Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 (Paperback)

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Key Phrases: document setup, new brush, gradient mesh, Live Paint, Live Trace, Color Guide (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 is the definitive reference to Adobe's industry-standard vector graphics software and is now in 4-color. With an easy, engaging style, author and past Illustrator product manager Mordy Golding takes readers through all of the features of the program, explaining not only how to use the multitude of features but also why and when to use them. This edition has been thoroughly updated for Illustrator CS4 and includes techniques on using the new multiple artboards for quicker Illustrator work across a variety of designs, demonstrations of the new Blob Brush tool and transparency in gradients, overviews of the new cross-product feature support with InDesign, Flash, and Flex (opening up new opportunities for collaborations between developers and designers), and coverage on a whirlwind of other new useful features.

Along with tips, sidebars, and expert commentary, there are also numerous 4-color illustrations and screen shots from contributing artists included to offer readers the most complete coverage on this extraordinary application. Designers from all fields--illustrators, animators, package designers, graphic designers, web designers, and more--will find Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 their one-stop guide to creating powerful designs in Illustrator.

About the Author

MORDY GOLDING has played an active role in design and publishing since 1990. An Adobe Certified Expert and Adobe Certified Print Specialist, Mordy was the product manager for Adobe Illustrator 10 and Adobe Illustrator CS. A popular presenter at Macworld, PhotoshopWorld and other worldwide events, Mordy is also the author of several books, including SAMS Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite All in One, The Web Designer's Guide to Color, and the previous edition of this book. In 2003, Mordy was named a Champion of Graphic Design by Graphics IQ. Currently he serves as the founder of DesignResponsibly.com and partner at MOGO Media, teaching designers and printers how to successfully use the Creative Suite tools.

Product Details

• Paperback: 600 pages
• Publisher: Peachpit Press; 1 edition (December 29, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321573552
• ISBN-13: 978-0321573551
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,215 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Best Graphic Design Books Ever Written, March 3, 2009

By	Jack B. Hunt - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As a fellow graphic's guy, who has Adobe expert certifications in Flash, Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere and Encore, I pour over tons of books and online training in order to improve. I believe the Illustrator Real World CS4 book (and the series) to be one of the 3 greatest graphic design books on the market ever written, along with the Ben Willmore's Photoshop Studio Techniques book and the Meyers' Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects book. That is coming from someone who has spent thousands of hours studying on various graphic design related topics.

Jackson Hunt
VP of Marketing
SerTech

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book, a Pleasure to Read, March 13, 2009

By	T. David (CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

As a longtime user of Illustrator (but an older, pre-CS version), I felt I had a pretty good handle on the program. Then I got Illustrator CS4, and I felt like a newbie all over again! I needed to get up-to-speed quickly on all the new features and changes,so, I started looking for a good manual, since Adobe offers no printed manual with their software. I chose this book, and I'm glad I did.

Before I go further, let me state that this book is NOT for someone just learning Illustrator. The book is categorized for "intermediate/advanced" users, and that's accurate. The author assumes that you'll have a certain familiarity with basic Illustrator terms and functions which have remained consistent throughout the program's various iterations. But, if you are in the intermediate-and-up category, Mordy Golding has written a book that is well-organized, well-written, and a 4-color pleasure to behold.

The author covers all the new and VERY cool features of Illustrator CS4, in an informal and non-technical manner that is quite easy to read. The book itself is laid out logically, and, in the introduction, the author even directs you to specific chapters which are of use to specific types of users -- production artists, web designers, package designers, etc. The table of contents is thorough, making it easy to find just what you want to know. Since this is a book for advanced users, it's more likely to be used as a reference for performing a specific task, so the ToC is really helpful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants or needs to update their Illustrator skills to the CS4 version.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A book to grow with, August 30, 2009

By	Stephen Thomas Reese III "brownreese" (Charlotte, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The great thing about this book is that as a newbie to Illustrator CS4 it immediately revealed the mysteries of the basic tools while also providing a lot of information for more advanced techniques. I can drill down on more techniques as my skills progress. This book is well illustrated with good examples and the narrative is straight forward. I am glad I chose this book and highly recommend it.