Customer Reviews

InDesign CS4 Digital Classroom, (Book and Video Training)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

First the disclaimer: I am proficient with Microsoft Word and have had some experience with hobbyist-level layout programs. However, I had never used InDesign before I started the lessons in this book.

I purchased this particular title because it seemed to be the best bargain. For the price, you get a full-color book, a DVD with video lessons and lesson files. At approximately 350 pages, the book is big enough to give detail but not so huge as to intimidate the reader.

The book assumes that you are computer literate but it does not assume that you are familiar with printing and typography terms. Every phrase is carefully explained as it is brought up. Don't know what kerning is? That's okay, a succinct explanation takes care of that.

The book is essentially a big book of exercises. Separated into thirteen chapters, each is designed to teach a specific tool in InDesign. The chapters are reasonably short, I was able to complete most of them in 30 minutes to one hour. (The exception being the very long chapter 3, which took about 2 hours)

I think that my experience with other programs helped a lot in learning InDesign but the book is so user friendly that I imagine that even people with no experience in this type of program would be able to learn quickly and easily.

The author has a very clear manner of writing and he explains his steps carefully. What's more, color pictures help greatly in showing steps that may not be clear.

I liked the videos but wished there had been more of them. They are basically short clips of the author demonstrating some of the techniques from each chapter.

I feel that the book did a very thorough job of teaching InDesign to an absolute beginner.

This book is recommended for:
* People with no InDesign experience who want clear instruction
* Self-taught InDesign users who want to fill gaps in their knowledge
* InDesign users who need a thorough review or who want to get acquainted with the new features in CS4.

The book is NOT recommended for:
* Someone already proficient in InDesign. This book teaches, it is not really a reference.

One last note: I got an early printing of the book and so the lesson files on the DVD were based on a pre-release version of InDesign. These lesson files DO NOT work with the final version of InDesign CS4. The publishers of the book have made updates files available on their website, the URL is printed directly on the DVD sleeve in the book. The whole process took 5 minutes to complete. I don't feel that this detracted from the quality of the lesson material since the problem was so easily fixed.

Let me start by saying this book is well written and the content is presented in a logical manner. My beef is with the publisher and not the authors.

I also want to add that I have contacted the publisher about the issues mentioned in the review. This review is based on my experience..hopefully these issues have been resolved and others will not have the same problem downloading the updated content from the website.

I am a big fan of the Digital Classroom series (usually my first choice for learning new software) but am disappointed that the publisher released this book with a DVD based on a pre-release version of the software.

As an InDesign novice, I read this book cover to cover and worked through each lesson (tried to anyway)

While clear instruction on getting the updated files is shown on the Amazon page, when I downloaded these files from the publisher's website, some of the updated lesson files did not include working files but completed files (ex: chapter 9. The original files on the DVD were created in a pre-release version of CS4 so they couldn't be opened and the updated files from the website were the completed lesson files) so trying to work through this lesson was a moot point since all the work had already been done.

Another problem with the updated files is that instead of updating the entire DVD and making it available for download - with each lesson folder containing the correct content so the user could completely replace the DVD accompanying the book - they updated only the files they thought were incorrect and left it up to the user to copy the new content into the appropriate lesson folder. Sure copying the files doesn't take long, but why should the user have to do this after paying for the book/DVD?

With money tight (and multiple training resources available), this is an unacceptable usability/quality control error. I understand that mistakes happen but when I pay close to $50.00 for a book, I expect to have the resources used in the book available somewhere - without having to contact the publisher letting them know their updated files have a problem as well.

I hope in the future the authors are better served by this publisher. A lot of hard work was put into this book and the authors deserve better. Definitely before purchasing another book from this publisher I will get a copy of it from an interlibrary loan service and make sure the DVD contents (or updates on the publisher's website) match the lessons before shelling out $$'s that may be better spent elsewhere.

Quality (and customer satisfaction) should not be sacrificed because a publisher wants to beat its' competitors to market.

This is a great book. Having used ID since CS, I feel this book expands on every aspect of the new CS4 application. The book is a great asset to have when learning more about InDesign. I visited the www.digitalclassroombooks.com website and found that it contains updated lesson files for download and more information about the book and its contents, which makes this book that much more of an asset.

