Adobe Illustrator CS4 Introduction - 2 Days

Course Description

This professional illustrating and drawing software combines immensely powerful vector art tools and techniques with a wide range of creative options.

The Adobe Illustrator introductory course is designed to enable you to make the most of the power of Illustrator and will highlight how to use Illustrator to improve productivity without sacrificing quality.

The Introduction course concentrates on getting to know Illustrators many complex tools and functions. Knowing how to navigate around your artwork and create basic forms of vector artwork.

Course Content

What is Illustrator
Introduction to Illustrator
Vector or Bitmap

Illustrator Basics
Different Vector Files
Opening files in Illustrator
Built-In Illustrator Templates
New Document Settings
Saving Document Settings
Illustrator's User Interface
Panels, Tools & Workspaces
Navigation
Keyboard Shortcuts

Illustrator Features
Outline & Preview mode
Rulers, Guides and grids
Smart Guides
Vector Theory
Bezier Curves, Paths & Anchors
Anchor Handlers
Introduction to layers
Group & Ungroup Illustrations
Isolate groups & sublayers

Object Transformation
Transform Tools
Reshape Tool
The Transform Panel
Liquify Tools
Envelope Distortions

Importing Bitmaps in Illustrator
JPEG, GIF & TIFF imports
Photoshop PSD Import options

Complex Shape Creation
Creating Compound Paths
Compound Paths
The Pathfinder Panel
Compound Shapes
Expand Shapes

Typography & Text
Type & Text tools
Character Panel
The Paragraph Panel
Outlining Text
Text on a Curved Path

Export & Outputting
Saving Settings of AI files
Adobe PDF File Creation
Various other File Formats
Liquify Tools
Envelope Distortions

Conclusion
Questions & Answers
Workshop
Exercises

Basic Shapes
How to create a Basic Shape
Polygons, Stars & Spirals
Drawing grids, lines & arcs
Alignment & Snap to shapes

Colour in Illustrator CS4
RGB vs. CMYK
Colour your shapes
CMYK Process & Pantone Spot
Using Global process colours
Swatches
About Colour Groups
Gradients in Drawings
Import swatch library
Share swatches between applications

Vector Drawing
Drawing Basics
Drawing Simple Lines & Shapes
Drawing freehand
Draw Curves with the Pen Tool
Editing paths
Slicing and cutting tool
Average & Join Commands
Erase artwork

Using LiveTrace
Automatically tracing artwork
Adjusting LiveTrace Settings
Converting LiveTrace objects

Painting in Illustrator
Manipulating stroke options
Painting with the paintbrush
Introducing blends
Using the Gradient mesh
Multiple Fills & Strokes per object
Introduction to Symbols

Using LivePaint
Creating LivePaint Groups
Painting LivePaint Objects
Gap Detection
Path editing with LivePaint

Artwork Management
Change Artboard Size
Rulers, Guides & Smart Guides
Custom Guides
Accurate object positioning
Align Panel
Layers in Illustrator
Template Layers

All prices are subject to VAT. Training can be held at either our premises or at your premises.