Computer and Office applications, Excel reports, CorelDRAW, Photoshop, Canva, AI productivity and practical office/publishing work.
What you will cover
Computer
Office applications
Excel reports
CorelDRAW
Photoshop
Canva
AI productivity
practical office/publishing work
Topic list from the institute's programme record.
Certification
Certificate terms for this programme are confirmed by the institute at admission. Any ADIVAS course-completion certificate is an institute certificate; it is not a university degree, an externally accredited qualification or a vendor certification (such as AWS or Microsoft) unless the institute states so in writing.
The programme title is as supplied in the institute's list. Please confirm the awarding body and recognition with the institute before enrolling.
Curriculum 0.1 · Draft: written for ADIVAS and awaiting academic review and approval. Topics and weeks may change before your batch starts.
Your skill trail
You move through 7 stations. Each week builds one skill you can show, not just a topic you have heard.
1
Computer and office practice
Handle files, email and records in a professional office routine.
Week 1 Computer, files and email for the office
Week 2 Office practice: records, correspondence and filing
Week 3 Typing, Tamil Unicode and document accuracy
2
Word documents
Produce structured, correct documents including bilingual text.
Week 4 Word: formatting and layout
Week 5 Word: styles, headers and long documents
Week 6 Word: mail merge, forms and review
3
Excel reports
Build registers and reports with accurate calculations.
Week 7 Excel: data entry and structure
Week 8 Excel: formulas for office reports
Week 9 Excel: logic and lookups
Week 10 Excel: validation, filters and cleaning
Week 11 Excel: pivots, charts and reports
Week 12 Excel: monthly report pack
4
Presentations and Canva
Communicate visually with slides and quick designs.
Week 13 PowerPoint: office presentations
Week 14 Canva: social posts and print designs
5
CorelDRAW
Create vector graphics and print layouts.
Week 15 CorelDRAW: workspace, shapes and text
Week 16 CorelDRAW: curves, colour and logos
Week 17 CorelDRAW: visiting cards, brochures and print export
6
Photoshop
Edit and compose images for print and web.
Week 18 Photoshop: layers, selections and masks
Week 19 Photoshop: colour correction and retouching
Week 20 Photoshop: posters, banners and export
7
AI and publishing project
Combine tools in a checked, delivered project.
Week 21 Checked AI for office productivity
Week 22 Publishing workflow: newsletter and brochure
Week 23 Office and publishing project: build
Week 24 Project delivery and portfolio
★
Brand and Office Pack for a Local Business
Your project, reviewed by a trainer.
The ADIVAS mastery ladder: how each skill is recognised
Explored You have seen the idea and tried a first example.
Practising You can do it with hints and keep improving.
Proficient You complete the weekly practical task correctly on your own.
Proven You apply it in a project reviewed by your trainer.
Skill-level tracking is being added to the learner workspace. Your trainer already reviews weekly practical work.
What you will be able to do
Manage files, email and office records with a clear naming, filing and correspondence routine.
Produce letters, circulars, forms and long documents in Word, including bilingual Tamil and English text.
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Design a clear presentation in PowerPoint and a social or print graphic in Canva.
Create logos, visiting cards and brochures in CorelDRAW using shapes, curves, text and correct export settings.
Edit and compose images in Photoshop with layers, selections, colour correction and retouching.
Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format.
Use AI tools to draft and brainstorm, verify the output and protect private data in office work.
Plan and deliver an office and publishing project from brief to final files.
Who it suits
School Class 11 and 12 students who like computers and design and want a practical office and graphics foundation.
College Students and graduates who want to combine office automation with design tools for jobs and freelance work.
Professional Office staff, print-shop assistants and small business owners who prepare reports, documents and marketing material.
Prerequisites: Basic computer use; completing Computer Basics or Office Skills is helpful but not required. Tools: Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint (or LibreOffice equivalents), CorelDRAW (or Inkscape as a free vector alternative), Adobe Photoshop (or GIMP as a free alternative), Canva free account, Google Workspace and a free AI assistant for checked-use exercises, Sample photos, logos and datasets supplied by the trainer.
Weekly plan
Computer and office practice Weeks 1–3
Week 1: Computer, files and email for the office
Theory
Operating system, folders, file naming and backups
Create an inward/outward register, a visitor log and a petty-cash voucher template; draft a memo and meeting minutes from a given meeting.
Homework
Collect three real office letters (blank them of private data) and note their parts.
Deliverable
Registers and templates plus a memo and minutes.
