There are 12 units of study

Equipment and Studio

Have you ever wondered what kind of tools you would need to become an artist? Going into an art store can sometimes be overwhelming, so in our first lesson, we're going to take a look at the basic tools and supplies an artist needs for various projects. After you understand the tool set, you'll be prepared to confidently go to your local art store and start experimenting with supplies!

Basics of Drawing

With your art supplies in hand, it's time you get a firm understanding of drawing basics. Today, we're going to look at the importance of the silhouette and the outlining shape. When beginning to draw, it's so important that you understand the shapes you look at and how to put them onto paper. You'll also learn an amazingly fun one-eye drawing trick!

Drawing from Life and Photographs

In this lesson, we'll go over the two major components of drawing for the beginner. You'll find that the first challenge you're faced with is drawing from things you see. This is, after all, how we all learn to draw. You'll gain lots of great tips on how to draw what you see, how to set up scenes for photographs, and much more.

Lighting and Shading

Did you know that there are five forms of light? That's right! Today you'll learn how to illuminate the scene and change the mood all at once. We'll go over lighting and shading so you'll have all the knowledge a beginning artist needs when learning how to sketch (and more). Have you ever drawn a picture and realized that it looked quite flat? Well, that might be because you never added light to your images. So today we'll look at how to add light, and more importantly, shading!

Perspective: Unraveling the Mystery

Perspective has always been a necessity for anyone drawing pictures with depth. If you wanted to draw a set of buildings and have the viewer looking down the road, how would you do it? One, two, and even three-point perspective is how! In today's lesson, you'll learn how to find the horizon line, create depth in your page, and even find the vanishing points of your lines.

Rendering Techniques

It's time to make a spoon "feel" like a spoon and a rock "feel" like a rock. When you're drawing objects, it's important to create the sense of realism with line work. So in this lesson, we'll go over some important rendering techniques that will give you a jump start toward understanding gradation, line weight, and stylization. All of which will get you on the road to finding your own style and creative expression.

Layout and Design

It's all about telling your story! If you see a drawing of a big arrow pointing to the right, you'd probably look to the right, wouldn't you? In today's discussion on layout and design, we'll look at what it takes to persuade your audience to look at certain spots on your images at particular times without a big arrow. Sounds tough, doesn't it? Well, I'm going to show you some great methods and proven techniques for controlling everything you draw.

Landscape and City Rendering

It's time to put your skills to the test! In this lesson, we'll work up an entire scene with thumbnails then begin working on a first draft. Our discussion on creating landscapes will help you gain confidence in your skills that you've been working on up to this point. We'll also look at how to render your scenes with realistic lighting and shading while keeping the flow entertaining and informative.

Introduction to Color

Do pink and blue go together? Great question! What about the shadow color on an apple? What's the compliment to green? Creating images in color requires taking your artistic understanding to a whole new level. Today's lesson on color composition will be one of the most exciting and rewarding lessons in your art education!

Techno/Futuristic Drawing

In this lesson, I'm going to walk you through the future. That's right—we're going to look at and draw the techno future. You know those cool robots in movies and orbital vehicles flying around in space? Well, after you complete this lesson, you'll have a great understanding of how to create your very own future.

Introduction to Animals

Today's lesson is a great chance to get up close and personal with animals because it's packed full of measurements, proportions, and basic shapes for many of the animals around you. You'll be using a lot of what you've learned from the previous lessons in this course in order to bring your animal together. We'll also look at step-by-step techniques and sketches you can use to help draw monkeys and other crazy animals. It's time to stop monkeying around and start drawing!

Creating Things on Your Own

In our final lesson, we'll explore the human brain and how it functions to create art, memorizing and interpreting the world around you and keeping everything slightly straight in the process. Today, you're going to take those images and thoughts in your head and put them down on paper for everyone to see and enjoy!

There are 12 units of study

Module 1 : Introducing Photoshop

Your journey begins. Whether you're an aspiring graphic artist or a weekend photographer, Photoshop can take you to your photographs to amazing places. Even if you've never touched Photoshop before, you will be able to open, edit, and save files before this lesson ends.

Module 2 : Choosing Colors and Painting

Did you like playing with paints as a child? In this lesson, you will discover how enjoyable it can be to paint in Photoshop. You will find out how Photoshop "thinks" about color and how you can use the brushes inside Photoshop to make a simple landscape.

