Adobe® Illustrator® CS5: A Comprehensive Approach

Course Specifications

Course number: 084662
Course length: 3.0 day(s)

Course Description

Course Objective: You will use Adobe Illustrator CS5 to create illustrations that include graphics and text. Later on in the course, 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 and who need to use Illustrator to create illustrations, logos, advertisements, or other graphic documents. The course covers the ACE exam objectives for Adobe® Illustrator® CS5, and is intended to help prepare students to take the Adobe Certified Expert exam. Please refer to the media that accompanies this course for a document named “Adobe Illustrator CS5 ACE Exam Objectives” that maps the ACE objectives to the content in the Adobe® Illustrator® CS5 series.

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 palettes, color modes, shapes, text, and paths is highly recommended.

Hardware Requirements

Intel® Pentium® 4, Intel® Centrino®, Intel® Xeon®, or Intel® Core™ Duo (or compatible) processor
1.8 GB of hard-disk space to install software, and an additional 500 MB of RAM to run the course.
Color monitor with 16-bit or greater video card; 24-bit color recommended with 1024 x 768 monitor resolution.
Display system to project the instructor's computer screen
Internet connection with Internet Explorer version 6.0 or later, or comparable browser.
CD-ROM/DVD drive
Printer (optional) or an installed printer driver

Software Requirements

Each computer requires the following software:

Microsoft® Windows® XP with Service Pack 3
Adobe® Illustrator® CS5
Adobe® Flash® Player
Adobe® Reader® 8.0 or later
Adobe® SVG Viewer
Microsoft® Internet Explorer®

Course Objectives

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

get acquainted with the Adobe Illustrator CS5 application.
create shapes in a document.
create custom paths.
work with text in an Illustrator document.
work with objects.
enhance documents.
proof documents to make them more accurate.
save images for the 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.

Course Content

Lesson 1: Getting Acquainted with Adobe® Illustrator® CS5: Topic 1A: Examine Imaging Concepts; Topic 1B: Explore the Interface; Topic 1C: Customize the Interface

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: Working with Objects: Topic 5A: Import Graphics; Topic 5B: Manipulate Objects

Lesson 6: Enhancing Documents: Topic 6A: Format Objects; Topic 6B: Apply Strokes; Topic 6C: Apply Gradients; Topic 6D: Apply Graphic Styles; Topic 6E: Apply an Envelope to Text

Lesson 7: Proofing a Document: Topic 7A: Wrap Text; Topic 7B: Find and Replace Text; Topic 7C: Fix Spelling Errors

Lesson 8: Saving Images for the Web and Print: Topic 8A: Export Images for Print; Topic 8B: Save Images for the Web; Topic 8C: Save Images as PDFs

Lesson 9: Creating Complex Illustrations: Topic 9A: Create a Custom Shape Using Simple Shapes; Topic 9B: Create Perspective Drawings; Topic 9C: Create Compound Paths; Topic 9D: Offset Paths; Topic 9E: Erase Shapes

Lesson 10: Enhancing Complex Illustrations: Topic 10A: Organize Objects with Layers; Topic 10B: Create Symbols; Topic 10C: Create a Pattern Swatch; Topic 10D: Create a Mesh; Topic 10E: Create Custom Brushes; Topic 10F: Apply Color Using Live Paint; Topic 10G: Recolor Artwork

Lesson 11: Creating a Vector Version of a Raster Graphic: Topic 11A: Trace Artwork; Topic 11B: Adjust the Results of Tracing; Topic 11C: Create a Custom Preset; Topic 11D: Convert a Traced Object to Paths

Lesson 12: Creating Special Effects: Topic 12A: Apply Effects; Topic 12B: Create Masks; Topic 12C: Simplify Paths; Topic 12D: Create Blends; Topic 12E: Share Graphic Styles; Topic 12F: Create 3D Effects

Lesson 13: Working with Graphs: Topic 13A: Create a Graph; Topic 13B: Format a Graph

Lesson 14: Working with Variables: Topic 14A: Create Variables; Topic 14B: Create Data Sets

Lesson 15: Outputting Documents: Topic 15A: Set Up Color Management; Topic 15B: Preview an Overprint; Topic 15C: Apply Spot Colors; Topic 15D: Print a Composite Proof; Topic 15E: Create Color Separations; Topic 15F: Create an Adobe PDF File

Lesson 16: Exporting Graphics for the Web and Mobile Devices: Topic 16A: Convert Colors to Web-Safe Colors; Topic 16B: Work with Actions; Topic 16C: Export a File as an SWF File; Topic 16D: Create Slices; Topic 16E: Add Interactivity to an SVG File; Topic 16F: Preview an Illustration for Mobile Devices

Appendix A: Organizing Assets Using Adobe® Bridge

Appendix B: New Features in Adobe Illustrator CS5

Appendix C: Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) Objectives Mapping