Customer Reviews

Coreldraw 8 F/X: Inventive Techniques & Outrageous Effects

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
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Somewhere in this long list of raves you will find my first review of this book. I gave it four stars. That was very high praise from me...back then when I had just finished the book and thought 5 stars was fawning. Now I know I was wrong. I finally put another book in the space CorelDRAW f/x was supposed to occupy on my shelf. It sits by my computer while I work, and frequently comes with me when I need lunchtime or waitingroom reading. I use this book constantly. I can't let my first review stand any longer. If you have any doubts about this book forget them IT IS WELL WORTH MANY TIMES THE PRICE! I intend to add the new version to my computer desk and book bag when I upgrade to CorelDRAW 9. And probably 10 and 11 and...

Shane Hunt's Corel Draw FX is one of the best books for intermediate and advanced Corel Draw users. After you've learned your basics from the other Corel Draw books, buy this one. It's the perfect next step for people teaching themselves how to use Corel Draw. Shane takes you through the steps of making explosions, aliens, "mysterious pools of liquid" -- all inside of Corel Draw 7 and Corel Draw 8.

Shane Hunt's writing style is personable, logical, and very easy to understand and follow. What's more, his instructions really work!!

Somehow, after reading this book, I came away with a better knowledge of how to work smarter and not harder in Corel Draw (believe me, I know how to make my life difficult when using Corel Draw. Shane teaches you how to make your design sessions easier with Corel Draw).

And since saving time is always a big part of making a profit, Shane's techniques and insights (his way of looking at design problems) are invaluable. If you find yourself in one of those design doldrums, when no ideas are flowing from your fountain of creativity, and your muse just went on a coffee break, pick up this book for some snazzy ideas. If nothing else, the eye candy in the 96 page color section ought to re-animate your brain cells. But the tips and tricks of working smarter -- not harder are what really make this a great book to learn from.

I've even had a Corel novice use the book with no problems. She liked it MUCH better than another one in the standard style. It's an easy to use book written in a fun and useful style. Look at the many positive reviews..

Prior to reading Shane's book I had pretty much given up on being able to learn the program...I was stunned to see how easy he made it to create stunning images in coreldraw...I learned techniques I truely did not feel capable of learning prior to reading his book and enjoyed the process...His enclosed cd alone was worth the price of the book ...He does not guard his techniques ...he shares them openly and wants you do know all he knows...very well organized and writen and simply turned my graphics life around!

So many computer related books written in the last several year look like they've been thrown together. They're full of typos or the content is just incorrrect or incomplete. It's apparent that a lot of time and effort went into this book. The book is full of great examples, the insruction are complete and it's interesting to read. I was a relative novice with CorelDraw and this book allowed me to create some great designs quickly. It showed me tricks that I probably would have never figured out on my own.

Highly recomended!

The good thing about this book is that it gets just to the point. Unlike other books, which tells every detail of this and that drawing tool, this book instructs you how to make nice and stunning graphics in a short time. With only a beginners knowledge of CorelDraw I started up following Shane Hunts carefully written instructions and succeded in making some spectacular images for my Website - graphics that I could never have done myself, without the help from a professional designer: Metallic looking 3D objects and so on... I found it relatively easy to learn tricks from examples and then adjusting it for my own purpose.

There is only one thing I would ask for in a new edition: A little more on Web-graphics. I can recommend a couple of other books with almost the same approach as this one: "The CorelDraw Wow Book", by Linnea Dayton, Shane Hunt and Sharon Steuer and "Corel Studio Techniques", by David Huss & Gary Priester. They are also great.

This book is one of the best Draw books I've used. It shows you the finished project, then shows you the simple steps that lead to it. Some unusual topics lead to some pretty interesting projects, too. The writer is also an interesting story teller, making the normally dry task of getting through yet another computer book something to look forward too. If you get any book about Corel, make it this one. You will get more out of it than any boring listing of every effect that CorelDRAW can do.

In this book Hunt shows you how to use Corel to do some awesome designs. It's reverse approach makes it unique. You can pick a design you like from the color section and then look up how it's done. I love that. Plus: every piece of artwork is on the included CD. Why can't life always be that easy?

And to top it all of it's so well written that even people who don't even use Corel would enjoy reading it.

Shane has been my favorite writer on CorelDraw since I began playing with computer graphics. This books confirms my predilection. If you wonder how all those fancy effects in the Web are made, get this book. It's worth every page of it.

Shane Hunt should probably be kept under restraint. He is the kind of slightly lunatic genius with whom I love to surround myself. In about 750 pages he manages to give concrete examples of almost every kind of neat effect I have ever tried to do. Of course, having talent helps <grin>.

He spends all of seven pages describing logical stuff like vector vs. bitmapped images. Then, into action!! He creates visually impressive pictures while illustrating specific techniques, all without focusing on the tools of the interface except to show which tool, in what sequence. Wild!

Also included are 97 full color plates of each finished image PLUS a CD with all these and extra fonts, tools, etc. to help the reader duplicate then exceed the book presentations. Examples include wet surfaces. I have always wanted to know how to do these convincingly. Shane starts by showing how we see them, then how to make them; reflecting glints, shadows, lenticular effects, colors, transparency - with demos. Piece of cake!

You *must* see the things he does with the seemingly innocent Blend tool! Everything from barbed wire to starshell bursts to octopus tentacles are effortlessly designed and rendered. Metallic surfaces are also demystified.

After years of fighting graphics tools, Shane has managed to let me begin seeing the creation process versus the tool interface. What a rush! Buy it!! If you can't afford it, steal it. When you get rich you can make amends.