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Courses > Graphic Design > Graphic Master - L1

CS Master Course Duration 5 days Course Level 1
Course Schedule link

Graphic Master - L1

This course has been created so the user can learn the skills required to incorporate all the packages of the adobe Creative Suite 3, 4, 5 to develop all your print requirements. In this course the learner will develop the skills to build simple to complex graphics with the emphasis primarily on print ready graphics using Photoshop. Illustrator will be used to create eye catching Vector Illustration such as logos and background graphics. InDesign will be used to assemble the elements together using its intuitive page layout features to create all your print requirements. Finally Acrobat will be used for PDF creation and to add interactively and accessible features to the PDF

Course Outline

Day 1 - Photoshop
Day 2 - Photoshop
Day 3 - Indesign
Day 4 - Indesign
Day 5 - Illustrator 
 

Day 1 & 2 - Photoshop

Introduction

  • What is Photoshop
  • Mini Bridge & the Interface
  • Opening files from Adobe Bridge
  • Opening files from Mini Bridge
  • Customizing the Mini Bridge panel
  • Changing Mini Bridge so it auto-collapses
  • The Application frame
  • The Application bar
  • Switching and saving workspace
  • Panel management

 Tools and Customizing

  • Introducing the Tools panel
  • Working with the Tools panel
  • Viewing and arranging documents
  • Combining multiple images
  • Closing multiple images
  • Working with panels
  • Switching tools using the keyboard
  • Customizing your workspace

 Digital Images Principles 

  • Resolution 
  • Bit depth
  • Introducing image size
  • Resizing images
  • Resizing by cropping
  • Straightening an image
  • Creative tip: Sizing images correctly
  • Colour Settings and Preferences
  • Choosing your colour settings
  • Colour picker preferences
  • Image interpolation preferences
  • Zoom preferences
  • Interface preferences
  • File-handling preferences
  • Performance preferences
  • Cursor preferences
  • Guides and type preview preferences

 Cropping and Transformations

  • Crop options
  • Hide vs. Delete for the Crop tool
  • Bringing back hidden pixels with Reveal All
  • Making the canvas bigger with the Crop tool
  • Making the canvas bigger by a specific amount with Relative Canvas Size
  • Correcting perspective with the Crop tool
  • Warping images
  • Preserving the important elements with Content-Aware Scaling

 Working with Layers

  • The Background layer
  • Using a layer mask instead of deleting pixels
  • Loading multiple images into a single Photoshop document as layers
  • Naming, hiding, creating, and deleting layers
  • Changing the stacking order of layers
  • Selecting layers without using the Layers panel
  • Transforming layers
  • Aligning and distributing layers
  • Changing the opacity of layers
  • Organizing layers into groups
  • Saving variations with layer comps
  • When to merge and rasterize layers
  • Flatten vs. Save As (a Copy)

 Making Selections

  • Using the Magic Wand
  • Using the Quick Select tool to remove a background
  • Using the Quick Select tool for creative colour effects
  • Using the Marquee Selection tool
  • Using the Magnetic Lasso tool
  • Using the Polygonal Lasso tool
  • Making colour range selections
  • Using Refine Edge to improve selections
  • Using Refine Edge with a colour range
  • Introducing paths
  • Creating a path selection
  • Using a path selection to improve colour

 Recommended Blend Modes

  • Cycling through the blending modes
  • Three blending modes you must know
  • Adding a lens flare effect with Screen
  • Making a cast shadow more realistic with Multiply
  • Creating a diffused contrast glow effect with Overlay
  • Sharpening an image with High Pass and Overlay

 Type Essentials 

  • Character (point) type
  • Paragraph (area) type
  • Type on a path
  • Clipping an image inside type
  • Warping type

Photoshop Summary

Day 3 & 4 - InDesign

 Understanding the Workspace

  • Application window
  • Navigating pages
  • Zooming and magnifying
  • Managing more than one document window
  • Setting rulers and measurements
  • Positioning panels correctly
  • Setting application and document preferences

  Indesign Features

  • Using the Tool panel
  • Learning and editing keyboard shortcuts
  • Working with spring-loaded tool shortcuts
  • Using contextual menus
  • Choosing menu items with Quick Apply

 Creating a Document

  • Creating new documents
  • Saving and reverting documents
  • Using multiple Undo and Revert
  • Saving objects in libraries
  • Exporting and importing page snippets
  • Saving for CS5 with IDML

  Managing Pages

  • Inserting, deleting, and moving pages
  • Changing page size
  • Adding page numbering
  • Changing page numbering with sections
  • Creating and applying master pages
  • Overriding master page items

