Illustrator masterclass

Read reviews (24)

At a glance

  • Central LondonOnline, Instructor-led
  • 9.30am–4.30pm
  • Workbook & supportSupport
  • Lunch & refreshmentsVideo recording of course
  • 4 days
  • Accelerated learning
  • Business: £799679+VAT
  • Individual / charity: £679577+VAT (£814.80692.40)
  • Adobe CC2023

Course dates

Remote

  • 15–18 January 2024
  • 19–22 February 2024
  • 18–21 March 2024
  • 29 April–02 May 2024
  • 03–06 June 2024
  • 08–11 July 2024
  • 12–15 August 2024

Overview

This Illustrator training course is your fast track option where you'd start your journey as a new or inexperienced Illustrator user and end by becoming an advanced Illustrator user, all within four days.

You’ll understand how everything works within the Illustrator interface, learn about shapes, infographics and other more common features, before progressing to advanced features like workflows, compound paths and workflows.  

This course will be delivered through our Accelerated learning approach, allowing you to learn more information, easier and more efficiently than standard training approaches.

Target Audience

This course is for designers, marketers, developers or anyone looking to gain an advanced level skillset in a short period of time.

Upon completion, you'll be able to:

  • Navigate the Illustrator interface and understand both the core and specialist features
  • Master colour, basic shapes and how to get the most out of the layers panel
  • Take advantage of art boards, paths, the pen tool, graphic styles and more
  • Create documents for web or print and learn best practises for saving, printing and exporting
  • Use the pen tool, envelope distortions and the brush tool at an advanced level
  • Get the most out of type, colour and how to adjust appearances
  • Create infographics, 3D shapes and how to take full advantage of live paint
  • Take on the certification exam and become an Adobe certified associate

Accelerated learning

Our Accelerated learning approach at Certitec is unique within the Adobe training industry. Our focus is not on what you learn, but how you learn. Referred to as ‘Accelerated Learning’, this process allows you to digest a significant amount of information more quickly, and more easily than through other methods.

Accelerated learning

  • Establish a firm understanding on the learning process before embarking
  • Overcoming any learned helplessness by reframing what will be learnt upon completion
  • Sessions no longer than 60 minutes each to maximise how we learn 
  • The use of course workbooks to strengthen memory retention (classroom)
  • Finding a balance between new and recap learning
  • Kinaesthetic (‘hands-on’) techniques
  • Video of entire course upon completion (remote)

Find out more about our Accelerated learning process.

Outline

What to expect from this course

The first two days of training will focus on the starter features, including shapes, logo’s and basic infographics. Days three and four are targeted towards the more advanced features such as workflows, custom brushes, transparency and more.  

Our Adobe certified training team will be with you all the way, helping you go from a beginner to an advanced user.

You’ll leave the training course with a solid understanding of how Illustrator works and have the confidence to create logos, workflows, shapes and more.

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Day one – Understanding basic Illustrator concepts

Essential Illustrator concepts

  • What are vector graphics?

The Illustrator interface

  • Exploring panels and workspaces
  • Using the control panel
  • Navigation
  • Preview options
  • Setting up your document
  • Managing a custom workspace

Creating new documents for print or web

  • Advanced document controls
  • Modifying your document
  • Changing units of measurement
  • Working with grids
  • Working with guides
  • Smart guides

Working with colour

  • Adjusting Illustrator colour settings
  • Process or global swatches
  • Basics of the colour guide panel
  • The colour panel
  • RGB v CMYK
  • Defining swatches
  • Working with gradients

Selection essentials

  • The selection, direct and group selection tools
  • The lasso tool
  • Magic wand
  • Select same
  • Editing anchor points
  • The bounding box

Basic Shapes 

  • Exploring the various shape tools
  • Understanding fills and strokes
  • Compound shapes
  • Pathfinder options
  • Duplicate objects
  • Fill and stroke attributes
  • Grouping

