Creative Suite 4 Digital Classroom Book with DVD

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Digital Classroom is like having a personal instructor guiding you through each lesson, while you work at your own pace. This Creative Suite book with DVD includes 25 self-paced lessons helping you learn essential skills and explore new features and capabilities of the Creative Suite 4 Design Premium applications.

Full color lessons with easy to follow step-by-step instructions
Video tutorials highlight key topics in each lesson
Covers all essential skills
Gets you up-and-running quickly with included lesson files on DVD
Written by expert instructors who regularly teach Creative Suite training courses – it's like having your own personal tutor
Used by hundreds of schools and more than 100,000 readers

Creative Suite 4 Digital Classroom Book with DVD Contents

Starting Up

About Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design
Premium Digital Classroom
Prerequisites
Adobe Photoshop CS4 versions
System requirements
Starting the Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium applications
Resetting Adobe Photoshop CS4 preferences
A note about color warnings
Resetting the Dreamweaver workspace
Resetting the Flash workspace
Resetting Adobe Illustrator CS4 preferences
Resetting the InDesign workspace
and preferences
Fonts used in this book
Loading lesson files
Working with the video tutorials
Setting up for viewing the video tutorials
Viewing the video tutorials with
the Adobe Flash Player
Additional resources

Bridge Lesson 1: Using Adobe Bridge

Starting up
What is Adobe Bridge?
Navigating through Bridge
Using folders in Adobe Bridge
Making a Favorite
Creating and locating metadata
Using keywords
Opening a file from Adobe Bridge
Searching for Files Using Adobe Bridge
Searching by name or keyword
Using the Filter panel
Automation tools in Adobe Bridge
Automated tools for Photoshop: Web Photo Gallery
Saving or uploading your Web Gallery
Automated tools for Photoshop:PDF contact sheet
Changing the view
Adobe Bridge Home
Self study
Review

Photoshop Lesson 1: Exploring Photoshop

Starting up
Taking a look at the final project
Starting the composition
Using the new Mask panel
Adding a graphic image with the Clone tool
Adding an adjustment layer to the composition
Adding a text layer
Making a 3D postcard
Converting multiple layers into one smart object layer
Turning your image into a 3D texture

Photoshop Lesson 2: Getting to Know the Workspace

Starting up
Opening an existing document in Adobe Bridge
Discovering the Tools panel
Hidden tools
Navigating the image area
Using the Zoom tool
Using the Hand tool
Using the Rotate View tool
Tabbed windows
Using panels
Putting the new panel system to use
Choosing other panels
Expanding your panels
Customizing your panels
Self study
Review

Photoshop Lesson 3: The Basics of Working with Photoshop

Starting up
A look at the finished project
Opening an existing document
Understanding document settings
Viewing an image’s size and resolution
Combining the images
Using Copy and Paste
Dragging and dropping to copy an image
Transforming and editing combined images
Changing the size of a placed image
Removing a background
Understanding the stacking order of layers
Refining the edges of copied images
Adding text
Saving files
Understanding file formats
Choosing a file format
Saving a JPEG file
Saving for print
Changing the color settings
Adjusting image size
Saving a Photoshop PDF file
Self study
Review

Photoshop Lesson 4: Making the Best Selections

Starting up
The importance of a good selection
Using the Marquee tools
Creating a square selection
Creating a selection from a center point
Changing a selection into a layer
Working with the Magic Wand tool
The Lasso tool
Adding to and subtracting from selections
Using the Quick Selection tool
Understanding the Refine Selection Edge feature
Using Quick Mask
Saving selections
Copying and pasting a selection
Using the Pen tool for selections
Using the Pen tool to select an area of an image
More Pen tool selection techniques
Converting a path to a selection
Self study
Review

Photoshop Lesson 5: Painting and Retouching

Starting up
Setting up your color settings for this lesson
Color primer
Understanding color gamut
The RGB color model
The CMYK color model
Why you will work in the RGB mode
Editing color settings
Selecting colors
Starting to paint
Using the Color panel
Using the Brush tool
Changing opacity
Save time—learn the shortcuts
Applying color to an image
Changing blending modes
The Eyedropper tool
Retouching images
Using the Clone Stamp tool
Repairing fold lines
The History panel
The Spot Healing Brush
The Healing Brush
Using the Patch tool
Using the Clone Source panel
Cloning from another source
Self study
Review

