This course is the third in a four-part series devoted to mastering the premiere graphics creation application, Adobe Illustrator, version CS6. Industry pro Deke McClelland takes a project-based learning approach to the key features in Illustrator, including Recolor Artwork, transparency, masks, blend modes, strokes and fills, and dynamic effects. The course also covers techniques for creating custom gradients, designing logos, generating photorealistic neon text, and wrapping type around objects. Plus, Deke shows how to call up the most essential features by organizing your workspace and employing time-saving keyboard shortcuts, how to manage the color settings, and how to adjust a few settings to make the program work even better.
Topics include:
Installing dekeKeys, Deke's free custom keyboard shortcuts
Understanding the color-managed workflow
Creating a multicolor blend
Establishing a clipping mask
Blending different levels of opacity
Combining a letterform with a path outline
Warping logo type around a circle
Adding neon blur and bokeh in Photoshop
Mixing and matching color harmonies
Recoloring artwork
Working with the Calligraphic, Scatter, and Art Brushes
Creating translucency
Editing attributes in the Appearance panel
Adjusting and updating dynamic effects

Join author and industry expert Deke McClelland as he teaches you how to take advantage of the next level of dynamic features in Adobe Illustrator CS6. This installment of his Illustrator CS6 One-on-One series starts by showing you how to effectively manage layers, clipping groups, and swatches, so that you can easily swap out colors and content. Deke then explains how to create customized strokes and patterns and build complex gradients with transparency and dynamic effects, and then apply these features to paths, groups, and editable text to create professional-quality artwork. He also highlights some of the most popular features in Illustrator: Live Paint and all ten of its Pathfinder operations. The final chapters show how to prepare your projects for print and save them for distribution on the web.
Topics include:
Creating layers, sublayers, and groups
Lifting a color and creating a swatch
Assigning colors to paths inside groups
Adjusting the stacking order
Using the Width tool to adjust line weight
Masking a pattern inside a background
Assigning and modifying a gradient fill
Creating a radial gradient
Drawing a linear spiral with the Polar Grid tool
Adding a credible 3D cast shadow
Contouring with the Blob Brush and Eraser
Creating and painting an overlapping path
Placing Photoshop images in Illustrator files
Previewing and printing documents
Optimizing documents for the web

This course is the first in a four-part series by industry-pro Deke McClelland on creating elegant, optimized graphics with the tools in Adobe Illustrator CS6 and Deke's special, branded techniques.

This installment covers subjects such as working with shapes and closed paths, including painting, grouping, and coloring, and placing and adjusting type. Deke shows you how to select fonts, create hanging indents, and tweak the kerning and leading of your text. Additional chapters cover drawing and editing paths (and their points) and moving and transforming objects in your artwork.
Topics include:
Rotating and duplicating objects
Grouping and stacking
Erasing and painting selected paths
Using the Shape Builder tool
Reflecting across an angled axis
Simulating beveled edges
Creating a network of interlocking paths
Placing and flowing text
Creating page margins
Adjusting type size
Creating and applying paragraph styles
Using the Glyphs panel
Inserting and removing anchor points

Adobe Illustrator can be used to accomplish many different design tasks, from illustration to app development. This course demonstrates core concepts and techniques that can be applied to any workflow—for print, the web, or building assets that will find their way into other applications. Author Justin Seeley explains the elements that make up vector graphics (paths, strokes, and fills) while showing how to use each of the drawing tools, and demonstrates how to combine and clean up paths and organize them into groups and layers. The course also covers text editing, working with color, effects, and much more.
Topics include:
Understanding vector graphics
Creating and setting up files for print or web destinations
Selecting and transforming objects on the page
Creating spot colors
Applying fills, strokes, and gradients to artwork
Adjusting appearances and effects
Working with anchor points and paths
Drawing with the Pen tool
Creating text
Managing layers
Creating and using symbols
Printing, saving, and exporting artwork