Customer Reviews

Design Collection Revealed: Adobe InDesign CS3, Photoshop CS3 & Illustrator CS3 (Revealed (Thomson))

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

 

 

Apparently no one told Chris Botello his book would be printed in black and white. In chapter 8 it says, "When this book was printed, the CMYK image was printed using all four process inks; the grayscale image was printed using only black ink." Sadly, both images were printed using only black. This isn't a huge problem except in illustrations where he refers to a certain color guide or box. I never had too much trouble figuring out what he was refering to because it's written in a very comprehendible way. The only other problem I had with the book may be related to the color/b&w issue as well. There is nothing differentiating tool names from the rest of the text in a sentence. Perhaps the tools were originally a different color from the rest of the text. We'll never know. This wasn't too much of problem except in sentences like, "Simply float the Type on a Path Tool pointer over the path until a plus sign appears beside the pointer, then click the path." I spent several minutes searching the menus for a Path Tool pointer to float my type over before I realized "Type on a Path Tool" is the full name of the tool. These issues haven't been too much of a problem. I still feel I'm learning the program sufficiently. It justs slows me down a little.

I took a community college class online that used this for the textbook. I read the negative reviews (this and other editions), but for what it was supposed to do, it did it perfectly. I had a positive experience and I learned the three programs. What's to complain about? Yes, there were a few mistakes, minor ones, like in one example the book forgot to tell us to add the fourth line, and then told us to manipulate it. Well, that's not the end of the world. Between the text and the examples, it explained everything adequately. It's not that bad.

So I bought this book for a class, only to find out that I had purchased the black and white version, that does not come with a disk.

I guess thats why I only paid $ 20.00 for the book. Un benknownst to me the actual version that I needed was the deluxe Education edition. Who Knew?

As far as a text book...its really no different than any other written aide, which is why I do whatever I can to avoid text book.

If you really want to learn a software program use something like Total Traing DVD packages. I can say from exprience you will not be sorry. Its like being in an actual class and what they teach is not just how the software works but actual applications for the real world.

Its a digital age...dont read it, watch it.

This book is an absolute waste of paper. Filled with ugly "designs", it focuses on completely unnecessary details while skipping whole sections of useful information. it seems most concerned with making the student duplicate horrible "projects" exactly down to the pixel... rather than teaching the tools.

Avoid this book! It will drive you insane.

You are better off just using the help system in any of these products... you will learn more...faster...without brain damage.

I will support an earlier review about the book's simplicity. I recently re-purchased this book upon graduating to refresh my memory of certain procedures as well as learn more of what we didn't cover in class. It turns out we covered more in class than I thought, and the book had little more to offer.

Perhaps it's much easier and beneficial for others to seek out online tutorials. Although it offers good basics for a tangible item.

This book is very easy to read, considering its for computer design. The book gives great summaries and then, example problems. The accompanying CD is necessary because the files accompany the lesson plan.

I had to purchase this book for a college course I'm currently finishing. All I'll have to say is that some of the book is OK, but the authors and publisher need to hire someone who knows how to write a textbook, with clearly written instructions on how to accomplish the tasks in the book. The authors need to make sure the instructions are COMPLETE from beginning to end, and are CLEAR to the newbie, so that they can accomplish the tasks. There are come chapters that are good, and others, that I scratch and bang my head on the desk. I think that I might have been better off trying to figure out how to use the applications WITHOUT this book, unfortunately, the classroom lessons were tied to this awful book...If you are serious about learning Adobe applications, try the courses from Lynda.com

Quite frankly, with the advent of CS3, this book is out of date. It doesn't seem like a book that you'd just choose to read, and if it's a required textbook at school, your technology is a bit behind the times. Now, if all you had was CS2, and that's all you wanted to learn about, than this book is as good as any other.

I bought this book for a Photoshop class and after wasting $40 We found out that there are several versions of this book and our class is on many different books all going different directions. I was stupid to assume that this book was a compilation of several of the Revealed books, that's somewhat true but when I got to chapter 6 of my assignments, surprise! NO CHAPTER 6 OR BEYOND. The books are eclectic and miss many steps along the way costing the reader loads of wasted time figuring out what you should have been instructed to do by the book. Isn't that what we pay for?? If you're an instructor who hates their students, or a student who likes to learn everything the hard way , I highly recommend this book.

This books was required for a primer glass in graphic design. In the class, we learned to use both Photoshop and Ilustrator, two of the most powerful raster and vector graphics packages available.

The problem with the book is its lack of description, it's lack of explication. Within three pages of the Photoshop section, I was completely lost. This meant a trip to the library to find another textbook that explained what these authors did not. That led me to the CS3 Dummies books, and a far better understanding of the material.

I suggest with all my heart that instructors not use this poorly written book in your classes. You are better off with either the "Dummies" or "Classroom in a Book" series.

You poorly serve your students with this garbage.