V, then double click on the section. The swatch is isolated, allowing you to edit it alone.
Conclusion
The Live Paint Bucket tool can also be used to create pixel art in Illustrator! If you set up a grid (View > Show Grid) and use Snap to Grid, you can quickly fill individual squares with colors, mimicking a pixelated effect.
It is a powerful coloring tool, although it is limited when working with objects with too many open paths. You must also know how it works to use it effectively. For example, failure to group can result in errors that can challenge beginners.