High School

Adobe Illustrator Certification Preparation

0.5 Credits
18 weeks
Over the Shoulder View of Teenage Female Working on Design of Sneakers
Open

This course gives students foundational knowledge using Adobe Illustrator CC. In the course, they will explore what it’s like to work in the design industry, building their skills in vector drawing and learning how to create graphics and illustrations with this industry-standard tool. The course is aligned with the standards for passing the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) examination.

During this course, you will learn career-related skills and earn a badge for this accomplishment. A badge is a digital certification of your career-related learning that you can share on social media and higher education platforms, or with colleges, potential employers, peers, and colleagues. Select this link to learn more about badges.

Major Topics and Concepts

Module 1: Working in the Design Industry
  • Understand the Adobe Creative Suite and the role of the various applications.
  • Identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing graphics and illustrations.
  • Determine the type of copyright, project fit, permissions, and licensing to use specific content.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of project management tasks and responsibilities.
  • Communicate with colleagues and clients about design plans.
Module 2: Understanding Digital Graphics and Illustrations
  • Understand key terminology related to digital graphics and illustrations.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of basic design principles and best practices employed in the digital graphics and illustration industry.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of typography and its use in digital graphics and illustrations.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of color and its use in digital graphics and illustration.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of image resolution, image size, and image file format for web, video, and print.
Module 3: Understanding Adobe Illustrator Part I
  • Navigate Adobe Illustrator
  • Identify elements of the Illustrator CC user interface and demonstrate knowledge of their functions
  • Define the functions of commonly used tools, including selection tools, the Pen tool, and other drawing tools, shape tools, and transformation tools.
  • Navigate, organize, and customize the workspace
  • Use non-printing, design tools in the interface, such as rulers, guides, bleeds, and artboards.
Module 4: Understanding Adobe Illustrator Part II
  • Use layers to manage design elements.
  • Manage colors, swatches, and gradients.
  • Manage brushes, symbols, graphic styles, and patterns.
  • Demonstrate knowledge of how and why illustrators employ different views and modes throughout the course of a project including vector/outline vs. display/appearance, isolation mode, and various Draw modes.
  • Demonstrate and understanding of vector drawing tools.
Module 5: Creating Digital Graphics and Illustrations with Adobe Illustrator Part I
  • Create a new project
  • Use vector drawing tools
  • Use shape tools
  • Transform graphics and illustrations
  • Use basic reconstructing and editing techniques to manipulate digital graphics and media
Module 6: Creating Digital Graphics and Illustrations with Adobe Illustrator Part II
  • Demonstrate knowledge of layers and masks
  • Import assets into a project
  • Add and manipulate type using Type tools.
  • Create digital graphics and illustrations using 3D and perspective tools in Illustrator
Module 7: Archive, Export and Publish Graphics Using Adobe Illustrator
  • Prepare images for web, print, and video
  • Export digital graphics and illustration to various file formats
  • Understand the structure and test prep necessary for the ACA Illustrator Certification Exam.

Course Materials

Please read the Adobe system requirements before signing up for this course. Chrome OS doesn’t allow any third-party installations therefore a Chromebook cannot be used for this course.

Competencies

The Adobe Creative Cloud

Students will demonstrate an understanding of the Adobe Creative Cloud by describing the use of Adobe Creative Suite and applications, explaining the importance of designing for an audience, and summarizing steps to managing a project.

Graphic Design

Students will demonstrate an understanding of graphic design by explaining the elements of design, summarizing the use of design principles with digital graphics and illustrations, and summarizing file format considerations for graphic designs.

Navigating Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud

Students will demonstrate an understanding of navigating Adobe Illustrator Creative Cloud by summarizing the elements of the Adobe Illustrator interface, explaining the navigation of Adobe Illustrator tools, and explaining the customization of Adobe Illustrator workspaces.

Adobe Illustrator Visual Effect Tools

Students will demonstrate an understanding of Adobe Illustrator visual effect tools by explaining the use of layering tools, describing the use of color tools, and explaining the use of visual effect tools.

Adobe Illustrator Tools and Techniques for Tranforming Graphics and Illustrations

Students will demonstrate an understanding of Adobe Illustrator tools and techniques for transforming graphics and illustrations by explaining the setup options for project formats, explaining the use of drawing and shaping tools, and explaining the transformation of graphics and illustrations through editing techniques.

Adobe Illustrator Tools for Composition and Dimension Effects

Students will demonstrate an understanding of Adobe Illustrator tools for composition and dimension effects by describing the use of layer and mask tools for composition effects, explaining the use of type tools for displaying text, and explaining the use of 3-D and perspective tools for dimension effects.

Project Completion in Adobe Illustrator

Students will demonstrate an understanding of project completion in Adobe Illustrator by explaining preparation of graphics or illustrations for export or print, and summarizing file formats for completed projects in Adobe Illustrator.