Desktop Publishing Books

This is a no-brainer. If you want to get a jump on video blogging and don't know where to start - buy this book. It's an easy read that is not that difficult to digest and understand.

Blog on!

Lionel Felix and Damien Stolarz take you step by step in their book Hands-On Guide to Video Blogging and Podcasting into the emerging new tools of a video blog or podcast.

[MORE INFO AT http:satisfyingsolutions.com]

Easy instructions make it simple to use and the book gives you the latest tools to quickly start video blogging and podcasting for your business.

Chapter one gives you an overlook on how to record and edit your video.

In chapter two the authors discuss the anatomy of a blog as well as a brief history of blogs.

As one reads on Chapter three discuss the main uses for video blogging and podcasting. In addition it also shows how mainstream media and corporate uses these two tools.

Chapters four,five, and six explain blogs and what kind of delivery should be given in this new technology.

Chapter seven incorporates the moblogging and podcasting and continues with chapter eight and one the go spaces and video.

Chapter nine fulfills the reader with essential tools for your computer as well as the software and hardware.

Chapter ten gives an insight on production and breaks down the recording, microphones, and editing.

Chapter eleven continues from the audio production and moves into video production.

Chapter twelve explains to the reader the pricing and hosting of band withs.

Chapter thirteen discusses how to go about assembling blog entries.

The next chapter discusses the important facts of licensing and copyrights.

Finally, chapter fifteen discusses case studies from websites such as ericrice and ryanedit.com.

Furthermore, this is a great hands-on tool to take you step by step in the process of blogging. Paul Gillin gives you the motivation to start your own blog and Felix and Stolarz give you the tools to make it your own.

This book supports Paul Gillin's ideas and the book The New Influencers by reiterating the fact that blogging and podcasting is the resource to business communications in digital media. It is so easy to follow along and not only helps with business aspects but entertainment and educational institutions too.

A. J. Baltes

If you want to get into Video Blogging and Podcasting this is the best book on the market today. Covers every aspect in detail while still making it all seem easy.

I work for Loyola Marymount University. We recently decided to make all lectures available via Podcasts. I went searching for books on the subject in order to find a solution for the school. This book was by far the best book on the subject. It even gave us some ideas for video blogging that we hadn't previously considered. Without the precise and coherent coverage given to Podcasting in this book I doubt we would have a solution even half as good. Thanks to the authors for their great book. It has been invaluable.

This hands-on guide is great for nailing down the nitty gritty of podcasting. Sure, there's nothing to it; you can make a podcast in a night. But then, once it's launched, there are SO many things to consider and so many ways to expand it. This is what makes casting a blast!

His nitty gritty on bandwidth, pricing plans, and especially the case studies of existing vidcasts and podcasts helped me a lot with refining my New Civilization Podcast.

Good stuff!

Zack

I've enjoyed everything that I've bought by Rick Sammon and this is no exception. He's thorough and helpful

Rick hac combined basic photography with digital enhancement..Believe me when I say you need to edit almost all your photos to make them really pop. This book is easy to understand and gives you the basics to improve your digital photos while learning photoshop elements or cs2.

I enjoyed this book. It reads easily and quickly and many of the photos are stunning. It introduces and de-mystifies some of the more difficult PhotoShop functions but was not detailed enough for me in some examples, to use these functions without further instruction. I found it inspiring enough to order a more in-depth book with precise step-by-step instructions, Rob Shepperd's Outdoor Photographer Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2, to teach myself some of the techniques in-depth. Recommended for anyone wanting an overview of CS2's possibilities and an opening to begin exploring it.

Before I give you my review of Rick Sammon's new book, Idea To Image in Photoshop CS2, let me tell you a bit about me. I am an enthusiastic advanced amateur photographer--with roughly 40 years of experience that includes published magazine and Associated Press photos and numerous awards. I gave up my wet darkroom a few years ago for digital photography, image editing in Photoshop and ink jet printing. But, enough about me; let's get on to the important stuff and why you're reading this review: my thoughts on Idea To Image in Photoshop C2. So, what kind of book is this, and who is it for?

