Unit 6 | Refinement & Output Prep

Introduction

Unit 6 is the “last mile” unit. Every lesson is a finishing skill needed to take a piece from “looks done” to “actually correct for where it’s headed.” Instead of building something new, the summative revises and finalizes a piece students already made in an earlier unit.

This is a brand-new unit added by the Sep 2026 restructure, built from lessons that floated out of other units because their original summative didn’t strictly require them.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:

  • Choose the correct file format and settings for a design’s use
  • Understand color modes and gamuts for screen vs. print
  • Format longer text with paragraph and area type tools
  • Apply transformations to refine a finished piece

Calendar of Events for This Unit

MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFriday
1/41/51/61/71/8
S | 5F | 6.1F | 6.1F | 6.2F | 6.2
1/111/121/131/141/15
F | 6.3F | 6.3F | 6.4F | 6.4S | 6
1/181/191/201/211/22
Martin L. King DayS | 6S | 6S | 6S | 6
1/21: Report Card grades open in Infinite Campus (MP2); 1/21: Report Card grade verification window opens (through 2/8)

Lessons

Unit Vocabulary

.AI (Adobe Illustrator Document)
Illustrator’s native, fully-editable format. Layers, paths, and text all stay live for future edits.
.EPS (Encapsulated PostScript)
A legacy vector interchange format, still requested by some print vendors and older software, mostly superseded by .ai and .pdf in modern workflows.
.PDF (Portable Document Format)
A vector-friendly, universally viewable format that can preserve full editability (via “Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities”). Often the safest way to hand a file to a client or printer.
.SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics)
A code-based vector format built for the web. Scales to any size with no quality loss, and can be styled or animated with CSS.
.PNG (Portable Network Graphics)
A raster (pixel-based) format that supports transparency. A common choice for exporting artwork for screens or web when a raster file is needed.
.JPG / .JPEG
A raster format using lossy compression with no transparency support. Small file sizes, common for photos, not ideal for crisp text or logos.
Native vs. Interchange Format
A native format (like .ai or .psd) keeps all of an application’s editable data; an interchange format (like .eps or .pdf) is built to move a file between different programs or people, sometimes at the cost of some editability.
Gamut
The full range of colors a specific device or color mode is capable of displaying or printing.
Out-of-Gamut / Gamut Warning
A color that can be displayed on-screen (RGB) but can’t be accurately reproduced by a printer (CMYK). Illustrator flags these with a small warning triangle in the Color panel.
Device-Dependent Color
Color that looks different depending on the specific screen, printer, or ink used to reproduce it. The reason color modes and gamuts matter in the first place.
sRGB / Adobe RGB
Two common RGB working spaces for screen-bound artwork. sRGB is the safe default for web and general screen use, while Adobe RGB covers a wider gamut for specialized color workflows.
Rich Black
A deep, dense black created by mixing several CMYK inks (rather than 100% K alone) to avoid a flat, weak-looking black on large printed areas.
Overprint
A print setting that allows one ink to print directly on top of another, rather than knocking out (removing) the color underneath. Relevant when checking a file for gamut or output problems.
Point Type
A single line of text anchored to one point, that keeps growing horizontally as you type unless you add a manual line break. Good for headlines and short labels.
Area Type
Text flowed inside a closed shape (a rectangle, or any custom path), automatically wrapping to the next line when it reaches the shape’s edge. Good for paragraphs and body copy.
Type on a Path
Text that flows along the contour of an open or closed path instead of a straight line or a shape.
Glyph
A specific visual representation of a character. The same letter can have multiple glyph variants (alternates, ligatures, swashes) within a single font.
Placeholder Text (“Greeked” Text / Lorem Ipsum)
Dummy text used to preview a layout’s typography and spacing before final copy has been written.
Threading Text
Linking two or more type areas so text flows continuously from one into the next.
Wrapping Text
Forcing type to flow around the contour of another object (like an image), instead of running behind or through it.
Overflow Text
Text that doesn’t fit inside its type area. Flagged by a small red plus (+) icon at the area’s bottom-right corner.
Scaling
Uniformly or non-uniformly resizing an object larger or smaller.
Rotating
Turning an object around a fixed reference point by a given angle.
Reflecting
Flipping an object across a horizontal or vertical axis to create a mirror image.
Shearing / Skewing
Slanting an object along a horizontal or vertical axis while keeping its opposite sides parallel.
Distorting / Warping
Reshaping an object’s outline in a non-uniform way, using Free Transform’s warp handles or an Effect > Warp preset, rather than a simple scale, rotate, reflect, or shear.
Bounding Box
The rectangular outline that just contains a selected object, used as a quick handle for scaling and rotating.
Reference Point
The fixed point, one of nine positions on the bounding box, or a custom point, that a transformation is measured and anchored from.
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