Transformation Tools

  • Scale
  • Rotate
  • Shear
  • Reflect

Alignment, distribution and spacing

  • Aligning, distribution and spacing to selected objects
  • Aligning, distribution and spacing to artboard
  • Aligning, distribution and spacing to key object

Understanding the layers panel

  • Visibility and locking
  • Selecting via the layers panel
  • Sub-layers
  • Deleting layers
  • Grouping and naming layers
  • Changing the stacking order
  • Moving objects from one layer to another
  • Copying objects from one layer to another
  • Adjusting layer previews

Object transformations and duplicating

  • Moving and copying objects
  • Rotating and scaling objects
  • The transform panel

Basic text editing

  • Creating point text
  • Creating area text
  • Text formatting
  • Creating text threads

Day two – Developing the understanding

Placing images

  • Working with images
  • Using the links panel
  • The basics of image trace
  • An introduction to live paint

Working with artboards

  • Working with different page sizes
  • Re-sizing and modifying artboards
  • Creating new artboards and copying artboards
  • The artboard panel

Working with paths and the pen tool

  • Understanding vectors - paths and anchors
  • Drawing straight segments
  • Adding curvature
  • Working with open and closed paths
  • Joining and averaging paths
  • Adjusting control handles
  • Using pathfinder

Working with brushes

  • The calligraphic brush
  • The scatter brush
  • The art brush
  • The pattern brush
  • The bristle brushes

Graphic styles

  • Exploring the appearance panel
  • Creating graphic styles

Working with symbols

  • What are symbols?
  • Using the symbols libraries
  • Using the symbol sprayer tool
  • Creating new symbols
  • Breaking the symbol link
  • Redefining symbols

Working with type

  • Creating a grid with guides
  • Working with point type
  • Working with area type
  • Formatting text
  • Tracking and kerning
  • Saving time with keyboard shortcuts

Working with images

  • Embedding images into Illustrator
  • Masking images
  • Deeper into image trace
  • Using live paint and fixing problems
  • Clipping masks

Saving, printing and exporting

  • Saving to legacy formats
  • Saving templates
  • Saving for the web
  • Creating bitmap images
  • Using Illustrator files in InDesign and Photoshop
  • Creating PDF files

Day three – Enhancing vector processes

Selecting and transforming objects

  • Setting your selection preferences
  • Using the direct selection and group selection tools
  • Using the magic wand tool
  • Using the lasso tool
  • Selecting objects by attributes
  • Resizing your artwork
  • Rotating objects
  • Distorting and transforming objects
  • Repeating transformations
  • Reflecting and skewing objects
  • Aligning and distributing objects

Advancing the pen tool

  • Understanding anchor points
  • Drawing straight segments
  • Editing a path as you draw it with keyboard shortcuts
  • Inserting and removing anchor points
  • Adding curvature
  • Control handless
  • Drawing perfectly smooth outlines
  • Tracing a freeform, curvy path
  • Converting an existing anchor point
  • Working with open and closed paths
  • Joining paths
  • Averaging and aligning paths
  • Using the scissors tool

Working with colour

  • RGB vs CMYK
  • Adjusting Illustrator colour settings
  • Process or global swatches
  • Creating spot colours
  • Using the swatch groups
  • Working with colour libraries
  • Importing swatches
  • Using the colour guide panel
  • The colour panel
  • Defining and using process colours
  • Defining and using global process colours
  • Defining and using spot colours
  • Accessing colour libraries

Working with fills and strokes

  • Working with fills
  • Working with strokes
  • Creating dashes and arrows
  • Creating variable-width strokes
  • Using width profiles
  • Outlining strokes
  • Creating and editing gradients
  • Applying gradients to strokes
  • Applying and editing pattern fills
  • Creating your own pattern fill

Envelope distortions

  • Introducing envelope distort
  • Editing the contents of an envelope
  • Warping an envelope mesh
  • Creating and editing an envelope mesh
  • Blending an envelope into a background

