Key details

Illustrator training course for beginners, teaching key techniques for creating and editing vector graphics quickly and effectively.

Adobe Illustrator is the industry-leading application for working with vector graphics. The comprehensive set of tools and features available provides everything you need to produce extraordinary graphics for print, video, the web and mobile devices.

Introduction to Illustrator training covers key tools and features, teaching you how to:

• Use Illustrator’s powerful drawing tools to work with shapes and layers, and apply effects and styles.
• Create sophisticated artwork and graphics for print, web, interactive, mobile and motion designs.
• Create logos with special type effects.
• Use Illustrator’s powerful Image Trace and Live Paint tools.

You also investigate the most effective ways of integrating Illustrator into your workflow.

This course is ideal for new and novice Illustrator users who needs to create illustrations, logos, maps, graphs, diagrams, advertisements and other graphics.

In-class or online

In-class courses are proceeding as normal at all centres under local restriction tiers that start on 2 December 2020. To read more, see Training under restriction tiers.

We’re taking comprehensive measures to ensure your health and well-being – fewer people in-class, you won’t sit next to another person, comprehensive cleaning. To read more, see Covid-19 measures.

You can participate in this course online, from your place of work or home, at a discounted price. To read about how this works, see Live online training.

Upcoming course dates

Accredited Illustrator training

Armada is an Adobe Authorised Training Centre (AATC), accredited by Adobe to provide Illustrator training.

Illustrator courses are hosted by Adobe Certified Instructors with vast experience of using the application professionally. For further details, see Expert trainers.

How will I learn?

Illustrator training is hands-on and practical.

Our trainers teach the necessary theory then demonstrate techniques step-by-step. You then practice the techniques taught on a computer running Illustrator.

There is plenty of time to ask questions, and you can take away all the files you create.

Illustrator training guide and certificate

Course delegates receive:

• A comprehensive training guide for Illustrator, to refer to throughout the course, and to use as a refresher afterwards.
• An e-certificate confirming successful completion of an Adobe‑accredited Illustrator training course. Click here to see an example of the certificate you receive.

After course support

Following Illustrator training, delegates are entitled to 30 days’ email support from their Illustrator trainer to help with any post-course issues. For further details, see Support.

Prerequisites

No prior Illustrator knowledge is necessary.

Illustrator version

Training is based primarily on Illustrator 2021. The techniques taught are relevant to all recent releases of Illustrator.

All Illustrator training is suitable for both Windows and Mac users.

Our guarantees to you

We offer:

• A price guarantee that you’re getting the best value for money.
• A training guarantee that you’ll learn the concepts and skills you need.

On-request Illustrator training available

Introduction to Illustrator training is available on-request, i.e. one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group, hosted at one of our centres, your venue or online.

On-request Illustrator training can be tailored to take into account any existing knowledge you have, and the work you’re going to be doing. Please contact us for a quote.

General information

Course times

9.30am–4.30pm.

Payment

Payment for Illustrator training can be made bank transfer or card.

We accept purchase orders from UK-registered companies and public sector organisations.

If you’re self-funding your training, you can pay in staged payments, interest-free, over 12 months.

For further details, see training course payment options.

Cancellations and transfers

You can cancel a booking on a scheduled training course, or transfer to a later course, without penalty providing you give us 10 working days’ notice. Any fees already paid will be refunded.

If you cancel a booking on a scheduled Introduction to Illustrator training course giving less than 10 working days’ notice, or request a transfer to a later course, a cancellation/transfer fee is payable. The fee charged depends on the notice period given. For details, see cancellation terms.

Different terms apply for the cancellation or postponement of an on-request course (one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group). For details, see course cancellations.

Terms and conditions

Training course bookings are subject to our terms and conditions.

Expert trainers

Introduction to Illustrator training courses are hosted by:

• Phil Talbot
• Lynne Telfer
• Mark Gatter
• Philip Odell
• Greta Powell
• Pete Owen

Phil Talbot

Phil works as an Adobe Design Specialist and Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI).

He has expert knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat, and uses all four applications extensively in his professional work.

Phil’s professional qualifications and extensive experience provide an ideal base to train delegates using blended learning techniques to improve the individuals’ and organisations’ capabilities.

