Prepare for the Adobe Illustrator certification exam with these practice questions and answers. This guide covers vector tools, design principles, and professional workflows.
Q: setting project requirements
Answer: identify the purpose, audience, and audience needs for preparing graphics. also demonstrate knowledge of project management tasks and responsibilities, as well as communicating with others, such as peers and clients, about design plans
Q: the AI workspace encompasses everything you see when a document is first opened, things such as . . .
Answer: the Tools panel, document window, artboard, and panels.
Q: creating a custom workspace
Answer: – move and manipulate the interface layout in Illustrator to suit your needs- from the workspace switcher menu, select New Workspace- the New Workspace dialog box appears- name your workspace-click OK to close the New Workspace dialog box- choose window > workspace
Q: creating a new Illustrator document
Answer: 1. To create a new Illustrator document, choose File > Newfrom the main menu.The New Document dialog box appears, with all optionsset to the optimized values for the selected new documentprofile.2. Change any of the preset values as desired:• Give your document a new name.• Change or customize the document profile.• Add or delete artboards.• Modify the document size.• Choose to have a bleed area around the trimmingedge of the page.3. Click OK to create the new document
Q: artboards
Answer: Artboards represent the regions that can contain printable artwork. Multiple artboards are useful for creating a varietyof things, such as multiple page PDFs, printed pages with different sizes or different elements, independent elementsfor websites, video storyboards, or individual items for animation.You can have 1 to 100 artboards per document, depending on size. You can specify the number of artboards for adocument when you first create it, and you can add and remove artboards at any time while working in a document.Illustrator offers two ways you can interact with artboards, by using the Artboard panel or the Artboard tool. The Artboards panel allows you to add, reorder, rearrange, and delete artboards; reorder and renumberartboards; and select and navigate through multiple artboards. The Artboard tool offers greater flexibility to createartboards in different sizes, resize them, and position them anywhere on the screen.
Q: adding and editing artboards
Answer: 1. To access the Artboards panel, click Window >Artboards.The Artboards panel opens.2. To add artboards, click the New Artboard icon at thebottom of the Artboards panel.A new artboard the same size as the first is added to thedocument window and appears in the Artboard panel3. To create a custom artboard, select the Artboard tooland drag in the workspace to define theshape, size, and location.Green Smart Guides and dimension values appear to helpyou align and resize the new artboard.4. With the Artboard tool selected:• To resize the artboard, position the pointer on anedge or corner until the cursor changes to a doublesidedarrow, and then drag to adjust.• To change the orientation of the artboard, click thePortrait or Landscape button in the Control panel.• To move the artboard and its contents, click to selectthe Move/Copy Artwork With Artboard icon on theControl panel, and then position the pointer in theartboard and drag.5. To delete an artboard, select the artboard in the Artboardpanel and click the Delete icon, or click the Delete icon inan artboard’s upper-right corner. You can delete all butthe last remaining artboard.6. To commit the artboard and exit the artboard-editingmode, click a different tool in the Tools panel orclick Esc.
Q: grids, rulers, and guides
Answer: 1. To show rulers, choose View > Rulers > Show Rulers. Toturn off rulers, choose View> Rulers > Hide Rulers.2. To set the general unit of measurement for rulers in thecurrent document, choose File > Document Setup.The Document Setup dialog box opens3. Choose the unit of measure you want to use from theUnits menu, and click OK to close the Document Setupdialog box.Note: You can also set the default unit of measurementfor all your Illustrator documents by choosing Edit >Preferences > Units (Windows) or Illustrator >Preferences > Units (Mac OS), and then select units forthe General, Stroke, and Type options.4. To use the grid, choose View > Show Grid. To hide thegrid, choose View > Hide Grid.5. To snap objects to gridlines, choose View > Snap ToGrid, select the object you want to move, and drag it tothe desired location.When the object’s boundaries come within 2 pixels of agridline, it snaps to the point.Note: To specify the spacing between gridlines, grid style(lines or dots), grid color, or whether grids appear in thefront or back of artwork, choose Edit > Preferences >Guides & Grid (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences >Guides & Grid (Mac OS).6. To show guides, choose View > Guides > Show Guides.To hide guides, choose View > Guides > Hide Guides.7. Position the pointer on the left ruler for a vertical guide oron the top ruler for a horizontal guide.8. Drag the guide into position.9. Move the guide by dragging or delete the guide bypressing Backspace (Windows) or Delete (Mac OS), orby choosing Edit > Cut or Edit > Clear.10. Choose View > Smart Guides to turn guides on or off.11. Use Smart Guides in the following ways:• When you create an object, use the Smart Guides toposition a new object’s position relative to anexisting object. Or, when you create a new artboard,use Smart Guides to position it relative to anotherartboard or an object.• When you move an object or artboard, use the SmartGuides to align the selected object or artboard toother objects or artboards. The alignment is based onthe geometry of objects and artboards. Guides appearas the object approaches the edge or center point ofother objects.• When you transform an object, Smart Guidesautomatically appear to assist the transformation.You can change when and how Smart Guides appear bysetting Smart Guide preferences. Choose Edit >Preferences > Smart Guides (Windows) or Illustrator >Preferences > Smart Guides (Mac OS).