As an experienced designer with an extensive background in electronic publishing, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I learned from this book. It's a superb reference filled with tips and tricks that even a professional InDesign user wouldn't ordinarily have the time to find. And perhaps surprisingly, the in-depth instruction (and included lesson files) provide the firm foundation that would help a beginning user get up to speed quickly too. I plan to use this book as a ready reference often, and congratulate the authors on a job well done.

Adobe InDesign CS4 Digital Classroom is better than a classroom. There's no waiting for others to catch up or missing a tip because I'm busy practicing something else. I can do the video on my time, in my home, at my pace. I love that!

The instruction is excellent - very clear and easy to understand. The book comes with a DVD (includes video training from Adobe Certified Experts) and lesson files. I can watch the video and work on the lesson files at the same time. The instruction is well organized enabling me to work through the lessons one by one in the order presented or select a specific topic, as needed. The graphics and sound quality is professional and positively enhances the learning experience.

In the lessons, you'll learn all the essential skills you need to get started. The first lesson teaches you all about the tools. Although I had used InDesign a bit before, I learned a lot of nifty tricks from this lesson. For instance, how to set up my master pages so that they are horizontally rather than vertically aligned. This is important when you work on large documents like books.

Other chapters include:

How to format type
How to create style sheets
How to add and manipulate graphics
How to design and edit a table
How to use and manage colors
How to create special effects such as drop shadows, feathering, emboss, and blend
How to create a book, an index, and Table of Contents
How to share documents in various formats
How to use XML with InDesign
How to create interactive documents using flash

Visit the [...] Web site for updated lesson files.

For a novice like myself, this book and training DVD is just what I needed to get started. For Intermediate users, you will probably benefit by picking up some tricks that will help you use InDesign more effectively.

I don't have a background in web/electronic design and publishing, so I found Adobe InDesign Digital Classroom to be very well written for the novice like myself. It was used as the manual for an InDesign class I took and is very clearly written in `lesson' format so by the completion of the exercises, you have a good handle on the tools you need.
The author's manner of writing as well as the layout of the book are very clear and easy to follow - just what you need when just starting out in understanding a program like InDesign. It also shares some really useful tricks and short-cuts, which even the experienced designers in my class appreciated. It is probably most valuable as a teaching text for beginning and intermediate designer but can be a good addition to an experienced designer's library as well.

I have never used InDesign before and I am taking some classes at a University and need to know how to use the program before class starts. Anyway - this book teaches you to use the program. I'm sure its only teaching the basics of the program though.

I bought a copy of the book that includes a DVD with lesson files that have to be updated because a prelease version of InDesign was used to create the files - so therefore they are not able to be opened with my version of InDesign. You can acquire the updated lesson files on the books website.

This book can be annoying at times. It has you open a project and it tells you what steps to do - very specific steps - do this , do that, now do this - and now this. Sometimes it doesn't really explain why you're doing it - but for the most part it gives a pretty good reason - if it tried to tell you everything I'm sure the book would have to a lot more pages longer.

The DVD that comes with the book has videos on it to watch before you start each lesson. The guys voice just about drives me nuts. I can't stand him - but that is personal preference.

Also - I was going along good in the book until I got to chapter 9 - and things started falling apart - the direction in 9 don't work for what they want you to do - they want you to change something on one of the files but it won't let me do it - I have the updated files so that is not the problem - and I also noticed there a few typos and problems with the way 9 is written. I think they need to review 9 - there seems to be problems with it - I don't know if anyone else has had this problem or not.

Other than- the book is good for a beginner.

InDesign CS4 Digital Classroom leads you through not only the basics of InDesign, but also the awesome CS4 upgrades. Author Christopher Smith is an celebrated Adobe instructor, from [...], who walks readers through the learning process, taking extra time on the trickier areas, but in a patient, effective tone and pace. There is a DVD as well, which provides working examples, and helps the reader reinforce their new-found InDesign confidence. InDesign CS4 Digital Classroom is very informative and approachable, and is well worth the investment of time and money for the skills it presents.

Complete and clear. I'm going to order the same for Photoshop CS4. The difficulty with Adobe products is they are non-intuitive for the user. The book did help layout some of the more intricate questions mysteriously tucked away in this complex program.

I have used other Adobe creative suites. I love the way this book buts together the lessons and video together to help a person learn the lessons in the book. This book is easy to read and understand and along with the video you can watch if you get stuck when you read the lesson watching the video helps you understand the lesson a lot better.