Photoshop Lesson 6: Creating a Good Image

Starting up
Choosing your color settings
Opening the file
Why you should work in RGB
Reading a histogram
Taking care of that nasty red eye
Making the Curve adjustment
Defining the highlight and shadow
Inputting the white and black point values
Adjusting the midtones
Setting the neutral
Sharpening your image
Comparing your image with the original
Using the Camera Raw plug-in
Using Camera Raw controls
Saving a DNG file
Reopening a DNG file
Self study
Review

Dreamweaver Lesson 1: Dreamweaver CS4 Jumpstart

Starting up
What is Dreamweaver?
Design and layout tools
Site management and File Transfer Protocol
Coding environment and text editor
Who uses Dreamweaver?
What’s new in Dreamweaver CS4?
New user interface
Live View
Related files
Code Navigator
CSS improvements
HTML data sets
Photoshop smart objects
Other new features
Adobe AIR authoring support
Subversion
An overview of features
How web sites work
A simple flow chart
Domain names and IP addresses
Servers and web hosts
The role of web browsers
An introduction to HTML
Tag structure and attributes
The structure of an HTML document
Placing images in HTML
Colors in HTML
Case sensitivity and whitespace rules
Tag hierarchy
XHTML 1.0 Transitional
What’s the difference?
Explorations in code
A look at the Welcome Screen
Creating, opening, and saving documents
Creating new documents
Self study
Review

Dreamweaver Lesson 3: Adding Text and Images

Starting up
Typography and images on the web
Adding text
An introduction to styles
Previewing pages in a web browser
Understanding hyperlinks
Creating hyperlinks
Relative versus absolute hyperlinks
Linking to an e-mail address
Creating lists
Using the Text Insert panel
Inserting images
Image resolution
Image formats
Creating a simple gallery page
Linking images
Using image placeholders
Editing images
Adjusting brightness and contrast
Resizing images
Updating images
Self study
Review

Dreamweaver Lesson 4: Styling Your Pages with CSS

Starting up
What are Cascading Style Sheets?
A little bit of ancient history: when
<font> tags roamed the Earth
The dawn of CSS
How do you create CSS rules in Dreamweaver?
Understanding Style Sheets
Understanding why they’re called Cascading
Creating and modifying styles
Creating a class style with
the Property Inspector
Creating and modifying styles
in the CSS Styles panel
Advanced text formatting with CSS
Fine-tuning page appearance with
contextual and pseudo-class selectors
Div tags and CSS IDs
Internal versus external style sheets
Attaching an external style sheet to your page
Modifying attached style sheets
Creating a new .css file (external style sheet)
Self study
Adobe Device Central
Review

Dreamweaver Lesson 5: Managing Your Web Site: Reports, Optimization, and Maintenance

Starting up
Working with the Files panel
Creating a remote connection
Viewing files on a remote web server
Transferring files to and from a remote
server with Get and Put
Using Check In/Check Out and Design Notes
Check In and Check Out
Using Design Notes
Sharing Design Notes
Displaying Design Notes in the Files panel
Testing site integrity
Using Check Links
Checking links sitewide
Generating site reports
Understanding report results
Addressing a listed item
Saving reports
The Browser Compatibility Check
The CSS Advisor
Optimizing pages for launch
Search engine visibility and Search
Engine Optimization
Titling your documents with the <title> tag
Adding meta keywords and descriptions
Describing images with alternate text
Launching your site
Site Launch Checklist
Uploading your site
Getting help and using the reference guides
The Reference panel
Suggested next steps
Self study
Review

Flash Lesson 1: Flash CS4 Jumpstart

Starting up
What is Flash?
About Flash Player
Flash file types
Creating a new document
Setting up your new document
Saving your Flash document
Opening documents
The Flash workspace
The Stage and work area
The Flash Tools panel
The Property Inspector
Panels and panel groups
The Timeline
Practicing with the Flash tools
The drawing and selection tools in action
Using gradient and color tools
Animation in action
Getting help
Support forums
Moving forward
Self study
Review

