Adobe Illustrator CS4 software is a comprehensive vector graphics environment with new transparency in gradients and multiple artboards that invite you to explore more efficient ways to design.

Fundamentals to Intermediate, this is an introductory course for designers and budding developers new to the Illustrator CS4 environment, or those that have not had formal training. Students will produce an exciting graphic project using both the classic features and the new and improved tools in Illustrator CS4 and will leave this class with the ability to create and incorporate vector graphics projects.

Prerequisite: Students must have strong computer skills and exposure to graphic design concepts.

Course Outline

• Illustrator CS4: New Features
• New Drawing tools and Controls
• New, Improved Eraser tool
• New Document Profiles feature; Exploring prebuilt media profiles
• Isolation mode: Edit discreet sections and objects without changing existing artwork

Creating Documents in Illustrator

• Set artboard size and color space
• Simulating multiple pages in Illustrator. Printing poster size documents using tiling
• Open documents created in other programs and save as an Illustrator File Save as EPS, AI and PDF. Save for Web as GIF and JPEG, Place & Export as TIFF, PSD, EPS, SWF and others
• Navigator Palette, Zoom commands and shortcuts
• Shapes: Oval, Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Star and Polygon
• Lines: Arc, line segment, pencil, rectangular grid, polar grid and spiral tools
• Selection Tools: Direct Select, Group Select and Direct Select
• Lasso select, magic wand select and the goodies in the Select Menu
• Transform objects with the scale, shear, rotate & reflect tools. How this differs from the transform palette and the transform menu selections
• Group, ungroup, lock and hide objects

Using Adobe Bridge CS4 to View & Organize

• Working with Bridge to manage files from Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop & Acrobat
• Applying Metadata to Illustrator files for better organization

Text in Illustrator

• Artistic vs. paragraph text
• Text on a path, including text on ovals, circles, and lines
• Create outlines from text: creating new font shapes
• Character palette: size, kerning, baseline shift, horizontal & vertical scaling
• Paragraph palette: alignment, indents, space before and after paragraphs
• Using Strokes‐‐Dashed lines, joins, caps, weight and color
• Fill & stroke options on the tool palette & how they work with the stroke, color & swatches palettes
• Offsetting strokes inside, outside or in the center of the path

Colors & Swatches

• Create process, spot, web & Pantone® colors: add and save them to the swatches palette
• Append swatches from other documents to pull colors into the active document
• Specify Global or Non‐Global colors
• Use the new Live Color features

Using Layers

• Create new Layers, change the stacking order, move an object from one layer to another, select objects with the layers palette and lock and hide layers
• Create and apply Gradients to objects

Drawing in Illustrator

• Use the pen tool for straight lines. Add and delete points along a path
• Average, Split and Join paths to alter and fix clipart or your own drawings
• Freeform drawing and editing with this powerful, underused way to modify a path
• Shapemodes ‐Add, Subtract, Intersect and Exclude. Understand how using these "live objects" will revolutionize the way you work
• Pathfinders: Divide, Minus Front, Trim, Merge and see how these differ from shape modes
• Use Clipping Masks to put artwork inside of a shape
• Create Compound Paths to punch holes into objects
• Use Compound Paths in conjunction with Clipping Masks
• Blending basics. Turn one shape into another. Use to make highlights in an object
  

This course will be taught by Adobe ACE Bill Carberry.

Bill Carberry
Adobe Certified Instructor/Certified Technical Trainer

Biography- Bill Carberry is an Adobe Certified Instructor/Print Specialist for Adobe Acrobat, Illustrator, InDesign, PageMaker and Photoshop with decades of real world experience. A typographer by trade, Bill loves to teach technology by translating technical terms into plain English. Bill believes learning should be an enjoyable experience and will teach you how to work smarter, not harder. You'll learn the best practices during detailed demonstrations and rigorous hands-on exercises that will keep you involved and informed. You can also receive expert answers to your specific questions by bringing relevant samples of your work to class. A veteran consultant for the publishing industry and recipient of a Best Speaker award from Toastmasters International, Bill also conducts custom training workshops for corporate clients and freelance designers.

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