Illustrator CS4 Digital Classroom Book with video training
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Illustrator CS4 Digital Classroom Book with video training

Adobe Illustrator CS4 Digital Classroom is like having a personal instructor guiding you through each lesson, while you work at your own pace. This Illustrator CS4 book with DVD includes 12 self-paced lessons helping you learn essential skills and explore new features and capabilities of Adobe Illustrator.

  • Full color lessons with easy to follow step-by-step instructions
  • Video tutorials highlight key topics in each lesson
  • Covers all essential Illustrator skills
  • Gets you up-and-running quickly with included Illustrator lesson files on DVD
  • Written by expert instructors who regularly teach Illustrator training courses – it's like having your own personal tutor
  • Used by hundreds of schools and more than 100,000 readers
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Illustrator CS4 Digital Classroom Book with video training Contents

Starting Up

  • About Digital Classroom
  • Prerequisites
  • System requirements
  • Starting Adobe Illustrator CS4
  • Fonts used in this book
  • Resetting Adobe Illustrator CS4 preferences
  • 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

Lesson 1: Adobe Illustrator CS4 Jumpstart

  • Starting up
  • Creating the background
  • Taking advantage of graphic styles
  • One object, multiple fills and strokes
  • Saving a graphic style
  • Creating a symbol from the circle art
  • Creating the text logo
  • Applying the graphic style to the 
    text logo
  • Warping the text logo
  • Using the Color Guide
  • Incorporating an image into your artwork
  • Erasing vector paths and shapes
  • Creating a 3-D object

Lesson 2: Getting to Know the Workspace

  • Starting up
  • Opening Illustrator
  • Choosing a workspace
  • Opening a file
  • The document window
  • Switching screen modes
  • Changing your view
  • Preview versus Outlines
  • Zooming and scrolling
  • Scrolling with the Hand tool
  • Changing views with the Navigator panel
  • Panels and workspaces
  • The Tools panel
  • Using tools and panels
  • The Control panel
  • Moving the Control panel
  • Panel groups and the dock
  • Custom workspaces
  • Saving workspaces
  • Using the Manage Workspaces dialog box
  • Customizing keyboard shortcuts
  • Custom shortcuts
  • Saving shortcut sets
  • Deleting shortcut sets
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 3: 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
  • Isolation mode
  • 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

Lesson 4: 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

Lesson 5: 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

Lesson 6: Working with and Formatting Text

  • Starting up
  • Formatting type
  • Paragraph formatting
  • Formatting imported type
  • Paragraph and character styles
  • Text wrap
  • Advanced techniques with text
  • Text on a path
  • Warping text
  • Text in a shape
  • Creating outlines
  • Check spelling
  • Find and Replace
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 7: Organizing your Illustrations with Layers

  • Starting up
  • Getting to know the Layers panel
  • Using layers to organize your illustrations
  • Using the Layers panel to make selections
  • Creating new layers and moving items between layers
  • Paste Remembers Layers
  • Template Layers
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 8: Working with Symbols

  • Starting up
  • Cleaning out the symbol library
  • Creating symbols
  • Editing symbols
  • Importing a symbol library
  • Using the symbolism tools
  • Editing nested symbols
  • Replacing symbols
  • Saving symbol libraries
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 9: Using Effects and Transparency

  • Starting up
  • Working with the Appearance panel and effects
  • Applying effects
  • Editing effects
  • Using graphic styles
  • Creating and saving graphic styles
  • Applying and modifying graphic styles
  • Working with object transparency
  • Working with multiple opacity
  • Working with blending modes
  • Saving and importing graphic styles
  • Applying graphic styles to layers 
    and symbols
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 10: Exporting and Saving Files

  • Starting up
  • Saving using the AI file format
  • Saving an illustration with layers
  • Make a template layer
  • Using the Transform Eff ect
  • Duplicating a Stroke
  • Saving diff erent versions of the
    logo onto separate layers
  • Expanding appearance
  • Save the fi rst version
  • Using Live Paint
  • Using the Color Guide panel
  • Saving the third version
  • Using Recolor Artwork
  • Saving a layered PDF
  • Integration with other applications
  • Exporting for Photoshop
  • Integrating with InDesign
  • Integrating with Flash
  • Integrating with Premiere and After Effects
  • Saving as EPS
  • Save for Web & Devices
  • Making a Flash animation
  • Exporting a Flash animation
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 11: Advanced Blending Techniques

  • Starting up
  • Using the Blend Tool
  • Applying a gradient
  • Applying Radial Gradients
  • Applying gradients using Illustrator’s Gradient Mesh options
  • Adjusting the Mesh
  • Revisiting Blend Options
  • More mesh work
  • Overlapping images
  • Applying a gradient mesh using the Mesh tool
  • Finishing up with the Mesh tool and automatically adding a Highlight
  • Using the Symbol tools
  • Creating a symbol
  • Modifying a Symbol’s appearance
  • Self study
  • Review

Lesson 12: Illustrator CS4 New Features

  • Starting up
  • The new user interface
  • Application bar
  • Application Frame
  • Document tabs
  • Document groups
  • Arranging documents
  • Screen modes
  • Smart Guides
  • Multiple artboards
  • New Artboard tool
  • Printing and PDFs with artboards
  • The new Appearance panel
  • Enhanced Gradient tool