As its name implies, Adobe Illustrator is an illustrative tool, much used by graphic designers. If you want to create some original art work, ready for incorporation into a documents such as those produced by PageMaker, InDesign or Microsoft Publisher which will subsequently be printed at high-quality by commercial printers, Illustrator is the tool for you. The program is very versatile and can also be used to create art work for web pages at any desired resolution. An example of its 'web' capability is shown below.

Why not use a paint program to create graphics?

Many users, new to computers, try to use pixel based paint programs to produce illustrations for their documents, often because programs like Paintbrush and Paint come free with Windows and no additional software needs to be purchased. Although these pixel-based drawing programs can indeed be used to create graphics, images produced by these types of programs cannot be scaled up while still retaining high quality (resolution). A magnified Paint image (a bitmap) will consist of individual 'blobs' and is not a versatile image.

In contrast, artwork produced in Illustrator does not suffer this limitation because it is a vector based drawing program and the images produced can be easily scaled up or down according to need without loss in resolution. In addition, the Illustrator file can be passed to other tools such web site software, or software and printers such as those used by sign writers to produce very large prints, or to embroiderers for application to corporate clothing etc. In short, your designs produced in Illustrator are very versatile.

Illustrator produces 'drop in' art work

If you use the desk top publishing tools from Adobe - InDesign or PageMaker, Illustrator is a natural companion. Images created in Illustrator can be 'dropped' directly into an InDesign or PageMaker document, scaled up and down and cropped without loss of resolution all without any need for file conversion.

Artwork 'smarts'

Illustrator contains many tools which makes the creation of artwork a simple, intuitive process. You have control over line work (continuous, dashed, dot dash etc.), flood and fills (both in colour and black and white), text (control over placement, size etc.).

Try an instructional movie from the course

Prerequisites

An understanding of basic computer operation including the ability to create, save and locate files. We would expect that you have used a computer with the Windows or Macintosh operating system for some time and perhaps developed reasonable facility with a word processor such as Microsoft Word.

What we will cover:

Cost of courses

We offer three different pricing models covering the same material:

1. group or one-on-one courses (Adelaide or Canberra - in our offices or yours)
Each course takes one day and costs $AUD750.00.  A comprehensive workbook on CD-ROM and sample files is provided to each participant. Participants are given access to the same materials on our broadband learning web site. Here you can complete additional exercises, join various forums, take multiple choice tests and submit work for comment.

2. CD-ROM based distance learning -
Many courses are available via our distance learning program at a substantial discount -$AUD280.00. Again, we provide a CD-ROM containing many instructional on-screen movies. The whole course can be completed at home or at work, on your own computer, at your pace. No Internet connection is required.

3. Online learning via broadband - fast Internet connection required
Many courses are available by online learning at $AUD250.00 - these courses feature rapid enrolment, online forums, multi choice reviews questionnaires etc. Click here to visit our online learning site. A reasonably fast broadband Internet connection is required. Dial up access is not suitable.

Credit card payment

We use PayPal, an organization which takes all credit cards using a secure Internet facility. PayPal is a partner within the eBay system. We have chosen PayPal because it is independent of us, allows us to hold money in trust until we have delivered the course and is now operational in Australia. We will provide a tax invoice on receipt of payment.

About our courses & methodology

Experience over many years has taught us that adults learn best by progressing through a course of study at their own pace and at times that suit them. Wherever possible, they like to learn by working on their own materials, rather than work through long practice exercises. Our courses are specifically designed so that this can occur- we introduce a topic, provide a movie which shows you how to do it and then give detailed step-by-step instructions for you to follow.

Locations

Courses may be taken at Thebarton in Adelaide, South Australia, in Canberra in hired facilities, or by distance learning or broadband learning. If a course is taken 'in-house' at Thebarton, it normally runs for a whole day with a break for lunch. Starting time is 9.15 am and finish time around 4.15 - 4.30 pm. We usually work one-on-one, but can take up to 3 students in our training room.  **We only run groups if all students come from the same organization.**

Course duration:

When taken in-house, An Introduction to Illustrator normally runs over a full day session.

When taken externally, experience has shown us that students take significantly longer to complete the course, primarily because they are able to break up their learning into small 'chunks' as time permits. InDesign is a large program - please allow plenty of time to work through our materials. We would estimate that you have 40-50 hours of work in front of you!