Tampa InDesign User Group Home Meeting Summary Archive

Meeting Summary

Tampa Bay InDesign User Group February 2009 Meeting
Thu, Feb 12th, 2009 at 6:00 PM
Art Institute in Tampa
Event Details

February 12th marked the first meeting of the 2009 year for the Tampa Bay InDesign User Group. There were 53 members and a handful of potential new members in attendance. 91 members pre-registered (a record pre-registration).

We gathered for our meeting at the Art Institute in Tampa. Adobe Certified Instructor Douglas Mitchell started off the meeting showing the proper way to modify and export files from InDesign and Photoshop. He went into great depth about the export dialog box and how you can change the settings without necessarily changing your working file. He showed the preset exporting options as well as how to create your own presets.

In the second part of his presentation, Douglas moved on to Adobe Illustrator. He showed the group a method on how to draw a Bezier curve with the Pen tool simply and precisely. He showed us how to take apart preloaded icons that one could use when creating an original illustration.

In addition, Douglas briefly covered the following:
• Determine key preferences for ease and control
• Set up panels, tools, interface
• Learn to view, zoom, and move artwork for accurate drawing
• Learn artwork construction using paths, anchor points, stroke, fill
• Select all or parts of artwork using different selection tools
• Use Copy and Paste Identical, stacking order
• Create artwork using the Pen tool and vector Bezier curves
• Create artwork using shape tools
• Create artwork using the Symbols library
• Create artwork using the Graphic Styles library
• Create artwork using the Brushes library

Finally, the meeting closed with a question and answer session with Douglas, a raffle drawing for Illustrator CS4, and results from our silent auction.

Thank you

A special thank you to Giovanni Yarabek for taking the photos and Jeanne and Bill Kean for helping with the auction, cleanup, and registration. To Victoria Snabon-Heath and the Art Institute for allowing our group to have our meeting in the Atrium at the Art Institute.

Thanks also to:
• KW Media, publishers of Layers Magazine and Photoshop magazine (http://www.layersmagazine.com/)
• Lynda.com
• Adobe Press: http://www.adobepress.com
• Total Training: http://www.totaltraining.com
• Adobe Systems: http://www.adobe.com
• O'Reilly Media: http://www.oreilly.com/
• Peachpit Press: http://www.peachpit.com/index.asp

Thanks as always to our location and communication sponsors:
• The Art Institute
• Tampa Business Journal
• Create Magazine
• Ad2 Tampa Bay
• Creative Tampa Bay
• Tampa Tribune Business Section
• Weekly Planet
• Sarah Schweiger Creative Design Services
• Betsy Bugeja – Digital Media Creations.tv (Public Relations)
• St. Pete Times
• AIGA
• The Tampa Graphic Design Meetup.com Group http://graphicdesign.meetup.com/90/?gj=sj6)

We appreciate everyone who attended!

Upcoming Industry Events

Workshop with Adobe Certified Instructor Douglas Mitchell Adobe Illustrator Essentials & Beyond (applies to Ai: CS3, CS2, CS)

Saturday, February 21, 2009
9am – 4:30pm
Art Institute of Tampa, Computer Lab
(Bring your laptop already LOADED)
4401 N. Himes Ave., Suite 150, Tampa, FL 33614
Douglas phone 407.616.0854
Parking Free – School Lot
Cost: $79
Register doug@trainingbrain.com (to confirm your seat)
Payment Check or cash (at door on 2/21 on Saturday)
Lunch Included in cost of course (what a deal)