Weekly checkpoint
Case: file ten incoming papers correctly and justify retention.
You will be able to
Manage files, email and office records with a clear naming, filing and correspondence routine.
Week 3: Typing, Tamil Unicode and document accuracy
Theory
Touch typing posture and speed practice
Tamil Unicode typing with a phonetic or Tamil-99 layout
Proofreading marks and consistent spelling
Lab
Take typing tests in English and Tamil; type a half-page bilingual notice; proofread a document with ten planted mistakes.
Homework
Type for 15 minutes daily and log your speed.
Deliverable
Typing log and a corrected bilingual notice.
Weekly checkpoint
Timed typing and proofreading check.
You will be able to
Produce letters, circulars, forms and long documents in Word, including bilingual Tamil and English text. Manage files, email and office records with a clear naming, filing and correspondence routine.
Word documents Weeks 4–6
Week 4: Word: formatting and layout
Theory
Fonts, paragraphs, spacing, tabs, lists
Tables, images, text wrapping, columns
Page setup, margins, print preview
Lab
Format a circular, an office notice and a two-column newsletter page; build a visiting-card layout using a table.
Homework
Redesign a plain notice into a poster-like notice.
Deliverable
Circular, notice, newsletter page and card layout.
Weekly checkpoint
Fix a broken layout in 20 minutes.
You will be able to
Produce letters, circulars, forms and long documents in Word, including bilingual Tamil and English text.
Week 5: Word: styles, headers and long documents
Theory
Heading styles and templates
Section breaks, headers, footers, page numbers
Table of contents, captions and cross-references
Lab
Convert a raw 10-page office manual into a styled document with cover page, numbering and contents; save as a template.
Homework
Add captions and a list of tables to the manual.
Deliverable
Styled manual and a reusable template.
Weekly checkpoint
Edit a heading and update the contents; explain style inheritance.
You will be able to
Produce letters, circulars, forms and long documents in Word, including bilingual Tamil and English text.
Week 6: Word: mail merge, forms and review
Theory
Mail merge letters, labels and envelopes
Fillable forms with content controls
Track changes, comments, PDF export
Lab
Merge an event invitation for 20 guests, print labels, build a fillable visitor form and review a colleague's draft.
Homework
Create a payslip-style statement merge (only sample names).
Deliverable
Merged letters, labels, form and a reviewed draft.
Weekly checkpoint
Debug a merge with wrong fields and duplicates.
You will be able to
Produce letters, circulars, forms and long documents in Word, including bilingual Tamil and English text. Manage files, email and office records with a clear naming, filing and correspondence routine.
Excel reports Weeks 7–12
Week 7: Excel: data entry and structure
Theory
Rows, columns, tables, number formats (₹) and dates
Freeze panes, print titles, page setup
Data-entry rules: one fact per cell, consistent headers
Lab
Build a staff register and a stock register with correct formats and print setup; correct a badly structured sheet.
Homework
Design a sheet layout for a school's fee tracker.
Deliverable
Staff register and stock register ready to print.
Weekly checkpoint
Spot five structural problems in a sample sheet.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Week 8: Excel: formulas for office reports
Theory
SUM, AVERAGE, ROUND, MIN, MAX
Relative and absolute references
GST calculation on lines: 18% on a rate cell, totals and rounding
Lab
Build a purchase register with GST, an attendance summary and a petty-cash book with running balance.
Homework
Check the petty-cash balance by hand.
Deliverable
Purchase register, attendance summary and petty-cash book.
Weekly checkpoint
Predict the result of copying formulas; verify.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Week 9: Excel: logic and lookups
Theory
IF, AND, OR, nested IF
COUNTIFS and SUMIFS
XLOOKUP / VLOOKUP and IFERROR
Lab
Create a leave tracker with logic, a stock reorder alert (IF stock < reorder level) and a rate lookup invoice.
Homework
Debug a wrong nested IF.
Deliverable
Leave tracker, reorder alert sheet and lookup invoice.
Weekly checkpoint
Fix three formulas and explain the cause.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Clean a 150-row visitor list, add dropdowns and highlight overdue follow-ups.
Homework
Create a data-entry sheet that rejects wrong dates.
Deliverable
Cleaned visitor list with validation.
Weekly checkpoint
Clean ten messy records and document the formula used.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Week 11: Excel: pivots, charts and reports
Theory
PivotTables, grouping, slicers
Column, line, pie and combo charts
Chart choice and honest scales
Lab
Summarise 300 sales rows by month, branch and item; build two charts and a one-page report sheet.
