Illustrator 8 F/X & Design [With Third-Party Illustrator Plug-Ins, Files for Exerci]

by Sherry London and T. Michael Clark

Accompanied by a CD-ROM featuring plug-ins, files, royalty-free images, clip art, and Adobe demos, a handy reference offers tips and techniques for creating dynamic images with Abode Illustrator, from... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1576104087
• ISBN13: 9781576104088
• Release Date: May 1999
• Publisher: Coriolis Group Books
• Length: 900 Pages
• Weight: 3.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 8.0" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

Excellent!

Great book. Every page must be read thoroughly, because each page is packed with vital information that you don't want to miss. There seems to be no filler... just good information. The tutorials are well written and complete. They show common pitfalls to avoid, and sometimes show you more than one way to do things, and the benefits of each way. I found the book "most" useful in it's explanations and tutorials for going between Illustrator and Photoshop. A good chunk of the book is devoted to this. These chapters, plus a couple others also require you to use Photoshop. So if you don't own Photoshop, this book may be a disappointment. The book covers many features of Illustrator, but not nearly all of them. Such a book would be 5 times as thick and expensive. But what it does cover is very well done. I am a much better Illustrator user after reading this book.

Just what I needed

First of all, the book is not 900 pages as listed above. It is 490 pages. But those 490 pages offer a wealth of information and technique.I had just finished Illustrator 8 Classroom In A Book (still the absolute BEST book for beginners). I wanted to improve my output by a few notches, but I was getting very frustrated finded a book that would help me to reach that next level.I needed a book that was somewhere between the basic lessons of "Classroom in a Book" and the "draw an image and scan it into Illustrator" lessons found in "The Illustrator 8 WOW Book" (which pretty much made that book useless for me).Well, if that sounds familiar, then you need this book. It adopts the format of the classroom in a book series by giving you projects to complete in a step by step format. These are definitely not your beginner lessons, though. The output from these lessons could build your portfolio.It labels itself a book for intermediate to advanced users, but don't let that frighten you. The authors were thoughtful enough to still include the shortcut keystrokes after each command.Another great feature of this book is that it includes chapters on PhotoShop, and the pros and cons of working with each software package, as well as when you should use one over the other.The lessons are in black and white, but there is a full color gallery that shows all of the project images in finished form.There are a few typos, and a few commands that just don't work, but anyone with a basic knowledge of Illustrator should have no problem working around them.I really can't say enough about this book. It was just what I needed to elevate my knowledge and skill to a higher level, while leading me step by step through the process.I wouldn't hesitate to purchase any other books by these authors.

good book

I haven't finished the whole book...but it is well written. The CD in this book actually works...unlike a lot of other books with CDs that I have purchased.