Creating shapes

  • Understanding drawing modes
  • Creating compound paths
  • Creating compound shapes
  • Working with the shape builder tool
  • Working with the blob brush and eraser tools
  • Working with the paintbrush and pencil tools
  • Smoothing and erasing paths

Introduction to Charts

  • Creating charts and infographics
  • Creating bar charts
  • Creating line charts
  • Creating pie charts
  • Importing data from Excel
  • Colouring your charts

Working with type

  • Creating a grid with guides
  • Working with point type and area type
  • Placing and flowing text
  • Threading text
  • Selecting type and choosing fonts
  • Adjusting type size
  • Leading, tracking and kerning
  • Baseline shift
  • First line indents
  • Paragraph spacing
  • Creating paragraph styles
  • Redefining paragraph styles
  • The glyphs panel
  • Spell-checking
  • Creating text on a path
  • Converting text into paths

Adjusting appearances

  • Exploring the appearance panel
  • The stacking order
  • Working with multiple fills
  • Working with multiple strokes
  • Adjusting appearance with live effects
  • Saving appearances as graphic styles

Day four – Pushing forward and consolidation

Tracing

  • Converting pixels to paths with Image Trace
  • Exploring the Image Trace panel
  • Tracing photographs
  • Tracing line art
  • Auto-tracing and resolution
  • Adjusting layer previews
  • Cleaning up with the Threshold option
  • More clean-up with the noise option
  • Expanding and simplifying traced paths
  • Flipping and fusing shapes
  • Scaling resolution-independent vectors

Live paint

  • Introducing live paint
  • Stroking with the live paint bucket tool
  • The live paint selection tool
  • Adding a path to a live paint group
  • Constructing the base objects

Working with images

  • Placing images into Illustrator
  • Placing an image to create a dynamic link
  • Working with the links panel
  • Embedding images into Illustrator
  • Cropping images with a mask
  • Best file types to use

Working with brushes

  • Introducing the brushes panel
  • Applying and editing a calligraphic brush
  • Applying and editing art brushes
  • Applying and editing a scatter brush
  • Replacing an existing brush
  • Creating and refining a brush
  • Creating and editing a pattern brush
  • Adjusting the bristles in a bristle brush

Printing, saving and exporting

  • Printing your artwork
  • Saving your artwork
  • Saving in legacy formats
  • Saving templates
  • Creating PDF files
  • Saving for the web
  • Creating high-resolution bitmap images
  • Using Illustrator files in Photoshop and InDesign

Charts and data

  • Importing correcting and editing data
  • Swapping between graph type
  • Changing the graph type settings
  • Selecting and colouring graph elements
  • Creating and defining a design for Illustrator charts
  • Applying a chart design to a marker
  • Adding numeric values to a column chart

Customising graphics and 3D

  • Designing your own charts
  • Creating a 3D pie chart
  • Rotating objects in 3D space

Gradient tool

  • Creating gradients
  • Applying a gradient fill
  • Using the gradient annotator
  • Editing multiple gradients
  • Creating a radial gradient
  • Adjusting the midpoint skew
  • Making a transparent gradient
  • Assigning a gradient to editable text
  • Assigning a gradient to a stroke

The blend tool

  • Using the blend tool
  • Creating a multi-colour blend
  • Editing blended paths
  • Adjusting the number of blended steps
  • Blending between levels of opacity
  • Applying a blend to a new path
  • Establishing a clipping mask

Gradient mesh

  • Introducing the gradient mesh
  • Working with the mesh tool
  • Adding colours to the mesh points
  • Adding a gradient mesh to a shape
  • Converting a linear gradient to a mesh
  • Editing a linear gradient mesh
  • Converting a radial gradient to a mesh
  • Editing a radial gradient mesh

Warps and warp brushes

  • Introducing the warp tools
  • Brush size
  • Introducing envelope distort
  • Editing the contents of an envelope
  • Warping an envelope mesh
  • Working with an envelope mesh

Drawing in perspective

  • Defining a perspective grid
  • Drawing artwork in perspective
  • Applying artwork to the grid

Classroom trainint

Advantages of classroom training

Classroom training has many advantages over other formats of training since in-person interaction and communication plays an extremely important part to absorbing information. 

