How to Do Everything with Adobe Illustrator CS

Rating:
Summary: A Quick Read
Review: How to Do Everything . . . by David Karlins is clearly evidence that in addition to the time he spends teaching Macromedia's Dreamweaver, he has found time to try to "demystify and break down the art of vector art." He points out where the CS version is different from earlier Illustrator versions. He especially praises improvements in the text formatting and the inclusion of better 3-D effect capabilities. It is convenient how throughout the book he includes the keystroke shortcuts for the various actions. David has included a lot of diagrams and illustrations to help understand the use of the various tools and pallets. A lot of time is well spent writing about how to use the various Pathfinder tools. His use of Caution, Tips and Note caveats in each chapter reminds the reader of an area that can use special attention.

Rating:
Summary: Useless
Review: I don't write reviews but this book was just awful, and the only reason I bought it was because so many people were so enthusiastic about it: this is my opinion and warning, lest others who want a well-organised book make the same mistake.

I don't think the explanations are very good, but my main complaint is with the structure of the book. What good is an explanation of paths if it's then impossible to find out how to set points geometrically without plodding through 80 or so pages in between? Some people want more explanations, some less, but the difficulty of finding what one wants to know quickly and concisely is a major failing in any book which pretends to instruct.

The book is written to be worked through in sequence: the lack of a decent index is proof of that. The dearth of tables and lists is another annoyance. And the chatty tone is DULL and makes it tedious going when trying to find the essentials of an instruction.

I have tossed this book aside countless times and just gone back to my older copy of the Visual Quickstart for Illustrator 10, with much more efficient results.

When one of the more in-depth books comes out I'll probably buy that, since I'm returning this one. For a beginner, I would suggest buying the Visual QuickStart book (which is an excellent series in general) or one of the other basic guides until the Bibles come out. And I would not recommend Adobe's Classroom book, which is lacking in crucial information which they will probably end up selling in an overpriced "companion" volume.

Rating:
Summary: Not as good as you might be led to believe
Review: Let me join the other reviewers in panning this book. The color illustrations are nice (compared to the Adobe manuals, which have gotten thin and have no color), but that's about it. The details just aren't there. For example, the author will show you the star tool, and talk about using its dialog box to set options, but doesn't mention using the Command (PC:ctrl) or Option (PC:alt) keys with this tool, nor what they do. So not only does it read a bit like a manual, but it's an incomplete manual. Beyond that, there's not much content -- try Cohen's "Creative Studio" book or Steuer's "Wow!" book, or better yet, get the video training from Total Training.

Rating:
Summary: Title is totally misleading, for a start.
Review: No, this book will NOT teach you how to do everything with Adobe Illustrator CS -- not even by half. I've been a power user of FreeHand for years, which is a similar program published by Macromedia. I thought that making the switch wouldn't be too difficult, but this book didn't help me out any more than Adobe's online documentation did.

This book doesn't really fit anywhere. The "dummy" book was a far better introduction for a complete novice, and for a power user this book is a joke. Illustrator is not easy to learn, even with a background in FreeHand.

For a start, this book's index is ridiculously thin relative to the amount of information it is trying to impart. In the middle of a project, very often you find yourself needing to look something up and get a quick answer, so a good index is essential. Sure enough, looking up "Guides" -- one of the most basic functions -- didn't lead me to any pages that explained how to set them up with coordinates or over multiple pages, for example. And the discussion for Smart Guides didn't really explain how to fully use them. This is an across-the-board problem with this book.

The structure is extremely confining as well: going through chapter by chapter, the explanations are simplistic, and if you don't follow their instructions to the letter, you're out of luck. This is not a good thing for someone who wants to make things that aren't already in the book. And since there is NO cross-referencing, you have to flag and annotate like mad.

I finally got the Classroom in a Book, and while it has problems of its own, it is a MUCH better book for the beginner who needs to learn more than how to draw a fish.

There is a huge need for a "bible" type book that goes deeply into all of Illustrator CS's features, but until that happens, you're better off with the Classroom book. If you want a simple introduction, just get a QuickStart or Dummy book. This book is a waste.

Rating:
Summary: A text for the rest of us
Review: So, you are beginning to believe that ten pound illustrator book will become your headstone! Send it to your mother in law, you don't need to start with that much information. How to do Everything........by David Karlins is a clear and concise group of instructions wich will help you jump start your computer drawing skills.
Karlins covers all the basic drawing features of this powerful software, while including particular tips and cautionary notes where required. This book is a refreshing departure from most technical manuals, as it's colorful and easy to understand. There is a significant amount devoted to type and all the special effects which can be achieved. Since Karlins is a professional web designer, he seems to be particularly well versed in the methods to configure an illustration for the Web.
Do not expect that by just doing the exercises in the book one will know and understand the material. As with any type of instructions it is important to set up some challenges of your own to test how far one can take ones instructions.
Read and Practice, Practice, Practice!

Rating:
Summary: How to Do Everything with Illustrator CS
Review: This is a great book for beginning and intermediate users of Adobe Illustrator. The book is well laid out, colorful and pleasant to read. What is nice for the new user is he explains how to use the basic tools, and how to draw with them. Understanding paths and anchors are the basic elements of being able to use this type of software. You have the option of working through the whole book or picking and choosing your topic. A new user could work through the whole book, from beginning to end.

The author includes many highlighted "notes," "cautions," and "shortcuts" interspersed throughout the book. For example, in the section where he is explaining about how to draw with paintbrushes there is a note telling you that Chapter 18 explains how to define custom brushes. In another section about the Pathfinder tools you are cautioned that those tools only with with vector objects - not bitmaps. And for those who are unsure of the difference between vector art and bitmap art, that explanation was given in the beginning of the book. It is this kind of basic information that makes this such a helpful book.

He goes into great detail about the new text features and special effects.

I can't say enough about how clearly this book is written. I have had my share of technical books that are hard to understand, unpleasant to look at and have typographical errors.

While good portion of this book will be redundant to a Illustrator "power user," there is still a lot of useful information including a professional technique gallery at the back of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Layman's Terms .. I like it !
Review: What good is teaching if your not able communicate? This book "teaches" and relays information in an easy to understand way. Along with sufficient illustrations the concepts are easily explained.

If you want to "Learn" AI 10 in a painlessly way, I'd recommend this book as a must have.

Rating:
Summary: Layman's Terms .. I like it !
Review: What good is teaching if your not able communicate? This book "teaches" and relays information in an easy to understand way. Along with sufficient illustrations the concepts are easily explained.

If you want to "Learn" AI 10 in a painlessly way, I'd recommend this book as a must have.