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Rating: 
Summary: Excellent Reference, but NOT for Beginners...
Review: Even though the text is written in a very casual, conversational tone, this is not an easy read. There are over 800 pages of detailed explanations of every feature and nuance in Illustrator 9. What it does....It explains keyboard shortcuts, dialog boxes, and options for every tool, pallette, menu item, preference, you name it. The explanations are especially helpful in the sections regarding transparencies, the appearance pallette, and the layers pallette which are new to Illustrator 9. What it doesn't....It does not have a CD or any tutorials and does not give you any ideas for how to use the tools. If you are a new Illustrator user, then I would suggest buying something from the "Adobe Classroom in a Book" or "Visual Quickstart" series to get you up and running, then having this book as a reference when those tuturials don't go into enough detail about a tool or function (which will happen). The Illustrator WOW Book is great for getting ideas. I use Real World Illustrator when I need to know EXACTLY how a tool or filter is going to affect my artwork. It goes into more detail and is easier to read than the user guide.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference, but NOT for Beginners...
Review: Even though the text is written in a very casual, conversational tone, this is not an easy read. There are over 800 pages of detailed explanations of every feature and nuance in Illustrator 9. What it does....It explains keyboard shortcuts, dialog boxes, and options for every tool, pallette, menu item, preference, you name it. The explanations are especially helpful in the sections regarding transparencies, the appearance pallette, and the layers pallette which are new to Illustrator 9. What it doesn't....It does not have a CD or any tutorials and does not give you any ideas for how to use the tools. If you are a new Illustrator user, then I would suggest buying something from the "Adobe Classroom in a Book" or "Visual Quickstart" series to get you up and running, then having this book as a reference when those tuturials don't go into enough detail about a tool or function (which will happen). The Illustrator WOW Book is great for getting ideas. I use Real World Illustrator when I need to know EXACTLY how a tool or filter is going to affect my artwork. It goes into more detail and is easier to read than the user guide.
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad. Not great.
Review: I enjoyed the book and the detail and even found the inane cutseyness a break in what can be a detailed subject. You had to use your own imagination to think up examples and exercises which is the book's big flaw. The book would have benefited greatly from some hands on examples and exercises but its worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: No CD no Comprehension
Review: I have given this book 3 stars considering 4 is the top for a book with no electronic version, or CD included with. Lets be fair, this book is to please the beginners but makes you mad if you know or worked previously with illustrator products. For the beginners: This will rise your brain content about the program and tell you about the illustrator products story and what is it for; I think it will take 2 years to understand all content and it will be a very good introduction to the subject if not the best in the world. Take it and enjoy it!!! For advanced users search somewhere else it is not for you definitely, I swear! Though I insisted that it is for the beginners this doesn't mean that it couldn't be for intermediate people of us. One big disadvantage of this book is the confusing terminology used. Adobe calls something with a name and the auther prefer another name and insist to use it in all of his book so if you don't read the book form the cover to the cover then alot of confusion gonna mess up with you. Illustration is quite acceptable, but I would prefer an example illustration and a guide below it that tells you how to achieve the job The colored plated are very un-useful thay are little and small sized. The font size is amazing because it is 12pt I guess, so you don't need your glasses...huh
Rating: 
Summary: May not be your style, but...
Review: I have to give this book 5 stars because it has everything I need in a book about a software program. I considered myself an intermediate self taught Illustrator user until I read this book. I realized there was a lot I did not know about Illustrator. I like reading about the software capabilities before I jump in a use a new product. If you are a beginner and tend to frustrated because you can't jump in immediately don't buy this book right away: use the help provided with the program. But if you like knowing about all the features, how to customize your workspace, how to increase efficiency, and like reading more than a dozen pages at a time, this book is for you. For those who complain that there is too much intro and history: why can't you flip those pages? For those who don't like the jokes (I don't particularly care for most of them myself): just ignore them. I read this book from start to finish, thoroughly enjoyed it, and intend to use this as my desktop reference. I will also use Illustrator more often now that I know how powerful it is. Adobe should pay Deke and Sandee (if they don't already) for writing a book that encourages users to use their products.
Rating:
Summary: I can't believe this book is only rated 2.5 stars!
Review: Looking for computer related books I used to rely on Amazon's reviews, but those here are complete mystery to me. How this excellent book can only score 2.5 stars? It's written by Illustrator veteran who's been working with it for 14 years now. This guy really knows Illustrator and was willing to share his knowledge with us. The book is logically divided (unlike some other book I examined) into chapters. It covers all the important tools. It explains them thoroughly. And it's not just a few sentences describing all the modifiers keys. It's actually description AND explanation plus usefull examples and/or tips. For instance, it's easy to describe what blend tool does. But is it obvious having such description how to create neon-like effect? Well, Deke reveals some secrets and definitely goes further then covering raw tools description.
For every tool there there is also it's icon presented, so you don't have to wonder where it could be located (unlike in the other book I've checked).
Some complains about his humorous comments. How come? They are sparse and really funny. Others complain about historical comments. Those comments are just short explanations of what has changed in AI9 compared to previous versions. Yet others do not like Deke criticized some AI9 features. What's wrong with that? If something's imperfect I want to know about it.
This book is complete and outstanding. I'd recommend it to all the beginners. Experienced users are far more demanding, but I'm sure even they will find some new tricks. Nevertheless the book covers basics, so I'm aware not everyone might want it. It lacks the CD, but that's not too important, as examples could be recreated from scratch to reinforce learning.
Note: I'm not Deke's nor Sandee's relative and I wasn't paid to write this review. It's just that this book is great.
Rating: 
Summary: yuck.
Review: new to illustrator? look elsewhere, please. this book is not a tutorial, nor is it a decent introduction to the program. while it goes into great detail about each and every option associated with each and every tool, it does an extremely poor job of putting anything into context or explaining how any of the features would actually be used. it is extremely discouraging to a fledgeling illustrator user to not even be introduced to color until the fourteenth chapter. don't let the title fool you; this book has precious little to do with the real world. the organization is scattered -- the constant cross-references make reading it straight through impossible. a theory junkie myself, i was elated when i read the introduction and all of the background the authors gave. however, at some point, i just wished they would cut the cutesy jokes and tell me how to get started already. the only use i could imagine for this book would be perhaps for someone who was familiar with a prior version of illustrator and wanted to brush up a little bit. however, the cloying tone and terible organization would limit its use even then.
Rating: 
Summary: For experienced users only I think
Review: Thats right, if you are a beginer, then I would try something else. I bought this book thinking that it would be perfect for me. As I'm an artist, I thought it would be easy to understand. This book is too brief. It doesnt explain the funtionality of any of the features enough. It tells you only how to get to them and do basics with them. I am going to have to return it. I bought this to improve my skills, but the directions are so poor that I could not get the job done with this book. I strongly suggest getting something else. When I discover it, I will post another message. Good luck, and sorry for negetive review, but Im just trying to save you the hassle that I had with this.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent guide
Review: This book never leaves me looking for more. It's comprehensive, clear, and even inspiring. Well-written, too.
Rating:
Summary: Amateurish
Review: You can't do better than learning with Deke and Sandee. I never realized just how much there is to learn about Illustrator. In two years of working with the program, I never used the Pen tool at all. Too confusing. Their one chapter on the Pen was all I needed to finally get it. And the chapter on Working Smarter and Faster was worth the whole price of the book.
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