Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies [Paperback]

Jennifer Smith (Author), Christopher Smith (Author), Fred Gerantabee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 3, 2008 | ISBN-10: 0470331860 | ISBN-13: 978-0470331866 | Edition: 1

Design professionals rely on Adobe’s Creative Suite Design Premium to deliver innovative ideas in print, Web, and mobile design. Adobe CS4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies helps you beef up your skills with the latest version of this software. You’ll learn all about the hot new versions of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks.

Whether you’re creating newsletters, Web sites, cool original art, or animations, this book has it covered. You’ll find out how to build Web pages with text and drawings, photos, Flash animations, and rollovers; check out enhanced Photoshop 3D tools; develop interactive animations for the Web or video with Flash CS4; and use the easier rollover and action features in Dreamweaver CS4 to add interactivity without coding. You’ll also discover:

• How to get familiar with the menus, panels, and tools that are similar throughout the suite
• Tips for getting creative with Illustrator’s cool new vector tracing feature
• Ways to use the annotation capabilities in Acrobat 9.0 and the improved CSS capabilities in Dreamweaver
• What Fireworks CS4, the newest addition to the suite, can add to Web sites
• Which extensions and filters are common to all programs
• Hard-to-find keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator
• How to enhance and manipulate photos with Photoshop
• Secrets for smoothing out your workflow
• How to use the Adobe Bridge
• Steps for using each program

To help you quickly find what you need, Adobe CS4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies is divided into eight minibooks:

• Adobe Creative Suite Basics
• InDesign CS4
• Illustrator CS4
• Photoshop CS4
• Acrobat CS4
• Dreamweaver CS4
• Flash CS4
• Fireworks CS4

Adobe CS4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies is your one-stop guide to all the parts of Adobe’s ultimate toolkit for today's designer.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Here's your one-stop guide to all the parts of Adobe CS4 Design Premium

Design professionals (like you!) rely on Adobe's Creative Suite Design Premium and this all-in-one guide. Here's everything you need on the hot new versions of InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat, Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. Whether you're creating newsletters, Web sites, cool original art, or animations, this book has it covered!

• Get it together — see how the programs dovetail to create pages with text and drawings, or Web sites with photos, Flash animations, and rollovers

• Know your toolbox — get familiar with the menus, panels, and tools that are similar throughout the suite

• Find your vector — get creative with Illustrator's cool new vector tracing feature

• See what's new — check out enhanced Photoshop 3D tools, annotation capabilities in Acrobat 9.0, improved CSS capabilities in Dreamweaver, and more

• Animate in a Flash — create interactive animations for the Web or video with Flash CS4

• Interact — use the easier rollover and action features in Dreamweaver CS4 to add interactivity without coding

• Fire up your site — explore what Fireworks CS4, the newest addition to the suite, can add to Web sites

Open the book and find:

• Which extensions and filters are common to all programs

• Hard-to-find keyboard shortcuts in Illustrator

• How to enhance and manipulate photos with Photoshop

• Secrets for smoothing out your workflow

• How to use the Adobe Bridge

• The difference between RGB and CMYK

• How to secure PDF files

• Steps for using each program

About the Author

Jennifer Smith is a Certified Technical Instructor and former art director. She also founded Aquent Graphics Institute. Christopher Smith is President of Aquent Graphics Institute and an Adobe Certified Expert. Fred Gerantabee is an Emmy Award-winning interactive designer, author, and educator.

Product Details

• Paperback: 936 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; 1 edition (December 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470331860
• ISBN-13: 978-0470331866
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars (3.5) Another Dummy looking for answers, December 6, 2009

By 

Luan Gaines "luansos" (Dana Point, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies (Paperback)

I have no trouble buying a book for Dummies when it come to my lack of skills with the Adobe design programs and am happy to take any help I can get. And while this all-in-one book covers all of the programs from InDesign CS4 to Photoshop CS4 to Dreamweaver CS4 to Flash CS4, it is at least somewhat helpful in navigating the programs. Unfortunately, I run into the same problem in this text as I have with others available online- a lack of adequate information to tell me if this is an appropriate guide to one who is new to the Adobe programs. They all tout themselves as the perfect tool for beginners, but the reverse is usually true. Either that or I am an unredeemable dummy.

I find that if I read carefully through the chapters of each program I am interested in, I can understand the basic nature of that program. But when I want to do specific tasks, I can not get that information. For example, when I wanted to draw a line across the top of a page, I had to use the right terminology- a "line" is a "stroke". But I had no way to know that until informed by a friend who uses an earlier version of InDesign. Now I want to isolate various objects in a picture to add to a new document and hope I have found the proper page and program to do that with my Dummy book.

Chapter headings and index appear to address most issues, but the finer points of design are unavailable to me without the appropriate terminology and how various applications are applied. I have an extensive design background with a twenty-year old vocabulary and these programs are written in a new language. I have the most trouble navigating from one task to another, applying tools in the proper manner, going from Index to chapter in hopes of solutions. Sometimes I find them, sometimes I don't. At least this book helps me navigate the logic behind the programs if not the nuances. I welcome any information about helpful texts for beginners from those conversant with these programs, especially InDesign CS4. Luan Gaines/2009.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative Suite 4, April 7, 2009

By 

Susan Pelczar "Susan Pelczar" (Wimberley,TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies (Paperback)

This book has done wonders for me so far...I had to purchase the Creative Suite Software for a college course I am taking, and this book has turned out to be a better learning companion than my classroom materials!

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pros & Cons, May 21, 2009

By 

Thomas O. Martin - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies (Paperback)

Pros: Good reference book. Has a lot of information in it that helped me learn a few things about the program.

Cons: Needs a disk shipped with it that provides the same info as they use in they're lessons. With out any information given from them its a little hard to fallow along and figure out how to do it the way they do it.

Over all: Good for people who know a bit about how to use the programs all ready or how to wright/type code for web designing or know a bit about how to draw for illustrator. In my honest opinion, I think it would be a lot better if it was like the Head First Labs books where they provide practice material, instead of just presuming u have all the materials needed to do their exercises. Again this is just my honest opinion on it.