What Kind of Book is This?
Strictly speaking, this is not a how-to-do-it book. Yes, it has many examples of how Rick created his photos and associated effects. And, looking in the Table of Contents, you'll find a goodly list of projects that offer numerous techniques, such as, A Note Paper Effect, A Quick Pencil Sketch and Speed-Aging A Photograph. But the crux of the book is an attempt (mostly successful) to teach the reader how to take a concept for a photograph and, through a combination of careful planning, good photographic techniques and post shoot Photoshop image enhancements, create professional-level images.
There are three sections to the book: Chapter 1 on how to get ideas for innovative images; Chapters 2 through 4 about actual shooting and enhancement techniques, and Chapter 5 on how Rick (and you) can envision and carry through projects, as the title of the book says, from idea to image.

Who is Idea To Image in Photoshop C2 for?
This book is definitely not for absolute beginners in either photography or Photoshop. Rick assumes some basic knowledge in both areas. And, since this is a project-oriented book, he assumes the reader wants to learn, not only how, but also why, Rick recommends each technique. Rick also goes to great lengths to explain where each concept he describes fits into the scheme of the creation of the final image.

Conclusion
The obvious question now is, will this book at least return your investment? If you're looking to up your photography/Photoshop skills beyond the basics, to what Rick refers to as photographic artistry, the answer is yes. Rick's premise is that any photographer only gets out of a photographic project what he or she puts into it, and besides reasonable skill and imagination, that also means sufficient time. If you're willing to put in that time, this book will prove an excellent guide.

Idea to Image in Photoshop CS2 - Rick Sammon's Guide to Enhancing Your Digital Photos is a different sort of Photoshop book. Most Photoshop books focus on showing you what can be done to enhance your image. Idea to Image approaches from a different perspective. Rick Sammon encourages you as the reader to focus on your final vision prior to capturing the image. Throughout the chapters he sprinkles in an assortment of suggestions and examples designed to aid with composition, and timing. Learning when to take the picture, and encouraging you to experiment and think beyond a single shot.

The book is 202 pages long, and very reader friendly. In reviewing other Photoshop books I often conclude that you can jump in anywhere that interests you and start playing. With Idea to Image I think it best to start at the beginning and read it in order at least through the first two chapters. There is a lot of good advice in the opening pages and to skip past it would be a mistake.
Once you get into the book, like most Photoshop books, the lessons are brief and well encapsulated allowing you to quickly access what you need to know to try a new technique. The book encourages you to explore and experiment, always-good advice in my mind. I always encourage my friends to push beyond the obvious application of a technique and think of unique ways to apply a new style.

Idea to Image is a great book if you are in need of a little creative boost. While some of the subject matter would be beneficial to beginner photographers, there are surely better places for a novice to look for help. The more I know about Photoshop the more I realize how much more there is to learn. Idea to Image is a great reminder to focus on the final image, not just the viewfinder, and it is a welcome shot in the arm when your creativity is waning.

To me a review is most meaningful when you know a little something about the person writing the review. I have been an avid amateur photographer since the late 1970's and have been selling my work since 2004. Photography isn't my day job, but it does provide a welcome supplement. I have been shooting with a Canon Professional Digital SLR since 2003 and perform the vast majority of my post processing work in Photoshop. I began with Photoshop 7 and currently work with CS2. I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and make extensive use of the abundant educational materials available on the member website. I have read well over two-dozen Photoshop training guides with one overriding goal in mind; producing the best images possible.

The book talks about scripting and it accomplishes it's goal. There are examples of vbscript, jscript, an hta, and vba. It is apparent that the author favors jscript. The quality of scripts are better then the vbscript examples.

