Customer Reviews

Illustrator 10 For Dummies

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I am a complete novice to any drawing software. So when I bought Adobe Illustrator CS and listened to the accompanying "training" tape, I knew I had to have a lot more instruction. I have found that most software manuals are like dictionaries--fine if you already have a good idea of what you're looking for, but not if you don't. So usually a great place to start is a "good" Dummies book. This Dummies book is better than most. It is written in a clear, concise manner with instructions on how to accomplish each feature covered in the chapters. If a simple earlier instruction is needed in a later chapter, it is repeated instead of referred to from the earlier chapter. This saves a lot of time flipping back and forth. And I appreaciated Ted Alspach's humorous approach to topics--at least the first time around. If you have to go back and re-read, it just gets in the way. The only drawback to the book is that it needs either an accompanying CD filled with Illustrator graphics for practice or an Internet source for such vector graphics. Often the instructions say, "Select a piece of artwork..." and I'm left struggling to find a decent example.

This book is a great place to start learning. The information is accurate, well written and excellent. Alspach uses humor to make the learning of Illustrator a little less intimidating. The illustrations are well done and explain the theory well. The book is full of tips that will make the reader more productive and efficient with the application. Maybe not for intermediate or advanced users but a great starter book for Mac and Windows users.

I have found that this book is a great place for a beginner or someone trying to improve on their graphic abilities to start. This book can be a very good tool to help review and remind you of some thing that my have slipped your mind. If you need to rate this book on the 5 star scale then I would give it a 4 . The reason it fails for the full 5 stars is that it only had a few full color pages(16) and in some small areas, it is hard to find some things it asked you to process. You have to changed a few things (setup view), then they are where they say they are. One more little bit of info, if you are looking to buy this software and use this book, buy the book only and download the try me version of the "Illustrator CS". This way if you don't like the software then your only out the cost of the book.



Wil Bailey

LaGrange, GA
WGCFUG.org

If you're interested in Illustrator, this is the way to learn it. You'll laugh your way through it, and you'll be amazed how the foreign language of Illustrator can be so easy to understand.

Content of book is good. The author demystifies the technical aspects of Illustrator fairly well.

But the book's organization is below par. The author is verbose at times, and some of his cliches tend to clutter the chapters. For future editions, the author needs to address the fundamental concepts more concisely. Extra visual aids would also prove helpful.

I use to speak french tough i usualy read fluently in english. This book give me what i was waiting for in a funny manner : the basic do and don't.

This book is so helpful, for many people. Even people who know illustrator, can freshen up with this book. Great buy

I can pretty much learn programs during a weekend. I did learn some things via this book, but not as much as I need to get started. I was shocked to see that they actually define the word "font"...and discuss some really basic things. Someone starting Word might need this help, but give me a break -- if you buy Illustrator you probably already know! I was also shocked at how few visual examples they give. For a graphics program, I would give as many as I can. Finally, I would include a step-by-step creation of an Illustrator page -- gets the user to learn hands on.

Not sure why my previous review of this book was erased from Amazon, but it was probably whining on the author or publisher's part because of a poor rating.

This book (besides being biased against Mac users) is not the best for new Illustrator users because it doesn't create the best foundation for future learning. Being an advanced user myself, I wanted to buy something for a friend who wants to learn Illustrator, and I thought the Dummy series would be a good place to start. Several lessons instruct users to perform tasks in a way that real world users rarely use (because of inefficiency, better method, etc.).

The Visual Quick Start series or the Classroom in a Book series on Illustrator are far superior to this. (The CIB in a book is really the best--partly because it was written by the pros at Adobe).

My favorite part of this book is where the author, with mountains of experience, says PC's are faster than Macs for graphics. It's about time somebody pointed it out. Notice how many people who give it poor ratings are those who worship at the altar of Mac.

This is a good book for beginner to intermediate, which is about where Dummies books are aimed, right? There may be better (more expensive) stuff, but I'm not sorry I picked this one up.

On the other hand, the criticisms here about lack of visual examples is a vaild one. There are examples, but a book about the premiere artist/illustrating software should be crammed with them.