Q: bleed
Answer: Bleed is the amount of artwork that falls outside of the printing bounding box or outside the crop area and trim marks. You can include bleed in your artwork as a margin of error—to ensure that the ink is still printed to theedge of the page after the page is trimmed. Once you create the artwork that extends into the bleed, you can useIllustrator to specify the extent of the bleed.
Q: how to add bleed
Answer: 1. Click the Document Setup button in the Control Panel.The Document Setup dialog box opens (Figure 31).2. In the Bleed and View Options section, set the units ofmeasure, and enter values for Top, Left, Bottom, andRight to specify the placement of the bleed marks. Clickthe Link icon to make all the values the same.3. Click OK to close the Document Setup dialog box.
Q: how to add bleed when printing
Answer: 1. Choose File > Print.The Print dialog box opens (Figure 32).2. Select Marks & Bleed on the left side of the Print dialogbox.3. Do one of the following:• Enter values for Top, Left, Bottom, and Right tospecify the placement of the bleed marks. Click theLink icon to make all the values the same(Figure 33).• Select Use Document Bleed Settings to use the bleedsettings defined in the New Document dialog box.4. Click Done or Print to close the Print dialog box.
Q: create and move layers
Answer: 1. In the Layers panel, click the name of the layer abovewhich (or in which) you want to add the new layer(Figure 2).2. To add a new layer above the selected layer, click theCreate New Layer button in the Layers panel.Note: You can also create a new sublayer inside theselected layer by using the Create New Sublayer button.The new layer is added.3. To move an object to a different layer, select the object inthe Layers panel.4. Drag the selected-art indicator, located at the right of thelayer in the Layers panel, to the layer you want(Figure 3).5. To edit the layer name, double-click the item name in theLayers panel and type a new name in the text field
Q: duplicate layers
Answer: 1. Select one or more layers in the Layers panel.2. Choose Duplicate “<layer name>” in the Layers panelmenu (Figure 5).3. The swatch is copied, “copy” is appended to its name,and it is added to the Layers panels
Q: release items to separate layers
Answer: 1. In the Layers panel, click the name of a layer or groupthat contains multiple objects (Figure 9).2. Do one of the following:• To release each item to a new layer, choose ReleaseTo Layers (Sequence) from the Layers panel menu.• To release items into layers and duplicate objects tocreate a cumulative sequence, choose Release ToLayers (Build) from the Layers panel menu. Thebottommost object appears in each of the new layers,and the topmost object only appears in the topmostlayer (Figure 10). For example, assume Layer 2contains an Atom (bottommost object), Radiation, aFlask, and DNA (topmost object). This commandcreates four layers—one with each element addedsequentially. This is useful for creating cumulativeanimation sequences.
Q: clipping mask
Answer: A clipping mask is an object whose shape masks other artwork so only areas that lie within the shape are visible—ineffect, clipping the artwork to the shape of the mask (Figure 11). The clipping mask and the objects that are maskedare called a clipping set. You can make a clipping set from a selection of two or more objects or from all objects in agroup or layer.The following guidelines apply to creating clipping masks:• The objects you mask are moved into the clipping mask’s group in the Layers panel if they don’t alreadyreside there.• Only vector objects can be clipping masks; however, any artwork can be masked.• If you use a layer or group to create a clipping mask, the first object in the layer or group masks everythingthat is a subset of the layer or group.• Regardless of its previous attributes, a clipping mask changes to an object with no fill or stroke.
Q: how to hide parts of objects using clipping mask
Answer: 1. Create the object you want to use as the mask.This object is called the clipping path. Only vectorobjects can be clipping paths.2. Move the clipping path above the objects you want tomask in the stacking order.In the example in Figure 12, the blue oval shape will theclipping path.3. In the Target column of the Layers panel, select all of theclipping path and the objects you want to mask(Figure 12).4. Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make.The clipping mask is applied (Figure 13).5. To edit a clipping mask, select and target the clippingpath in the Layers panel.6. Do any of the following:• Move the clipping path by dragging the object’scenter reference point with the Direct Selection tool.• Reshape the clipping path by using the DirectSelection tool.• Apply a fill and stroke to a clipping path(Figure 14).7. To release objects from a clipping mask, select the groupthat contains the clipping mask and choose Object >Clipping Mask > Release.
