Adobe Illustrator 8 Classroom in a Book, 1st edition
Authors: Adobe Creative Team, Adobe Development Team
Venue:  (1998)

From the Book:Adobe&reg; Illustrator&reg; is the industry-standard illustration program for print, multimedia, and online graphics. Whether you are a designer or technical illustrator producing artwork for print publishing, an artist producing multimedia graphics, or a creator of Web pages or online content, the Adobe Illustrator program offers you the tools you need to get professional- quality results. About Classroom in a Book Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Classroom in a Book&reg; is part of the official training series for Adobe graphics and publishing software developed by experts at Adobe Systems. The lessons are designed to let you learn at your own pace. If you're new to Adobe Illustrator, you'll learn the fundamental concepts and features you'll need to master the program. If you've been using Adobe Illustrator for a while, you'll find Classroom in a Book teaches many advanced features, including tips and techniques for using the latest version of Adobe Illustrator. Although each lesson provides step-by-step instructions for creating a specific project, there's room for exploration and experimentation. You can follow the book from start to finish or do only the lessons that correspond to your interests and needs, Each lesson concludes with a review section summarizing what you've covered. Prerequisites Before beginning to use Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Classroom in a Book, you should have a working knowledge of your computer and its operating system. Make sure you know how to use the mouse and standard menus and commands and also how to open, save, and close files. If you need to review these techniques, see the printed or onlinedocumentation included with your system. Checking system requirements Before you begin using Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Classroom in a Book, make sure that your system is set up correctly. To use Adobe Illustrator, you need the following hardware and software: A hard drive with at least 50 MB of free space. You'll need additional disk space if you work with very large image files. At least 32 MB of random-access memory (RAM) (for Mac OS, with 20 MB must be available to Adobe Illustrator). A CD-ROM drive. For the best performance, Adobe Systems recommends the following hardware and software: 95 MB of hard disk space. 64 MB or more of RAM. A 24-bit (millions of colors) video display card. A PostScript&reg; printer. Adobe Illustrator performance improves with more RAM, faster CPUs, and faster and larger hard disk drives. For the latest system requirements, see the Read Me file in the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 folder. ? For information on technical support and troubleshooting, see "Troubleshooting" in online Help or Appendix B in the Adobe Illustrator User Guide. Windows system requirements A Pentium or faster Intel@ processor. Microsoft&reg; Windows&reg; 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT&reg; 4.0 or later. A video card displaying 800 x 600 pixels of desktop area. Mac OS system requirements An Apple Power Macintosh computer. Mac OS version 7.5 or later. (For the best performance, Adobe Systems recommends Mac OS version 8.1 or later.) 832 x 624 monitor resolution. Installing the program You must purchase the Adobe Illustrator software separately. For complete instructions on installing the software, see the Introduction to the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 User Guide. Copying the Classroom in a Book files The Classroom in a Book CD includes folders containing all the electronic files for the lessons. Each lesson has its own folder. You must install these folders on your hard drive to use the files for the lessons. To save room on your drive, you can install the folders for each lesson as you need them. To install the Classroom in a Book files for Windows: Insert the Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book CD into your CD-ROM drive. Create a subdirectory on your hard drive and name it AICIB. Copy the Lessons folder into the AICIB subdirectory. To install the Classroom in a Book folders for Mac OS: Create a folder on your hard drive and name it AICIB. Drag the Lessons folder from the CD into the AICIB folder. Restoring default preferences The preferences file controls how palettes and command settings appear on your screen when you open the Adobe Illustrator program. Each time you quit Adobe Illustrator, the position of the palettes and certain command settings are recorded in the preferences file. If you want to restore the tools and palettes to their original default settings, you can delete the current Adobe Illustrator 8.0 preferences file. (Adobe Illustrator creates a preferences file if one doesn't already exist the next time you start the program and save a file.) Important: If you want to save the current settings, rename the preferences file rather than throwing it away. When you are ready to restore the settings, change the name back and make sure that the file is located in the Illustrator 8.0 folder (Windows) or the Preferences folder (Mac OS). Locate the AlPrefs file in the Illustrator 8.0 folder (Windows) or the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Prefs file in the Preferences folder in the System folder (Mac OS). If you can't find the file, choose Find from the Start menu and then choose Files or Folders (Windows), or choose Find from the desktop File menu (Mac OS). Type AlPrefs or Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Prefs in the text box, and click Find Now (Windows) or Find (Mac OS). Note: If you still can't find the file, you probably haven't started Adobe Illustrator for the first time yet. The preferences file is created after you quit the program the first time, and it's updated thereafter. Delete or rename the AlPrefs file (Windows) or the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Prefs file (Mac OS). Start Adobe Illustrator. To locate and delete the Adobe Illustrator preferences file quickly each time you begin a new project, create a shortcut (Windows) or an alias (Mac OS) for the Illustrator 8.0 or Preferences folder. Additional resources Adobe Illustrator 8.0 Classroom in a Book is not meant to replace documentation that comes with the program. Only the commands and options used in the lessons are explained in this book. For comprehensive information about program features, refer to these resources: The User Guide. Included with the Adobe Illustrator software, the User Guide contains a complete description of all features. For your convenience, you will find excerpts from these guides, including the Quick Tours for the software, in this Classroom in a Book. The Tour Movie, available on the application CD. The Quick Reference Card, a useful companion as you work through the lessons. Online Help, an online version of the User Guide and Quick Reference Card, which you can view by choosing Help > Contents. (For more information, see Lesson 1, "Getting to Know the Work Area.") The Adobe Web site, which you can view by choosing File &gr; Adobe Online if you have a connection to the World Wide Web. Adobe certification The Adobe Training and Certification Programs are designed to help Adobe customers improve and promote their product proficiency skills. The Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) program is designed to recognize the high-level skills of expert users. Adobe Certified Training Providers (ACTP) use only Adobe Certified Experts to teach Adobe software classes either in their own classrooms or at their clients' sites. For Worldwide Adobe Training Programs information, visit the Training Programs section of http://www.adobe.com, where you can link to the appropriate regional site for your location.