Skip to content

132 Best + Free Illustrator Courses & Certificates [2026]

132 courses compared 34 over 10 hours long Updated October 19, 2026

Ranked by Michael Kuhlman, CourseDuck's founder, from student reviews across every provider. How we rank

Our guide: The Best Graphic Design Courses on Udemy in 2026: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Canva and Figma

Our top picks

  • Illustrator MasterClass [Udemy]
  • Adobe Illustrator CC - Essentials Training Course [Udemy]
  • Adobe Illustrator CC – Advanced Training Course [Udemy]
  • Useful Tricks & Tips in Adobe Illustrator [Udemy]
  • Adobe Illustrator Mega Course - From Beginner to Advanced [Udemy]
  • Adobe Illustrator - Beginner to Pro Level With New AI [Udemy]
  • Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design [Udemy]
  • Graphic Design Bootcamp [Udemy]
  • Professional Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator [Udemy]
  • Logo Design Mastery In Adobe Illustrator [Udemy]

About the best Illustrator courses

CourseDuck compares the 132 Illustrator courses listed here from 3 providers, 6 of them free, and ranks them from the 268,000 ratings and reviews their students have left, with the price, length and level of each one side by side. No course pays to be listed or ranked. As featured on Harvard EDU, Stackify and Inc. How we rank

Frequently asked questions

The most-reviewed Illustrator course in this category is Illustrator MasterClass by Martin Perhiniak, with about 34,200 reviews at 4.6 as of October 2026.

Adobe Illustrator is vector graphics software. Designers use it to create logos, icons, illustrations and typography that can be scaled to any size without losing quality. Courses here cover Illustrator essentials and advanced training, logo design, vector artwork, flat illustration and Illustrator on the iPad.

Average
$57,297 a year
Middle half earn
$39,000 to $70,000 25th to 75th percentile
Full range
$21,500 to $131,500

Share of US job postings in each pay band; the dark bar holds the average, the striped bars the 25th and 75th percentiles. Source: ZipRecruiter salary data collected in 2020-21, when this FAQ was first written; pay has moved since, so treat it as a rough guide.

Paid Udemy video courses include a certificate of completion when you finish; free courses and practice-test-only courses do not. It shows you did the work, but it is not an accredited qualification. Coursera usually charges for a certificate, issued with the university or company that made the course.

Provider

University

Tags

Rating

Duration

Difficulty

Publication Year

Language

132 Filtered Courses
Illustrator MasterClass
provider

1

Illustrator MasterClass (2024)

4.6

A 14-hour, 123-lecture tour of Illustrator from an Adobe Certified Instructor, praised for zero-fluff teaching, with newer features covered in add-on chapters.

Best for: Beginners and self-taught Illustrator users who want the fundamentals explained properly, with quizzes and exercise files.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Clear, tightly edited lessons; reviewers say there is no rambling or filler
    • Covers the full program: objects, Pen tool, brushes, Image Trace, type, symbols, meshes, export
    • Nine chapter quizzes plus exercise files and study guides to practice with
    • Long-time users say they still learn workflow tricks they had missed
    • Core videos use an old Illustrator version; new features sit in separate 2019 to 2024 chapters
    • Light on Pathfinder and Shape Builder, and the sample artwork is simple for a 'MasterClass'
    • One reviewer reports a Q&A question unanswered after a month
Adobe Illustrator CC - Essentials Training Course
provider

2

Adobe Illustrator CC - Essentials Training Course (2025)

4.8

A project-heavy beginner's Illustrator course taught by Daniel Walter Scott, with 35 assignments, a 4.8 rating from 33,000 reviews and a January 2025 refresh.

