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This step-by-step tutorial uses a friendly, conversational, and non-condescending approach to teach readers the basics of Adobe Illustrator. The book's tone is one of a teacher sitting with you explaining how to use the program. With examples from both the Macintosh and Windows platforms, Sams Teach Yourself Illustrator in 24 Hours covers the following topics and more: the interface, tools, and palettes; setting preferences; drawing and editing objects; layers; working with selections; Bezier paths; and masks, transformations and color.

Peter Bauer is a computer graphics writer and consultant. He is the author of Special Edition Using Adobe Illustrator 10, and has written documentation and user guides for a variety of Illustrator-related software and plug-ins. Pete serves as the Help Desk Director for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), and is a Contributing Writer for Mac Design and Photoshop User magazines. He also writes a weekly column for the Web portal PlanetPhotoshop.com. He and his wife, Professor Mary Ellen O'Connell of the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University, live in the historic German Village area of Columbus, Ohio.

Mordy Golding is the Product Manager for Adobe Illustrator. Mordy has also written The Web Designer's Guide to Color. With a strong technical background, Mordy has been a designer and production artist for both print and the Web, and has been a featured panelist at Macworld.

(NOTE: Each chapter concludes with a Summary and a Workshop Section.)
Introduction.

I. BASIC ILLUSTRATOR.

Hour 1. Understanding Illustrator.

What Are Computer Graphics? Illustrator's Interface. Opening, Closing, Saving, and Other Standard Commands. The Illustrator Window. Illustrator's Tools. Illustrator's Palettes.

Hour 2. Setting Up Illustrator.

Setting Illustrator's Preferences. Custom Keyboard Shortcuts. Customizing Document Setup. Rulers, Guides, and Grids. Illustrator's Startup Files. Ten Preferences and Settings You Need to Know.

Hour 3. Creating Objects.

Creating Rectangles, Squares, Ellipses, and Circles. Creating Complex Objects. The Flare Tool. Creating Lines. Creating Grids. Working with Symbols. Saving Your Work.

Hour 4. Making Selections.

The Selection Tools. The Select Menu. The Magic Wand. Arranging Objects on the Artboard.

Hour 5. Creating Paths and Compound Paths.

Creating Paths with the Pen Tool. The Pencil Tool. Compound Paths.

Hour 6. Editing Bézier Curves.

Changing Objects and Lines. Editing Path Segments. The Liquify Tools. Additional Path Editing Tools. Path Editing Menu Commands.

II. CREATIVE ILLUSTRATOR.

Hour 7. Understanding and Applying Color.

Fill and Stroke. The Color Palette. The Swatches Palette. The Transparency Palette. The Eyedropper Tool. The Paint Bucket Tool.

Hour 8. Using Strokes, Fills, and Gradients.

Solid Color Fills. Gradients. Patterns. Strokes.

Hour 9. The Paintbrush Tool.

The Brushes Palette.. Drawing with the Paintbrush Tool.

Hour 10. Adding Text.

Using the Type Tool. Linking Text Blocks. Placing Type on a Path. Vertical Type.

Hour 11. Applying Appearances and Styles.

Working with Appearances. Working With Styles. Creating New Styles. Expanding Styles and Appearances.

Hour 12. Using Transformations, Compound Shapes, and Blends.

Illustrator's Transformation Tools. Compound Shapes and the Pathfinder Palette. The Align Palette. The Magic of Blends.

III. PRODUCTIVE ILLUSTRATOR.

Hour 13. Gaining Flexibility Through Layers.

Working with Layers. Appearances and Layers.

Hour 14. Applying Advanced Typography Techniques.

The Character Palette. The Paragraph Palette. The Tab Palette. The MM Design Palette. Converting Text to Outlines. Change Case. Find Font and Find/Change. Smart Punctuation. Check Spelling.

Hour 15. Inserting Charts and Graphs.

Creating a Graph. Graph Options. Graph Design. Ungrouping Your Graph.

Hour 16. Showing and Hiding with Masks.

Masks and How They Work. Working with Clipping Masks. Working with Opacity Masks. Layer Clipping Masks. Additional Transparency Options.

Hour 17. Distorting, Warping, and Liquifying Your Artwork.

Envelopes: Sending Your Artwork out of This World! The Liquify Tools.

Hour 18. Working with Filters and Live Effects.

Effects and Filters in Illustrator. Effects for Vector Artwork. Raster Effects and Filters, for Raster and Vector Objects. Filters Not Offered As Effects. Filters Versus Effects.

IV. PRODUCTIVE ILLUSTRATOR.

Hour 19. Working with Raster Images and Programs.

Working with Raster Images in Illustrator. Linking Versus Embedding Raster Artwork. Working with Raster Art. Illustrator and Photoshop. Rasterizing Illustrator Artwork.

Hour 20. Understanding File Format and Platform Issues.

File Formats, What Are They? Save and Save As, the Vector Formats. Formats for the Web. Save for Web. Formats for Page Layout and Commercial Printing. The “Other” File Formats. Platform Issues and What They Mean to You.

Hour 21. Printing Your Illustrations.

Commercial (CMYK) Printing versus Inkjet Printing. Preparing a Document for Printing. Easy Ways to Avoid Output Problems. Producing Color Separations. Trapping to Compensate for Misregistration. A Note about Proofing.

Hour 22. Creating Web Graphics.

Web Graphic Basic Training. Basic Web Images. Slicing Web Graphics. Final Note: Creating Web Pages.

Hour 23. Animating the Web.

Animations for the Web. Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) from Illustrator.

Hour 24. Maximizing Efficiency with Automation.

Ready! Set! Action! Dynamic Data-Driven Graphics for the Web. A Look Back at Customizing Illustrator.

Index.

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.