Adobe Illustrator CS6 Tutorial - Training Taught By Experts

Begin your Adobe Illustrator journey with a first step into vector design, exploring preferences, panels, and work spaces to gain control and boost performance.

Explore the difference between vector images and raster photos in Adobe Illustrator CS6, and learn how vector shapes are resolution independent and resize by changing math, not pixels.

Master Adobe Illustrator CS6 preferences to tailor general settings, keyboard increment, constrained angle, corner radius, and font previews for efficient design.

Explore the Illustrator interface, from the type menu to tools and panels. Learn to tear off tool sets, adjust stroke and fill colors, and manage art boards and screen modes.

Customize Illustrator's essentials panels by repositioning color, swatches, brushes, symbols, and more, using drag-and-drop, visibility toggles, and the reset command to restore layout.

Master the context sensitive control panel in Adobe Illustrator CS6, a floating toolbar that adapts to your tool and reveals options like stroke, opacity, and recolor artwork.

Create and save customized workspaces in Adobe Illustrator CS6 by adding or removing panels like layers, navigator, and color guides, then name, manage, and reset them for a clutter-free workflow.

Improve efficiency in Illustrator by defining the document's intent for print or web, organizing with grids and guides, using multiple artboards, and adjusting preview options for faster production.

Explore intent to print by starting a new Illustrator document with the print profile, page size, bleed, CMYK color, 300 ppi, and pixel grid settings.

Create a web-ready Illustrator document by selecting the web profile, using a 960 by 560 pixel canvas, RGB color, and pixel grid snapping for crisp web graphics.

Learn to manage multiple documents in Illustrator using tabbed windows, reorder tabs, and close or save with warnings. Master viewing options, color spaces, and efficient multi-document workflows.

Master navigation in Adobe Illustrator CS6 by using zoom and hand tools, navigator panel, and keyboard shortcuts to zoom, fit on screen, and switch between multiple artboards.

Explore creative uses of grids and guides in Adobe Illustrator CS6. Use snap to grid and rulers for precise placement, and convert guides to strokes to divide objects below.

Master measurement workflows in Adobe Illustrator by switching between inches and pixels via document setup or preferences, and using rulers to set precise zero points.

Explore how to preview artwork in Adobe Illustrator CS6 using overprint preview, outline, and pixel preview. Compare vector clarity with raster output and simulate CMYK and web colors.

Create and manage customized views in Adobe Illustrator CS6 by using the view menu to add new views, name them, and switch between the zoom tool views and proof setups.

Master how to lock and hide elements in Illustrator by using layers and subgroups, locking the background while you work on butterflies and flowers, and using show/hide commands and undo.

Create a single Adobe Illustrator document with three artboards—letterhead, envelope, and business card—arranged by row, sized for print, and kept together for efficiency.

Master selection in Illustrator by color-based and relative picks, adjust stroke weights across many objects, and use isolation mode, magic wand, or lasso to streamline complex documents.

Master selection in illustrator cs6 by using the selection tool (v) to click, modify objects, and explore the magic wand and lasso tools with tolerance and path options.

Learn advanced selection techniques in Adobe Illustrator CS6, using direct selection, group selection, and nesting to edit individual anchor points, groups, and nested groups with precision.

Explore how the magic wand tool in Illustrator CS6 selects areas by color tolerance, toggles between fill and stroke colors, adjusts stroke weight, and handles locked layers.

Master the lasso tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6 to make pure selections by drawing around objects, including complex shapes and multiple anchor points.

Explore attribute selection in Adobe Illustrator CS6 to quickly identify and modify objects by stroke weight, fill and stroke color, layer membership, and pixel-grid alignment.

Explore isolation mode and group selection in Adobe Illustrator CS6 to edit individual pieces inside nested groups, using the selection tool and double-click to dive in.

Resize artwork in Adobe Illustrator using the bounding box and anchors, drag handles, and hold shift to keep proportions. Use transform and scaling options, including Alt key, for precise resizing.