Homework
Write three questions the pivot answers.
Deliverable
Pivot-based report sheet with charts.
Weekly checkpoint
Explain which chart answers which business question.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts.
Week 12: Excel: monthly report pack
Theory
Linking sheets, summary sheet, print areas
Protecting formula cells and sheets
Reports to PDF and Word integration
Lab
Assemble a monthly office report workbook: attendance, expenses, stock and sales summary; protect formulas; export report pages to PDF.
Homework
Add a checklist sheet to verify totals.
Deliverable
Monthly report workbook and a PDF.
Weekly checkpoint
Module test: build a summary from three sheets in 45 minutes.
You will be able to
Build Excel registers and reports with formulas, lookups, validation, pivots and charts. Manage files, email and office records with a clear naming, filing and correspondence routine.
Presentations and Canva Weeks 13–14
Week 13: PowerPoint: office presentations
Theory
One message per slide; slide master and colour contrast
Charts, tables and images from Excel
Speaker notes, rehearsal, PDF handout
Lab
Create a 8-slide monthly review deck from the report workbook; add notes and export a handout PDF.
Homework
Rehearse twice and time yourself.
Deliverable
Eight-slide review deck and handout.
Weekly checkpoint
Deliver a 4-minute talk; peers score clarity.
You will be able to
Design a clear presentation in PowerPoint and a social or print graphic in Canva.
Week 14: Canva: social posts and print designs
Theory
Templates, brand colours, fonts and the grid
Layout, hierarchy and alignment
Export: PNG, JPG, PDF and sizes for WhatsApp, Instagram, A4
Lab
Design an admission-drive poster, a WhatsApp status image and a one-page A4 flyer using a brand kit of two colours and two fonts.
Homework
Rework a crowded design into a clean one.
Deliverable
Poster, status image and flyer exported correctly.
Weekly checkpoint
Design critique: check hierarchy, contrast and export size.
You will be able to
Design a clear presentation in PowerPoint and a social or print graphic in Canva. Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format.
CorelDRAW Weeks 15–17
Week 15: CorelDRAW: workspace, shapes and text
Theory
Interface, pages, units and rulers
Shapes, align, distribute, groups, layers
Text: artistic vs paragraph, fonts, Tamil Unicode fonts
Lab
Draw a simple office floor sign set (arrow, room-number plates) using shapes and aligned text; set up an A4 page and save a native file.
Homework
Recreate a given signboard.
Deliverable
Signboard set drawing file.
Weekly checkpoint
Align and distribute eight objects exactly as shown.
You will be able to
Create logos, visiting cards and brochures in CorelDRAW using shapes, curves, text and correct export settings.
Week 16: CorelDRAW: curves, colour and logos
Theory
Pen/Bezier, shape tool, nodes and curves
Fills, outlines, gradients and the colour palette
Combine, weld, trim, intersect and convert text to curves
Lab
Design a simple logo for a fictional local business using shapes and nodes; create black, colour and reversed versions.
Homework
Trace a hand-drawn logo sketch.
Deliverable
Logo in three versions as vector files.
Weekly checkpoint
Edit nodes to fix a deliberately misshapen curve.
You will be able to
Create logos, visiting cards and brochures in CorelDRAW using shapes, curves, text and correct export settings.
Week 17: CorelDRAW: visiting cards, brochures and print export
Theory
Page size, bleed and safe margins
CMYK vs RGB, spot colours, resolution for images
Export to PDF for print, outlines and fonts
Lab
Create a 90x54 mm visiting card with bleed and a tri-fold brochure; export press-ready PDF and a web PNG.
Homework
Check bleed and fonts on your PDF and list findings.
Deliverable
Visiting card, brochure and exported PDFs.
Weekly checkpoint
Preflight a given file: find missing bleed, RGB image, tiny text.
You will be able to
Create logos, visiting cards and brochures in CorelDRAW using shapes, curves, text and correct export settings. Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format.
Photoshop Weeks 18–20
Week 18: Photoshop: layers, selections and masks
Theory
Pixels, resolution and canvas size
Layers, selections, masks and non-destructive edits
Crop, resize, transform and save PSD
Lab
Combine two photos into one using selections and layer masks; resize for A4 print and for web.
Homework
Cut out a product from its background.
Deliverable
Composite image PSD and exports.
Weekly checkpoint
Explain why a low-resolution photo prints badly.
You will be able to
Edit and compose images in Photoshop with layers, selections, colour correction and retouching. Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format.
