Customer Reviews

Exploring Adobe InDesign CS4 (Exploring (Delmar))

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

 

 

Oh, that ALL non-fiction books were as clear in highlighting the 'intended audience' as the very first words of this book but, sadly, they don't whey you're buying online. Adobe InDesign CS4 begins "This book is intended for designers who are serious about their craft.". WHOA! That's not me at all. I'm a business guy who wants to become an overnight expert on ID so the warnings about proceeding through in sequence scare me-of-little-time (and less patience). But then the 'grabber': ""Teaching software without teaching typography creates technicians, not designers." - and for so long I've realized my deficiencies in this area. Maybe they've hit on what I need to understand to make far better use of this software in the workplace!

I'll admit, I rushed through a few sections, knowing that stick figures are about the maximum extent of my graphics capabilities (and even then, shaky ones) but Terry Rydberg has produced an EXCELLENT work that will reward anyone who is willing to take the time to read through and, hopefully, actually try a couple of the exercises on the accompanying CD. (Some you'll find boring but even while I was muttering, I was learning....)

This book was well worth investing both time and money for me; hopefully you'll find it to be for you as well as you learn more about this very powerful software. I wouldn't recommend this as a first/basic book on ID but certainly excellent to have as soon as you've gotten through the basics.

Excellent book. My background is in Interaction Design. I enjoy freelance work in graphic design as well and I have educated myself in typography sometime back. So this book came as an excellent resource which brought together typography and InDesign, which rarely other books do. The exercises are designed with care and lot of effort. I felt very confident in using InDesign for big projects after doing these exercises. It made me skillful in bringing best with minimum effort. Since I don't work on InDesign very regularly, I didn't pay attention to learning all the key strokes, which are another strong feature of this book. But for the one who will be using InDesign regularly, this is a very valuable resource. Images unlike previous edition are colored and makes for enjoyable reading. Kudos to author and team.

This book comes with a CD ROM that has material on it one can use with the book's tutorials.

One problem is that the files for Chapter 8 do not work. I copied all the files from the CD on to my hard drive and am accessing them via my hard drive, not the CD.

Chapter 8 deals with how to use InDesign's library, and the author has the reader construct a newsletter for a vet's office.

For Chapter 8, the CD ROM is supposed to contain an InDesign library file with vet images one is to use in this pretend newsletter.

However due to some reason I do not understand, the software will not permit me to drag the files from the library on to the page. When I attempt to do so, I get the "No" symbol (a circle with a slash through it).

Nor will the software allow me to use the "place item" command from either the context menu or the library's panel menu.

When I open the author's library within InDesign, I can see small thumbnail images of the photos she has provided, such as a vet in an operating room, but the software will not permit me to drag or place that photo (or the others) on to the page.

I made sure that my layers are not locked, so that is not the issue.

If anyone here knows how I could fix this, I would be grateful for assistance.

I would also be happy to download the images from a site, if anyone knows where they can be found (I've already contacted the publisher's site and have asked them for help).

A few months ago, I purchased this book in addition to 'Real World InDesign CS4' by Kvern and Blatner.

While the 'Real World' book was quite thorough (it's over an inch thick), I did not retain the material in it that much because it has next to no tutorials in it.

By contrast, the 'Exploring InDesign' book has a tutorial on almost every page, along with major projects at the end of each chapter to rehash concepts covered in that chapter.

To be completely honest, part of me dislikes all the tutorials because it makes getting through the book a very slow ordeal (and I'm forcing myself to do every single tutorial in the book).

However, this approach benefits me more because this book forces me to open the software and actually use it as I read along with it, unlike the 'Real World' book.

As a result, I've become more familiar with the software, I'm having an easier time remembering how to do things with it and where to find menu items and commands, etc.

It's just a shame that the files for Chapter 8 do not work, because I can't really complete that project (the vet newsletter) which is a major part of that chapter.

I haven't finished the book yet (I'm stuck in Chapter 8 right now) but do intend on reading the rest and working on the rest of the book's tutorials.

If you are looking for an easy & through way to learn & be comfortable with Adobe's InDesign CS4, here is the instruction book that you are looking for..Ms's Rydberg approach makes InDesign an easy understanding and easily understood software program that will make it as easy as possible to learn. This book makes InDesign a very workable software program that allows you to undertake these learning sessions that will work for anyone who is looking for a great foothold that will lead to an even greater talent then you thought you ever had....

Everything seemed good until I needed to use the accompanying CD.. when i opened the pocket and pulled the CD out it was broken in 2. Unfortunately I'm using this book for a class and am not bothering to try sending it back. CHECK EVERYTHING THE MOMENT IT ARRIVES! So this ended up not being the quality described.