Module 3 : More Brush Tools

Zoom, Scrubby Zoom, Airbrush, Eraser, Smudge: do you know what these tools and commands mean in Photoshop? In this lesson, you will find out how to navigate your image, so you can edit and paint more effectively. You will also learn how to erase, blur, smudge, and finger paint.

Module 4 : Colorizing Images

Have you seen ads or greeting cards where most of the image is in black and white but one part's in color? You will find out how to create that effect in this lesson. You will be amazed at how easy it is to transform images from color into black and white or even old-fashioned sepia.

Module 5 : Making and Saving Rectangular and Oval Selections

Photoshop needs directions if you want to lift something out of an image. The Photoshop name for pointing is “selection.” In this lesson, you will learn the critical skill of making selections. And if you don't like the selection you just made, you will get help from the Refine Edge command.

Module 6 : Using Additional Selection Tools

Photoshop has some great selection tools, but they may have trouble selecting exactly what you had in mind. In this lesson, you will learn to use the Lasso, Magic Wand, and Quick Selection tools to make the exact selections you want as you practice putting two images together.

Module 7 : Creating and Customizing Brushes

You can paint in Photoshop—even if the only thing you can do with paint in "real life" is spill it. Photoshop lets you create fabulous brushes from images and customize them in many ways. You can create your own work of art just by using brushstrokes.

Module 8 : Discovering Gradients

Gradients are fountains of color. One of the current trends in photography is to colorize areas of a photo with a gradient. You can spend hundreds of dollars buying gradient-colored stock photos—or just use what you learn in this lesson to create them yourself.

Module 9 : Setting Type and Adding Effects to Text

Whether you want to add type to a scrapbooking layout, make large type for display, or learn a little bit about Photoshop's Layer Styles, you will enjoy this lesson. You will try your hand at making type that warps, wiggles, and follows a path, and then you will practice with your own text.

Module 10 : Setting Image Resolution and Image Sizes for Input and Output

In this lesson, you will learn how to size your images for printing or for the Web. You will find out how to scan an image so it's large enough for your needs, but not too large, and how to crop images that have more than you really want to see.

Module 11 : Fixing Images

This lesson introduces the three R's of photo manipulation: restoring, retouching, and rearranging. You will be amazed by what you can do—and you will understand why the phrase "pictures don’t lie" is no longer true. You will also discover how to use the Clone Stamp panel and "preview" feature.

Module 12 : Correcting Exposure, Color, and Tonal Value

Are some of your images overexposed or underexposed? In this lesson, learn how to correct exposures and colors to make them more attractive and truer to life. Photoshop can't work miracles all the time, but if you have an image that's a bit too dark or a bit too light, you can fix it up so it looks perfect.

There are 12 units of study

Building an Image

Even if you're an absolute beginner, you'll feel right at home after we spend this first lesson touring Adobe Illustrator CS6's work area, toolbox, and panels. We'll jump right into some of Illustrator's fun features by auto-tracing a drawing, turning parts of it into a Live Paint Object (think of a digital coloring book), and recoloring it. As you meet each new feature, you'll learn more about what it is and what it does.

Precise Layout Skills and Tools

Today you'll discover Illustrator's shape tools, which are the first step on your gentle journey toward using the all-important Pen tool. Get ready to draw shapes and combine them to form illustrations.

Using Color

Now that you've learned to create shapes, it's time to start playing with color. In today's lesson, you'll discover how to create your own colors, save them, and apply them. You'll also learn about the fabulous Recolor Artwork command and see how you can create and save color harmonies. After this lesson, you'll have a consultant that's always there to advise you on what colors work together.

Editing Anchor Points

Illustrator's magic comes from the anchor points that control all the shapes in an image. Today you'll learn to alter the anchor points on geometric objects and previously created shapes, so you can mold the results into something new.

Introducing the Pen Tool

The Pen tool is the basic instrument for creating vector art, and today you'll learn to use it. You already know what corner points and smooth points are and how to edit them; now you'll learn how to create them with the Pen tool as you trace over a template. You can do all your editing with the Pen tool once you understand its features . . . and you'll discover all the tricks today.