There are 14 chapters: How to use this book, Why scripting, Windows Scriptable Technologies, Enumerating and Dumping the Users, Groups, and Computers of Active Directory, Dumping a Domain User's Detail Account Information, Listing Soon-to-Expire Domain User Accounts, Move Away from Batch Files-A New Logon Script, Foundation: A Directory Computer-Dump Tool, Browser-Based Computer Information Diagnostics, Worm Vulnerability Detector, Remotely Enumerate Local Computer Accounts, Local Password Audit and Change Tool, E-mail Script Notification, Where to Go from Here.

As I mentioned this is not a book for people new to scripting. However, it is useful in that it will show the use of modules and it does go about explaining the code examples by the blocks and functions.

I found the descriptions of the modules useful even though I don't use JScript. Probably the most useful script was an HTA script for local diagnostics.

The CD has the scripts mentioned but you might want to go through the effort of typing and debugging the code. Especially, if you are new to windows scripting.

Overall, a good book to have for a reference on what it gives you. It expanded my knowledge.

No long-winded review here. This book is a great read for anyone with a small to medium sized IT organization. I bought a copy for each system admin in my group. Not many books pay for themselves in time savings with just one example as this book has done.

This book now sits on my desk instead of on the shelf full of other resources. The book comes with a CD to get you off and running and it steps through at a good pace for beginners like me. Being a Win2K SBS admin I don't have money for enterprise tools. I was eager to "empower" myself and this did the trick. I like the format because it's progression from introduction to scripting is thorough enough for me but not boring.

So what are the top 10 scripts? - Enumerating and Dumping the Users, Groups, and Computers of AD; Dumping a Domain User's Detailed Account Information; Listing Soon-to-Expire Domain User Accounts; Move Away from Batch Files- A New Login Script; Foundation: A Directory Computer- Dump Tool; Browser- based Computer Information Diagnostics; Worm Vulnerability Detector; Remotely Enumerate Local Computer Accounts; Local Password Audit and Change Tool; E-mail Script Notification. BUT WAIT- This doesn't tell the whole story- I especially liked the tie in with Excel for execution and output! Fellinge's book got me off the ground which is exactly what I needed.

Honestly, I really do not feel this book is ideal for the novice. Users should have some administration sensibility with Active Directory. Yet, what I do find profound, is that there are both (1) very practical applicable scripts and techniques, and (2) there are some truly amazing scripts.

I am at a loss of words for some inspirational things that I found that can give you the ability to generate spreadsheets reports on the fly and also have a live spreadsheet that can go out to the net and pull info. There is this fascinating example script that creates a web page wizard-like HTA application.

To some things up, this book is powerful. This adds a lot of good material one's admin collection. Using this book, you won't become just a scripter, but you'll be down right incredible, such that lightning will ignite from your fingertips (metaphorically speaking) as you create masterpiece killer scripts.

I am one of the Technical Writers who contributed to the Microsoft Windows Scripting Guide for Microsoft Press. Since working on that book, Mr. Fellinge's book is the first I've reviewed on scripting. The author does a great job of exploring some common scripting tasks and demonstrating how to solve them using JavaScript and VBScript. His understanding of both ADSI and WMI is impressive. These two technologies are at the core of automating Windows system administration. What makes this book especially interesting is the author's focus on real-world sysadmin tasks. He is clearly writing from experience.
I recommend this book for anyone with a basic understanding of scripting who is interested in really putting that knowledge to good use.

I used this book to teach myself AutoCad in two weeks and got a job as an engineer. (Yes, I still have the position!)
The book is clear and concise in it's instructions. The index works exactly as an index should work allowing you to quickly find solutions to perplexing problems. It covers the ACAD program from beginning (Look! I drew a box!) to end (3-D modeling).
There's more info than you can possibly remember so buy a copy and guard it jealously. Users of any level will walk away enlightened.

As a student landscape and gardenarchitecture (last year), i found myself lacking the courage and will to learn autocad as they taught us at school.
I actually got very bad grades untill i decided to make an effort and buy some kind of book that could teach me.