Learn to rotate objects in Illustrator CS6 using the bounding box and rotate tool, with an anchor point, smart cursor angle readout, and shift for 45-degree increments.

Explore how to distort and transform shapes in Adobe Illustrator CS6 using warp, pucker, bloat, and twirl tools, adjust intensity, and convert text to outlines.

Create a sunflower in adobe illustrator cs6 by drawing ellipses with a 1-point stroke and sunflower-yellow fill, then use the pen tool, convert anchor points, apply roughen, and rotate duplicates.

Explore color in Adobe Illustrator, from new document color sets to color libraries and spot colors for four-color press work, while learning color sync and online color systems for consistency.

Explore how rgb and cmyk color spaces drive design in Illustrator, explaining additive and subtractive color, primaries, color gamut, and print versus screen usage.

Set and synchronize color management across Illustrator and the Adobe suite by choosing color sets, defining working spaces, preserving embedded profiles, and handling mismatches for consistent prints and web output.

Demonstrates creating and applying a global color swatch to one airplane, enabling global updates across a fleet of airplanes while managing process colors.

Explore spot colors and learn how a single plate adds color without a full four-color job. See how global versus spot colors affect logo design and press separation.

Create calmness and organization in the swatches panel by building customized color groups for your web color scheme, saving and reusing them across documents.

Explore Illustrator swatch libraries to discover harmonious color sets and audition options. Browse art history and pop art libraries, drag samples into swatches, and apply color confidently.

Import and reuse colors from ase color files in Illustrator swatches, then save the swatch library as ai or afc for sharing or cross-application use in InDesign.

Explore color guide in Illustrator CS6 to pick a main color and generate harmonious variations and shades. Access online color sets through extensions to add swatches.

Master how Illustrator builds shapes from math, using tools like ellipse and rectangle, with tips for math-based drawing, strokes, patterns, and gradients with new CS6 features.

Master basic shapes in Adobe Illustrator CS6 by drawing lines, arcs, spirals, and grids; use shift and arrow modifiers to control angles, curvature, and skew with X, C, V, F.

Master basic shapes in Adobe Illustrator cs6, drawing rectangles, circles, polygons, stars, and flares while using shift, alt, spacebar, and control to adjust size, center drawing, and corners.

Explore how math drives creativity in Illustrator by drawing perfect circles with the ellipse tool and resizing them precisely using plus, minus, times, and divide operations.

In this Illustrator CS6 tutorial, learn how to fill outlines, use swatches and color guides, and apply eyedropper selections to color a rooster outline.

Explore strokes in Illustrator by building shapes with the pen and Pathfinder, adjusting weight, caps, joins, and fill, then applying brushes and bristle brushes for a professional look.

Learn to create dashed strokes and arrows in Illustrator CS6 by adjusting dash patterns, gaps, and arrowheads, then expand appearance to control each component.

Learn to create a flower with a variable width stroke in Adobe Illustrator CS6, adjusting width with anchor points and applying the leaf on flower profile.

Convert strokes to objects by outlining, expanding appearance, turning strokes into fills and outlines. Use the variable width tool to adjust anchor points and ensure compatibility with older Illustrator versions.

Explore how to create and customize gradients in Illustrator CS6, using linear and radial gradients, color stops, opacity, and the gradient panel to apply fills, strokes, and save swatches.

Explore working with patterns in adobe illustrator cs6, including using the pattern library, editing patterns, and creating custom patterns with shapes, grid options, color changes, and tiling controls.

Explore how Adobe Illustrator uses vector anchor points and paths to create and edit shapes, converting straight segments to curves and reassembling cut parts.

Paths and anchors are the building blocks of any object oriented vector program. The path controls how strokes and fills are applied, and outline view shows the anchors.

Discover how anchor points control the paths in Illustrator, and how selected and smooth points with the pen tool shape curves and manage curvature with handles.

