Adobe Illustrator Level 2

Course details

Illustrator CS3 Level 2, Advanced will build upon the knowledge planted in Level I. We will use the Effects and Filters and how they differ, and also the Appearance Palette to save a Graphic Style. We will draw and understand Bezier curves, the root of drawing in Illustrator. Other topics include, Layers, new type features to CS3, Transparency, Symbols, Document Profiles and many more exciting new features of CS3, and how it integrates with the rest of the Creative Suite.
Prerequisite: Adobe Illustrator CS3 Level I or solid knowledge of topics covered in that workshop.*Note: Adobe Illustrator CS3 Level I is highly recommended before attending this advanced class.

Course Outline

Adobe Illustrator Usage

• Simulating multiple pages in Illustrator using the artboard and document setup 
• Printing large documents using tiling 
• Smart Guides, Grids & Guidelines 
• Explore the Links & Actions palettes 

Using Photoshop & Adobe Bridge with Illustrator

• The difference between Dragging-and-dropping and exporting Illustrator layers into Photoshop 
• Importing into Photoshop as a Smart Object to retain the Illustrator file quality 

Illustrator Text

• Text in Illustrator: Artistic text, paragraph text, text on a path and area text 
• Options for skewing text along a path or setting columns and the inset spacing 
• Character and Paragraph Styles 

Colors

• Understand Global and Non-Global colors 
• Creating separations with a spot color vs. a process color 
• Applying spot colors in raster effects like drop shadows, glows and blurs 

Drawing & Working With Objects

• Understand how Bezier curves work, learn to draw and edit these curves 
• Create drop shadows, glows and more, using the Stylize Effects while retaining full vector editability of the objects 
• Use Graphic Styles to save and name a set of appearance attributes 
• Create and apply styles to objects, replace a style, and watch as all your objects are updated automatically 
• Use Symbols to create elements used repeatedly in animations and complex artwork 
• Use the Effects menu and Appearance Palette to enhance type and graphic objects with editable, live effects, without altering the underlying structure of the original object 
• Understand Expand and Expand Appearance and how you can use the Illustrator tools to easily create an effect, then expand it to modify individual elements 
• Apply Transparency to any graphic object, bitmap image, or type character in your artwork 
• Blend two objects to create high-end illustrations 
• Crop objects with the Clipping Mask feature 

Special Effects

• Explore the difference between Filters and Effects 
• Create various brush effects along a path 
• Create new calligraphy, scatter and art brushes 
• Use the new CS3 Live Trace, Color & Paint 
• Create and apply Gradients and Patterns 
• Use the Gradient Mesh tool to apply realistic 3D type shading and highlights to 2D vector objects 
• Turn Gradient Mesh objects into bitmaps and bring them into Photoshop 
• Easily and interactively warp, pucker, twirl, bloat, scallop, crystallize and wrinkle any illustrator object 
• Make Graphs in Illustrator. Use your own artwork in a graph instead of a simple bar 
• Use the 3-D feature to extrude text and other Illustrator objects 
• The Scribble Fill effect 

Advanced Layer Techniques

• Complex Illustrator Layer Techniques: 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 
• Use the Release to Layers command to distribute all of the objects on a layer onto separate, individual layers for quick web animations 
• Export to Flash (SWF) 
• View the expanded hierarchy of elements in the Layers palette with thumbnail previews 
• Placing Photoshop Layer Comps