After giving it some thought i decided to buy this book written by Omura and boy! i am i glad i did.
My grades went up a whole bunch and suddenly i understood what the teacher was explaining. Students around me started to come to me to get answers on things they didn't understand about the program.
So in short, what makes this a good book?
It starts from zero, absolutely from the beginning, working itself up to the point where you enter a more advanced level.
each step is fully explained, instead of telling what to do, George Omura tells you WHY you need to do what you do.

The best about the book is that in the back of the book, there is a list with keywords, enabling you to fastacces things you are stuck with or don't understand as you use the program.

So this book isn't only handy to learn autocad, it's also good for a fast look-up on something you need to know.

I did at a certain point hunger for more knowledge on the more advanced 3D operations. George Omura does a good job explaining the fundaments, but i wish he would've gone more deeper into it sometimes. Sometimes the explanation felt lacking more information.

But overall, i class this a 5 star book!

I love Omura's books about AutoCAD.I have all the versions from AutoCAD13 to AutoCAD2004, it is wonderful, easy to read to Understood to deal with, since I am an architeact& a lecturer in University, I this book very helpful in my work& teching.
Thank you
Arqem

Page 963 alone is worth the price of the book if you are an advanced user. I learned how to set up all my blocks into a custom tool palette. Tool palettes are a new feature in 2004.
I started at chapter one, and learned about features I have overlooked although I've been using AutoCAD since version 10.
I can't praise Mr Omura enough, he even gives his e:mail address and invites suggestions for improvements. There isn't a better book on the market for new users of AutoCAD, or experienced users either. The writing style and exercises are so easy to follow.

I've been an Autocad user for 9 years going back to version 12. I've used every version since. Let me state right off the bat, whether you're a beginner or a very experienced cad user, BUY THIS BOOK. This book will give you a solid foundation for every area of Autocad. The book is structured from beginner to expert and includes 4 appendixes.

For the beginner (I read the beginner chaps just for fun and to see what's new in 2004) excellent walk-thru exercises with great pictures and easy to understand instructions should have you drawing in no time as well as building your confidence with each chapter.

For the more experienced user who wants to delve in to the 3d features and customization capabilities of Autocad (ex. database integration, VBA, Lisp, Web dev, sys vars, etc.), excellent coverage including walk-thru's of these areas will provide you with the solid foundation to do whatever you want. I was particularly impressed with the coverage of the 3d environment as Omura devotes 4 chapters to this topic with each one being a must read.

The inclusion of good screen shots throughout the book allows you to read and understand while away from the computer.

Very satisfied with the purchase of this book!!

This book is great!! It tells you a lot of cool stuff. Aside from following the book exactly, you can learn about how everythign works, and experiment on your own. I can't wait to get Type Magic 2!!!!!

This book is just loaded with terrific and imaginative uses for the effects in PhotoShop. What is really great about it is that once you get the hang of it you realize that you needn't limit yourself to just using the effects with type. You can apply the effects to photos, shapes, just about any image - which comes in really handy when creating for the web.
Just as an aside,the shatter map was left off the CD-ROM (at least in the PC folder), but upon contacting the publishers, they eMailed me the file within two hours. Great job!

Have you ever wanted to set your type on fire? How about make it transparent? Or shake it apart like it's been hit by an earthquake? Now you can easily create spectacular type effects like those of the masters. Using step-by-step instructions and detailed, full-color examples, Photoshop 4 Type Magic 1 covers 45 type effects, such as chrome, beveled, neon, liquid, glass, swirling, transparent, shattered - and more! The companion CD-ROM is loaded with ... Lighting effects presets Stock images Plus, demo software and plug-ins from Adobe, Alien Skin, MetaTools, Xaos tools, and Andromeda!

Chuck full of texture effects for words. There are about 40 effects and which are described step by step. This book isn't for the cheaters who just want to do Eyecandy plugin's fire effect. Each step is explained in detail and has a picture with it. After all the steps are shown, there are 2 or 3 examples on how to make the same effect look slightly different to give it a more custom look just for your needs. This is one of the few Photoshop books I keep. I've sold more than 1/2 of the Photoshop books I've boughten, so that does mean alot.

