Best Adobe Illustrator Guides of 2025

Drawing Digital is a comprehensive guide for learning digital drawing and painting on your tablet. Lisa Bardot, the author, offers step-by-step instructions and tips to create 12 drawing and painting projects, from still life to city scenes, using Procreate or any other digital drawing app. The book also covers finding creative inspiration, app basics, and instructions for layering, duplicating, exporting, and more. Bardot's signature vibrant artwork accompanies each project. Whether you're a beginner or an expert, this book is a great resource to improve your digital art skills.

The fourth edition of Physically Based Rendering is the leading-edge computer graphics textbook that sets the standard for physically-based rendering in the industry and the field. The book offers a comprehensive update on photorealistic computer graphics and physically-based approaches to rendering. It describes both the mathematical theory behind a modern photorealistic rendering system as well as its practical implementation. The book’s leading-edge algorithms, software, and ideas equip the reader to design and employ a full-featured rendering system capable of creating stunning imagery. This book is an essential text for professionals learning about and working in the field.

Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book (2023 release) is a project-based learning guide that helps beginners and experienced users build graphic art skills and create digital artwork. The book covers everything from precise drawings to creative effects, freeform gradients, and layers. Readers can follow the book from start to finish or choose only those lessons that interest them. What makes this book unique is that it is an official training series from Adobe, developed with the support of Adobe product experts. Overall, this guide is an excellent resource for anyone looking to enhance their Adobe Illustrator skills.

Graphic Design Fundamentals: An Introduction & Workbook for Beginners is a concise and easy-to-follow guide for anyone who wants to learn the basics of graphic design. This book covers the essential principles and ideas, from colors to layouts to fonts, and includes illustrations for everything. The bonus workbook included in the back is an excellent resource for practicing what you've learned. The author, Kris Taft Miller, is a seasoned graphic designer with over 20 years of experience in the industry, making this book a valuable resource for anyone interested in branding and logo design.

The Adobe Illustrator Classroom in a Book (2022 release) is a comprehensive guide for those who want to master Adobe Illustrator. Through its 17 lessons, the book covers the basics and advanced techniques of the program, including selections, shapes, color, editing artwork, dynamic symbols, artistic brushes, and creative effects. By completing the hands-on projects, readers will learn how to create logos, illustrations, posters, and flyers, among others. What sets this book apart is that it is an official training series from Adobe, developed with the support of Adobe product experts. The book also includes valuable online extras, such as downloadable lesson files and interactive quizzes. Overall, it is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to improve their graphic art skills.

"Rules of Play: Game Design Fundamentals" is a groundbreaking book that provides a comprehensive and cohesive framework for understanding games and game design. Written by Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, the authors present a unified model for examining all types of games, including board games, sports, computer games, and video games. The book covers an array of topics, including core concepts like "play," "design," and "interactivity," as well as 18 "game design schemas." The authors' passion for game culture and innovation is evident throughout the text. This book is a must-read for game scholars, developers, and designers alike."

The Adobe Creative Cloud All-in-One For Dummies is an ultimate reference guide for designers and other creative professionals who want to master Adobe Creative Cloud. The book covers InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat Pro, Adobe XD, and Adobe Bridge in seven mini-books, from the basics to advanced topics. The book is written by professionals, making it easy to follow and understand. You'll also learn how to manage and publish your work via Adobe Bridge. Overall, this book is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to demystify Adobe Creative Cloud and make their work shine brighter through the Cloud.

Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies is a beginner-friendly guide to creating digital illustrations. Written by an experienced Illustrator trainer, the book offers step-by-step guidance on using the tool to create illustrations, touch up images, and apply special effects. It is ideal for new and beginning illustrators who are adopting a digital tool for the first time, switching from an existing tool to Illustrator, or adding Illustrator know-how to existing Adobe knowledge. Overall, it is a well-written and informative guide that simplifies the process of creating digital art.

Adobe Illustrator: A Complete Course and Compendium of Features is a comprehensive guide to building vector graphics for print, web, video, or mobile. This desktop publishing book offers a complete course with dozens of lessons and projects that cover Illustrator's features and best practices. Additionally, the compendium provides greater depth of knowledge and serves as a reference for Illustrator's key features and concepts. Written by Adobe Certified Instructor Jason Hoppe, who has over 20 years of experience in teaching graphic design and production, this book is a must-have for anyone looking to master Illustrator.

Computer Graphics from Scratch: A Programmer's Introduction to 3D Rendering is a beginner-friendly guide that demystifies the algorithms used in modern graphics software. The book focuses on 3D rendering and guides readers through building photorealistic 3D renders using two complete, fully functional renderers: a raytracer and a rasterizer. With easy-to-follow explanations and pseudocode examples, the author makes it easy for readers to write their renderers in any language. This book is an excellent resource for novice programmers and aspiring graphics engineers looking to understand computer graphics concepts and rendering techniques.