Illustrator CS6: Essentials

With Total Training for Adobe Illustrator CS6 Essentials, host Brian Maffitt delivers a definitive introduction to Adobe's venerable graphics workhorse. Discover the essential tools and powerful features that make Illustrator a favorite among design professionals. You'll learn essential keyboard shortcuts, techniques for streamlining your workflow, and tips that Brian has learned after decades of working with the program. By the time you are done watching this series you will have a deep understanding of the fundamental functionality of Illustrator, especially with features (such as the pen tool and Adobe's Type Engine) that are universal to other Adobe applications. In addition, you will understand WHY you would use Illustrator, instead of Photoshop or InDesign, to solve specific design problems.

Highlights

1. Text Refinements
2. Gradient Paths
3. Interface Improvements
4. Pattern creation

ILLUSTRATOR INTERFACE & SETUP (37:40 min)

1. Opening Documents
2. Working with Multiple Documents
3. Zooming & Panning
4. Exploring the Menus & the Toolbar
5. Exploring the Panels
6. Vector vs. Raster & Working with Different File Types
7. Setting UI Brightness

DOCUMENT SETUP & ARTBOARDS (30:33 min)

1. Creating a New Document & Setting Preferences
2. Introducing the Artboard Tool
3. Working in a Video Preset
4. Setting Up Multiple Artboards
5. Using Multiple Artboards
6. Overlapping Artboards

CREATING OBJECTS (34:17 min)

1. Locking a Selection, Enabling Smart Guides & Setting Up the Ruler
2. Drawing a Rectangle & Using Keyboard Shortcuts
3. Drawing a Rounded Rectangle & an Ellipse
4. Drawing a Polygon, a Star & a Flare
5. Drawing Lines, Arcs, Spirals & Grids
6. Editing Shapes with the Direct Selection Tool

THE ADOBE PEN TOOL (36:06 min)

1. The Pen Tool Explained
2. Pen Tool Basics
3. Drawing Shapes with Bezier Points
4. Adding, Deleting & Converting Anchor Points
5. Using Bezier Controls to Draw a Heart Shape
6. Tracing an Image with the Pen Tool

GROUPS, LAYERS & TRANSFORMATIONS (43:00 min)

1. Understanding Object Hierarchy
2. Changing Object Stacking Order
3. Grouping Objects
4. Performing Basic Transformations
5. Transform Strokes, the Transform Panel & Transform Multiple Objects
6. Using the Transform Each Command & Isolation Mode
7. Using the Transform Tools & Resizing the Artboard & Its Content

COLORS & COLOR SPACES (28:57 min)

1. Basic Fills & Strokes
2. The Color Panel & the Eyedropper Tool
3. RGB vs. CMYK
4. Color Spaces & Adjusting the Appearance of Black

SWATCHES, GRADIENTS & PATTERNS (37:30 min)

1. The Swatches Panel
2. Loading a Swatch Library
3. The Basics of Gradients
4. Saving & Editing Gradients
5. Gradient Recommendations
6. Creating & Working with Patterns

STROKES, EFFECTS & APPEARANCE (39:00 min)

1. Stroking a Path via the Control Panel
2. Using the Stroke Panel
3. Modifying Corner Type, Stroke Alignment & Corner Limit
4. Using the Appearance Panel & the Offset Path Command
5. Using the Appearance Panel to Recreate Artwork
6. Applying a Gradient Stroke, Editing Effects, Saving & Applying Graphic Styles

AUTOMATING SHAPES & COLORS (37:10 min)

1. Using the Shape Builder Tool
2. Recoloring Artwork Automatically
3. Aligning, Distributing & Averaging Shapes
4. Using the Blend Tool
5. Using the Transform Again Command
6. The Pathfinder Panel
7. Creating a Gear

THE ADOBE TYPE ENGINE (55:49 min)

1. Working with Point Text
2. Area Text vs. Point Text
3. Using the Character Panel
4. Using Keyboard Shortcuts in the Character Panel
5. Styling Document Text
6. Adjusting Leading with Keyboard Shortcuts
7. Fine Text Adjustments & Placing Area Text
8. Flowing & Formatting Area Text
9. Type on a Path & the Glyphs Panel

SAVING & SHARING YOUR WORK (22:57 min)

1. Saving Your Files
2. Exporting & Creating PDFs for Print
3. Setting Basic Printing Options
4. Using the Save for Web Command & Making Art Pixel-Perfect