Explore how open and closed paths affect fills in Illustrator CS6, distinguishing between a closed star and open lines, arcs, and spirals.

Master the join and average commands in Adobe Illustrator CS6 to weld separate shapes into one, close open paths, and preserve curvature for clean, connected vector contours.

Master the knife and scissors tools in adobe illustrator cs6; learn knife cuts objects, scissors cuts paths, then craft a gradient ribbon using copies and the join path feature.

Explore the Pathfinder panel to combine shapes into complex forms and to divide, include, or exclude objects by color or stroke, then explore the symbol sprayer tool in Illustrator CS6.

Master the new drawing modes in Adobe Illustrator CS6, including draw behind and draw inside, to control object stacking order with the Shift-D shortcut and isolation mode.

Explore the Illustrator CS6 Pathfinder panel, focusing on divide, trim, merge, crop, outline, and minus back to create woven patterns, cut pieces, and a decorative clock design.

Explore the Pathfinder panel to combine and subtract shapes, using Unite, minus front, intersect, and exclude to create complex silhouettes and graphics in Illustrator.

Learn to replace the pathfinder panel with the shape builder tool to unite and cut shapes, create a mask, and align, rotate, and refine a composite gear using smart guides.

Explore the symbol sprayer tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6, learning to spray symbols from libraries, adjust brush size, and apply colors, rotation, and transparency for dynamic backgrounds.

Explore how to create and customize symbols in Illustrator CS6 by modifying existing symbols, breaking apart groups, and using the blob brush tool to craft new symbols.

Practice painting in a vector program with Illustrator’s paintbrush and pencil tools, shaping paths with anchor points while managing fidelity and smoothness, fill versus stroke, and using Wakeham tablets.

Master the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, the basic vector drawing tool for creating any shape with anchor points. Learn how to use it to control Illustrator.

Master the pen tool basics in Adobe Illustrator CS6, creating straight and curved paths, managing anchor points, direction handles, and precision tools for open and closed shapes.

Master the pen tool to generate paths, create shapes with straight lines using shift, refine points with the control key and direct selection tool, and leverage shortcuts for faster work.

Use the pen tool to add, delete, and convert anchor points, refining shapes by adjusting straight and smooth points, and managing paths in Illustrator CS6.

Master the pen tool and anchor point controls in Adobe Illustrator CS6, learning to smooth, convert, align, cut, and connect anchor points for precise paths.

Master the pen tool and smart guides to create precise shapes in Illustrator, using the spacebar for temporary control, shift for straight lines, and direct selection for adjustments.

Explore type in Adobe Illustrator as a powerful typesetting tool, learning to place text on curves, across shapes, and even around a circle with practical tricks.

Learn the difference between point text and container text in Illustrator, a typesetting app, and how container text manages margins and overflow while point text types freely within a box.

Convert objects to text containers by creating an invisible area with the area type tool, then flow text and preserve fills using paste in place and shape builder.

Learn how to place text on any path in Illustrator CS6 using the path type tool, including curves and ellipses, adjusting margins, overflow, and starting points for precise typography.

Explore character and paragraph formatting in Adobe Illustrator CS6, using the character and paragraph panels in the typography workspace to adjust fonts, kerning, tracking, leading, alignment, and spacing.

Create and apply paragraph and character styles in Adobe Illustrator CS6, saving time with reusable text formats like subheading and main body text, and learn to load styles across documents.

Thread text between paths and containers in Illustrator CS6 by creating or linking text boxes, managing overset text, and using the type gun to flow and break threads.

Discover how the eyedropper in Illustrator CS6 copies color, stroke, opacity, patterns, and text attributes (character and paragraph styles) between objects, even when nothing is selected, with sampling options.

Learn to place text on a circle in Illustrator CS6 by splitting a shape into two paths, then use type on path options such as rainbow and baseline alignment.

Learn to convert text to outlines in Illustrator CS6, using create outlines or expand; understand that outlines become objects and erase text-editing ability, while pre-conversion effects remain possible.