Total Training Adobe Illustrator CS5 Essentials

Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS5 Essentials will teach you all you need to know to get up to speed quickly and easily with this powerful vector design tool. Join award-wining designer Steve Holmes as he shows you how to wield the sheer power of this incredible design and artwork program. Learn real-world techniques and solid processes for creating stunning artwork and layouts for print and digital media, utilizing the biggest and best tools Illustrator has to offer.

Chapter 1: ILLUSTRATOR INTERFACE & SETUP (32 min)
1. Opening & Arranging Multiple Documents
2. The Interface
3. Customizing & Saving Workspaces
4. Setting Preferences
5. Navigation
6. Zooming & Panning
7. Editing Keyboard Shortcuts

Chapter 2: DOCUMENT SETUP, TEMPLATES & ARTBOARDS (37 min)
1. Creating a New Document
2. Editing Existing Documents
3. Editing Document Size via Artboards
4. Setting Up Multiple Artboards
5. Editing Multiple Artboards
6. Artboard Ruler Origins
7. The Artboards Panel
8. Creating & Saving Templates

Chapter 3: CREATING OBJECTS, GUIDES &LAYERS (35 min)
1. Rulers, Guides & Grids
2. Points, Paths, Fills & Strokes
3. Outline & Preview Modes
4. Default Fill & Stroke
5. Creating Shapes of a Specific Size
6. Creating Circles from the Center Point
7. Drawing with the Star Tool
8. Using the Split Into Grid Command
9. Using the Paste Remembers Layers Command

Chapter 4: OBJECT EDITING ESSENTIALS (26 min)
1. Utilizing the Selection Tools
2. Free Transforming
3. Stroke Scaling
4. Using the Transform Panel & Nudging
5. Grouping
6. Working in Isolation Mode
7. Changing Object Stacking Order

Chapter 5: TRANSFORMATION, DUPLICATION & ALIGNMENT (29 min)
1. Rotating
2. Reflecting
3. Scaling
4. Progressive Scaling
5. Alignment
6. Power Duplication

Chapter 6: COLOR, GRADIENTS & PATTERNS (29 min)
1. Creating Dense Black
2. Creating & Using Global Swatches
3. Applying Pantone Spot Colors
4. Creating Gradients & the Gradient Annotator
5. Creating Basic Pattern Swatches
6. Fine-Tuning & Scaling Patterns
7. Updating & Replacing Patterns

Chapter 7: DIFFERENT STROKES (18 min)
1. Adding & Distributing Lines
2. Adding Strokes
3. Working with Stroke Alignment & Dashed Lines
4. Applying Arcs & Arrowheads

Chapter 8: SHAPE BUILDER & PATHFINDER (21 min)
1. Exploring Drawing Modes
2. Using Select Same & Pathfinder Options
3. Combining with the Shape Builder Tool
4. Trimming with the Shape Builder Tool
5. Using Transform Each

Chapter 9: CUSTOM SHAPE CREATION & EDITING (16 min)
1. Cutting & Joining Paths
2. Applying a Stroke Profile & Merging Swatches
3. Using Pathfinder to Create a Custom Shape
4. Utilizing Points & Segments to Create a Custom Shape

Chapter 10: DRAWING & REFINING PATHS (23 min)
1. Freeform Drawing with the Pencil Tool
2. Refining a Shape with the Warp Tool & Pathfinder
3. Drawing Corners & Bezier Curves with the Pen Tool
4. Constructing More Intricate Shapes
5. Adding the Finished Shapes to the Main Artwork

Chapter 11: TYPE, STYLES & TYPOGRAPHY (37 min)
1. Creating Single-Line Type
2. Kerning & Styling Type
3. Grouping & Scaling the Logo Type
4. Working with Area Type
5. Placing Type
6. Creating & Applying Paragraph Styles
7. Flowing Text between Custom Frames
8. Adding Type around a Circle
9. Adding Baseline Shift to the Type around a Circle

Chapter 12: WORKING WITH IMAGES & MASKS (29 min)
1. Placing Images & the Links Panel
2. Using Edit Original
3. Creating a Clipping Mask to Mask an Image
4. Continuing with Clipping Masks to Mask Artwork
5. Working with Layered Photoshop Files
6. Applying Effects & the Appearance Panel

Chapter 13: LIVE TRACE TIPS & TRICKS (14 min)
1. Live Tracing an Image
2. Outputting Live Trace Spot Colors to Swatches
3. Merging Live Swatches with Pantone Swatches

Chapter 14: THE POWER OF APPEARANCE (27 min)
1. Using Transparency & Blend Modes
2. Saving & Using Graphic Styles
3. Editing & Auto-Updating Graphic Styles
4. Creating Compound Paths
5. Applying Strokes with the Appearance Panel
6. Adding & Editing a Drop Shadow Effect

Chapter 15: ADDING SOME POLISH (15 min)
1. Designing an HD Interstitial Graphic
2. Creating a Reflection
3. Creating a Transparent Gradient

Chapter 16: PRINTING, EXPORTING & PDF FILES (15 min)
1. Setting the Print Area with the Print Tiling Tool
2. Adjusting Basic Print Options
3. Format Options for Exporting
4. Exporting a PDF for Print

Chapter 17: WEB PREPARATION & EXPORT (16 min)
1. Using Pixel Preview & Align to Pixel Grid
2. Adjusting Anti-Aliasing on Type
3. Creating & Naming Slices
4. Saving for the Web
5. Credits