Creative Cloud for the clueless
February 1, 2018 2:13 PM Subscribe
So Adobe Creative Cloud is getting foisted onto me at work because apparently I am good with "visuals". Pls hope.
I mean I'll give it a go, but even paint.net has too many buttons for me to be comfortable with.
There is an overwhelming amount of tutorial and introductory resources out there, and I'd ideally not like to waste too much time on any duds, or anything too long-winded as I'm going to need to get familiar with at least the core tools (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) in the next few weeks.
Your recommendations for cream of the crop tutorials and videos etc. for Adobe CC would be greatly appreciated!
I mean I'll give it a go, but even paint.net has too many buttons for me to be comfortable with.
There is an overwhelming amount of tutorial and introductory resources out there, and I'd ideally not like to waste too much time on any duds, or anything too long-winded as I'm going to need to get familiar with at least the core tools (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign) in the next few weeks.
Your recommendations for cream of the crop tutorials and videos etc. for Adobe CC would be greatly appreciated!
Response by poster: Of course, sorry. It is mainly going to be creating image assets for presentations, and also a bunch of one-pagers, infographics, fact sheets, etc.
Our project is developing the 3D cadastre for the state of Queensland, so 3D-type stuff, animation, and ultimately video will probably be requested down the track, but, baby steps.
So:
- Images and image manipulation
- Desktop publishing (infographics, fact sheets, one pagers etc.)
Basically the sort of stuff that I am currently being tasked with cobbling together in MS Word, Publisher, Visio and PowerPoint, but...fancier?
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:27 PM on February 1, 2018
Our project is developing the 3D cadastre for the state of Queensland, so 3D-type stuff, animation, and ultimately video will probably be requested down the track, but, baby steps.
So:
- Images and image manipulation
- Desktop publishing (infographics, fact sheets, one pagers etc.)
Basically the sort of stuff that I am currently being tasked with cobbling together in MS Word, Publisher, Visio and PowerPoint, but...fancier?
posted by turbid dahlia at 2:27 PM on February 1, 2018
Best answer: Creative Cloud is a whole suite of software (similar to how Microsoft Office is a suite of software). You only need to download and use those that you need.
To be honest, if you're overwhelmed by Paint, you're going to have trouble with CC. The whole point of these tools is that they're comprehensive. There are multiple ways to to most things.
...ok, on preview, with your response, you'll want to focus on InDesign. That's the page layout software. You'll create the final files there. You place text and images into an InDesign file and make it look good. You might use Photoshop to make a photo look better that you then pull the photo into InDesign for layout.
For training, start with the basic tutorials at Lynda.com. Those are very comprehensive. Go with either of the courses from David Blatner - he's an expert on InDesign. When you want to learn more about design, look for courses by John McWade - he's great with composition and typography and the 'whys' of design.
There's a huge rabbit-hole of InDesign knowlege you can gain. Indesign Secrets is a great site for tips and tricks.
Embrace the fact that you will (probably) never master InDesign. There's always more to learn. Just go with one thing at a time. If there's something you want to do in InDesign, there's probably a way to do it. Google for tutorials. I recommend that you take a flyer you created in Publisher and figure out how to re-create it in InDesign - that would be a great training piece.
I love InDesign. Feel free to memail me if you have specific questions.
posted by hydra77 at 2:40 PM on February 1, 2018 [10 favorites]
To be honest, if you're overwhelmed by Paint, you're going to have trouble with CC. The whole point of these tools is that they're comprehensive. There are multiple ways to to most things.
...ok, on preview, with your response, you'll want to focus on InDesign. That's the page layout software. You'll create the final files there. You place text and images into an InDesign file and make it look good. You might use Photoshop to make a photo look better that you then pull the photo into InDesign for layout.
For training, start with the basic tutorials at Lynda.com. Those are very comprehensive. Go with either of the courses from David Blatner - he's an expert on InDesign. When you want to learn more about design, look for courses by John McWade - he's great with composition and typography and the 'whys' of design.
There's a huge rabbit-hole of InDesign knowlege you can gain. Indesign Secrets is a great site for tips and tricks.
Embrace the fact that you will (probably) never master InDesign. There's always more to learn. Just go with one thing at a time. If there's something you want to do in InDesign, there's probably a way to do it. Google for tutorials. I recommend that you take a flyer you created in Publisher and figure out how to re-create it in InDesign - that would be a great training piece.
I love InDesign. Feel free to memail me if you have specific questions.
posted by hydra77 at 2:40 PM on February 1, 2018 [10 favorites]
Best answer: You need a Lynda.com account. You should start with Photoshop, and then start working with InDesign.
This looks like a good basic overview of Photoshop and the same thing for InDesign.
posted by gregr at 2:41 PM on February 1, 2018 [4 favorites]
This looks like a good basic overview of Photoshop and the same thing for InDesign.
posted by gregr at 2:41 PM on February 1, 2018 [4 favorites]
Best answer: If you want to access Lynda.com CC tutorials and you have a public library card, it looks like you should be able to get free Lynda.com access through your local public library.
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:04 PM on February 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by mandolin conspiracy at 3:04 PM on February 1, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I know this stuff. I'm on the Gold Coast. A one-on-one training session would speed stuff up for you. Otherwise, feel free to memail specific questions.
posted by b33j at 4:29 PM on February 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by b33j at 4:29 PM on February 1, 2018 [1 favorite]
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