Controlling Text

  • Understanding text frames
  • Typing and editing text
  • Filling with placeholder text
  • Inserting special characters
  • Importing text
  • Threading text frames
  • Setting text frame columns and insets
  • Setting vertical justification and first baseline position
  • Putting text on a path
  • Using the Story Editor
  • Checking spelling
  • Using Find/Change
  • Tracking text changes

 Graphics

  • Importing graphics
  • Importing from Mini Bridge
  • Using the Links panel
  • Embedding links
  • Editing graphics in their original app
  • Fitting graphics to a frame
  • Taking advantage of image transparency and clipping paths
  • Adding live captions
  • Colorizing images
  • Turning image layers on and off

 Formatting Objects

  • Selecting objects
  • Applying basic strokes and fills
  • Using advanced strokes
  • Adjusting transparency
  • Adding drop shadows
  • Applying feathering
  • Copying formatting with the Eyedropper tool
  • Finding and changing object formatting

  Color

  • Creating color swatches
  • The danger and power of unnamed colors
  • Building tint swatches
  • Creating gradient swatches
  • Applying gradients
Managing Objects

  • Positioning objects with the Page Gap tool
  • Stacking objects
  • Creating and controlling layers
  • Managing objects in the Layers panel
  • Nesting objects
  • Editing frame and path shapes
  • Adding rounded corners and other corner options
  • Grouping objects
  • Locking objects
  • Aligning and distributing
  • Understanding text wrap
  • Using anchored objects

  Transforming Objects

  • Duplicating objects
  • Rotating objects
  • Scaling objects
  • Mirroring objects
  • Using the Transform Again feature

Character Formatting

  • Applying basic character styling
  • Applying advanced character formatting
  • Changing case
  • Understanding OpenType features
  • Using Find/Change for text formatting
  • Using Find Font

 Paragraph Formatting

  • Applying formatting to a paragraph
  • Spanning a paragraph across multiple columns
  • Splitting a paragraph into multiple columns
  • Using drop caps
  • Adjusting text hyphenation
  • Fine-tuning justified text
  • Setting tabs
  • Aligning to a baseline grid
  • Controlling orphans and widows with Keep Options
  • Adding rules (lines) above or below a paragraph
  • Adding automatic bullets
  • Working with numbered lists

 Styles

  • Creating and applying paragraph styles
  • Using character styles
  • Applying styles automatically with Nested Styles
  • Using object styles
  • Using Quick Apply with styles
  • Cleaning up a local formatting mess
  • Controlling Tables
  • Creating a table
  • Adjusting rows and columns
  • Formatting a table
  • Adding headers and footers
  • Applying table styles
  • Adding Microsoft Word and Excel tables

 Preflighting

  • Checking your document with the Preflight panel
  • Creating a custom preflight profile
  • Checking color with the Separations Preview

 Packaging, Printing, and Exporting

  • Packaging for output
  • Using the Print dialog box
  • Exporting a PDF
  • Exporting an interactive PDF
  • Exporting text
  • Exporting SWF files

Indesign Summary

Day 5 - Illustrator

Introduction

  • Welcome
  • What is Illustrator CS5?

 Primary Concepts

  • What are vector graphics?
  • Path and appearance
  • Stacking

 Creating New Documents

  • Creating files for print
  • Creating files for the screen
  • Adding XMP metadata
  • Exploring the panels
  • Using the Control panel
  • Using workspaces

 Working with Documents

  • Navigating within a document
  • Using rulers and guides
  • Using grids
  • Various preview modes
  • Creating custom views
  • Locking and hiding artwork

 Drawing and Editing Paths 

  • The importance of modifier keys
  • Drawing closed path primitives
  • Drawing open path primitives
  • Understanding anchor points
  • Drawing straight paths with the Pen tool
  • Drawing curved paths with the Pen tool
  • Drawing freeform paths with the Pencil tool
  • Smoothing and erasing paths
  • Editing anchor points
  • Joining and averaging paths
  • Cleaning up errant paths 

 Unique Shape Creation 

  • The Draw Inside and Draw Behind modes
  • Creating compound paths
  • Creating compound shapes
  • Using the Shape Builder tool
  • Using Pathfinder functions
  • Splitting an object into a grid
  • Using the Blob Brush and Eraser tools

Summary

Course Schedule

Title PriceMayJuneJuly
CS MasterGraphic Master - L1£750
CS MasterGraphic Master - L1£750