From the course: Introducing Illustrator

A bright and confident beginning - Illustrator Tutorial

From the course: Introducing Illustrator

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A bright and confident beginning

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- Hi, I'm Deke McClelland. Welcome to the best course I've ever created, "Introducing Illustrator." I just feel that good about it. Here's the idea. You've heard tales about how Adobe Illustrator is the best vector-based drawing and design program on the planet, which is true, by the way. But every time you launch the program, you can't figure out how to make a line drawing, an elegant curve, or really, anything, which is where this course comes in. Watch the whole thing, every last movie, and I swear to you, Illustrator will feel like your friend. It goes like this. In chapter one, you'll be like, "Oh sure, I can handle this." In chapter two, you'll be like, "Hm, this isn't half bad." In chapter three, it'll dawn on you, "Wait a second, I can actually draw in this program. Holy moly! I finally know how to make Illustrator do something!" Now, I'll lose a few of you after chapter three, but if you stick with me, I will reward your trust. There's so much more to know! Chapter four is all about type. Big display type. Chapter five covers fills and strokes, multiples if you like, and the appearance panel, not to mention gradients. Chapter six is all about taking good stuff and making it better, using the shape builder tool to combine path outlines, offsetting a path outline to create an inset shape, putting one set of paths inside another with clipping masks, and the wonders of the layers panel. In chapter seven, we go nuts with the dedicated transformation tools, including rotate, reflect, and scale. Just look at this drawing! You are seriously going to make this drawing, all based on a single upside-down snow cone-shaped path. In chapter eight, we'll explore how to create and edit the most precise outlines that Illustrator has to offer. We're talking about object blends that automate the creation of intermediate path outlines. Dynamic round corners that you can apply to any path outline you create. Control handles that determine the curvature of a segment, and the anchor point tool, which lets you bend a straight segment with a single drag. Chapter nine introduces you to the two tools that let you draw a custom path outline, one anchor point at a time. There's the 21st century curvature tool, which plays it pretty free and easy, and then there's the old school but more powerful pen tool, which requires your ever-vigilant and always careful attention. Get to know that last one, the pen tool, and you and it will slowly unlock every door into Illustrator. After that, it's time to take a victory lap. Chapter 10 is all about dynamic effects, which give you a chance to put Illustrator in charge. Drop shadows that suddenly become as easy as dropping a shadow. The transform effect, which lets you draw anything and make it so much better, and seriously, wouldn't it be great to just skip the whole drawing process and let Illustrator draw your paths for you? Place a scanned or photographic image, and Illustrator will trace it automatically in a matter of seconds. And just for fun, chapter 11 slides you into the realm known as live paint, which does things that Illustrator can't otherwise do, like fill in open path coloring books and create interwoven shapes. This is stuff seasoned Illustrator veterans don't know, and yet you will know it very soon. My goal is to teach you the most essential stuff about Illustrator in the order you need to know it. By the end, believe it or not, you may actually find that Illustrator is a fun program to use. I should know, I've been having fun with Illustrator for the last 30 years, which based on my youthful appearance means I started using the program when I was six months old. But don't take my word for it, watch the following movies and see for yourself.

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