Illustrator Essentials

Lesson 1-GETTING TO KNOW THE WORK AREA

• Use the Welcome screen.  
• Open an Adobe Illustrator CS5 file.  
• Select tools in the Tools panel.  
• Work with panels.  
• Use viewing options to enlarge and reduce artwork.  
• Navigate multiple artboards and documents.  
• Understand rulers.  
• Work with Document groups.

Lesson 2 -SELECTING AND ALIGNING

• Differentiate between the various selection tools and employ different selection techniques.
• Recognize smart guides.
• Clone items with the Selection tool.
• Hide and lock items for organizational purposes.
• Save selections for future use.
• Group and ungroup items.
• Work in isolation mode.
• Use tools and commands to align shapes and points to each other and the artboard.
• Arrange content.
• Select behind content.

Lesson 3 - CREATING AND EDITING SHAPES

• Create a document with multiple artboards.
• Use tools and commands to create basic shapes.
• Work with drawing modes.
• Use rulers and smart guides as drawing aids.
• Scale and duplicate objects.
• Join and outline objects.
• Edit strokes with the Width tool.
• Work with the Shape Builder tool.
• Work with Pathfinder commands to create shapes.
• Use Live Trace to create shapes.

Lesson 4 - TRANSFORMING OBJECTS

• Add, edit, rename, and reorder artboards in an existing document.
• Navigate artboards.
• Select individual objects, objects in a group, and parts of an object.
• Move, scale, and rotate objects using a variety of methods.
• Work with smart guides
• Reflect, shear, and distort objects.
• Adjust the perspective of an object.
• Apply a distortion filter.
• Position objects precisely
• Repeat transformations quickly and easily.
• Copy to multiple artboards.

Lesson 5 - DRAWING WITH THE PEN AND PENCIL TOOLS

• Draw curved lines.
• Draw straight lines.
• Use template layers.
• End path segments and split lines.
• Select and adjust curve segments.
• Create dashed lines and add arrowheads.
• Draw and edit with the Pencil tool.

Lesson 6 - COLOR AND PAINTING

• Use color modes and color control
• Create, edit, and paint with colors using the Control panel and shortcuts.
• Name and save colors, create color groups, and build a color palette.
• Use the Color Guide panel and the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork features.
• Copy paint and appearance attributes from one object to another.
• Create and paint with patterns.
• Work with Live Paint.

Lesson 7 - WORKING WITH TYPE

• Import text.
• Create columns of type.
• Change text attributes.
• Use and save styles.
• Sample type.
• Wrap type around a graphic.
• Reshape text with a warp.
• Create text on paths and shapes.
• Create type outlines.

Lesson 8 - WORKING WITH LAYERS

• Work with the Layers panel.
• Create, rearrange, and lock layers, nested layers, and groups.
• Move objects between layers.
• Paste layers of objects from one file into another
• Merge layers into a single layer.
• Apply a drop shadow to a layer.
• Make a layer clipping mask
• Apply an appearance attribute to objects and layers
• Isolate content in a layer.

Lesson 9 - WORKING WITH PERSPECTIVE DRAWING

• Understand perspective drawing.
• Use and edit grid presets.
• Draw and edit objects in perspective.
• Edit grid planes and content.
• Create and edit text in perspective.
• Attach symbols to perspective.

Lesson 10 - BLENDING COLORS AND SHAPES

• Create and save gradients.
• Add colors to a gradient.
• Adjust the direction of a gradient blend.
• Adjust the opacity of color in a gradient blend.
• Create smooth-color blends between objects.
• Blend the shapes of objects in intermediate steps.
• Modify a blend, its path, shape, and color.

Lesson 11 - WORKING WITH BRUSHES

• Use the four brush types: Art, Calligraphic, Pattern, and Bristle.
• Apply brushes to paths created with drawing tools.
• Paint and edit paths with the Paintbrush tool.
• Change the brush color and adjust brush settings.
• Create new brushes from Adobe® Illustrator® artwork.
• Work with the Blob Brush tool and the Eraser tool.

Lesson 12 - APPLYING EFFECTS

• Use various effects like Pathfinder, Distort & Transform, Offset Path, and Drop Shadow effects.
• Use Warp effects to create a banner logotype.
• Use Photoshop effects to add texture to objects.
• Create 3D objects from 2D artwork.
• Map artwork to the surfaces of 3D objects.

Lesson 13 - APPLYING APPEARANCE ATTRIBUTES AND GRAPHIC STYLES

• Create and edit an appearance attribute.  
• Add a second stroke to an object.  
• Reorder appearance attributes and apply them to layers.  
• Copy, turn on and off, and remove appearance attributes.  
• Save an appearance as a graphic style.  
• Apply a graphic style to an object and a layer.  
• Apply multiple graphic styles to an object or layer.

Lesson 14 - WORKING WITH SYMBOLS 

• Apply symbol instances.  
• Create a symbol.  
• Modify and redefine a symbol.  
• Use the symbolism tools.  
• Store and retrieve artwork in the Symbols panel.  
• Work with symbols and Adobe Flash.

Lesson 15 - COMBINING ILLUSTRATOR CS5 GRAPHICS WITH OTHER ADOBE APPLICATIONS 

• Differentiate between vector and bitmap graphics.  
• Place linked and embedded Adobe Photoshop graphics in an Adobe Illustrator file.  
• Create and edit a clipping mask.  
• Create a clipping mask from compound paths.  
• Make an opacity mask to display part of an image.  
• Sample color in a placed image.  
• Replace a placed image with another, and update the document.  
• Export a layered file to Adobe Photoshop.