ACA JJO cheat sheet

ACA exams are performance-based: candidates complete a timed project in the application, not a multiple-choice test, and are scored against a published objective list.

Objectives are grouped into domains weighted roughly evenly; no single domain dominates, so a weak area can fail the exam even if others are strong.

The exam project supplies an explicit brief (audience, deliverable, required elements); grading checks only what the brief specifies, so extra unrequested content earns nothing.

Standard planning sequence: define purpose and audience, gather content, choose document dimensions and color mode, build, then export to the specified format.

Project setup decisions that cannot be changed cheaply later: document size, units/rulers, color mode (RGB vs CMYK), and artboard count.

Deliverable formats are named in the brief; producing a PDF when a PNG is required is a failing outcome regardless of visual quality.

Time management rule: reserve roughly the final 20 percent of exam time for export, file naming, and verification against the brief's checklist.

Saved files must match the required name and location; graders locate files by path, so a correctly built file saved elsewhere scores zero.

Rule of thirds: divide the frame into a 3x3 grid and place key subjects near the intersections rather than dead center for dynamic balance.

Contrast types are value, hue, saturation, size, and shape; at least one must separate foreground from background for legibility.

Visual hierarchy is established by size, position, color weight, and isolation; the largest/highest-contrast element is read first.

Alignment creates order: elements sharing an edge or centerline read as related; near-alignment that is almost-but-not-quite reads as error.

Proximity rule: items closer together are perceived as a group, so spacing communicates relationships more reliably than boxes or rules.

Repetition of a visual treatment (color, typeface, shape) builds unity; too many distinct treatments produces visual noise.

White space is an active element; reducing it increases perceived density and cognitive load, increasing it raises perceived quality.

Gestalt principles in practice: closure (viewer completes incomplete shapes), continuation (eye follows lines), and figure-ground (subject vs background separation).

Vector paths are defined by anchor points plus direction handles; the number of points, not the drawing complexity, determines file weight and editability.

Anchor types: corner points produce sharp direction changes, smooth points produce continuous curves with linked handles.

Pen tool rule: click adds a corner point, click-drag adds a smooth point; fewer anchors with longer handles yield smoother curves than many short segments.

Pathfinder/boolean operations (unite, subtract, intersect, exclude) combine closed shapes; the result takes the fill and stacking attributes of the topmost or specified object.

Compound paths create holes (such as the counter of an O) using even-odd or nonzero fill rules rather than separate objects.

Group vs compound path: a group keeps children independently editable; a compound path behaves as one object with a single fill/stroke.

Stroke alignment (center, inside, outside) affects apparent object size; outside strokes expand visual bounds beyond the path.

Scaling rule: hold Shift to constrain proportions; vector art scales without quality loss, but stroke weights and effects may need the scale-strokes option enabled.

Clipping masks and opacity masks hide areas non-destructively; the mask shape remains editable and the underlying artwork is preserved.

RGB is additive and used for screens; CMYK is subtractive and used for print; converting RGB to CMYK can shift saturated colors because CMYK gamut is smaller.

Spot colors are premixed inks identified by a matching system number; they print consistently and can extend beyond CMYK gamut.

Color harmony schemes: monochromatic (one hue), analogous (adjacent hues), complementary (opposite hues), triadic (three evenly spaced hues).

Tints reduce saturation toward white; shades reduce toward black; both preserve hue while changing value.

Type classification: serif, sans serif, script, and display/decorative; body text is set in serif or sans serif, display faces are reserved for headings.

Legibility rules: body text commonly 9-12 pt with leading about 120 percent of type size; line length of roughly 45-75 characters per line.

Kerning adjusts space between a specific pair of characters, tracking adjusts space across a range, leading adjusts space between lines.

Alignment modes: flush left (ragged right), flush right, centered, and justified; justified text requires hyphenation to avoid rivers of white space.

Layout grid: margins define safe area, columns structure content, and gutters separate columns; consistent baseline grids align text across columns.

Layers organize artwork by function or stacking order; naming layers and using sublayers makes files editable by others and speeds exam tasks.

Linked assets stay external and update when the source changes; embedded assets are stored inside the file and increase file size but remove dependency.

Non-destructive editing order: masks and adjustment layers before destructive operations such as rasterize, flatten, or merge.

Color mode and resolution should be set at document creation; changing resolution later resamples pixels and can soften raster content.

File formats for working files preserve layers and editability (AI, PSD, INDD); delivery formats flatten or convert (PDF, PNG, JPG, SVG).

Versioning convention: save incremental copies before major destructive steps so a prior state is recoverable without undo history.

Symbols, swatches, styles, and libraries centralize repeated attributes so a single edit updates every instance across the document.

Artboard/page setup defines output regions; content outside the artboard is preserved in the file but excluded from most exports.

Raster formats: JPEG uses lossy compression and no transparency; PNG uses lossless compression and supports alpha transparency; GIF is limited to 256 colors.

SVG is a vector web format that scales without loss and supports CSS styling; it is preferred for logos and icons on the web.

PDF/X presets are for print with bleed and CMYK output intent; PDF/A is for long-term archival; screen PDFs use RGB and compressed images.

Print output requires bleed (typically 0.125 in / 3 mm beyond trim), crop marks, and a safe margin inside the trim for critical content.

Resolution targets: 300 ppi at final size for print images, 72 ppi for screen at 1x; retina displays may require 2x assets.

Effective resolution equals the image's pixel dimensions divided by its placed size in inches; enlarging a placed image lowers effective ppi.

Rasterizing vector content at export fixes its resolution; export at the largest size the asset will be displayed to avoid upscaling.

Color profile handling: embed the output profile for delivery, and convert to the destination space (sRGB for web, CMYK for print) rather than leaving untagged data.

Preflight checks flag missing fonts, missing links, low-resolution images, and out-of-gamut colors before final output.