Chabot College
Fall 2003
Course Outline for Architecture 32A
ILLUSTRATOR I
(See also Art 32A, Interior Design 32A, Photography 32A)
Catalog Description:
32A -Illustrator I
1.5 units
Introduction to the use of Illustrator, Adobe’s powerful vector-based software for digital illustration.
Emphasis on the basics of drawing with the shapes, pen and pencil, transformation and liquefy tools.
Palettes for the control of layers, colors, patterns and gradients. Methods for the creative application
of text to images. May not receive credit if Art 32A, Interior Design 32A, or Photography 32A has
been completed. 1 hour lecture, 2 hours studio.
Prerequisite Skills:
None
Expected Outcomes for Students:
Upon completion of the course the student should be able to:
1. use basic Apple Macintosh operating system features, including navigation of the desktop, saving
and moving files to various storage media, and adjusting system preferences
2. launch the Illustrator (AI) software, navigate its interface, locate and turn on AI’s toolbox and
palettes, and apply short-cut key commands and dialog boxes;
3. create, save and close a new Document;
4. distinguish the difference between raster (Bitmap) and vector (Object-oriented) images;
5. summarize the basic components of a path and path selections, and create paths with a variety
of tools including: rectangle tool, ellipse tool, polygon tool, star tool, line segment tool, arc tool,
spiral tool, grid tool;
6. move and modify the shape of a path;
7. draw and manipulate Bézier path curves with the pen and pencil tool, and control the quantity and
handles of anchor points;
8. control of stroke widths;
9. arrange multiple elements by applying tools to control stacking order, object grouping,
locking/unlocking objects, hiding/showing artwork;
10. place text in a document by use of the Type Tools, formatting of character- and paragraph-based
attributes;
11. apply rulers, grids, & guides, change the artboard specifications, create crop marks, and create a
custom startup file;
12. discuss color theory fundamentals, including color modes, color selection, swatch libraries and
palettes;
13. use gradients and pattern tools and palettes;
14. apply layer fundamentals, including creating, naming, ordering, showing/hiding,
locking/unlocking.
Chabot College
Course Outline for Architecture 32A, Page 2
Fall 2003
Course Content:
1. Apple Macintosh operating system basics
2. The Adobe Illustrator (AI) interface, including use of dialog boxes, palettes, toolbox, and short-cut
key commands
3. Creating, saving, and closing documents
4. Raster (Bitmap) versus vector (Object-oriented) images
5. Path components, selection, and creation using various tools including: rectangle, ellipse,
polygon, star, arc, spiral, and grid tools
6. Shape modification
7. Drawing Bézier path curves with the pen and pencil tools
8. Controlling stroke widths
9. Multiple element control including the stacking order, object grouping, locking/unlocking objects,
hiding/showing artwork
10. Text placement and character- and paragraph- formatting
11. Rulers, Grids, & Guides, changing the artboard specifications, creating crop marks, and creating
a custom startup file
12. Color fundamentals, including color modes, selection, swatch libraries and palettes
13. Gradients and patterns
14. Layer fundamentals, including creating, naming, ordering, showing/hiding, locking/unlocking
15. Objects transformation, including moving, scaling, rotating, reflecting, slanting, twisting, offsetting
a path, averaging and joining anchor points, creating compound paths, using the knife tool, use
of the pathfinder palette
16. Aligning and distributing objects
Methods of Presentation:
1. Computer demonstrations
2. Lecture with white board
Assignments and Methods of Evaluating Student Progress:
1. Typical Assignments
a. Create a drawing file in black and white demonstrating an ability to create straight, curved,
open, closed, and compound paths
b. Create a drawing file with grouped objects
c. Create a drawing file using the rectangle, ellipse, polygon, star, arc, spiral tools
d. Create a drawing file with a clearly organized layer set of layers
e. Create a drawing file demonstrating control of various text and paragraph tools
f. Create a drawing file using colors, gradients and pre-packaged palette patterns
g. Create a drawing file demonstrating proficiency manipulating drawing entities, including
scaling, rotating, reflecting, slanting, twisting, offsetting a path, averaging and joining anchor
points, creating compound paths, using the knife tool, use of the pathfinder palette
h. Create a final project using a majority of the drawing elements studied in this course.
2. Methods of Evaluating Student Progress
a. Quizzes, final examination
Textbook(s) (typical):
Adobe Illustrator 10 – A Step-by-step Approach, Joanne Saliger & Ginny McDonald, Morton
Publishing Company, 2003
Special Student Materials:
1. 100 Mb ‘Zip’ disks
G:Curriculum/291186306
TS:kh Revised: 1/14/03