Classroom training allows you to get trained in a safe, quiet, clean environment, away from the noise and pressures of the office or home. The classroom environment provides the important “human touch,” which is often missing in technology-based training. 

You can’t beat real life interaction when asking important questions and receiving immediate feedback. 

Other benefits of classroom training include:

  • Group interaction. People learn from one another as well as from the trainer
  • Training groups can be large or small
  • Classroom training also teaches us how to interact with one another in a professional, productive, cooperative way, which is something that other forms of training often don’t provide

Remote training

Advantages of remote training

Remote training introduces a virtually no-limits training option since it's extremely flexible. You can attend a remote training session anywhere in the world and has become increasingly popular over the last few years. 

Remote training plays itself into your hands and you can harness technology to enable you to use traditional computers, tablets and even phones for complete flexibility.

You can see your trainer (webcam) and they will take you through the training session like you're actually attending a classroom training event.

Other benefits of remote training include:

  • No travel to the classroom - you can attend remote training in your pj's if you wish!
  • Training groups can be large or small and even split over multiple locations and even multiple countries at the same time
  • You have the ability to interact with your trainer by talking, electronically raising your hand and even allow for them to see your screen (if you authorise)
  • All remote training sessions are recorded - so you can play-back at anytime in the future and enhance your learning experience

More details

Adobe certification

Adobe certified professional. Build a unique portfolio and gain a professional certification that communicates your advanced knowledge- that is what becoming Adobe certified is about

Adobe certification masterclass

Become an Adobe certified professional. Save up to £1,000 with our Adobe certification masterclass. It will increase your chances of landing your dream job!

Discounts for self funders and charities

You will save 15% off the course price if you’re a non-business delegate and includes the following:

  • Self funding individual
  • Charity

Flexipay over 6 months

With the option to split the cost of your 5 day Adobe certified training course, our Flexipay payment plan allows you to develop your skills, without breaking the bank.

Post course support

After your course, we don’t leave you high-and-dry. Our technical support is provided for a lifetime

Free course retake

We understand that before booking your course, knowing that you can have a free course refresher gives you that added insurance

Adobe Creative Cloud software

You can either subscribe to the entire suite (that’s all the applications) or just one application on a monthly basis. Adobe offers a free 7-day trial for each application if you wish to try before you subscribe. 

Just visit the Adobe Creative Cloud page and see what might be the best option for you

FAQs

What happens if I am unwell on the morning of my course?

This is just fine from a course perspective since you can re-arrange again (according to our course schedule) for no fee

How do I actually book my course?

Find the course you wish and then click on the ‘book now’ button and complete the form

Can I jump immediately to an Advanced course?

Delegates attending an Advanced course must already possess at least 80% of the knowledge of the (previous) Introduction course. This is so you are not out of your depth in the Advanced course and also so other delegates are not affected

What are the training times?

We start at 9.30 and finish at 4.30pm with plenty of breaks and 40 minutes for lunch

What if I fail my ACP exam?

  • Start 9.30am - Finish 3.30pm.
  • Exam 2pm

Should you not pass the first time, you can retake the exam for no charge when the course runs again in our schedule

Will I get a certificate for attending?

Yes - your Adobe authorised training centre certificate of attendance will be emailed after your training course

Will I be able to work to my own agenda in the training?

Our courses are scheduled and run with the same outline and aims. Whilst our trainers can field some ad hoc questions along the way we are unable to provide specific information on your project

Course Enquiry

Interested in one of our courses but need a couple of questions answered first?

Use our simple form below to send a message directly to our consultant trainers. We value great customer service and will endeavour to get back to you within the hour inside normal business hours.

If you require an immediate response then please do not hesitate to call 0845 527 0768.