Best for: Complete beginners who learn by drawing something after every lesson and want a small portfolio of icons and logos by the end.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • 35 assignments with exercise files, more than two per section on average, so practice is built in
    • Reviewers call Dan funny and clear, and say his teaching removed their fear of the program
    • Lectures run a few minutes each, which one busy student says makes it easy to fit in
    • Refreshed January 2025; the syllabus covers 3D, patterns and a short AI intro
    • The assignment count feels heavy to at least one student with a full-time job
    • The AI section is two lectures and eight minutes, so barely an introduction
    • A low-star review reports some videos not playing, and there are no quizzes to check understanding
Adobe Illustrator CC  Advanced Training Course
provider

3

Adobe Illustrator CC Advanced Training Course (2025)

4.8

Dan Scott's 10-hour sequel to his Essentials course, covering the Illustrator tools self-taught users skip: Shape Builder, global swatches, blends, envelopes and effects.

Best for: Working designers who know the basics and want the print-ready tools: spot colors, compound paths, blends and export tricks.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Picks up exactly where the Essentials course ends, so returning students say it flows naturally.
    • 30 assignments tied to lessons, plus a short section on Adobe's AI tools like Text to Vector.
    • Refreshed January 2025; about 7,700 of nearly 11,000 reviews are five stars.
    • A designer with 25 years in the field says he still learns plenty from Dan's courses.
    • One reviewer finds the instructor's goofy humor distracting and wants him to just teach.
    • One reviewer says it isn't very advanced and mostly taught them more about the basics.
    • One student couldn't find the Text to Vector beta in her panel, so the AI section may not match your install.
Useful Tricks & Tips in Adobe Illustrator
provider

4

Useful Tricks & Tips in Adobe Illustrator (2025)

4.4

A free, one-hour set of 16 self-contained Illustrator tricks from Daniel White, the Dansky YouTuber, rated 4.4 by more than 5,000 students and refreshed in 2025.

Best for: Designers who already know the basic Illustrator tools and want an hour of shape, path, and text tricks they can revisit one at a time.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Free, and just under an hour, so it fits in a single sitting
    • Each of the 16 tricks is a labelled standalone lesson, easy to revisit later
    • Students praise the calm, clear narration and simple explanations
    • Updated in January 2025 despite dating back to 2015
    • No tour of the tools and palettes first; one reviewer struggled to find what he was using
    • Moves quickly, and there are no exercises, quizzes, or certificate
    • Only 16 tips, so experienced Illustrator users will find little new
Adobe Illustrator Mega Course - From Beginner to Advanced
provider

5

Adobe Illustrator Mega Course - From Beginner to Advanced (2023)

4.4

Eighteen hours of Illustrator that moves from tool basics to isometric cities, data charts and mandalas, holding a 4.4 from over 5,000 reviews despite a 2023 last update.

Best for: Beginners who want to finish with a folder of real artwork, plus lapsed designers after a fast refresher with a few new tricks.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Second half builds finished pieces: isometric house and city, spreadsheet-driven charts, patterns, mandalas
    • Alan Ayoubi's explanations are clear and organized, and one reviewer praises the microphone quality
    • Covers topics one reviewer called rare to learn, like data visualization and selling your artwork online
    • Works as a quick refresher for past professionals as well as a first course
    • Last updated October 2023; Adobe Color Themes and a few other tools shown no longer exist
    • Some resource files are reported empty, including the futuristic city assets
    • Steps are shown more than explained, and homework mostly copies the instructor
Adobe Illustrator - Beginner to Pro Level With New AI
provider

6

Adobe Illustrator - Beginner to Pro Level With New AI (2026)

4.8
Master Illustrator - Easy Lessons, Plus Real-World Step-by-Step Projects for your Portfolio Plus New AI Features

iconWhat You'll Learn

  • How to create professional logos, graphics, icons, infographics and more
  • Draw your own shapes and manipulate them with ease
  • Create professional designs and illustrations using tools such as the Shape Builder, Pen, Pencil and Pathfinder tools
  • Learn to create eye-catching and amazing digital vector artwork with stunning color
  • Create amazing artwork and patterns with the new Radial, Mirror and Symmetry Repeats
  • Understand color including RGB / CMYK, Spot as well as working with Gradients and Blends
  • Create designs for use in print, packaging, advertising, social media, websites and mobile graphics
  • Turn photographs into vector artwork
Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design
provider

7

Graphic Design Masterclass - Learn GREAT Design (2025)

4.6

A 32 hour beginner survey of design theory plus Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign, with 305,000 students and lessons added as recently as November 2025.

