Illustrator CS4 For Dummies

Adobe Illustrator is the gold standard for creating exciting, color-rich artwork for print, the Web, or even mobile devices. Whether you’re stepping up to Illustrator CS4 or tackling Illustrator for the first time, you’ll find Illustrator CS4 For Dummies is the perfect partner.

This full-color guide gives you the scoop on the newest tools, tips on color control and path editing, ways to organize graphics, and how to get your work into print or on the Web. You’ve heard Illustrator is a bit complicated? That’s why you need this friendly For Dummies book! It shows you how to:

• Manage Illustrator CS4’s many tools, commands, and palettes
• Decide when to choose RGB over CMYK and how to get perfect color when printing
• Compare path and pixel documents, adjust points on a path, and learn to use the versatile Pen and Pencil tools
• Use the Character and Paragraph palettes and get creative with type on a path
• Work in pixel preview mode, create Web-specific vector graphics, and use Flash with Illustrator
• Set up your pages for printing and work with separations, or save files in Web-friendly formats
• Create basic shapes, straight lines, and precise curves, then bring it all together into eye-popping artwork
• Organize with the Layers palette, tweak color, and make the most of styles and effects
• Use Illustrator together with other elements of the Adobe Creative Suite

With plain-English instructions and colorful examples of what you can achieve, Illustrator CS4 For Dummies will make you an Illustrator pro in no time.

Have more fun and get more done with Illustrator — here's how to free your creativity!

Illustrator is the artist's choice for creating spectacular graphics, and here's the fast and easy way to get up to speed on all the coolest features. This full-color guide gives you the scoop on the newest tools; tips on color control and path editing; ways to organize graphics; and how to create for print, the Web, or mobile devices.

• Colorful choices — learn when to choose RGB instead of CMYK and how to get perfect color when printing
• Follow the path — compare path and pixel documents, adjust points on a path, and learn to use the versatile Pen and Pencil tools
• Just your type — use the Character and Paragraph panels and get creative with type on a path
• The artistic Web — work in pixel preview mode, create Web-specific vector graphics, and use Flash® with Illustrator
• Get it out there — set up your pages for printing and work with separations, or save files in Web-friendly formats

Open the book and find:

• How to work with Illustrator's panels and menus
• The newest tools and how to use them
• Ways to create basic shapes and bring them together
• Simple steps for tweaking color
• How to create straight lines and precise curves
• What to do with styles and effects
• How to organize with the Layers panel
• How Illustrator works with the rest of Adobe's Creative Suite

Ted Alspach is considered a leading authority on the history, use, and functionality of Adobe® Illustrator. He has written more than 30 books on graphics, design, and desktop publishing.