Week 19: Photoshop: colour correction and retouching
Theory
Levels, curves, brightness, white balance
Spot healing, clone, dodge and burn
Ethics of editing: what not to alter
Lab
Correct a dark, tinted photo set and retouch dust and marks on a scanned document photo.
Homework
Before/after sheet with notes of the adjustments.
Deliverable
Corrected photo set with before/after sheet.
Weekly checkpoint
Match the described fault to the right adjustment.
You will be able to
Edit and compose images in Photoshop with layers, selections, colour correction and retouching.
Week 20: Photoshop: posters, banners and export
Theory
Text, shapes, smart objects and layer styles
Safe export for print (CMYK PDF/TIFF) and web (JPG/PNG, sRGB)
File size vs quality, naming and versions
Lab
Create a course-admission poster and a web banner from the same design; export print and web versions; compare file sizes.
Homework
Rebuild the banner in Canva and compare effort.
Deliverable
Poster and banner in print and web formats.
Weekly checkpoint
Test: choose format and settings for six use cases.
You will be able to
Edit and compose images in Photoshop with layers, selections, colour correction and retouching. Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format. Design a clear presentation in PowerPoint and a social or print graphic in Canva.
AI and publishing project Weeks 21–24
Week 21: Checked AI for office productivity
Theory
AI for drafting, summarising and formula help
Image generation and its limits for logos and trademarks
Checking facts and numbers; privacy and copyright
Lab
Use an AI tool to draft a notice, summarise a policy, explain a formula and suggest poster text; log every error found and your correction.
Homework
Create a one-page AI use guide for your office.
Deliverable
AI work log and use guide.
Weekly checkpoint
Find three errors in an AI-written summary.
You will be able to
Use AI tools to draft and brainstorm, verify the output and protect private data in office work.
Week 22: Publishing workflow: newsletter and brochure
Theory
Content planning, grids, hierarchy and consistency
Combining Word text, Corel layout and Photoshop images
Proofing, approvals and print vendor instructions
Lab
Lay out a 4-page institute newsletter (text from Word, logo from Corel, photos from Photoshop), run a proof cycle and prepare vendor instructions.
Homework
Proofread against a style sheet.
Deliverable
Four-page newsletter PDF with proof checklist.
Weekly checkpoint
Proof review: find the planted errors in a page.
You will be able to
Prepare print-ready and web-ready files with the right colour mode, resolution, bleed and format. Plan and deliver an office and publishing project from brief to final files.
Week 23: Office and publishing project: build
Theory
Brief, scope, timeline and file structure
Using each tool for the right task
Checkpoints and peer review
Lab
Start your project: choose a brief (a small business office pack with brand identity), produce the brand kit, register workbook and first print pieces.
Homework
Complete the first drafts and a progress log.
Deliverable
Project folder, brand kit and first drafts.
Weekly checkpoint
Mid-project review with the trainer.
You will be able to
Plan and deliver an office and publishing project from brief to final files.
Week 24: Project delivery and portfolio
Theory
Final corrections and export
Presenting the project
Portfolio folder and handover document
Lab
Finalise all files, present in 8 minutes and submit a portfolio folder with sources and exports plus a one-page handover note.
Homework
Prepare answers to likely questions.
Deliverable
Final project, presentation and portfolio.
Weekly checkpoint
Panel viva and file inspection.
You will be able to
Plan and deliver an office and publishing project from brief to final files. Create logos, visiting cards and brochures in CorelDRAW using shapes, curves, text and correct export settings. Edit and compose images in Photoshop with layers, selections, colour correction and retouching. Use AI tools to draft and brainstorm, verify the output and protect private data in office work.
Sample lessons
Week 17
Vector or pixels, RGB or CMYK: preparing a print-ready file
Vector graphics (CorelDRAW) are made of curves and stay sharp at any size, so they suit logos and signboards. Raster images (photos, Photoshop) are made of pixels and become blurry when enlarged beyond their resolution. Screens mix light (RGB) while printers mix ink (CMYK), so colours can shift in print. A print-ready file also needs bleed, a safe margin and fonts converted to curves or embedded.
Vector (CorelDRAW)
Made of curves
Sharp at any size
Logos, signboards
Raster (Photoshop)
Made of pixels
Blurs when enlarged
Photos, retouching
Step by step
Set the page to the final size, for example 90 x 54 mm for a visiting card.
Extend backgrounds 3 mm past the edge as bleed.
Keep text at least 3 mm inside the edge as the safe margin.
