Customer Reviews

Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class

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3 star:		(1)
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When you see this book you'll first marvel at how great it looks, the design is superb. But design doesn't make a book, in this case it simply enhances the expert teaching provided by the authors. The authors have managed to impart the power of Acrobat 5 to the reader.

I'm relatively new to using Acrobat and had no idea it was full featured as it is. This book walks you through real world layouts, scenarios and examples that keep you in awe. It's very easy to understand and it's very through. Adobe should give these authors thanks since I'm sure this book will help promote sales of Adobe Acrobat 5! If you haven't delved into Acrobat yet, grab this book and be prepared to be amazed and impressed.

This book is exceptional on many levels.

From the very first moment you pick it up and open it, you know you are dealing with the best of graphic design. The pages are laid out with great taste. All the elements work together on the page. You can read the body copy with no pictures jumping up in the way of your thoughts. Then you can look at the bottom of the pages to follow the step by step instruction. Mr. Akselsen and Ms. Hastings deserve an award for their ground-breaking design.

Reading the book copy is like inviting three friends over for dinner to discuss everything from interactive design to using Acrobat's tool. Each chapter starts with background material that is so much deeper than just Acrobat. It's the kind of discussion that makes you think hard about the purpose of your project. Anyone can tell you how to create a link. These authors talk about why and when you should or should not.

Finally, there are beautiful pages that feature the work of accomplished designers who are using Acrobat in ways I would have never expected. Acrobat files that look like Flash pages. Acrobat files that are like interactive Director documents. Acrobat files that are games, puzzles, interactive maps. It made my head spin.

Oh, and did I mention the incredible CD that comes with the book???? You don't just look at the examples and lessons in the book. You can open the actual documents and follow along, take them apart, and see how they were put together. This is better than any Classroom in a Book. And way beyond what anyone else has written about Acrobat.

This book isn't just the best of the bunch for learning Acrobat, it's the book that all other computer books should be aspiring to be like.

I've used Adobe Acrobat at work, but was not remotely aware of all the capabilities of the software till I opened this "Master Class." I found the book easy to use, inviting to read, and full of helpful examples. The design is beautiful. I like the fact that you can choose your own level, use the "quick guide" or go more in depth, if you choose. I highly recommend this book, both for beginners and more advanced users.

After hearing about this book, I realized that Acrobat was the perfect tool for creating my presentation for Macworld Expo. Without exception, every single question I had, and every creative technique that I wanted to achieve, was perfectly explained in the book. My presentation was a very sophisticated blend of print quality images, sounds, movies, and even Java Script commands. To design the "look" we were able to work in the programs we were familiar with (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator), then just finish it up in Acrobat. Thank GOODNESS I'll never need PowerPoint again. I HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone creative who wants to produce interactive documents.

Author of "Creative Thinking in Photoshop: A New Approach to Digital Art" (New Riders Publishing)

If you are a graphic designer and the design of this book does not blow you off your feel, change professions.
This book is an example of the best work being done today in information design. The authors lavish exquisite graphic design on this thoughtful, well-organized book that covers virtually every nuance of the subject. Think of your best book in the Adobe Master Class series and multiply it by ten.
Buy it, own it, and spread the word.

Adobe Acrobat as an interactive tool has found three champions in Patti Belle Hastings, Bjorn Akselsen and Sandee Cohen. Their book, Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class, Interactivity and Multimedia for PDF, does a great job explaining in pictures and in words how things work in Acrobat 5 and more importantly, how to get some very cool things done in Acrobat 5. I'm also fond of the book as a book: I like the handsome design and printing of Master Class and feel a bit guilty that my copy has become dog eared with use.

One of the quiet strengths of the Master Class book are the authors' insights-that appear like reality seasoning throughout the volume-into creating interactive projects. I admire the will to say things like, "Put the customer's needs ahead of your prowess with the software." This has the ring of truth for me; this kind of advice helped me make something powerful out of a large PDF project I have recently completed. This kind of insight together with the excellent teaching of Acrobat techniques in Master Class made possible the successful completion of a year-long project to create an interactive PDF biography of a friend's grandmother.

With Acrobat 6 ready to explode on the scene, I can only hope that Peachpit Press will invite the authors of Master Class back to serve as our guides to the about-to-be-redefined world of PDF interactivity and mulitmedia.

I came here looking for a book that would give me the ins & outs of what you can do with Adobe. After reading many peoples' comments I found this book & bought it. It is so helpful! I leave it open on my desk & am constantly referencing it. If you are looking to get the most out of the Adobe Acrobat program, buy this book it's worth it!!

Like so many aspects of graphic design in the computer age, Acrobat PDF is employed by two disparate groups of users: artists who want to see their work preserved and distributed, and production people (or 'just plain users') who want to simplify their workflow.
Hastings and Akselsen understand Adobe's Acrobat PDF in a way that bridges the two worlds and makes the most of both.
As designers long frustrated by the lack of typographic and interactive control in HTML (even with CSS and DHTML), they demonstrate how one can use the Acrobat standard as the control center of a multimedia fiesta--creating easily transportable documents brimming with interactivity, sound, color, and, of course, nit-pickingly-precise typographic display.
They know design. They know the underlying technology. They know how to tell a story. You won't look at a PDF as "just a PDF" again.

I bought four books on Acrobat 5, and this one is by far the best. It is written conceptually. It appeals to the senses as well as providing an education. Taking vast amounts of information and refining it so that it is presented simply yet thoroughly. I enjoy reading it.
I also bought Classroom in a book by the Adobe Creative Team and it is work. I am sure over time I will derive a lot from it, but Master Class is fun. You would never know that your working because you are too busy seeing all the cool stuff you can do with Adobe 5 and how to do it.
I also bought Real World PDF with Adobe Acrobat 5 by Anita Dennis, Industrial Strength Production Techniques, and that is a book for advanced students. It explains everything clearly, and is a big benefit for explaining the details on how to fit Adobe PDF into your print production overflow.
Adobe PDF is so much more than simply converting your files. It appears simple on the outside, but when you read Adobe 5 Master Class, you will be enthralled with how much more it does. Highly recommended for beginners and advanced students.

I have to concur with the NY reviewer who said this is a manual that all others should aspire to. How to's and examples are often presented in multiple forms to aid in understanding. The illustrations are clean, clear, and exremely helpful. The writing is concise, clear, and actually fun to read! The included CD presents wonderful examples of state-of-the art pdfs. While hardly a geek, I found myself reading the book before bed at night simply because it was so interesting! Kudos to the authors! I highly recommend this book not only to anyone wishing to learn everything worth knowing about Acrobat but also to anyone who aspires to write a similar text. It's a master class in information presentation as well as how to produce pdf's.