Course: Illustrator Illustrator masterclass – 4 days



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Course dates

Remote

  • 15–18 January 2024
  • 19–22 February 2024
  • 18–21 March 2024
  • 29 April–02 May 2024
  • 03–06 June 2024
  • 08–11 July 2024
  • 12–15 August 2024

Option to split dates when booking

Private training

We can deliver this course on a private training basis

Private training

Location

Spaces, 60 St. Martin's Lane, London WC2N 4JS

Reviews

4.5

24 reviews

83%

recommended the course

The course was very informative

Jeremy Foster. 14th November, 2023

Great teacher and process to get on the course was super simple, not 10 because there is always room for improvements

Josh Bannerton. 12th November, 2023

Alistair was a brilliant tutor. Covered each topic in sufficient depth, while managing to cover a large amount of material over two days. Nice balance of demonstration and practical.

Aran Berk. 2nd September, 2023

I did consider taking the 2 day introduction course but opted for this 4 day masterclass and so pleased I did. It was incredible and now my world leans towards vector everything with Illustrator!

David Mincer. 9th August, 2023

Good knowledge of subject and conveyed it clearly!

Nikita Bennett. 20th July, 2023

Book your course

You can use the form below to make a course reservation with Certitec. We are an established company with over 15 years’ experience training Adobe products and have a high regard in the industry. Alternatively just call us on 0845 527 0768.

Course details

Name of course:
Illustrator masterclass – 4 days

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Dates (Please note that the modules of this course must be taken in order)

Days 1–2

Days 3–4

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Funding

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Course cost: £799.00+VAT per delegate

Total cost: £

Individuals‘ Status - Only select Individual if you (and not your employer) are paying for this training course.

Payment - all Self-funding bookings require payment at the time of booking.

Flexipay - If you would like to spread the cost of your course over 6 months, you can use our FlexiPay option. You will need to pay a deposit of £300 inc. VAT.

FlexiPay

Course cost: £799.00inc. +VAT

Course cost: Deposit of £300 inc. VAT followed by 5 payments of £99.80inc. VAT each.

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Thank you for your booking

 

Illustrator

Course selector tool

Our course selector tool will enable you to evaluate the most suitable course according to your existing experience of the software.

Please answer all questions to the best of your knowledge.

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Do you understand and work with vectors?

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Do you understand and use image resolution?

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Do you understand and use basic drawing tools?

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Do you understand and use pen tool?

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Do you understand and work with layers?

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Do you understand and work with clipping masks?

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Do you understand and work colour?

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Do you understand and work images?

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Do you understand and work with text?

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Do you understand and work with exporting to different media?

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Do you understand and work with CC libraries?

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“I have used Illustrator for a while, but I used to struggle with grasping the pen tool and the concept of paths. After my 2 days of training I now understand both, plus lots more. Thank you.”

Jim Daley, Designer, JD Design

“The training was extremely focussed, covered lots of information, but it didn’t feel overwhelming at all. It was a great week and I can’t believe that I’m now Adobe certified!”

Connie Tretorga, HR Projects manager, Trident

“I was very impressed on how much information about Illustrator I remembered and I’m looking forward to creating professional infographics for my company!”

Don Jackson, Designer, Zack Ltd

“I initially signed-up to start creating professional vector graphs in Illustrator… but I learnt so much more and cannot stress how impressed I was with Certitec. Thank you.”

Petra Johansen, Private, Putney

“Having an Illustrator trainer who knew his stuff made a huge difference to the learning process for me. I loved the flash cards after each exercise and I learnt so much as a result!”

Taylor French, Policies manager, Bank of Ireland

“Extremely impressed with all aspects of this training!”

David Saxon, Private, Reading

“Fantastic on all levels!”

Mike Sanderson, Digital department, BP

“I now have a very firm understanding of Illustrator and cannot believe how much information I could remember after the course! The workbooks are a great idea! Thank you!”

Dee Pyrel, Artworker, TfL

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