I am in college and while learning new photoshop techniques, this book comes in quite handy. The full color examples are just the thing if you are a visual learner like me, and they are easy enough to understand. They go step by step through the various techniques, and it can be learned quickly, if you pay attention. This is also a good reference book if you already know the techniques

This book was extremely useful in helping me clean up many old family photos, some more than one hundred years old. The instructions were clear and I was able to do a good job (with practice) of restoration without fear of doing further damage to the originals. Thank you Laurie Ann Ulrich!

I am reasonably new to the world of digital photography and restoration of old photos, and have been searching for "the" book that will guide me as to the best way to approach certain situations in restoring my old photos. I found exactly what I was looking for in this book. This book is not about Photoshop Elements generally, but specifically addresses the restoration and retouching of photographs. It is the perfect resource that I have been searching for.

I have been retouching photos for awhile now and recently bought this book just to check it out. I found myself not being able to put it down. From beginning to end Laurie has done an oustanding job presenting each step in simple easy to understand steps. I dont think anybody will be dissappointed buying this book.

I usually search the web and ask friends for help when I have to learn software, but the cover of this book made me want to check it out, and I'm glad I did. This is a great book!!! Laurie Ulrich really knows about retouching and restoring photos and you can tell she really cares about her readers and has a feel for the kind of stuff people want to do with their family photos, old pictures, and so on. The book is fun to read and is written in a very easy friendly and readable style. She doesn't talk down to you and she doesn't make a lot of jokes (like in a Dummies or Idiots book) to make her point. The author respects her readers and what they want to accomplish and I recommend this book to anyone who wants to really learn Photoshop Elements and start making use of all those photos you have lying around or the really damaged ones you thought would never be useable again. GET THIS BOOK!

This is my third book by Laurie Ulrich on Photoshop and Elements, and it's great. I got the Elements Bible, and had her Complete Reference on Photoshop, and they're both great. This author is GREAT at explaining things, and gives really realistic examples that make sense. I wrote to her with a restoration question after I got the Bible, and she not only answered the question, but she retouched the photo I sent her and told me how she did it. That made me want this book so Icould do what she did without help, and it's been a great investment. GET THIS BOOK!

This book is excellent. Not only is it fun to read but also very informative. You can read it from front to back and you can use it as a reference manual. What graphics mode for tracks does what? You'll find it! What compression scheme do I need for what purpose? You'll find it! How do I change the movie controller? Why do I have to change it sometimes? Just look it up! Did you ever wanted to know how the people from Apple make movie trailers?

The CD contains an audio tour, many examples, and software (QuickTime 5 Pro, full versions and demo versions of various tools) for Windows and Macintosh computers.

This book was written very well, and is full of useful information. It isn't just for the web! It's a must-have for anyone working with Quicktime. Good book.

I like a lot Mr.Gulie's writing and especially the chapter about SMIL and how it can be used to create QuickTime movies.

The main reason I bought the book was that it had license keys for QuickTime5 Pro for PC and Mac. Those keys costed [price] each at that time if one bought them separately (supposing they had both a Mac and a PC). So it was a good deal apart from the book content itself. An unfortunate thing is that the QT5Pro keys won't work with QT6Pro and that QT6 can't coexist with QT5 on the same machine. So I do still use QuickTime5 (Pro) on my machine...

The book also contains a CD with lots of material which is a must for books about multimedia and rich content (would be a big download for one to get from the publisher's website).

Another thing about such books are that they're usually not printed in color :(, obviously to keep the cost low

This book contains all of the otherwise unwritten techniques for producing QuickTime movies and panoramas for the web, appropriate for both Macintosh and Windows users.

Steve Gulie is in constant contact with producers of QuickTime content (on the mailing list), and is familiar with their day-to-day travails. The book is essentially an embellished FAQ, plus suggestions from Steve's first-hand experience in producing QuickTime for the Web.