Advanced Drawing With the Pen Tool

Now that you know how to trace and flip symmetrical objects, it's time to try your new skills with more challenging images. Not all images are symmetrical, and not all images consist of only one object. You need to learn how to trace multiple objects in one image and manage the Layers panel as you lock and unlock layers. You'll also learn a suggested workflow for tracing and simplifying photographic content in Illustrator.

Effects, Strokes, and the Appearance Panel

The Appearance panel is your central monitoring station for making changes to fills, strokes, and effects. Today you'll learn to create strokes that look hand-drawn or have varying widths—even when you're using a mouse. You'll apply multiple strokes and fills to objects and create Illustrator effects that you can change at any time.

Working With Shape Gradients

Gradients are Illustrator's version of an airbrush that can lay down smooth blends of color. You can use gradients on objects (shapes) for backgrounds or for shading. Once you know how to create your own gradients, you can add realism to any image.

Shading in Illustrator

One of the key problems for Illustrator users is getting realistic shading into vector objects. The Gradient tool helps, but it has limitations. In the lesson, you'll create realistic blends, use a gradient mesh, and use gradients on strokes rather than on objects to create some amazing effects.

Spirals, Symbols, and 3-D

Did you know that you can change any set of objects (even an embedded raster image) into a symbol? And once you have a symbol, you can apply it to any drawing you want with a single click. This process makes your image reusable and saves storage space. Today you'll create stroke gradient curls to finish the work from Lesson 9, which will show you how turning the object into a symbol can speed up Illustrator's performance. You'll also use symbols to decorate 3-D objects.

Patterns and Pattern Brushes

Patterns are everywhere you look—from the tissue box on your desk to your favorite flannel pj's. And Illustrator CS6's pattern design engine is its most exciting new feature. Now Illustrator makes it easy to create complex patterns without detailed knowledge of pattern design. And even more important—it's incredibly fun! Just like when you're eating peanuts, you won't want to stop. You'll continue the fun by using the patterns as the basis for pattern brushes.

Typography and Design

What font would you use to create type that looks like it belongs to Marilyn Monroe? Today you'll explore the basics of typography while you learn to use the Type tool. You'll discover how to fill a shape with text and how to flow text along paths and around shapes.

There are 12 units of study

Getting up to Speed With InDesign CC
If you've worked with InDesign for a while now, you probably know there's much more to the program than you use regularly—if you only knew about it! And there's probably ways to work more efficiently, if only you had the time to figure them out! There are probably a lot of great projects you could be working on, if you knew how to start! How about creating a booklet for your employee orientation? Or some multilayered effects to take your newsletter to the next level? If this describes you, then get ready for some intensive learning! We'll spend this first lesson exploring some time-saving InDesign features as we dig into the first project: a master style sheet you'll develop and use throughout the course.

Creating a Multipurpose Template
You know that the better organized you are, the easier it is to get your work done. You're going to delve into more organizing in this lesson. You'll start by defining your own workspace in InDesign, tailoring it to how you like to find and access tools and features. Picking up from where you left off in Lesson 1, you're going to make a library from the images you assembled in the first lesson, and our business logo. Then we'll get started on a multiuse template for our resort, using various InDesign features to save time and add consistency to our publications.

Using Multiple Pages and Page Sizes in a Document
Master pages are one of the most important tools in your InDesign toolkit. In today's lesson, you'll finish the basic template for our resort business. You'll create multiple Master pages you can quickly apply for different projects. You'll see how to use the multiple page size feature in InDesign CC to build letterhead and an envelope for our business, using the Library and other time-saving features in InDesign.

Applying Specialized Layout Features
Have you ever seen publications using features like text wraps that add a professional touch? That's what you're doing in this lesson. You're going to start from an existing publication containing the images and text sitting on the pasteboard. Then comes the fun! First, you'll see how to adjust image sizes and locations. You'll work with different types of text wraps to control how the text flows on the page—and you don't have to be an illustrator to do it! Then you'll learn how to attach a small graphic to text to give the headings in the project some extra pizzazz.

