Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Essentials

Getting to Know the Work Area

Understanding the Workspace
Working with the Tools Panel
The Control Panel
Working with Panels
Using Panel Menus
Resetting and Saving your Workspace
Changing the View of Artwork
Viewing Artwork
Using the View Commands
Using the Zoom Tool
Scrolling through a Document
Navigating Multiple Artboards
Arranging Documents
Document Groups
Using the Navigator Panel
Working with Adobe Bridge

Selecting and Aligning

Using the Selection Tool
Using the Direct Selection Tool
Creating Selections with a Marquee
Creating Selections with the Magic Wand Tool
Grouping Items
Adding to a Group
Working in Isolation Mode
Selecting Similar Objects
Applying Selection Techniques
Advanced Selection Techniques
Aligning Objects
Aligning to a Key Object
Aligning Points
Distributing Objects
Aligning to the Artboard

Creating and Editing Shapes

Creating a Document with Multiple Artboards
Working with Basic Shapes
Accessing the Basic Shape Tools
Creating with Shapes
Outlining Strokes
Working with Line Segments
Joining Paths
Using the Eraser Tool
Combining Objects
Working with Pathfinder Effects
Working with Shape Modes
Using Live Trace to Create Shapes

Transforming Objects

Working with Artboards
Adding Artboards to the Document
Editing Artboards
Transforming Content
Working with Rulers and Guides
Scaling Objects
Reflecting Objects
Rotating Objects
Distorting Objects
Shearing Objects
Positioning Objects Precisely
Changing the Perspective
Using the Free Distort Effect
Making multiple Transformations

Drawing with the Pen and Pencil Tools

Creating Straight Lines
Creating Curved Paths
Building a Curve
Converting Curved Points to Corner Points
Creating the Apple Illustration
Creating the Arrow
Splitting a Path
Adding Arrowheads
Drawing Curves
Selecting a Curve
Drawing the Leaf
Drawing different kinds of Curves
Convert between Smooth Points and Corner Points
Drawing the Apple Shape
Editing Curves
Deleting and adding Anchor Points
Drawing with the Pencil Tool
Editing with the Pencil Tool
Finishing the Apple Illustration
Assembling the Parts
Painting the Artwork

Colour and Painting

Understanding Colour
Colour Modes
Understanding the Colour Controls
Creating Colour
Building and Saving Custom Colour
Editing a Swatch
Using Illustrator Swatch Libraries
Creating a Spot Colour
Using the Colour Picker
Creating and Saving a Tint of a Colour
Copying Attributes
Creating Colour Groups
Working wit the Colour Guide Panel
Editing a Colour Group
Editing Colours in Artwork
Working with the Kuler Panel
Assigning Colours to your Artwork
Adjusting Colours
Painting with Gradients and Patterns
Using Patterns
Creating your own Pattern
Applying a Pattern
Editing a Pattern
Working with LivePaint
Editing LivePaint Regions

Working with Type

Working with Type
Creating Point Type
Creating Area Type
Importing a Plain Text File
Creating Columns of Text
Understanding Text Flow
Working with Overflow Text and Text Reflow
Threading Text
Resizing Type Objects
Formatting Type
Changing Font Size
Changing the Font Colour
Changing additional Text Attributes
Changing Paragraph Attributes
Saving and using Styles
Creating and using a Paragraph Style
Creating and using a Character Style
Sampling Text
Reshaping Text with an Envelope Warp
Wrapping Text around an Object
Creating Text on Paths and Shapes
Creating Text Outlines

Working with Layers

Creating Layers
Moving Objects and Layers
Locking Layers
Viewing Layers
Pasting Layers
Creating Clipping Masks
Merging Layers
Applying appearance Attributes to Layers
Isolating Layers

Output

Understanding the Printing Process
Understanding Printing Devices
Halftone Screens
Screen Frequency
Output Device Resolution
About Colour
RGB Colour Model
CMYK Colour Model
Spot colours
What is Colour Management?
Setting up Colour Management in Illustrator
Soft-proofing Colours
Colour Separations
Previewing Colour Separations
Printing Colour Separations
Specifying the Bleed Areas
Separating Colours
Specifying the Screen Frequency
Working with Two-colour Illustrations
Separating Spot Colours
Understanding Trapping
Overprinting Objects
Saving and Exporting Artwork
Using the Document Info Panel
Saving a File with Transparency
Saving in the EPS Format
Printing Transparent Artwork
Saving as Adobe PDF

Course Objectives

In this course, you'll start by drawing and manipulating simple shapes to create logos combining colour and text elements.

Duration

2 Days

Cost

£575 (ex VAT)

Schedule

Course Dates

Prerequisites

Before taking this course, students should be familiar with the basic functions of their computer’s operating system

Additional Notes

Courses can be run on Windows and Macintosh platforms and tailored to meet customers' requirements. Courses run in Edinburgh, Glasgow and at client sites throughout the UK.