5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The missing owner's manual, February 24, 2008
This review is from: Illustrator CS3 Bible (Paperback)
Excellent book for those that want an owners manual for Illustrator. The book explains each tool and command in Illustrator quite well. The only issue I saw was that it did not have enough details on design techniques. Even though it started explaining how blends are created I was left craving for more information. It would have been nice if they would have shown how blending works on a few different objects.
The book does have a nice keyboard shortcut guide in the back. In my opinion the book was still worth it and will make an excellent reference book.
To recap, if you want a reference book this is it, if you want a how-to book for designing look elsewhere.
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11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ted does it again! Great Illustrator CS3 Bible reference, March 16, 2008
This review is from: Illustrator CS3 Bible (Paperback)
It has been 2 years from last "Illustrator CS2 Bible" and now we have updated version of it to CS3.
This time book again written by Ted Alspach alone and he stays the guard of this reference from version 7 (in far 1997). And the most interesting thing that every time Ted tried to power this book on 100% with information.
Bible keeps not only it's author, but also great style. With minimum clear explanation it gives you the most full information on an object. There're couple of color insert with nice Illustrator examples (seems very creative). Book consist of 700 pages. Pages are not not white shiny to make you blind, but pretty good indeed and in calculation of (book information*paper quality)/price buyer wins a couple of times.
All information you need is included: from novice to professionals - this reference is for everybody. To study new features or start from basics, to draw simple lines up to combine them in one complicated object and up to professional printing process of your work.
Great information order, information presented very clear and it is easy to follow, easy to find and it is explained step by step.
As we all know Illustrator belongs to Adobe family products, that's why almost every month such programs as Illustrator, Flash, Photoshop and other are used together to make work more easy and productive. Ted took one chapter of this time to explain the very basics of this programs integration (to expand our vision on this program and it's possibilities).
Illustrator is also a very powerful program and has a lot of "hot keys" and the complete list of it you can find in Appendix.
For people who never used Bibles, I would like to give table of content to let you know what you can expect from Bibles:
Part I: Illustrator Basics
- What's new in Illustrator CS3
- Understanding Illustrator's Desktop
- Working with Illustrator Documents
- Understanding Drawing and Painting Techniques
- Creating Objects, Graphs and Symbols
- Learning how to select and edit
- Understanding Color, Gradients and Mess
Part II:
- Using Illustrator to Organize Objects
- Working with Type
- Using Creative Strokes and Fills with Patterns
- Applying Transformations and Distortions
- Using Path Blends, Compound Path and Masks
- Using Live Trace
- Using Live Paint
Part III:
- Working with Graphic Styles, Filters and Effects
- Creating 3D in Illustrator
- Customizing and Automating Illustrator
Part IV:
- Understanding PostScript and Printing
- Creating Web Graphics
Appendix: Shortcuts in Illustrator CS3
Index
But in couple of words, we have here a titanic work of Ted Alspach that was put on paper for your satisfaction. And I really can't imagine a person that would not enjoy it. This book is really all you need.
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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Is it trustworthy?, April 28, 2008
This review is from: Illustrator CS3 Bible (Paperback)
I purchased this book to help migrate from Fireworks 8 to Illustrator CS3. I have read six chapters so far.
Another reviewer commented on the "newspaper" pages, and while the pages are somewhat thin, it doesn't detract from my reading process.
The book's first few chapters covers all of the basics any newcomer needs to start drawing simple designs and my reading was going rather well until I read about symbols.
The author's description of a symbol is, well, nothing. The first mention of symbols is, "Since the addition of the Symbol tools in Illustrator 10, the world has never been the same. Small children can now, with ease, make a sensible drawing using the Symbol Sprayer tool."
So I read on, expecting to be enlightened, and he never even tells the reader what a symbol is, or why "the world has never been the same"! Such a bold statement with absolutely no supporting dissertation. There are 6 pages dedicated to symbols with not one mention of the fact that the concept significantly increases productivity and efficiency.
Luckily, I know enough about symbols to know the author really missed the mark, and instead of exposing their true power, passes them off as art that can be spray painted on the the canvas. Yeah, that's kind of helpful in certain situations, but those situations are far and few between.
If I wouldn't have already understood what symbols are and how they work, I wouldn't have figured it out by using this book. I am, therefor, lead to question how much information is left out. Am I going to be left in the dark on some other basic and important concepts that the author either doesn't understand or doesn't care to share? Probably.
This is the only time I have ever wanted to return a book...I simply don't think I can trust it as an authority on the subject.
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