Customer Reviews

Illustrator CS4 Digital Classroom, (Book and Video Training)

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

 

 

Prior to buying this particular book, I had the pleasure to use another book in the same series, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom and I was very impressed with it. This is the reason why I looked after this book and I waited until it finally was available for sale. Well, from the get go I was quite disappointed because the book has some glaring typographical and proofreading errors, which made following the instructions in the book even more confusing. I e-mailed to the editors some of the errors I found and, in turn, they e-mailed me back a list of other errors, this time they were errors in the actual steps on how to use a certain tool or how to apply a certain effect.

The videos in the enclosed DVD are just as good as the ones for the Photoshop book, instructional and well-explained, this is the only reason I'm giving this book a rating of 3 stars, otherwise I would give it 2 or even 1. An instruction book should be error-proof to make less stressful the learning process.

I received the book today and just started working through the first lesson. What struck me about the approach is that the authors presume a LOT of knowledge about the terminology (e.g., stroke, fill, symbol, etc.) that folks who have never worked with Illustrator would not have.

If you're computer-savvy, that's okay because the authors give enough context for you to quickly figure out what those terms mean and how to apply what they teach you broadly. If you are not computer-savvy (most people over 40 won't; I'm 41, but I started programming when I was 12), then you will probably feel lost.

If you're computer-savvy, this book is a 5. If you're not, it is probably a 3, if not lower (depending on skill/comfort level; there are a lot of gaps that you need to fill). I recommend anybody who is a total newbie to preview the book at your local bookstore before buying.

This book was extremely disappointing, for starters the lesson files wouldn't allow me to save them as work files which is annoying. The problems became more than just annoying when the DVD only addressed a small segment of the books chapters and lessons, I purchased this book because I was unfamiliar with Illustrators Tracing feature. The book covers the Tracing tools midway into chapter five, but the DVD only deals with the first lesson of chapter five.

If this were an isolated incident I would dismiss it as an oversight but I also purchased InDesign CS4 from this publisher and none of the lesson files matched the working copy of Adobes Indesign CS4, you had to go to their (Wiley's Digital Classroom) website and download the corrected files, this was only discovered by emailing the author. At least they had the corrected lesson files. The Illustrator CS4 book has no such saving grace. When I called customer service tech support It was suggested to me that the next edition of the book would be more thorough or perhaps my copy of Illustrator had problems. This latest snafu proves to me that this publishers classroom series isn't ready for primetime.

For $30 or $40 I expected more, instead I got less.Stay away from this series. I have to give it one star in order to submit this review

This book is a great way to get up to speed on the latest version of Illustrator fast! Not only does it go over new features, but also shows how to create projects using those new features. The book does a great job of incorporating basic and advanced features in a way that is not overwhelming. Great work!

One of the things I really like about this book is that it's for people that are avid Illustrator users. While some of the basics are covered for those new to the program, this book really lends itself to power users of the program and for those that want to become power users. The exercises are fun, in-depth and challenging for newbies and veterans of the program.

I've been teaching Illustrator classes for over a dozen years now, and recently started using this book with my students. I can't say enough about its usefulness, both as an in-class textbook and as a ready reference outside of the classroom. The exercises are clear and concise, and incorporate new and existing features in a way that is easily understood by all user levels. The included DVD contains lesson files that allow you to actively participate in the learning, as well as tutorials that serve as a helpful guide to becoming more comfortable with the program. Congratulations to the Aquent Creative Team for compiling such a useful resource!

I've been creating basic art projects for a few years - mostly some flyers and signs, though I dabble in creating web sites. I had started with Photo shop and discovered it was the wrong product for my signs so I switched to Photo shop Elements (great product) and purchased Illustrator instead. After working through this book I know enough to be dangerous. I can add and format text, create my own drawings, and import other images (which is good because mine aren't all that great). I did discover a few cool things like tracing items that I scan and controlling several items at the same time so I can change one color and all related items get changed. There were some cool projects that are a bit beyond my needs but probably are helpful for professional artists. There are a few errors - maybe 10 or so - but I discovered that fixes were listed on the book web site. But because they were listed on the update site referenced in the book, they didn't cause me a big issue (although I'm taking away a full star because I think they should have found them before printing). I can still recommend the book mostly because it is a good value for the money especially with the video clips. I went from zero to working with Illustrator in just a few days.

I'm an IT major and I get more out of all of the adobe books then the required texts we are suppose to use!!! Thanks Adobe keep them coming!!! Why you aren't the required text for every university in this country, especially for DREAMWEAVER boggles even my professors mind.

This is a great book for a beginner wanting to get an overview and learn the basics of what this program can do.

If you're a relatively new user this is a great book in the series to learn with. The book has a good complementary DVD with vides included. If your more of an intermediate user you won't find the book useful until the later chapters, but it still has good info.