He has worked with and trained many blue-chip organisations, including FTSE 100 companies, in a career spanning 25 years.

Lynne Telfer

Lynne Telfer is long-standing Adobe Certified Instructor with over 25 years’ experience working as a professional trainer.

In the late nineties, Lynne worked for Adobe as a trainer, hosting courses in FrameMaker and other applications at all levels for Adobe’s clients. She’s provided training in Adobe’s Technical Communication and Creative applications ever since. She has expert knowledge of:

• Adobe FrameMaker – both Unstructured and Structured use.
• Adobe RoboHelp.
• Adobe Creative Cloud applications. Lynne has expert knowledge of the key applications used for creative design: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat.
• Microsoft Office suite of applications, covering the mainstream applications Word, Excel and PowerPoint to advanced level.

Lynne has a BA Hons in Educational Practice from Oxford Brookes University.

Mark Gatter

Mark is an Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI) with expert knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effects, Premiere Pro and Acrobat.

Mark has specialised in all aspects of the digital pre-press process for over three decades, including 18 years in California, where he worked as the production manager for the biggest print shop in the north part of the state.

He began training in 1998, and he holds a teaching qualification.

He has published five books, which you’ll find on Amazon, covering topics relating to graphic design and polytunnel gardening, one of Mark’s interests when not delivering training.

Philip Odell

Philip is an Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI), specialising in Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat and FrameMaker.

Philip began his working life with Texas Instruments, before joining Adobe in 1995, where he worked for five years. Philip still has links with Adobe, manning their stands and carrying out presentations when they’re exhibiting in the UK.

For the last eighteen years, Philip has worked as a graphic design specialist, consultant and trainer. He continues to use Adobe applications extensively in his day-to-day professional work.

Greta Powell

Greta is long-established consultant and trainer in graphic design, print and digital publishing, specialising in Adobe’s key creative applications – InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator – and the Microsoft Office suite of applications.

She also specialises in e-learning development using an array of tools including Adobe’s Captivate and Presenter applications, and Articulate Storyline.

Greta has worked as a consultant to some of the biggest publishing companies in Europe.

Away from her training and consultancy work, Greta has a passion for photography.

Pete Owen

As a long-standing Adobe Certified Instructor, Pete has trained and facilitated individuals and teams from a wide range of industries from organisations including Coca Cola, Disney, Nestlé, Guinness and McDonald’s. expertise

Adobe applications in which Pete runs regular training courses include InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.

In his professional work, Pete has worked in the field of design across a broad range of media for many years. He has specialist knowledge in a wide range of topics including:

• Illustration: Pete is an award-wining illustrator.
• Author: Pete has designed, written and illustrated over twenty published traditional print books on a variety of subjects including graphic arts.
• Interactive media, mobile publishing and app development for tablets and smartphones.
• Website development.

Away from training, Pete spends as much time as possible indulging his passion for outdoor pursuits.

Course content

Introduction

• Interface – window/palettes/menus
• Bitmap vs vector graphics
• Resolution/print theory
• Locating help

Drawing basics

• New documents – document setup
• Basic shapes – rectangles/ellipses
• Viewing – preview/outline
• Object Stacking order
• Selecting and modifying shapes
• Colour – fills and strokes

Selections

• Selection and Direct select tools
• Magic Wand and Lasso selections

Simple drawing

• Shaper tool – ‘predictive’ drawing
• Pencil tool – freehand drawing
• Paintbrush and Blob brush tools
• Eraser/Scissors/Knife
• Curvature tool – simple, smooth, more accurate shapes

Drawing – pen tool

• Drawing with the pen tool
• Modify shapes – cut, join, align
• Alignment/smart guides
• Drawing using guides
• Drawing over a template

Transformations

• Free transform tool
• Cutting/joining paths

Fills and textures

• Colour theory – RGB/CMYK
• Colours – creating, editing, sharing Spot colours – Pantone™
• Creating Patterns Creating Gradients
• Libraries – sharing/accessing various elements throughout Illustrator and CC

Transformations

• Free Transform tool
• Scale, rotate, reflect and shear tools
• Repeating transformations

Editing

• Grouping/Locking/Visibility
• Isolation mode
• Edit colours throughout a graphic

