Adobe® Illustrator® 2020: Part 1
Course Description Overview
To meet the demands of individuals and organizations for flexible, reusable, and easily modified visual content, Adobe Systems has created a cadre of applications that collectively provide a scalable, end-to-end solution for nearly every type of visual design project one can contemplate. Called Creative Cloud®, the collection of applications perform specialized design tasks while interoperating among each other to deliver content.
This course focuses on Adobe® Illustrator® (2020), the component within Creative Cloud used to create "drawn" graphics, while enabling its users to integrate content from other domains (such as photo-oriented graphics and animation, which belong to Adobe® Photoshop® and other applications). With Illustrator's many easily used tools, you will discover that not only can you unlock the same creative impulses you've always had as you've picked up a pencil to sketch out an idea, but also capture those multiple ideas and "what ifs" during the creative process in ways that you never imagined. And for those of you who are just embarking on building your creative skills, you will be surprised at "how good" your work will appear, even at the outset of your exploration of the world of graphic design.
This course is a great component of your preparation for the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) Graphic Design & Illustration Using Adobe Illustrator exam.
Upon successful completion of this course, you will be able to use Adobe Illustrator (2020) to create illustrations that include graphics and text.
You will:
- Identify the components and capabilities of Illustrator.
- Create basic shapes.
- Create custom paths.
- Create graphics that contain custom text.
- Customize objects.
- Customize basic shapes.
- Prepare documents for deployment.
To ensure your success in this course, you should be familiar with the basic functions of your computer's operating system, such as creating folders, launching programs, and working with windows. You 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.
You can obtain this level of skill and knowledge by taking one of the following United States Career Campus courses:
- Using Microsoft® Windows® 10
- Microsoft® Windows® 10: Transition from Windows® 7
- Microsoft® Windows® 10 (64-bit) Note: The November 2019 release of Illustrator is not supported on Windows 10 version 1507, 1511, 1607, 1703, or 1709. 32-bit Windows systems are no longer supported.
- Adobe® Illustrator® (2020) Note: You might also see this version referred to as the November 2019 release or version 24.0.
- Adobe® Acrobat Reader® DC or another PDF viewer
- If necessary, software for viewing the course slides (instructor machine only)
In November 2019, Adobe updated Illustrator to the 2020 Release. This book is based on version 2020 and will refer to the software as Illustrator (2020).
This course was created and keychecked using Windows 10.
For this course, you will need one computer for each student and one for the instructor. Each computer will need the following minimum hardware configurations:
- A multicore Intel®processor with 64-bit support, or an AMD Athlon® 64 (or compatible) processor
- 8 gigabyte (GB) of RAM (16 GB recommended)
- 2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation; SSD is recommended (installing on removable flash storage devices is not supported)
- 1,024 × 768 resolution monitor (1,920 × 1080 recommended)
- To use Touch workspace, you must have a touch-screen-enabled tablet or monitor running Windows 10 (Microsoft Surface Pro 3 recommended)
- OpenGL 4.x or greater
- To use GPU Performance: an Intel, NVIDIA, or AMD video adapter that supports Windows GPU Performance features (see the Supported video adapter section at https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/system-requirements.html ); minimum of 1 GB of VRAM (4 GB recommended); support for OpenGL 4.0 or later; and latest drivers for optimal performance
- Internet connection and registration necessary for required software activation, membership validation, and access to online services
- Keyboard and mouse (or other pointing device)
- Printer (optional) or an installed printer driver
- Projection system to display the instructor's computer screen
Lesson 1: Introducing Illustrator
Topic A: Apply Design Principles, Elements, and Graphics Composition
Topic B: Evaluate Graphics Scalability
Topic C: Navigate the User Interface
Topic D: Customize the User Interface
Lesson 2: Creating Documents Containing Basic Shapes
Topic A: Create Documents
Topic B: Save Documents
Topic C: Draw Basic Shapes
Lesson 3: Creating Documents Containing Customized Paths
Topic A: Draw Paths
Topic B: Modify Paths
Lesson 4: Creating Graphics Containing Customized Text
Topic A: Insert Text
Topic B: Apply Flow Text Along a Path
Topic C: Insert Bounded and Threaded Text
Topic D: Apply Text Styles
Topic E: Insert Typographical Characters
Lesson 5: Customizing Objects
Topic A: Import, Place, and Link Graphics
Topic B: Alter the Appearance of Objects
Lesson 6: Customizing Basic Shapes
Topic A: Apply Strokes and Brushes
Topic B: Fill Shapes
Topic C: Apply Graphics Styles
Topic D: Distort Text with Text Envelopes
Lesson 7: Preparing Documents for Deployment
Topic A: Update Text
Topic B: Wrap Text
Topic C: Hyphenate Text
Topic D: Optimize Content for Print
Topic E: Optimize Content for the Web
Topic F: Optimize Content for PDF Documents