I've been compiling resources as I study for my ACA - Adobe Certified Associate certification and figured I'd share what I've found. All free unless noted.
Practice Tests:
- PracticeTestGeeks — most comprehensive collection I've found, good question explanations, covers ACA - Adobe Certified Associate, ACE - Adobe Certified Expert in Photoshop, and ACP - Adobe Certified Professional. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official ACA exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "ACA exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most architecture and design certifications
- Reddit r/certifications — people post their exam experiences and tips regularly
Paid (worth it if budget allows):
- Official study guides run $30-80 for most architecture and design certifications — worth it if your exam has lots of specific factual content
- Some certifying bodies offer prep courses — check if your employer covers it (many do for required certifications)
What resources have others found useful for architecture and design exams? I'll add them to this list.
Great list. I'd add: LinkedIn Learning has some architecture and design-related courses that overlap with cert content, and if you have a library card many libraries give free access to it. Also check if your local library has access to O'Reilly or similar — tons of technical content there.
For ACA - Adobe Certified Associate specifically, I found the PracticeTestGeeks explanations were detailed enough that I didn't need to buy a separate study guide. The combination of doing the practice questions + reading every explanation (for both right and wrong answers) covered most of the content I needed.
The official candidate guide is something a lot of people skip but it literally tells you the topic weighting and domain breakdown. It's the roadmap for your study plan. Never skip it.
Working full-time while studying for this was rough, honestly. I'd squeeze in 20-30 minutes during lunch and maybe an hour after the kids went to bed. Some weeks I barely touched anything. But consistency over a few months actually got me there, and the practice tests helped a ton because I could do them in short chunks and pick up where I left off.
One thing I'd say if you're in a similar situation is don't stress about cramming everything at once. It's way better to review a few topics really well than to rush through all of it and retain nothing. The explanations on the practice tests were genuinely useful for me, especially when I'd get something wrong and wasn't sure why. Just keep chipping away at it, even on the weeks where you only get an hour in total.
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