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Staff Development: Adobe Illustrator CS6 Master Pro Techniques for Print & Web

Released on April 23, 2012, version CS6 is the 16th generation of Adobe Illustrator. Many new features were added in order to fix bugs and increase performance. When first opening the program, most obvious is the new user interface. The default workspace was redesigned from white to grayscale, with the ability to adjust for comfort for the eyes. Aside from appearance is a "buffet" of upgraded features, such as the distinct improvement to converting raster images into vector art. I frequently use the "image trace" feature to render a perfect vector image of my scanned artwork, and appreciate the ease and accuracy with which this can be accomplished.

Adobe Illustrator CS6 is my daily "workhorse" software of choice for KSDL graphics. This past fiscal year, I enrolled in an online Udemy course to become more proficient at using this powerful software. The course consists of 49 modules, to be taken at one's own pace. So far, I've completed about half of the course and still have much left to learn!

Learning key commands, so far, has been my greatest benefit in improving speed and efficiency while working with Illustrator. I know I'm still only scraping the surface of what this software is capable of, and look forward with enthusiasm to continuing my course in the months to come!

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