Inside The Mind Of Timothy Allard

Adobe ACE - Where I Want To Be In 1 Year

Posted on the August 12th, 2007 under Graphic Design, Personal by Timothy Allard

Ok, its finally time. I have been wanting to get my certification for Adobe Photoshop for a few years now, and now that CS3 has been released, what better time is there than now? Over the years I have become much more comfortable with it and its a piece of my body now. I use it for hours each day and want to take it to the next level.

What is an ACE?
An Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) is a person who has demonstrated proficiency with one or more Adobe software products. To become an ACE, you must pass one or more
product-specific proficiency exams and agree to the ACE terms and conditions.

As an individual, an Adobe Certified credential allows you to:

• Differentiate yourself from competitors
• Get your résumé noticed
• Attract and win new business
• Gain recognition from your employer
• Leverage the power of the Adobe brand

The tests are very detailed and are timed. You have a limit to how many times you can retake it if you fail, and alot more other qualifications need to be met. I just got back from Barnes and Nobel to write down some good books that were written to help out with these types of tests. The tests include a lot of questions you normally would do subconsciously, or what I would do subconsciously when using Photoshop. Things like,

Which statement about custom brushes is true?
A. All custom brushes are deleted when you close Photoshop.
B. The brush tips in a dual brush are always the same, but you can vary their
diameters.
C. Custom brushes created from the Brushes palette are automatically saved to
the default brush library.
D. New custom brushes can be created from the palette menus in both the
Options bar and the Brushes palette.

Of course the answer is D, but its one of those things you just do in the back of your head.

I was looking at “Adobe Photoshop CS3 on Demand” it seemed like it covered all the little details when prepping for the ACE test. I’m going to purchase it soon. We will see how things go, im determined to get certified. If anyone has any other good resources feel free to post please. Ill keep you posted.