What you’ll learn

Work area basics

• Workspace overview
• About screen modes
• Using the status bar
• Enter values in panels and dialog boxes
• Control panel overview

Viewing and managing artwork

• Change the size of the artboard
• About page tiling
• Zoom in or out
• Navigator panel overview
• View artwork as outlines
• Use multiple windows and views

Rulers, grids, and guides

• Use rulers
• Change the unit of measurement
• Use the grid
• Use guides
• About Smart Guides
• Measure the distance between objects
• Info panel overview

Drawing basics

• About vector graphics
• About paths
• About direction lines and direction points
• Specify direction line and direction point appearance

Drawing lines and shapes

• Draw straight lines with the Line Segment tool
• Draw rectangles and squares
• Change the corner radius of a rounded rectangle
• Draw ellipses , polygons, stars, arcs

Drawing with the Pen tool

• Draw straight line segments with the Pen tool
• Draw curves with the Pen tool
• Draw straight lines followed by curves
• Draw curves followed by straight lines
• Draw two curved segments connected by a corner
• Reposition anchor points as you draw
• Finish drawing a path

Editing paths

• Select paths, segments, and anchor points
• Adjust path segments
• Adding and deleting anchor points
• Convert between smooth points and corner points
• Erase artwork
• Split a path

Logo Drawing / Tracing

• Trace artwork
• Change the display of a tracing object
• Adjust the results of a tracing
• Specify the colours used for tracing

About colour

• Understanding differernt colour models
• Change the colour mode of a document
• Colour spaces and gamuts
• About spot and process colours
• Select colours using the Colour Picker or Colour Panel
• Colour panel overview

Creating and using swatches

• About swatches and swatch libraries
• Swatches panel overview
• Add colours from artwork to Swatches panel
• Share swatches between applications
• Create a process-colour swatch
• Change the tint of a colour
• Create gradient swatches
• Duplicate swatches
• Import swatches from another document
• Create swatch libraries

Fills and strokes

• Painting methods
• About fills and strokes
• Fill and Stroke controls
• Apply a fill colour to an object
• Stroke an object
• Convert strokes to compound paths
• Add arrowheads to lines
• Remove the fill or stroke from an object
• Select objects with the same fill and stroke
• Create multiple fills and strokes

Transparency effect

• About transparency
• Transparency panel overview
• View transparency in artwork

Gradients and colour blends

• About gradients
• Gradient panel overview
• Create or modify gradients
• Apply an existing gradient to an object
• Change gradient direction or apply across multiple objects

Selecting objects

• Options for selecting objects
• Isolate groups and sublayers
• Select objects using the Layers panel
• Select objects with the Selection tool
• Select objects with the Lasso tool
• Select filled objects
• Select groups and objects in a group
• Select the next object in the stacking order

Grouping and expanding objects

• Group or ungroup objects
• Expand objects

Moving, aligning, and distributing objects

• Move objects
• Paste an object relative to other objects
• Pasting objects between layers
• Align and distribute objects

Rotating and reflecting objects

• Rotate objects
• Rotate the x and y axes of a document
• Reflect objects

Using layers

• About layers
• Layers panel overview
• Create a new layer
• Move an object to a different layer
• Release items to separate layers
• Consolidate layers and groups
• Locate an item in the Layers panel

Managing Objects

• Locking, hiding, and deleting objects
• Change the stacking order using the Layers panel
• Change the stacking order using commands
• Duplicate objects by dragging
• Duplicate objects by using the Layers panel
• Duplicate selections using drag and drop
• Offset duplicate objects

Transforming objects

• Transform panel overview
• Transform using the bounding box
• Scaling, shearing, and distorting objects

Combining, cutting and dividing objects

• Work with compound shapes
• Cut a hole in an object using a compound path
• Apply fill rules to compound paths
• Return a compound path to its original components
• Cut objects with the Knife tool
• Divide an object into a grid

Clipping masks and Compound Path

• About clipping masks
• Hide parts of objects with a clipping mask
• Create a clipping mask for a group or layer
• Edit a clipping mask
• Add or remove an object from masked artwork
• Release objects from a clipping mask

Blending objects

• About blended objects
• Create blends
• Blend options
• Change the spine of a blended object
• Reverse the stacking order in a blended object
• Release or expand a blended object

Importing files

• About linked and embedded artwork
• Place (import) files
• Update modified links
• Set placement options for linked artwork
• Embed and unembed a linked file
• Relink an embedded file
• Importing artwork from Photoshop

Saving and exporting artwork

• Save in AI, EPS format
• JPEG export options

Working with area type

• Resize a text area
• Change the margin around a text area
• Raise or lower the first baseline in a text area
• Wrap text around an object

Working with type on a path

• Move or flip text along a path
• Apply path type effects
• Adjust the vertical alignment of type on a path