Adobe® Illustrator® CS4

Course Description
Adobe® Illustrator® CS4 is a sophisticated graphics application that helps you create complex and attractive designs with type effects. You can create advertisements and other illustrations with ease using this software. However, creating complex designs can be overwhelming if you are not familiar with the tools and the features in Adobe Illustrator. In this course, you will use Adobe Illustrator CS4 by drawing and manipulating simple shapes to design a layout for your product. You probably used Adobe Illustrator to create simple illustrations and logos. However, you may need to create complex illustrations, print documents without any errors or color mismatches, or prepare illustrations for the web. In this course, you will create complex, robust illustrations that go beyond those you could create using Illustrator's basic tools.

Course Objective:
You will use Adobe Illustrator CS4 to create illustrations that include graphics and text. You will create complex illustrations, manage color across a range of devices, work with graphs and variables, control how illustrations appear on print and the web, and preview them on mobile devices.

Target Student:
This course is intended for designers, publishers, pre-press professionals, marketing communications professionals, or people switching to a design job or taking on design responsibilities, who need to use Illustrator to create illustrations, logos, advertisements, or other graphic documents.

Delivery Method:
Instructor led, group-paced, classroom-delivery learning model with structured hands-on activities.

After completing this course the student should be able to:

  • get acquainted with the Adobe® Illustrator® CS4 application.
  • create shapes in a document.
  • create custom paths.
  • enter text in an Illustrator document.
  • enhance documents.
  • proof documents to make them more accurate.
  • save images for web and print.
  • create complex illustrations.
  • enhance complex illustrations.
  • create a vector version of a raster graphic.
  • create special effects.
  • work with graphs.
  • work with variables.
  • prepare documents for composite and commercial printing.
  • export graphics for the web and mobile devices.

Prerequisites:
Before taking this course, students should be familiar with the basic functions of their computer's operating system such as creating folders, launching programs, and working with windows. Students should also have basic Windows application skills, such as copying and pasting objects, formatting text, saving files, and so on.

  • Familiarity with basic design terminology, such as palette, color mode, shapes, text, and paths, is highly recommended.

Course Content

Day 1

Lesson 1: Getting Acquainted with Adobe Illustrator CS4
Topic 1A: Explore the Interface
Topic 1B: Explore the Navigation Tools
Topic 1C: Customize the Interface
Topic 1D: Use Illustrator Help
Topic 1E: Differentiate Between Raster and Vector Graphics
Topic 1F: Explore the Adobe Bridge Workspace

Lesson 2: Creating Shapes in a Document
Topic 2A: Create a Document
Topic 2B: Draw Basic Shapes
Topic 2C: Save a Document

Lesson 3: Creating Custom Paths
Topic 3A: Draw Paths
Topic 3B: Modify Paths

Lesson 4: Working with Text
Topic 4A: Insert Text
Topic 4B: Flow Text on a Path
Topic 4C: Import Body Text
Topic 4D: Format Text with Styles
Topic 4E: Thread Text
Topic 4F: Apply Hyphenation
Topic 4G: Insert Typographic Characters

Lesson 5: Enhancing Documents
Topic 5A: Format Objects
Topic 5B: Apply Gradients
Topic 5C: Apply an Envelope to Text
Topic 5D: Manipulate Objects
Topic 5E: Import a Graphic
Topic 5F: Apply Graphic Styles

Lesson 6: Proofing a Document
Topic 6A: Wrap Text
Topic 6B: Find and Replace Text
Topic 6C: Fix Spelling Errors

Lesson 7: Saving Images for Web and Print
Topic 7A: Export Images for Print
Topic 7B: Export Images for the Web
Topic 7C: Save Images as PDFs

Day 2

Lesson 1: Creating Complex Illustrations
Topic 1A: Create a Custom Shape Using Simple Shapes
Topic 1B: Create Compound Paths
Topic 1C: Offset Paths
Topic 1D: Erase Shapes

Lesson 2: Enhancing Complex Illustrations
Topic 2A: Create Symbols
Topic 2B: Organize Objects with Layers
Topic 2C: Create a Pattern Swatch
Topic 2D: Create a Mesh
Topic 2E: Create Custom Brushes
Topic 2F: Apply Color Using Live Paint
Topic 2G: Recolor Artwork

Lesson 3: Creating a Vector Version of a Raster Graphic
Topic 3A: Trace Artwork Automatically
Topic 3B: Adjust the Results of Tracing
Topic 3C: Create a Custom Preset
Topic 3D: Convert a Traced Object to Paths

Lesson 4: Creating Special Effects
Topic 4A: Apply Effects
Topic 4B: Create Masks
Topic 4C: Simplify Paths
Topic 4D: Create Blends
Topic 4E: Share Graphic Styles
Topic 4F: Create 3-D Effects

Lesson 5: Working with Graphs
Topic 5A: Create a Graph
Topic 5B: Format a Graph

Lesson 6: Working with Variables
Topic 6A: Create Variables
Topic 6B: Create Data Sets

Lesson 7: Outputting Documents
Topic 7A: Create an Artboard
Topic 7B: Set Up Color Management
Topic 7C: Preview an Overprint
Topic 7D: Apply Spot Colors
Topic 7E: Print a Composite Proof
Topic 7F: Create Color Separations
Topic 7G: Create an Adobe PDF File

Lesson 8: Exporting Graphics for the Web and Mobile Devices
Topic 8A: Convert Colors to Web-Safe Colors
Topic 8B: Work with Actions
Topic 8C: Export a File as an SWF File
Topic 8D: Create Slices
Topic 8E: Add Interactivity to an SVG File
Topic 8F: Preview an Illustration for Mobile Devices

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