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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent bible for the bumbling novice, July 14, 2006
This review is from: Illustrator CS2 for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)
First I need to give a nod to "Gunny", the reviewer who convinced me to purchase this book: Thank you! This is truly the best Illustrator guide available for beginners, who need to find their painful path through the inscrutable thicket of Illustrator, who need to get a graphic project done, quickly.
People like us (i.e. either not professional designers [me], or the few remaining troglodyte designers who've remained fanatically attached to their bristling forest of Berol markers) don't have time to flirt with the dreamy practice projects that other manuals propose; we need to punch out the goods quickly -- usually just some "simple" graphics (well, they LOOK simple, but we all know they're really not so). So we need to know the basics, need to know how to alter a shape, eliminate extraneous background junk, whatever. And this book, with its extensive index and it's clear, step-by-step instructions, does just that.
No, this doesn't have any projects, and there are lovely pictures in the middle of the book that one assumes were done with CS2 but which don't serve any other purpose than as examples of what one COULD do, once one figures out how to maze oneself through the thicket. So "matt the artist" reviewer has a point there. (But his referring to "Illustrator help" -- jeesh! I defy anyone who's ever clicked on that Help menu to find me a phrase in the English language that's more oxymoronic than "Illustrator Help.")
This book stays next to my computer, and although I've owned it only a coupla weeks, it's already looking a tad weary & worn. Worth every penny.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent, As Usual, March 9, 2006
This review is from: Illustrator CS2 for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)
Visual Quick Start Guides and I were introduced in college. Each one I have used is: supremely instructive, light to nonexistent on self absorbed asides (a blessed relief), and meaty...very meaty. The paper isn't glossy, the images aren't in color, you get no adorable photos of the author with their children frolicking on the sands of Southern California. But you get information about how to use Adobe products (and anything else you want to tackle) so that you, in your miserable Midwestern hovel, far from the smiling shores of the Pacific rim, can accomplish your tasks for your demanding and sniffy clients and get paid, and not go to the poor house! Tres cool, no?
Every tool is explored to the max, all the possible options are explained clearly, new things about the program are patiently explained. By the time you get through with this book, you Know Illustrator. You don't have to read it cover to cover, but you can dive in anywhere to have a new item explained to you, and be on your way.
I have found Visual Quick Start Guides far clearer than Dummies, and much more useful than any cookbook guides. I recommend them way over the more expensive Classroom in a Book. They are also reasonably priced, and though they don't catch your eye or come with the CD rom (which you don't really need), or show you a bunch of high concept work,; they are your reference and you will keep them snuggled by you as you plow through tough creativity and succeed.
!Viva Visual Quick Start Guides!
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Introductory Book for the Absolute Beginner, October 18, 2005
This review is from: Illustrator CS2 for Windows & Macintosh (Paperback)
The Visual Quickstart Guides use an interesting page layout design that seems to me to be ideal for getting up and running on a software package quickly. Yet at the same time the in depth indexing structure allows you to quickly find a subject if you wnat to reference something studied earlier.
In the 'Guide' the pages are broken into two columns. The column towards the outside of the book gives the text of what's happening. The column towards the center of the book is showing what you would (or should) be seeing on the screen at that time.
This format makes the book sort of a tutorial style that you can follow from front to back and 'learn by doing.' Afterwards, when you are actually starting to use the software to do things, the indexing system makes the book useful as a reference.
This particular title is on the new CS2 Version of Adobe Illustrator. It leads you through the design of several illustrations. Unlike many introductory books, this one does not go into the installation of the software, it presumes that you can do this by yourself, have it installed and are ready to go.
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