Customer Reviews

Class on Demand: Designers Guide to Illustrator with Sue Jenkins: Adobe CS3 and CS4 Illustrator Educational Training Tutorial DVD

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD provides a great overview of Adobe Illustrator for beginners just getting started or experienced professionals looking for a quick refresher on certain tools, effects, styles, etc. I really like Sue Jenkins' great informal teaching style, she makes you feel like you are working along with her and she isn't lecturing you - even better you don't have to read anything. I have been using Adobe Illustrator for quite a few years but found the sections on "3D Rendering" and "Special Effects and Styles" to be helpful and great reminders on how to do some of the more complicated effects in Illustrator.

I have worked in Illustrator but never took a proper class, so I wanted to do the Class on Demand to fill the holes in my knowledge. This DVD was very satisfying for my needs. The tutorial very thoroughly covers the program starting with the basics before getting to the heavier material, so it would be great for someone just starting out with Illustrator as well.

As someone in Publishing who learned Quark from a book (in the days before InDesign), I found this very visual tutorial easy to use in comparison.

Class On Demand: Designer's Guide to Illustrator DVD was an ideal way to fine tune my Illustrator skills and learn the new features in the Adobe Illustrator CS4 upgrade. In this DVD, Sue Jenkins, an Adobe Certified Expert and Instructor, shares her depth of knowledge of the intricacies, time savers and artist-friendly features in the CS4 upgrade. As a graphic designer who has been using Adobe Illustrator for years, I learned nuances and shortcuts in this six-hour course that I had missed in the program, as well as new capabilities in the upgrade that will greatly enhance my creativity and my efficiency. I'm looking forward to working with the Blob brush and symbol library!

The DVD is divided into three parts, and within each section Ms. Jenkins leads the artist through the various functions and features of Adobe Illustrator CS4 by demonstrating each tool and sharing tips and examples. I followed her advice and went through the DVD in sequence. I found her to be thorough and easy to follow. I appreciated her insights and advice pertaining to program presets and her encouragement to further explore various tools and effects.

Sue Jenkins is clearly an artist speaking to artists, and this is a great way to learn. The DVD reviews features available in previous versions for those new to the program and also expands on new capabilities to provide context for those looking to reduce the learning curve when upgrading to CS4.

Reviewer is a member of the Graphic Artists Guild

We purchased this product because my fiance recently purchased a new Mac and Adobe CS3. We were drawn to this course in particular because it specifically stated that it was designed for both CS3 and CS4, and also because of the good reviews. However, what we received was not what we thought we ordered. The DVD actually states that it's designed for CS4 and higher, and the sample files provided will open in CS3 but are missing some features that are only available with CS4 and higher. Now we might be stuck with a $50 course we can't use because it's already been opened and we don't know if Amazon will take it back or refund us.

Class on Demand and Amazon need to be clear about what these products offer before posting them for purchase. We could have saved $50 had we known this course wouldn't be helpful for learning CS3. Instead, it's falsely advertised as being compatible with CS3 when the majority of the features and techniques discussed are only available for CS4 and higher.

Needless to say, we're not too happy with this product right now and won't be until we find a way to get this resolved. We'd ultimately just like a course that's meant for CS3 rather than having to request a refund, but we'll do that if no one is willing to help us. I've contacted Class on Demand directly, so we'll see if and when they respond. Amazon used to have a feature allowing customers to send the seller feedback or comments but that doesn't seem to exist any more. So I guess we can only talk to Amazon if we have to return the items.

If you're looking for a course to learn Illustrator CS3 I'd look elsewhere until this product info is updated.