Illustrator 2025 Essential Training

Course details

Illustrator can be used to accomplish many different design tasks. For this reason, Illustrator Essential Training teaches core concepts and techniques that can be applied to any workflow for print, the web, or assets that will find their way into other applications. In this course, Tony Harmer explains the elements that make up Illustrator documents, including artboards, basic shapes, and more. Tony discusses vector graphics—paths, strokes, and fills—and shows how to use each of the drawing tools within Illustrator. He demonstrates how to transform, combine and clean up paths, as well as organizing elements into groups and layers. Tony also covers text editing, working with color, expressive brush drawing, effects, and much more. Exercise files accompany this course.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Learn the essentials of Adobe Illustrator
02 - What you should know
03 - Installing Illustrator
04 - Anchor display

1. Illustrator Environment

05 - Illustrator workspace
06 - Navigation

2. Selection

07 - Primary selection tools
08 - Other selection methods

3. Shape and Line Tools

09 - Drawing basic shapes
10 - Drawing with the Line tools

4. Path Drawing

11 - The Pen tools
12 - Challenge - Drawing practice
13 - The Pencil tool
14 - The Brush tool
15 - Eraser tools
16 - Improving paths

5. Transforms

17 - Transforms and Transform Again
18 - Transform Each
19 - Other essential transform tools

6. Color

20 - Color models in Illustrator
21 - Swatches and color groups
22 - Global and Spot colors
23 - Using tints
24 - The Color Guide panel
25 - Recoloring artwork

7. Gradients

26 - Linear gradients
27 - Radial gradients
28 - Freeform gradients
29 - Stroke gradients

8. Strokes

30 - Stroke attributes
31 - Dashes, dots, and arrowheads
32 - Variable width strokes

9. Brushes

33 - Using brushes
34 - Make calligraphic brushes
35 - Make art brushes
36 - Make scatter brushes
37 - Make bristle brushes
38 - Brush colorization
39 - Other brush options
40 - The Blob Brush

10. Organizing Content

41 - Aligning objects
42 - Aligning points
43 - Changing the stack order
44 - Using draw modes
45 - Using layers
46 - Template layers

11. Groups

47 - Working with groups
48 - Using symbols
49 - Symbol sets
50 - Live Paint

12. Drawing Made Easier

51 - Compound shapes and paths
52 - Shape modes and pathfinders
53 - The Shape Builder
54 - Clipping Masks
55 - Intertwine
56 - Using blends
57 - Using repeats
58 - Objects on a path
59 - Challenge

13. Using Grids and Guides

60 - Using grids and guides
61 - Making guides from objects

14. Patterns

62 - Creating a pattern
63 - Text to Pattern
64 - Transforming patterns
65 - Making a Pattern Brush

15. Appearances

66 - The power of appearances
67 - Illustrator vs. Photoshop effects
68 - Graphic styles

16. Transparency

69 - Transparency and blend modes
70 - Opacity masks

17. Type

71 - Using point type
72 - Using area type
73 - Type on a path
74 - The Touch Type tool
75 - Retype

18. Images and Files

76 - Placing files
77 - Embedding images
78 - Vectors from pixels

19. Generative Content

79 - Text to vector
80 - Shape Fill

20. Artboards

81 - Working with artboards
82 - Organizing artboards

21. Output

83 - Mockup
84 - Export files
85 - Asset Export
86 - Packaging files

Conclusion

87 - Next steps