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Owner of SterlingSterling Education Centre specializes in computer training in desktop publishing and web page design: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, QuarkX Press, and other prorams.

Sterling Education Centre Inc. was started in January 1994 by Barbara Fanson, a graphic designer, author, college professor, and mother.

Sterling Education Centre has a maximum of 2 students with up-to-date computer equipment with 19'' or 22" monitors. Students work on the newest version of software programs.

Sterling Education Centre is in Hamilton, near Upper James Street and Rymal Road. Please telephone (905) 679-9229 or e-mail: learn@sterlinged.com
By appointment only: Map.html

Adobe Photoshop
Maximum 2 students. Learn how to scan and retouch photos, remove scratches, correct colour casts, highlights, and shadows, and boost detail in low-contrast images using Levels, Curves, Colour Balance, Selective Colour, and the Clone Stamp tool.
Use Blur Tool, Sponge tool, Clone Stamp Tool and Dodge tool to improve photos.
Learn how to select people or objects with Marquee Selection tools, Polygon tool, Magic Wand tool or by Quick Mask method.
You'll also learn shortcuts for working productively with the Layers palette.
See 4 ways to add colour to black-and-white images.
Learn to use the Paint tools to create your own brushes or patterns, paint illustrations, select, or mask.
You'll learn to create special effects for type, logos, patterns, and layer styles.
Learn how to feather images for vignettes or collages.
Create textures for web pages
Create web graphics such as a multi-coloured button for a rollover or save images for the web. Learn how to remove the background of a logo so it is transparent on your web page.
Add frames, cast shadows, drop shadows, and curvd shadows for scrapbook images.
Learn how to use Layer Masks to fade one image into another or superimpose 2 or more photos.
You'll see the difference between Layer Masks, Quick Masks, and Group Masks.
Work with Channels for saving selections or spot colours.
Discover 2 ways to create Clipping Paths around products and people so that when you bring them into another software program, the background does not show. Use the Pen tool and Convert anchor point tool to create paths, selections, or illustrations.
Create special effects by combining a snapshot of the original photo with your altered images, using the History Stamp tool.
Produce duotones, composites of several images, feather photos, close crop photos.
Includes a list of 20 ways to increase your efficiency in Photoshop and keyboard shortcuts for working with the Layers palette.
Students will receive the new book Photoshop: One Step at a time with 162 exercises and CD to practice after the course.

Adobe Illustrator
Learn how to alter type for logos and create colourful designs. Mask objects, trap, create custom colours, use special filters, create graphs, illustrations, and colour separations. With the new version 10, you can add soft drop shadows, feathered edges, and an outer glow.

Adobe InDesign
Learn to produce ads, business forms, brochures, and newsletters efficiently. Import graphics, wrap text, drop caps, tile over-sized documents, develop style sheets for headlines and body text, create master pages for common elements and efficiency, create custom colours and print colour separations and registration marks.

Adobe Dreamweaver
There is a maximum of 2 students so you know you'll get the attention you deserve. We’ve been teaching Macromedia Dreamweaver for designing web pages and automating production for over four years, so our instructors are well experienced. Click on a button to easily import images, Flash animations, rollovers and tables. Create imagemaps with hotspots. Add links to other pages or other spots on the same page. Import photos, artwork, or Flash animations. Add a form for receiving orders over the Internet. Insert horizontal or vertical navigation bars. Lean how to open a new browser window that's a specific size. You'll see how to upload a complete web site or just one altered page. This class usually sells out, so register today. Includes Dreamweaver: One Step at a Time book with 200 pages.

Adobe Flash
Because of our small classes, we can be more flexible. We have the latest version of Flash, as well as the previous. We'll teach whichever version students prefer. Learn to draw with Flash's vector drawing tools and create animations including spinning, rotating, moving, and zooming logos. Make photos fade from one into another. Add sound and music to buttons, movies, or frames. Create rollover buttons and ActionScript of buttons, objects, and movie clips. Similiar to the multimedia application Macromedia Director, Flash uses a timeline with frames and layers to create movement. Learn to create mouse trails so a logo falls from the mouse when you move it across a web page. Add interactive buttons and text input boxes that automatically calculate totals. More ActionScripts including mousetrails, change a mouse cursor into a logo, create a digital clock that changes time with the viewer's computer, trace bitmapped images or videoclips, create text that glitters or add a strobe effect to type. Includes 100-page manual with additional exercises. Includes Flash: One Step at a Time book.

