Overview
This Illustrator masterclass & Adobe certified professional training course is designed for those who are either new to Illustrator or have some experience and seek professional guidance to understand Illustrator at an advanced level.
Our experienced training instructors will be there to assist you in preparing for the Adobe Certified Professional exam on the final day.
Our accelerated learning format allows you to digest more information whilst making it more memorable. The emphasis is on how the brain works. The most important factor about a training course is what you remember afterwards, and that's our number one focus.
You’ll begin by getting to grips with the Illustrator interface before learning about shapes, infographics and other standard features. You’ll then progress to the advanced features like workflows, compound paths and raster effects.
Our experienced training instructors will be with you to help you undertake the Adobe certification exam. Afterwards, if you pass, you can publicise your accreditation with Adobe digital badges, which provide a standardised certification outcome.
You must take the exam on a non-work (home) computer using a browser (Chrome, EDGE, or Safari) connected to your home broadband connection (no VPN). You don't need Adobe software installed to take the exam. The exam is delivered in Windows mode, but since you're connecting via a browser, it doesn't matter if you're a Windows or MacOS user.
What to expect from this course
The first two training days will focus on starter features, including shapes, logos, and basic infographics. Days three and four are targeted toward more advanced features like workflows, custom brushes, transparency, etc. Day five will be focused on the certification exam, with the first half dedicated to exam preparation before sitting the exam.
You’ll leave the training course with a solid understanding of Illustrator and the confidence to create logos, workflows, shapes, and more.
Target audience
This course is for designers, marketers, developers, or anyone who wants to gain accreditation status quickly.
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 artboards, paths, the pen tool, graphic styles and more
- Create documents for web or print and learn best practices 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
- Undertake the certification exam
Prerequisites
You must already possess basic computer skills, such as knowing how to open and save files onto a computer.
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.
- 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
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Day one – Understanding basic Illustrator concepts
Essential Illustrator concepts
- What are vector graphics?
- Illustrator and Photoshop
- Illustrator and Adobe Express
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 style
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
- Libraries
- Brand Libraries and Express
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
- Using Recolor
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 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
- Exporting to libraries for Express
Customising graphics and 3D
- Designing your own charts
- Creating a 3D pie chart
- Rotating objects in 3D space
Mockup Tool
- Create Mockups
- Apply graphic to images
- Move, scale graphics on mockups
Generate AI Graphicsl
- Using the contexttual task bar
- Define creation area
- How to use Text to Vector Graphic
- Describe the output you want to generate
- Create realistic vector scenes, subjects, and icons
- Use a Style Reference
- Apply variations in the Properties panel
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
Day five – Adobe Certification day
The final day of your course will be focused on the official Adobe Illustrator exam objectives.
– Exam preparation - 10am – 1pm
– Undertaking exam - 1.30pm – 2.45pm (exam itself 50 mins)
You must undertake the exam on a non-work (home) computer in a browser (Chrome, EDGE or Safari) which is connected to your home broadband connection (no VPN). You don't need any Adobe software installed to undertake the exam itself. The exam is delivered in Windows mode but since you're connecting via a browser - it doesn't matter if you're a Windows or MacOS user.
Exam format
– Section 1 - multiple choice - covering approximately 10 questions
– Section 2 - actually ‘driving' the Adobe application to complete tasks - covering approximately 30 questions
Should you not pass the first time, you can retake the exam (up to 2 separate free attempts are allowed) for no charge when the course runs again in our schedule.
The Adobe certified professional (ACP) exam is facilitated solely by Certiport and their testing solution (Exams from Home [EFH]).
See our booking conditions should the Certiport EFH system become inaccessible or inoperable.
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
Remote training
Remote professional Adobe training allows high-quality training to be delivered anywhere globally.
In addition to the positive aspect of no travel, our remote training courses also allow you to interact with the trainer and ask questions just like you were right in front of them.
Our remote training courses include videos, which makes them extremely valuable when you wish to review some or all of the courses you just completed to keep things fresh and thus increase memory retention.
FAQs
Is the training just 'watching', or is it interactive?
The training is interactive, just like in the training room with the trainer. You will download the training files and work with your experienced instructor through modular exercises.
Is there any pre or post-study required before undertaking any course?
No, there is none. - If you have booked an 'Adobe certified' course with us, you can view some sample documents we send before your exam. However, this might only affect your scoring by a couple of percent.
What if I am unwell on the morning of my course?
This is just fine from a course perspective since you can re-arrange it again (according to our course schedule) for no fee.
What are the training times?
We start at 9.30 am and finish at 4.30 pm with plenty of breaks and 40 minutes for lunch.
Can I jump immediately to an advanced course?
Can I work on my agenda during the training?
Our courses are scheduled and run with the same outline and objectives. While our trainers can answer some ad hoc questions, we cannot provide specific information on your project.
Do I receive a video after my course is completed?
You will receive a video of the applicable course for future playback when you complete your course.
Is there any technical support afterwards?
We don’t leave you high and dry after your course. Our technical support is provided for a lifetime.
Will I get a certificate for attending?
Yes - your certificate of attendance will be emailed after completing your training course.
How do I obtain the Adobe Creative Cloud software?
Adobe offers a free trial for each application if you wish to try before subscribing.
What is Adobe certification?
Become an Adobe certified professional, build a unique portfolio, and gain a professional certification communicating your advanced Adobe knowledge. That’s what becoming Adobe certified is about.
What if I fail my Adobe certification exam?
Should you not pass the first time, you can retake the exam (up to 2 separate free attempts are allowed) for no charge when the course runs again in our schedule.
I become Adobe certified a couple of years ago. Does this mean I'm still Adobe certified?
When you pass an Adobe certified professional (or the retired Adobe certified associate) exam, you will always be approved in the specific version of the exam you undertook.
For example, if you become Adobe certified in Premiere Pro CC2022, you will always possess this accreditation.
However, as time passes, Adobe will release more recent versions of the exams (e.g. CC2025, etc). Therefore, you must pass the latest Adobe certified professional exam version to remain current.
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 0800 112 5432.