Symbols

• Symbols – updateable graphics Modifying symbols

Layers

• Introduction to layers
• Controlling layers – viewing/locking/printing
• Exporting layers – to InDesign, Acrobat and Photoshop

Saving and file formats

• Saving – file types – ai, eps, pdf…
• Exporting – file types
• Share on behance – online showcase

Preferences

• Configuring preferences – units, increments, grids/guides, interface…

New artboards

• Artboard tool – rotating/moving/resizing

Styling

• Brushes – art/scatter/calligraphic/bristle/ pattern
• Effects – Applying editable effects as bitmap or vector

Type

• Type characteristics – size/leading/tracking…
• Point and area type tools
• Importing type
• Threading text boxes
• Text wrap
• Outlining type – pros and cons
• Touch type tool – adjust individual letters

Clipping masks

• Masking objects – draw inside and Clipping Masks

Tracing

• Image Trace – vectorising bitmap images
• Live Paint – quicker painting for areas

Combining shapes

• Compound paths Shapebuilder tool
• Pathfinder – combine several shapes

Live online training

Live online training lets you participate in a real Illustrator course from your place of work or home.

We do everything possible to make your online training experience as close as possible to actually being in the classroom. You can:

• See and hear our trainer, and see the other delegates participating in the Illustrator training…
  
• Interact by speaking, using chat, or raising your ‘virtual hand’ if you need assistance.
• Share your screen with our trainer, and allow them to control it to demonstrate something.

We endeavour to provide you with the best online training experience…

• Online Introduction to Illustrator courses are presented by Adobe Certified Instructors, following the same syllabus as our classroom-based courses.
• You receive comprehensive training materials.
• Your training is hands-on. You carry out assisted exercises using Illustrator.
• If you don’t have access to Illustrator software, we’ll send you a link to fully-functional trial software that you can download and install.
• You’re entitled to 30 days’ email support from your trainer.

When you attend live online training, you’re participating in a real course, hosted by a real trainer, in real time.

All you need is an internet-connected computer and a webcam – see Hardware recommendations for live online training. The setup is simple, but if there’s anything you’re not sure about we’re here to help.

For a limited time, we’re offering discounts for bookings on live online courses.

Discounts and bundles

To make your Illustrator training as affordable as possible, we offer:

• A discounted Illustrator training bundle.
• A range of training discounts on our scheduled (public) Illustrator training courses.
• A price guarantee that you won’t get Illustrator training for less.

Illustrator training bundle

Book classroom-based courses in:

• Introduction to Illustrator (2 days), and
• Advanced Illustrator (1 day)

for £495 + VAT (classroom-based) or £375 + VAT (live online training), saving £45 + VAT in both cases.

The bundle price will be applied automatically when you add these two courses to your basket.

Training discounts

Multiple places

If you book multiple places on any courses, we can offer you:

• 10% discount if you book two places.
• 15% discount if you book three or four places.
• 20% discount if you book five or more places.

This can be for several people attending one course, one person attending several courses, or a combination.

These discounts are available for both classroom-based courses and live online training.

Concessions

We offer a 10% discount on scheduled Illustrator course places to:

• Students, teachers and lecturers.
• People who work for a registered charity.
• ISTC members.

These discounts are available for both classroom-based courses and remote training.

Please call us if you qualify for a discount. Evidence of your status that entitles you to a discount may be requested.

Terms and exclusions

Only one of the above discounts can be applied to any booking.

The above discounts are not available for on-request course bookings (one-to-one training or a ‘closed course’ for your group).

Price guarantee

When you book training with Armada, we want you to be certain that you’re not paying over-the-odds. So, if you book a place on any scheduled (public) course and then find the same course at a lower price elsewhere, we will match that price.

To qualify for the price match:

• The course you find must be comparable. By this we mean it must:
  • Cover the same subject.
  • Be the same duration or longer.
  • Hold the same accreditations as our course, i.e. it must be provided by an Adobe Authorised Training Centre (AATC).
  • For classroom-based courses, be in the same region, i.e. within 50 miles of our centre.
  • For online training, be a live course, i.e. not pre-prepared e-learning content.
• The lower price must be advertised on the other company’s website.

To claim a price match, just call any time before attending your course and tell us where you saw the price.