Topics
• Determine key preferences for ease and control
• Set up panels, tools, and interface
• Learn to view, zoom, and move artwork for accurate drawing
• Learn artwork construction using paths, anchor points, stroke, and fill
• Select all or parts of artwork using different selection tools
• Use Copy and Paste Identical, Stacking Order, Layers Organization
• Create infinite color schemes using Color Guide
• Create artwork using gradients and Gradient Mesh
• Create artistic type for Illustrator and Photoshop
• Create artwork using the Pen tool with Bezier curves
• Create artwork using shape tools and the Symbols library
• Create artwork using the Graphic Styles library, the Brushes library, and the Gradient Mesh tool
• Create artwork automatically using Live Trace
• Create artwork using Effects filters
• Combine artwork using Illustrator and Photoshop
• Troubleshoot artwork for printing problems

Comments from attendees

"Thank you so much for traveling to Tampa to teach us more about Illustrator. I learned so many wonderful tips from you and I can't thank you enough. What I've learned is going to save me hours, and has only increased my love of that program."

"We all REALLY thought the class was excellent--you are a great teacher. I actually brought a friend with me to her first IDUG meeting, and she is absolutely hooked now. She was really impressed by your teaching skills and went home THAT NIGHT and practiced them."

"Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed the meeting and I hope I'm lucky enough to take another one of your classes one day." L Hyde

"...Just wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed the meeting Thursday Nite for the Adobe InDesign Group that met at The Art Institute in Tampa. I think that both you (Sarah) and Douglas Mitchell did a stellar job and presenting announcements and encouraging our group to continue coming to learn more. I got some really good tips on upcoming events and I gained a whole new perspective on the presentation Doug made using the Illustrator Pen Tool." L Chestnut

"Well presented with enthusiasm for a tricky but essential topic." D Rogers

Next Meeting

Learn the Art of Template Design with Gabriel Powell, author of Instant InDesign, March 26, 2009, 6:00 PM - Art Institute (Location Pending)

Faced with tight deadlines? Tired of laboring over repetitive layouts? Then this meeting is for you! Gabriel Powell, author of Instant InDesign: Designing Templates for Fast and Efficient Page Layout and Adobe Certified Instructor, will be introducing us to the art of template design. He'll begin by showing us how to develop the right layout grid for any publication. Then he'll explain best practices for setting up master pages, generating style sheets, and preparing your templates for success in a live production workflow. You'll also get a wealth of indispensable tips that will ease the tedium of production and give you the freedom to concentrate on concept and design.

What makes templates so important? First, they guide the placement of text and graphics, and provide a well-established starting point from which a publication can be easily created. Second, and most important, they save a lot of setup time, ensure design consistency, and significantly minimize the possibility for error. Designing a template is expert work, demanding all of your attention, skill, good judgment, and experience. Gabriel's book, Instant InDesign, is dedicated to teaching you the tricks of the trade, and provides you with the knowledge you need to create exceptional templates.

A limited supply of discounted copies ($35 each) of Instant InDesign will be available for purchase at the meeting. If you already own a copy of the book, be sure to bring it so Gabriel can sign it.

About Gabriel Powell
As the Training Director for Metafusion Training, Gabriel teaches InDesign, InCopy, and other applications to creative professionals throughout the United States and Western Europe. He is also the founder of the Portland InDesign User Group and the founder and chapter leader of The Netherlands InDesign User Group.

Bring a friend or new member to the March meeting and you and your friend will be entered to win one of the boxed versions of CS3 software. We would like to see our membership grow!

CS4 Upgrade: Pricing Information
Upgrade to CS4 Now! Effective February 28, 2009, upgrade prices will increase for customers who own Creative Suite 1, Creative Suite 2, Studio 8, Studio MX 2004, and Production Studio.

In response to customer feedback, Adobe has introduced tiered upgrade pricing. Customers who own Creative Suite 3 will pay less to upgrade to Creative Suite 4 than customers on older eligible versions of Creative Suite or Studio. Owners of earlier qualifying versions of Creative Suite software or Macromedia Studio software can upgrade to CS4 before 2/28/2009 and save up to US$200.

For more details, go to http://www.adobe.com/special/up2suite.

Photos From This Meeting
Photos are available from this user group meeting.
See the photos