Handout of Adobe Illustrator

Here's a couple of frequently-needed hints to work in Illustrator:

1) Faded edges on a picture: Select image, Effect>Stylize>Feather then choose radius
2) 3D effect on text: Select text, Effect>3D>Extrude and Bevel> Set options as desired
3) Group: Select and Ctrl+G or Select, Object>Group
4) Trim a picture: draw rectangle upon figure, Select both rectangle and figure (Shift+click), go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make. More here

Good source of general info:

http://help.adobe.com/en_US/illustrator/cs/using/WS714a382cdf7d304e7e07d0100196cbc5f-62f2a.html