QuarkXPress
Learn to produce ads, business forms, brochures, and newsletters efficiently. Import graphics, wrap text, drop caps, tile over-sized documents, develop style sheets for headlines and body text, create master pages for common elements and efficiency, create custom colours and print colour separations and registration marks.

Why take a class at Sterling Education Centre?
• Maximum of 2 students.
• Course manuals with step-by-step instructions with 100 to 250 pages included.
• Macintosh and Windows computers with 22" and 19" monitors
• All computers have high-speed Internet.
• Instructors are graphic designers who have used the software for over 15 years!
• Since 1991, we have specialized in graphic and web software training.
• We were the first to offer Photoshop, Quark, Flash, Premiere, Dreamweaver, and InDesign in Southern Ontario.
• Up-to-date equipment with current software.
• We offer e-mail support for any software program you take.
• Custom classes can be arranged.
Sorry, we no longer accept VISA or MasterCard payments.
Website in Flash

If this schedule doesn't suit you, we can arrange classes for you.

InDesign
6 Mon. & Thurs.
May 3, 6, 10, 13, 17, 20
9 a.m. - 11
$325
Photoshop
6 Tues. & Fri.
May 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, 21
9 a.m. - 11
$325
Illustrator
6 Wed.
May 5, 12, 19, 26, J. 2, 9
9 a.m. - 11
$325
Dreamweaver
4 Tues. & Fri.
May 25, 28, June 1, 4
9 a.m. - 11
$216
Photoshop
6 Mon. & Thurs.
May 27, 31, J. 3, 7, 10, 14
9 a.m. - 11
$325
Flash
6 Tues. & Fri.
June 8, 11, 15, 18, 22, 25
9 a.m. - 11
$325
InDesign
5 mornings
July 12, 13, 14, 15, 16
9 - 11:30
$325

Barb at computer

 

Graphic Designer Barbara Fanson has been teaching desktop publishing since 1992.

For desktop publishing or web design jobs, check out these Canadian websites:
www.designedgecanada.com
www.printjobs.ca
www.workopolis.ca
www.marketingmag.ca

DTP Book   Start and Run a Profitable Desktop Publishing Business, $15.95
You can earn $100,000 a year as a desktop publisher if you know how and where to market your skills. Learn how to get clients, how much to charge, keep track of projects, promote, manage a business.
Publishers, designers, writers, marketers, photographers and editors will benefit from the advice packed into this book on developing a niche market, getting and servicing clients, billing practices, controlling work flow, maintaining project dockets and archiving projects. Sample invoices and business forms included. See story below called New Desktop Publishing book offers practical advice for starting your own business for more information. Written by Barbara A. Fanson. Published by Self-Counsel Press. 147 pages.
Newsletter Book   Producing a First-Class Newsletter, $14.95
Learn how to plan, write, edit, design, and print newsletters. Develop your photography and layout skills to get your publication read. The design fundamentals you'll learn can be applied to any publication, promotional material or business form.
Some of the topics covered are kinds of newsletters, forming objectives, naming, planning consistency, distribution and circulation, budgeting, using outside services (writers, photographers, printers), setting up a functional layout, creating graphics, typography, using color effectively, the editor's role, writing styles, writing headlines, choosing photos, desktop publishing, proofing your publication, printing, and distributing the newsletter.
Written by Barbara A. Fanson, this book is a how-to guide to writing, editing, designing, planning, producing, photography, printing, and distributing newsletters. Published by Self-Counsel Press.
Newsletter Guide   Newsletter Planning Guide
Written by Barbara A. Fanson, this book is a how-to guide on planning, writing, editing, designing, photography, printing, and newsletters. Written and designed by Barbara A. Fanson and printed by Rewco Printing, the binder is a helpful planning guide for your next newsletter. Includes plenty of forms for budgeting, setting objectives for your newsletter, recording stories and who will write them, and planning distribution and circulation.
Plenty of fill-in forms are included in this newsletter planning workbook. Includes tips on budgeting your publication and planning the circulation, frequency, and distribution of your publication. Learn how to deal with writers, photographers, and printers. Self-published. Add $7 fo shipping. E-mail us: learn@sterlinged.com

Stool PhotoOur Angel was a flower girl in Canada's Bridal Show
in Toronto for two years. She was in a few ads for
Piller's Meats and on their website.Proposal

Pillers Meats

These samples were created Adobe Flash.