Adobe Illustrator CS5

[dkelley]

Can someone recommend a book to learn Adobe Illustrator CS5 for someone who knows nothing about the software

 

[Al Ferrari]

Software training online-tutorials for Adobe, Microsoft, Apple & more

and please do not double post.

Al

 

[Tpyo]

Lynda.com Rocks! Even small companies would do well to invest in a subscription for employee knowledge upkeep.

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

What angle are you approaching it from and how self motivated are you? There are some key concepts that can be tricky to get into, as stated above Lynda.com is great, also check out tv.adobe.com and fridays.mordy.com.

If you want to learn how to create Von Glitchka, Vector basic training (VBT) is a great designer approach.
If you want to be able to tackle different kinds of jobs Sharon Streuer, Illustrator WOW book is loaded with case studies that you can "postmortem"
If you want a reference that will tell you what and why RealWorld Illustrator (and rwillustrator.com blogg)

Otherwise for a general easy to follow tour of what the software is, that will let you get to grips with basic skills Class Room in a Book is still a great self study course.

 

[pnamajck]

personally . . . i teach myself "trial-n-error".

problems come up whenever adobe decides to re-engineer their ui (user-interface).

what once was copy-paste-click . . . now ends you up at dead-zero.

adobe calls it "progress" . . . o-k-a-y .

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

It is hard to develop anything and everyone is happy with the change. There are long discussions before things change and since you can add your own shortcuts, I don't really see the big problem. I have taught Illustrator basics to hundreds and it does have a steep learning curve, and I think that even if it is possible to be self taught (I was the first 10 frustrating years I used Illustrator, then I read the manual cover to cover… today I have 4 books only from the current version to be sure I know it inside out)

 

[David Milisock]

Exactly what are you looking to do with the software?

 

[PrintingFools]

Help with Adobe Illustrator CS5:

(1) The new cs5 has a setting to display the work area like photoshop. If you already are familiar with photoshop then I think for beginners this will be a huge help.
(2) As other posts have mentioned , I too think that the Lydia series of training videos are the way to go. You can watch many of the videos on youtube. This will help to get an idea before you buy the classes. I think what you could learn from a BOOK in an hour....you could probably pick up from a video in 15 minutes.
(3)Teaching Yourself: really is fun and trial and error can teach you a lot. Download a vector file to play with. you can get many great vector files on the net for free. If you are looking for a very professional file...go to a site called graphicriver .
(4) AI CS5 Usage: Do your self a favor and design all of your signage,banners and logos in adobe illustrator.
This is best for you and your customer

Please feel free to contact us email us with any questions. We are a design and commercial print shop....and use all of the cs5 programs on both PC and MAC . We also do a lot of design work for other printing companies.

Red Line Design and Printing Las Vegas, Same Day Printing, redlinelv.com

 

[berylberyl]

Hahaha, yup, I agree with you

personally . . . i teach myself "trial-n-error".

problems come up whenever adobe decides to re-engineer their ui (user-interface).

what once was copy-paste-click . . . now ends you up at dead-zero.

adobe calls it "progress" . . . o-k-a-y .

 

[printchesco]

You may also want to check out online resources. For me, video tutorials are easier to follow.

 

[mjlake]

Hi dkelly!

For starters, I recommend that you watch online video tutorials. There are lots of them over the Internet. Also, check out the adobe website. Adobe TV has lots of "getting started" videos that covers the basics,"what's new" videos for illustrator 5's new feats and some advanced technique tutorials for advanced illustrator application.

 

[printchesco]

If you ever change your mind about the book and opt for more readily available information instead, here's a list of tutorials that can help you. 35+ Excellent Adobe Illustrator Tutorials - DesignModo

 

[pnamajck]

and . . . just when you become totally enveloped within illustrator_cs5 . . . cs6 will, supposedly, be releasing this next week.

Adobe Creative Cloud and Creative Suite 6 Launch

 

[Lukas Engqvist]

If you learn CS5 it it will not be a problem with CS5, all the energy you put into 5 will be well invested.