Best for: Complete beginners who want theory, branding and all three Adobe apps in one place before picking a specialty.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Design theory (typography, color, grids) comes first, then each app gets a real project like a cookbook or a vector badge
    • Still being updated: Photoshop 2026, generative AI and Affinity comparison lessons were added in late 2025
    • Reviewers with design degrees and working designers say they still learned new tricks
    • Downloadable guides on typography history, color theory, grids and font pairing
    • One star reviewer says lessons show 2020 era Adobe and the interfaces have changed; some sections are labeled older
    • Broad rather than deep; one reviewer wanted a single project to follow from start to finish
    • Adobe or Affinity software is not included and must be bought separately
Graphic Design Bootcamp
provider

8

Graphic Design Bootcamp (2026)

4.3
Bestselling Beginner Course! Use Photoshop, Illustrator, & InDesign for logo design, web design, poster design, and more

iconWhat You'll Learn

  • Gain a clear understanding of how to work with BOTH print and web projects in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign.
  • Develop the skills and confidence to create the most common graphic design projects.
  • Build a skill set that can set you up to be employable in the creative industry as a graphic designer.
  • Begin to understand the basics of logo design, including typography and color usage.
  • Learn how to make and refine selections using Photoshop.
  • Learn how to make composite images using Photoshop.
  • Work with typography, shapes, colors, and more in Illustrator.
  • Learn how to efficiently package and export files.
  • Learn how to lay out graphics and text while designing an eBook with InDesign.
  • Discover how to export your finished portfolio projects directly from the Adobe CC into Behance.
  • Learn how to mask shapes and work with Font Awesome icons.
  • Learn how to set up a logo mood board and how to present
Professional Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator
provider

9

Professional Logo Design in Adobe Illustrator (2015)

4.5
Learn how to design a logo that stands out from the crowd.

iconWhat You'll Learn

  • Design a Professional Logo
  • Design a logo that stand out from the croud
  • Design a new logo for a real client
  • Fine-tuning a design after client selection
  • Understand the techniques used in logo creation
  • Apply various new techniques to your own work
Logo Design Mastery In Adobe Illustrator
provider

10

Logo Design Mastery In Adobe Illustrator (2022)

4.7

A short Illustrator logo course that follows two full client-style projects, then covers mockups, file export and where to find clients, aimed at newcomers.

Best for: Newcomers to logo design who want one walkthrough from client brief to export files, plus tips on finding work.

icon
Pros
icon
Cons
    • Two start-to-finish logo projects show the process, not just isolated Illustrator tools
    • Reviewers call the teaching clear and easy to follow, and one says it does not overwhelm
    • Covers the business side too: client questions, mockups, export files and finding clients
    • Downloadable extras include a client questionnaire, color psychology sheet and font pairing guide
    • Last updated in 2022, and one reviewer says the Illustrator instructions no longer translate
    • Several reviewers want more on the thinking behind ideas, not just the execution
    • Some call it basic for a course titled mastery, and say similar material is free on YouTube
Procreate: Solid Foundations
provider

11

Procreate: Solid Foundations (2026)

4.8
Learn Procreate thoroughly and effectively from a 30+ year designer/illustrator! Updated to Procreate 5.3!

iconWhat You'll Learn

  • You will learn Procreate - thoroughly!
  • You will learn the color theory behind the color selection tools
  • You will have practical exercises to practice your knowledge
  • You will master the brush engine so you can modify and create new brushes
  • You will learn about more advanced topics like layer blend modes and layer masks
  • Learn selections and symmetry
  • Learn about all of the Adjustments Procreate has to offer
  • Learn to animate, import PDF files and paint on 3d objects
  • You will learn about the when and the why, not just how to use the various features of Procreate

Show All

All 132 Illustrator courses

How useful was this

Illustrator

Best Courses list?

1. How would you rate this page?
Be the first to rate this list.
2. Anything we should add or fix? (optional)