Working With Double-Page Spreads and Facing Pages
There are usually several ways to do the same task in InDesign, and there's often one method that's more advanced than others. In this lesson, you'll dig into some of the ways you can design features to help you work faster and smarter. You'll learn how to use facing pages and double-page spreads as you create part of the guest room guide for our example business. Along the way, you'll work with several character styles and create a nested style to apply several styles at one time in the same paragraph. Then you'll see how to build and use an object style.

Designing With Tables and Custom Template Layouts
Tables aren't just for pages of data! In this lesson, you'll build a folding tent card to display special menu items for the resort. You'll use a custom template, like the ones you'd download from a print shop. You'll see how to convert text into a table, and how to style the table and its contents using colors you sample from the project's logo. Since the project includes a folded page, you'll see how to flip content and the spreads so that you can produce the finished product—without trying to read upside down!

Constructing a Book Publication
If you've ever wondered how a book comes together, this lesson will answer all your questions. You'll build an employee handbook using several documents combined into a book file. You'll learn how to coordinate the appearance of the content in all the files by setting one file as the style source. Then you'll work your way through the files to make sure they conform to the styles. You'll work with page numbering and headers, and finally create a table of contents to guide your readers through your masterpiece.

Organizing and Merging Data
Have you ever had to do a boring mail merge where you plug fields from one table into a boilerplate letter? Well, that's what you're doing today. But this isn't your usual type of mail merge! Yes, you're going to use fields from a source table and merge them into fields in an InDesign document—but wait until you see the document! Rather than a letter, you're going to work with a photo cube template and make a snazzy invitation to the opening of ArtSpace, the new gallery at The Ferns. You'll work with a table of merge data and use metadata from images you place in the photo cube to automatically add captions to the project.

Producing an Interactive PDF Document
You know about using InDesign to create all sorts of wonderful print publications from brochures to newsletters. But did you know InDesign has a whole category of features designed for interactive documents, too? You're going to assemble a new file quickly from parts brought in from other documents. Then you'll organize the items and content on the page to make it easier to add interactive content. Once everything is in place, you'll add hyperlinks and buttons to create a snazzy RSVP document and export it from InDesign as a PDF file.

Handling Color and Transparency in a Publication
There's nothing like color to add interest to your publications. There's nothing worse than having problems printing color. In this lesson, you'll start a two-part adventure into color. You'll learn how to calibrate your monitor—the first step in using color confidently. Then you'll see how to work with a Color Management System in Adobe Bridge used across all your Adobe products for consistency. Finally, you'll get into a new InDesign project. You'll be designing a brochure for the wedding services at The Ferns. You'll work with multiple objects and project components and learn about transparency and how to apply it for the most impact.

Printing Color Documents
What's the big deal about printing a color document? Well, as you'll find out today, there's a lot more to printing color than making sure you have paper in your printer. We'll dig into the Printing and Proofing workspace and check out what it has to offer. You'll learn about using transparency flattening to make sure your color pages and images print the way you want, and then try some test prints. You'll learn how to evaluate your document using a preflight profile and how to work with color separations and overprint previews. You'll work with spot colors and discover how to produce a two-color publication. Many high-end projects need to go to a print shop, and you'll discover how to package up your files for the printer.

Producing Multiple Document Versions and EPUBs
In this lesson, we'll start by exploring ways to produce content for different-sized digital devices by using alternate layouts and layout rules. Then you'll work with text and images from Alice in Wonderland to build an EPUB. You'll learn a lot about what does and doesn't work in an EPUB, and work with best practices for producing different types of EPUB documents. You'll create both reflowable and fixed layout EPUB publications.

There are 12 units of study

Meet Lightroom!
In our first lesson, we'll take some time to be sure you're comfortable with the way the online classroom works, downloading images for class, and where things are in Lightroom. You'll learn how to create an organizational system that works with Lightroom and keeps your images easily available to you. With Lightroom's import tools, you'll be able to add keywords to images and add personalized metadata for easy searches and Internet security.
    
Learn About Libraries
As we continue our discussion about libraries and importing images to Lightroom, you'll be pleased to see how many options you have! In this lesson, we'll discuss shortcuts for photographers working with Lightroom and several different ways to speed up the import process. We'll also explore a variety of methods to add keywords and use them to search and sort your images. By the end of this lesson, you'll have all the tools you need to import, categorize, and sort images for a clean start to managing your images.

