Going After the Adobe Illustrator CS4 Certification

This is not a lightweight certification. You must have at least three years’ experience in graphic design or illustrator. You must also be pretty familiar with Adobe Bridge, Adobe Design, and Photoshop. Since experience is the greatest teacher, be sure you have conceptual design and comp creation experience, as well as familiarity with input devices such as scannersand tablets. Be sure you can check off the exam prep outline with confidence and have studied all listed topics.

There are 53 questions and a survey that must be completed within 60 minutes. Your score must reach the 66% level to qualify you as passing the Adobe CS4 exam. Despite the grueling preparation required the benefits of this and many other Adobe certifications are innumerable. Your time and effort will be given back to you in success and dollar signs as your career advances.

Here are some highlights of the topics you will want to focus on:

1. Workspace navigation, all aspects of drawing including basics, creating shapes, pixels, tools, gradients, Live Trace, Image Trace, and symbols and symbolism are key components.

2. Color aspects will include: selection and adjustment, swatch creation, color groups, the Kuler panel, and working with Pantone Plus libraries.

3. Painting will require knowledge of fills and strokes, using brushes, transparencies, and blends. Creation of and working with gradients, meshes, and patterns.

4. You will further have to be able to work with all aspects of type, creating special effects, working with web graphics, and printing.

Plenty to study, but Adobe Illustrator certification is worth it.