Flash Lesson 2: Getting Started with the Drawing Tools

Starting up
Drawing in Flash
Using the Merge Drawing model
Creating artwork in Merged Drawing mode
Working with Drawing Objects
Putting it all together
Using the Line tool
Using the Pen tool
Using the Add and Delete Anchor Point tools
Using the Combine Objects menu
Using the Primitive tools (Smart Shapes)
Using the Oval Primitive tool
The Rectangle Primitive tool
Adding text to your artwork
Adding filters
Working with colors
Getting set up
Creating gradients
Using opacity with gradient colors
Creating custom colors
Saving a custom color set
Organizing and layering graphics
Working with layers
Arranging, locking, and hiding layers
Creating layer folders
Transforming graphics
The Transform menu and Free Transform tool
The Transform panel
Transforming gradients
Self study
Review

Flash Lesson 3: Creating Basic Animation

Starting up
Introducing keyframes and the Timeline
Layers
Frames and keyframes
Building animation: Enter the tween
New: Tween layers and automatic keyframing
Tweening multiple objects
Previewing animation with Test Movie
Moving and transforming tween paths
Incorporating color effects and scaling
New: Introducing the Motion Editor
Modifying the animation
using the Motion Editor
Tweening rotation
Controlling animation paths
Where did Motion Guide layers go?
What happens to my existing Flash
files that use Motion Guide layers?
How do I create a motion guide
if I still want to?
Morphing graphics and colors
with shape tweens
Shape tween basics
Legacy techniques: Creating classic tweens
Adding color effects and scaling
to a classic tween
(Re)creating motion guides
for classic tweens
Troubleshooting Motion Guides
Adjusting animation with onion skinning
Self study
Review

Flash Lesson 4: Delivering Your Final Movie

Starting up
The publishing process
Publishing to the web
Customizing the Publish settings
CD-ROM delivery
Creating a standalone projector
Make a full-screen projector
Using Export Movie
An overview of FTP
Using Adobe Device Central in Flash
Self study
Review

Fireworks Lesson 1: Adobe Fireworks Jumpstart

Starting up
About Fireworks
Work with vector and bitmap objects
Make graphics interactive
Optimize and export graphics
Vector and bitmap graphics
About vector graphics
About bitmap graphics
The Start page
Creating a new Fireworks document
Workspace basics
Fireworks workspace overview
Other Fireworks panels
Working with bitmaps
Creating bitmaps
Importing a bitmap
Cropping a bitmap
Applying a filter
Working with vector objects
Drawing and editing basic shapes
Drawing a rectangle
Resizing a rectangle
Auto Shapes
The Auto Shape tools
Working with text
Create and move text blocks
Formatting and editing text
Applying color
Apply a sampled color
Apply a swatch color to text
Using the Color Mixer
Using Layers
The Layers panel
Activate a layer
Organizing layers
Naming layer objects
Moving a layer object
Protecting layer objects
Show or hide objects and layers
Merging objects in the Layers panel
Deleting a layer object
About the Web layer
Creating slices for interactivity
Create rectangular slices
Resizing one or more slices
View and select slices
Naming slices
Show and hide slices
Making slices interactive
About rollovers
Adding simple interactivity to slices
Create and attach a simple rollover
Optimizing and exporting
Using the Export Wizard
Using the Image Preview
Changing the preview area
Setting export options
Exporting using Image Preview
Optimizing in the workspace
Saving optimization settings
Exporting a single image
Export a sliced document
Exporting selected slices
Results of exporting
Self study
Review

Illustrator Lesson1: Illustrator CS4 Essentials

Starting up
Using the shape tools
Repositioning and visually
resizing the rectangle
Finding or changing the shape’s
dimensions using the Transform panel
Rotating and shearing using
the Transform panel
Constraining a shape
Entering exact dimensions
Selecting artwork
Helpful keyboard shortcuts for selections
The selection tools
Using shape and transform tools
to create artwork
Using the transform tools
Adding a fill color
Entering a shape size in the Transform panel
Viewing in Outline view
Rotating the shape
Changing the color of the triangles
Using layers when building an illustration
Creating a new blank layer
Cutting and pasting objects
Creating bubbles
Cloning the bubble group
Repeating a resize transform
Moving objects from one layer to another
Self study
Review

Illustrator Lesson 2: Adding Color

Starting up
Basics of the Appearance panel
Fills and strokes
Saving swatches
Global colors
Saving a set of colors as a group
Using the Color Guide panel
Coloring objects
Live Paint
Live Color
Creating a gradient swatch
Creating a pattern swatch
Loading Pantone colors
Applying spot colors to the logo
Self study
Review

