Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow: Integrating the Tools, Increasing Your Productivity [Paperback]

Jennifer Alspach (Author), Shari Nakano (Author), Steve Samson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 5, 2006

Adobe CS2 makes it easy to work smarter. Why not take advantage of all it has to offer?

Odds are you already use Adobe's Creative Suite. Maybe you use some of its features all of the time, but you know it also includes other powerful tools you have yet to explore, because you just don't have the time. The irony is that the whole design of Creative Suite is intended to save you time--the applications and tools included in the product work together seamlessly, making it possible for designers like you to work incredibly efficiently, from file creation to distribution.

This book can help you quickly learn how to take advantage of all that CS2 has to offer. By following its concise explanations and step-by-step exercises, you'll soon learn core skills and techniques that will enable you to create an integrated workflow that will not only save you lots of time, but will also give you more flexibility to move between applications to make necessary tweaks, try out new ideas, and create portable files for review.

Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow will help you:

• Master Version Cue and Bridge: the hub for Creative Suite 2
• Use CS2 more effectively everyday, on all kinds of projects
• Know which applications are best to use for specific tasks
• Learn how to combine applications for peak efficiency
• Answer the top 15 "How Do I?" questions for every CS2 application

With full-color examples and dozens of practical tips and tricks, this book is the working professional's guide to getting the most out of all of your CS2 tools.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jennifer Alspach is an expert on Adobe technologies, having written or co-authored many books on the subject, including: "Acrobat 7 Visual QuickStart Guide" (Peachpit Press), "Illustrator CS Bible" (Wiley), Acrobat 6 Visual QuickStart Guide", "Teach Yourself Photoshop 5.0/5.5" (IDG), "Photoshop and Illustrator Synergy Studio Secrets" (IDG), and "Illustrator 7 Complete" (Hayden). She is a world renowned artist and has spoken at many conferences and trade shows.

Shari Nakano is a web and graphics designer who has been in the computer industry for over 10 years. She uses a variety of applications in her work, including most of the Adobe Creative Suite products (Acrobat, Photoshop, GoLive and Illustrator), Macromedia Dreamweaver, Flash and Fireworks as well as various Microsoft office products. A long-time user of Adobe Acrobat for both personal and business uses, she recently completed her first book, "Adobe Acrobat 7: In a Snap" for Sams Publishing. She is currently the webmaster for a large agricultural firm in California's Central Valley where she uses GoLive to create and maintain the company's internal website. She also does web design and consulting for other Central Valley customers.

Steve Samson has 16 years of experience in teaching computer software, and has conducted over a thousand classes and seminars on Adobe creative software, Microsoft Office software and other productivity applications. Past clients include Adobe Systems, Bank of America, McDonnel-Douglas, Aetna, ExecuTrain and the Los Angeles County Office of Education. Steve now serves as a consultant for Adobe Systems's annual Tech Summit, a gathering of 200+ engineers and other technical personnel from all over the world. He has also served as an author, technical writer, and technical editor for a dozen titles, including "Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite All-in-One" (SAMS), "Photoshop 5.5 Classroom in a Book" (Adobe Press), and "Kai's Power Tools Studio Secrets" (IDG Books).

Product Details

• Paperback: 640 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (January 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596102364
• ISBN-13: 978-0596102364
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,749,916 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wrong Title for Book, May 17, 2006

By 

Geetesh Bajaj (Secunderabad, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow: Integrating the Tools, Increasing Your Productivity (Paperback)

If I had gone strictly with the title of the book, I might have not given this one 5 stars at all. It's not about creating workflows between Adobe applications and doing projects. More than that, this book is about experiences from the authors about how one can do small tasks more efficiently by using the CS2 applications together. Think of this as a book that's left next to your desk that you can pick up and read when you have 5 minutes to spare. That's the way this book will benefit. So if you think that the term "workflow' in the title means that you're going to do great things, then you got it all wrong. This book is about those little things that make great differences.

Geetesh Bajaj/Indezine.com

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Back to basics, March 6, 2006

By 

Halifax Creative User Group "HCUG" (Halifax NS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow: Integrating the Tools, Increasing Your Productivity (Paperback)

Full of the basics to get any soon-to-be Photoshoper off the ground with CS2. Lots of examples on virtually every page, step you through real-world situations, clearly and quickly.

A few good sections on Bridge, Version Cue and Searching right at the beginning ensure you don't make a mess later on as you wade through all the chapters devoted to Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, GoLive, and Acrobat.

While it does cover Photoshop basics such as removing color casts, red eye, setting up printers and placing text on paths...it also details how it efficiently ties into all the other Adobe applications found in CS2.

And how to make the most of your time - a good general book for beginners but even advanced users may glean new insights if they haven't tried CS2's new features.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Practical recipes for real world problems, March 8, 2006

By 

Jack D. Herrington "engineer and author" (Silicon Valley, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow: Integrating the Tools, Increasing Your Productivity (Paperback)

This book presents a set of recipes for using the Adobe product suite. The recipes are well chosen and are described in a terse style that works for this type of content. My only gripe is that the examples could have been a little better. With books that cover products like Photoshop I like to not only learn the techniques, but be inspired by the example material in the book itself. And that's why I rate this book a 4 and not a 5.