Q: how to create an opacity mask
Answer: 1. Select a single object or group, or target a layer in theLayers panel.2. Open the Transparency panel and choose Show Optionsfrom the panel menu to see the thumbnail images(Figure 17).3. Double-click directly to the right of the thumbnail in theTransparency panel.An empty mask is created and Illustrator automaticallyenters mask-editing mode.4. Use the drawing or text tools to draw a mask shape(Figure 18).5. Click the masked artwork’s thumbnail (left thumbnail) inthe Transparency panel to apply and exit mask-editingmode (Figure 19).Note: The Clip option sets the mask background toblack. Therefore, if you use a black object, such as blacktype, to create an opacity mask with the Clip optionselected, it will not be visible. To see the objects, use adifferent color or deselect the Clip option.6. To convert an existing object into an opacity mask, selectat least two objects or groups, and choose Make OpacityMask from the Transparency panel menu. The topmostselected object or group is used as the mask.7. To edit a masking object, click the masking object’sthumbnail (right thumbnail) in the Transparency panel.8. Alt-click (Windows) or Option-click (Mac OS) the maskthumbnail to hide all other artwork in the documentwindow. (If the thumbnails aren’t visible, choose ShowThumbnails from the panel menu.)9. Use any of the Illustrator editing tools and techniques toedit the mask.10. Click the masked artwork’s thumbnail (left thumbnail) inthe Transparency panel to exit mask-editing mode.Figure 17 Selected object and Transparency panelFigure 18 Drawing mask shape in mask-editingmodeFigure 19 Completed opacity maskDouble-click to createand edit opacity mask11. You can unlink, deactivate, or remove an opacity mask:• To unlink a mask, target the masked artwork in theLayers panel, and then click the link symbol betweenthe thumbnails in the Transparency panel. Themasking object is locked in position and size, and themasked objects can be moved and resizedindependently. To relink, click the area between thethumbnails in the Transparency panel.• To deactivate a mask, target the masked artwork inthe Layers panel, and then Shift-click the maskingobject’s thumbnail (right thumbnail) in theTransparency panel. When the opacity mask isdeactivated, a red x appears over the mask thumbnailin the Transparency panel (Figure 20). To reactivatea mask, target the masked artwork in the Layerspanel, and then Shift-click the masking object’sthumbnail in the Transparency panel.• Target the masked artwork in the Layers panel, andthen select Release Opacity Mask from theTransparency panel menu. The masking objectreappears on top of the objects that were masked.
Q: swatches
Answer: Process colors A process color is printed using a combination of the four standard process inks: cyan,magenta, yellow, and black. By default, Illustrator defines new swatches as process colors.• Global process colors A global color is automatically updated throughout your artwork when you edit it. Allspot colors are global; however, process colors can be either global or local. You can identify global colorswatches by the global color icon (when the panel is in list view) or a triangle in the lower corner (when thepanel is in thumbnail view).• Spot colors A spot color is a premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks. Youcan identify spot-color swatches by the spot-color icon (when the panel is in list view) or a dot in the lowercorner (when the panel is in thumbnail view).• Gradients A gradient is a graduated blend between two or more colors or tints of the same color or differentcolors. Gradient colors can be assigned as CMYK process colors, RGB colors, or a spot color. Transparencyapplied to a gradient stop is preserved when you save the gradient as a gradient swatch. The aspect-ratio andangle values of elliptical gradients (those created by adjusting the aspect ratio or angle of a radial gradient)are not preserved.• Patterns Patterns are repeating (tiled) paths, compound paths, and text with solid fills or no fill.• None The None swatch removes the stroke or fill from an object. You can’t edit or remove this swatch.• Registration The registration swatch is a built-in swatch that causes objects filled or stroked with it to printon every separation from a PostScript printer. For example, registration marks use the Registration color soso printing plates can be aligned precisely on a press. You can’t remove this swatch. Note: If you use theRegistration color for type, and then you separate the file and print it, the type may not register properly andthe black ink may appear muddy. To avoid this, use black ink for type.• Color groups Color groups can contain process, spot, and global process colors. They cannot containpattern, gradient, none, or registration swatches. You create color groups based on harmonies by using eitherthe Color Guide panel or the Edit Colors/Recolor Artwork dialog box. To put existing swatches into a colorgroup, select the swatches and click the New Color Group icon in the Swatches panel. You can identify acolor group by the folder icon.
Q: how to use swatch libraries
Answer: Open a library: To open a swatch library, click the Swatches panel menu and choose Open Swatch Library> [library name].• Save a library: You create a swatch library by saving the current document as a swatch library.1. Edit the swatches in the Swatches panel so it contains only the swatches you want in the swatch library.2. Select Save Swatch Library from the Swatches panel menu.Note: To remove all swatches that aren’t used in the document, choose Select All Unused from theSwatches panel menu, and then click the Delete Swatch button.• Edit a library: To edit a swatch library:1. Choose File > Open and then locate and open the library file. By default, swatch library files are storedin the Illustrator/Presets/Swatches folder.2. Edit the colors in the Swatches panel and save your changes.• Move swatches to a library: To move swatches from a swatch library to the Swatches panel, drag one ormore swatches from the Swatch Libraries panel to the Swatches panel.
Q: how to create a gradient swatch
Answer: 1. Create a gradient by using the Gradient panel, or select anobject with the gradient you want (Figure 5).2. In the Swatches panel, click the New Swatch button orselect New Swatch from the Swatches panel menu.The New Swatch dialog box opens (Figure 6).3. In the dialog box that appears, enter a swatch name, andclick OK.