Illustrator Lesson 3: Working with the Drawing Tools

Starting up
Working with the Pen tool
Drawing straight lines
Drawing curved lines
Drawing hinged curves
Drawing curved lines to straight lines
Drawing straight lines to curved lines
Tracing images
Placing an image as a template
Other drawing tools
Using the Line Segment and Arc tools
Using the Pencil, Smooth, and Path Eraser tools
Using the Eraser tool
Editing existing paths
Adding and removing points
Refining a curve
Cutting and joining paths
Working with Live Trace
Using the tracing presets
Understanding tracing options
Expanding Live Traced artwork
Working with Live Paint
Creating a Live Paint group
Setting Gap Detection options
Using the Live Paint Bucket tool
Using the Live Paint Selection tool
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 1: InDesign CS4 Essential Skills

Starting up
InDesign tools
The InDesign workspace
The document window
Using guides
Viewing modes
Working with panels
The Tools panel
Managing panels
Working with the Control panel
Saving your workspace
Navigating through an InDesign document
Using the Pages panel
Changing the magnification of your document
Working with type
Entering and formatting type
Placing and formatting type
Flowing type
Using styles
Applying paragraph styles
Applying character styles
Apply styles using Find/Change
Working with graphics
Positioning graphics within a frame
Applying text wrap
Understanding layers
Applying effects
Resources for additional help
In-product help
On-line help
Forums
Conferences, seminars, and training
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 2: Building Documents with Master Pages

Starting up
Planning your document
Creating custom page sizes
Creating a new custom-sized document
Creating and formatting master pages
Formatting master pages
Adding automatic page numbering
Using text variables
Basing master pages on other master pages
Overriding master page items
Adding layout pages
Placing formatted text
Creating the classified page
Adding images and text to the master frames
Applying master pages to multiple pages
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 3: Working with Text and Type

Starting up
Adding text to your document
Creating a text frame
Changing character attributes
Changing font and type styles
Adjusting size
Adjusting line spacing
Adjusting character spacing:
kerning and tracking
Using a baseline shift
Changing paragraph attributes
Horizontally aligning text
Changing the spacing before
and after paragraphs
Using tabs
Adding rules above or below paragraphs
Changing text color
Creating drop caps
Checking and correcting spelling
Finding and changing text and text attributes
Checking spelling
Adding words to the dictionary
Checking spelling as you type
Automatically correcting spelling
Editing text using the Story Editor
Drag-and-drop text editing
Special characters and glyphs
Using the Glyphs panel and glyph sets
Text frame options
Adjusting text inset
Vertically aligning text
Importing text
Flowing text manually
Threading text between frames
Using semi-autoflow to link several text frames
Changing the number of columns in a text frame
Baseline grid
Viewing and changing the baseline grid
Adding story jumps
Using styles to format text
Creating a headline and applying a style
Importing styles from other documents
Redefining styles
Type on a path
Importing text from Microsoft Word
Missing fonts
Finding and fixing missing fonts
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 4: Working with Styles

Starting up
Style types
Applying a paragraph style
Character styles
Defining a character style
Applying a character style
Using nested styles
Globally updating styles
Loading styles from another document
Quick Apply
Organizing styles into groups
Object styles
Defining an object style
Applying an object style
Changing an object style
Finishing up
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 5: Working with Graphics

Starting up
Understanding how InDesign
handles graphics
Locating missing images
Working with the Links panel
Customizing the Links panel
Adding graphics to your layout
Fitting an image within an existing frame
Auto Fitting
Using Adobe Bridge to import graphics
Placing multiple graphics
Using object styles for images
Wrapping text around images
Wrapping text around the bounding box
Using graphics with clipping paths
and alpha channels
Removing an image background
using InDesign
Using anchored objects
Advanced importing
Importing layered Photoshop files
Importing InDesign layouts as graphics
Self study
Review

InDesign Lesson 6: Document Delivery: Printing, PDFs, and XHTML

Starting up
Package inventory
Preflight checks
Packaging your document
Creating an Adobe PDF
Generating XHTML
Adding CSS formatting
Separation preview
Printing a proof
Self study
Review

American Graphics Institute