Non-Designer's Scan & Print Book

Rating:
Summary: I wish I would have had this book 3 years ago!
Review: I am a non-designer. Between you and me I've had no idea what I'm doing lo these last 2 1/2 years that I've been editor of my User Group's newsletter. Sometimes I'll have to deal with advertisers and printers and they'll start throwing around terms like "linescreen," "halftone," "moire patterns," and "rotogravure." Actually I've never heard that last one used in anything but the song "Easter Parade," and this book defines it.

Oh sure, I *thought* I knew what I was doing, at least well enough to get by. I had a copy of PageMaker and a few hours of "show-me" from the previous editor. But after reading this book, I now know that I really didn't have a clue how to do this properly. And it's too bad I didn't get this book earlier, because now we've got a layout editor on board who's an actual pro! Oh well.

This book is aimed squarely at people like me, people who have the responsibility of creating flyers, newsletters, pamphlets, advertisements, etc., but who really don't know much about it. It is not at all condescending when it begins at the very beginning, describing the very basics of printing such as resolution, dots, the different kinds of printers, the different kinds of print-shops, and what questions to ask in order to get the best results.

It proceeds to explain the different types of graphics. Every wonder what the real difference between a BMP and a JPG are? It's in here. Along with PNG, TIF, EPS, WMF, and just about every other graphic type used. Also, the distinction between vector images and raster images is explained.

The focus of the book tends to be on Adobe products, which is alright for me since I've been using Adobe PageMaker to do the newsletter, but if you're a QuarkXPress users, it may put you off a bit. And if you're trying to do newsletters using a word processor such as Word or WordPerfect, this book will set you straight. In fact, if you're doing that, this is just the book for you since it will show you all of the limitations of that approach.

This book isn't necessarily for the recent buyer of a scanner who's just looking for ways to make their photo scans look good. It's probably overkill for that, since one chapter alone covers the essentials for great scans. It is full of useful tips, formulas, and rules of thumb that will prove replaceable in my library.

One of the appendices at the end of the book has quizzes for each chapter, and some of the questions are based on theoretical projects. This is all very helpful, but I didn't see this until I reached the end of the book. It might've been useful if the end of each chapter would have mentioned taking the available quiz. This is my only complaint.

Did I mention that this book is comprehensive. It covers everything! My brain sorta hurts from all the new information I've just received. And the embarrassing thing is that I should have known this information before I ever became editor.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!!
Review: I was a technical trainer for four years and was in charge of teaching classes such as color theory, digital printing, scanning etc. I really loved this book because it put everything together for me after about 10 months of scraping information from a lot of different sources. You can't go wrong with this book.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just For Non-Designers
Review: The non-designer title is actually a bit of a misnomer. Don't let this title dissuade you even if you have spent years in the industry (like myself). Unless you are very very knowledgable of the print-production process, this book will have a lot to teach you.

Don't let the hokey design of this book make you believe that it does not contain a wealth of knowledge...it does.

Rating:
Summary: Pithy
Review: These ladies have put together a very clear, concise, comprehensive handbook for the non-pro publisher. They walk you through all the essentials of desktop publishing, and all your choices, pointing out the advantages and disadvantages of each choice.

Dwight M Stark

Rating:
Summary: MADE ME A SUCCESS!!!
Review: Three years ago, my boss decided that we should create our own advertising and brochures. I purchased a Mac G3 and went to work, learning everything I could about design. If I hadn't read this book, I would have been a miserable failure. Instead, I was able to create my first brochure (which the printer said was in the top 90% of the brochures he had seen) in less than two months. This book taught me about resolution, file formats, and everything else I needed to know to have my brochure and ads printed correctly. Although I own many books and resources on graphic design and output, this is the one I could not have done without!

Sandee and Robin, thank you so much for your help! I couldn't have done it without you!

Benjamin Summers, M.B.A. Tomorrow's Resources Unlimited, Inc. www.truball.com