Quick Fixes
Today we'll explore how Lightroom works behind the scenes—something you'll want to know as we move into developing or making changes to your images with Lightroom. With an understanding of how the Library module works for importing, organizing, and exporting images, you're ready to work with Lightroom's Quick Develop tools. In this lesson, you'll see how to make quick changes, not just to one image, but to groups and large batches of images. This is just the beginning of our journey through Lightroom's Develop tools. You'll also learn how to work with multiple images and make virtual copies—all part of Lightroom's quick and easy developing tools.
        
Shapes and Sizes
Today, we'll begin our exploration of the Develop module and the many tools for editing and adjusting images. You'll have lots of hands-on practice with tools for straightening, rotating, and cropping images. It may seem like a straightforward subject, but Lightroom has many variations, so you can perfect both the shape and the size of your images. You may prefer to straighten based on a horizon in the image, or by fine-tuning the alignment against a grid. You can crop to a variety of different preset shapes, create your own custom shape, or crop by hand. You'll be pleased with the results!

The Right Light
Color is an integral part of the perfect print, and it's important to see how Lightroom helps you adjust your overall color tone and lighting with several sophisticated tools. In today's lesson, you'll see how to pick the best white balance for your images, use a histogram to adjust the light, and find and correct problem areas with exposure clippings. These changes may be simple, but the right color and lighting bring your pictures to life, and you'll want to start the development process with these adjustments!

The Right  Color
With today's lesson, we'll complete our study of the Basic panel, and you'll have quite a collection of tools at your disposal from the Develop module. We'll focus on color today, and you'll see how a subtle adjustment can clear away muted tones. We'll work with contrast, shadows, highlights, saturation, vibrance, and more. We'll also use the new Radial Filter tool. You may not know exactly what each of these does as we begin, but you'll find it's easy to experiment until you like what you see—and before you know it, you'll master the tools!

Sharp and Clear!
Next in our study of Lightroom, you'll have fun seeing the difference when you sharpen an image. Photographers work hard to shoot crisp images, but at times . . . things don't go as planned, and you'll be able to put the snap back into your images with Lightroom's tools. We'll work with sharpening and noise-reduction tools today, and then you'll see how to apply any of the editing options to batches of images, bringing Lightroom's two best features together. It just gets better and better!

To Sync or Not to Sync?
We'll continue our discussion on synchronizing or copying changes from one image to many in this lesson. But not all changes are meant to be copied, and you'll work with several tools like Red Eye Correction, Spot Removal, and the Adjustment Brush so that you can see how Lightroom corrects subtle issues in selected areas. This lesson will wrap up our study of the editing tools in Lightroom, and you won't be disappointed!

Exporting
We've taken the first few weeks to see how to import images to Lightroom and develop them with an amazing array of tools. Now it's time to see what we can do with these images outside of Lightroom. Today's lesson is on exporting Lightroom's images, and you'll see that there are many options for size, shape, and further editing. Whether you're working with raw or JPEG, Lightroom will efficiently process your images, save your changes, and provide you images you can upload to printers, create scrapbooks with, or use with Adobe's companion products: Photoshop and Photoshop Elements.
    
Printing
In today's lesson, you'll see how to use Lightroom's Print module to create a variety of output options. Whether you print at home or send your images out to print, Lightroom has a number of menus you'll want to be familiar with. You'll see how to print single images, create contact sheets, and customize layouts for many purposes. Once you've mastered the Print module, you'll be ready to print with all the advantages of using Lightroom.

Rating and Collecting
Today we'll go back to the organizational side of Lightroom and see how to rate images with star ratings and color labels, and we'll also look at how to create collections. With all these tools, you'll be able to categorize and find things with very little effort, especially if you're using Lightroom's facial recognition feature! You'll see how to use Lightroom as a fast tool for locating images and moving forward in your workflow. You can work simply with Quick Collection and Target Collection, or you can create a sophisticated network of your own collections!

Slideshows
In our last lesson, we'll show off a bit with Lightroom's slideshow and identity plates. You'll see how to create both a PDF presentation and an MP4 Slideshow with music and special effects from your Lightroom collections. You'll also build an Identity Plate that you can use both in printing and presentations. With all the things you've learned in Lightroom, this is a great way to share your images with friends, family, and clients!