The Certificate II in Printing & Graphic Arts is an intensive program that prepares participants for employment within a corporate art department or as a complement to a formal design education. Online classes are delivered as formal lectures, tutorials, workshops and computer work.

Outcomes:

• Create a complex document in InDesign with self generated graphics ready for colour separations.
• Create original artwork in Illustrator using the various drawing tools, filters and palettes.
• Create complex images in Photoshop using layers, paths, channels and modes.

Prerequisites:

• Basic computer and communication skills.
• Recognition of prior learning will be offered on request.

Maximum Completion Times:

Up to 12 months

InDesign - an overview of the program. Understanding and using text and picture frames and understanding the palettes and toolbox. Using strokes and fills, colours, tints and gradients. Colour, spot vs process colour, colour models & colour matching systems. Setting up a new document and using master pages and auto page numbering. Guides, the character and paragraph palettes and control bar. Using paths and layers. Importing and editing text, creating and using style sheets as well as spell checking. Creating tables, using tabs. Integrating InDesign with Illustrator & Photoshop.

Illustrator - an overview of the program, drawing lines, curves and the toolbox. Making and using templates. Strokes and fills using process and spot colour. The transformation tools. Point type, using text boxes, type on a path and converting type to outline. Creating and using gradients. The align and pathfinder tools. Integrating Illustrator with Photoshop. Symbols, patterns and brushes.

Photoshop - an overview of the program. Using the painting tools, layers and basic selection tools. More complex selections using saved selections and the variables, colour range, quick mask and the pen tool. An understanding of layers, paths, and channels. Alpha channels and their significance. Scanning, the significance of resolution and size. Resampling, dynamic range and colour correction. Integrating Photoshop with Illustrator. File Formats for print and the internet. Masks, Layer masks and clipping groups. History palette and history brush. Image adjustments, levels, curves, replacing colours and invert and posterize functions. Understanding the CIE model and using it to enhance colour and adjust hue, saturation and brightness.
 

Assignment:

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to your tutor, marked and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary work to be completed.