Check that images are about 300 dpi at the printed size and in CMYK.
Convert text to curves or embed fonts, then export a PDF for print and open it to check.
In real life
A Madurai printer rejects a visiting card file because the logo is a 72 dpi web image, the colours are RGB and there is no bleed. The corrected file prints sharply the first time.
Worked example
Problem. A photo is 600 x 400 pixels. At 300 dpi, how large can you print it without losing sharpness?
Solution. 600 / 300 = 2 inches by 400 / 300 = 1.33 inches (about 5 x 3.4 cm). Printed larger it would look blurry, so use a bigger original.
Common mistakes
Enlarging a small web image for a flex banner.
Forgetting bleed so a white edge appears after cutting.
Sending RGB files to a CMYK press without checking colour.
Try it yourself
Compute the largest sharp print size of a 3000 x 2000 pixel photo at 300 dpi.
List what to check before exporting a brochure PDF.
Week 11
From raw sales rows to a chart that answers a question
Raw rows do not help a manager; a summary does. A PivotTable groups the rows by month, branch or item and adds the numbers. A chart then shows the pattern: use columns to compare amounts, a line for change over time and a pie only for a few parts of a whole. Always give the chart a title that states what the reader should see.
1Raw rows
2Excel table
3PivotTable
4Chart
5Finding as title
Step by step
Convert the sales rows to an Excel table with headers.
Insert a PivotTable and drag Month to Rows and Amount to Values.
Add Branch as a column or slicer to compare branches.
Insert a PivotChart: line for the monthly trend.
Write a one-line finding as the chart title.
In real life
The owner of three stationery branches asks: which branch is falling in the last quarter? A line chart of branch sales by month answers it at a glance.
Worked example
Problem. Which chart is best to show how monthly electricity cost changed from January to December?
Solution. A line chart, because the data is a series over time and the line shows the direction of change.
Common mistakes
Using a pie chart for twelve months.
Starting the axis at a high number so small changes look huge.
A title such as 'Chart 1' instead of a finding.
Try it yourself
Create a pivot of expense by category and chart it.
Rewrite three chart titles so each states a finding.
Try the questions
The same skills are asked at three levels: School (Classes 6–12), College and Professional. Switch the level and the language (English or Tamil), and say how sure you are before you check: knowing what you are unsure about is part of learning.
Classes 6–12: everyday examples, no prior knowledge. Practice only. Nothing here is graded or saved.
Question 1 / 4 · Vector vs raster idea
You draw a smiley with a ruler and compass on paper; you also take a photo of it. Which one stays sharp if you make a huge poster by redrawing it larger from the same instructions?
Projects
Brand and Office Pack for a Local Business
A new tailoring boutique in Madurai needs an office and publishing pack: a logo, visiting card and brochure, a customer register and monthly report in Excel, a business letter template in Word and a short Canva post. Build the complete pack and prepare print-ready and web-ready exports.
Tasks
Design the logo in CorelDRAW with three versions and export vector and PNG files.
Create a visiting card with bleed and a tri-fold brochure; export press-ready PDF.
Edit three product photos in Photoshop (colour, crop, background) for the brochure and a web banner.
Build the customer and sales register in Excel with a lookup, validation and a monthly pivot chart.
Prepare a Word letter template with merge fields and an invoice summary.
Design a Canva announcement post and keep an AI-use log for any AI-assisted text.
A folder with source files, print and web exports, a working register workbook, a letter template, a post and a README listing files and settings.
How it is assessed
Criterion
Weight
Design quality and consistency
25%
Print and web export correctness
20%
Excel register accuracy
20%
Documents and templates
15%
Organisation, README and AI log
20%
Stretch challenge: Create a stationery set (letterhead and envelope) and a QR code for the shop's WhatsApp number.
How you are assessed
Each week: a practical file task submitted with a clear name, five checkpoint questions (one with a diagram or screenshot) and a short design or work note explaining one decision you made.
Practical work. Learners submit real work: office documents and registers, an Excel report pack, vector and image designs and a publishing project. The trainer opens source files, checks export settings and asks the learner to explain choices.
What trainers look for
Weight
Correct, working files and numbers
30%
Design and layout quality
25%
Export and print readiness
15%
Organisation and naming
10%
Checking, privacy and AI use
20%
Where this can lead
Prepares you for office-administration, data-entry and reporting roles.
Prepares you for entry-level DTP, print-shop and social-media graphic work.
These describe skills you will build. ADIVAS does not guarantee jobs, placement or salary.
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