The book comes with a QuickTime Pro license for both the Macintosh and Windows, which more than pays for the cost of the book. In addition, the accompanying CD contains demos or fully functional versions of dozens of useful application, for Mac and Windows.

If you're doing any QuickTime production and delivering it on the web, then you need this book.

Steve Gulie does it again. It is rare to read a technical book that makes you laugh out loud, but Steve leavens the clearly-explained information about the intricacies of QuickTime and Web browers with wit and humour.
This second edition includes QT 5 Pro Keys for Windows and Macintosh - separately these alone would cost nearly (...), so the book is a bargain too.

Full disclosure - I am an engineer on the QuickTime team, know the author, and proof-read this book. I know that it is accurate and helpful, and that it will explain techniques that would take you a long time tolearn on your own.

This book is so much more than a list of Photoshop options. It tells you how to do the things that as a photographer you will probably be doing a lot of, not all kinds of theoretical stuff that you will probably never even think about doing. That said, there's too much pre-press and print industry material for my taste. But the photography-relevant material is first-rate.

There's nothing else out there that comes even close to this book as an encyclopedic reference to Photoshop CS3. Losing Bruce Fraser is a terrible blow to all of us who've relied for decades on his ability to make complicated subjects understandable, but David Blatner is keeping up the tradition and it appears that Conrad Chavez is a valuable addition to the lineup.

The chapter on color settings in this book is worth the price of admission all by itself. If you do serious work with CS3 you NEED this book. Sit down and read it all the way through, highlight revealing passages, and make notes on the blank parts of the front pages. When you finish you'll have the whole story at your fingertips. Like most CS3 users I work with a subset of Photoshop most of the time, but when I'm faced with an unusual problem I can dive into this book and come up with the solution in a minute or two. Once you've done your homework on the book you won't want to be without it.

This book surpassed all my expectations, it was made for serious professionals, and that's what I wanted. Although I'm only an amateur photographer and Photoshop enthusiast, I'm enjoying the book, but because I'm very curious and exactly because I love Photoshop so much I wanted to understand everything about it.

If you are also an enthusiast/amateur but don't care about how this marvelous program works, you better get an easier book with canned "how toos". This book also has step by step guides, but on the top of it they explain every single detail of how everything works.

The authors give very in depth explanations on color theory, color management (I had a hard time on this), color spaces, exactly what is a digital image, etc. Although I found this all fascinating, as I already said I had a hard time trying to understand some concepts about color management, but my guess is that if you are a professional you will understand it better.

They also explain Bridge and Camera Raw. I understand why they included these 2 programs in the book (they work together, although CR is actually a plugin), but I could live without it, mostly because there are more in depth books about CR, like Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS3 (Real World), by Bruce Fraser and Jeff Schewe (I love this guy, check out his videos on CR at the Luminous Landscape website). If you don't plan on buying a specific book on CR, then the chapter about it is a good introduction.

The most fun part is of course on Photoshop itself, covered in a brilliant, flawless way, with everything you could wish for and more.

The book is massive, more than 700 pages, and is written in a nice, light but serious way. They won't waste your time and patience on endless silly jokes like Scott Kelby. For someone like me, whose mother language isn't English, I could understand everything and the reading flowed smoothly.

Very in-depth explanation of Photoshop CS3. A lot more detailed and advanced than most Photoshop books. This is really a resource or reference book and not a book that you can just sit down and read through like Scoot Kelby's book on CS3 for digital photographers, but it is far more informative and in-depth than Kelby's book.

Excellent book for those wanting to set up colour workflows. In depth explanations based on practicle applications. This is not a step by step guide for those wanting to learn photoshop

I am currently working on a compiler that outputs SVG. 'Teach yourself SVG in 24 Hours' has enabled be to gain a good understanding of how to use some of the nice, handy features of SVG without having to spend ages geeking around on the internet looking for online tutorials!

It was a pleasent suprise to open a computing book that wasn't in too much jargon - quite a handy thing when its your first exposure to a new language. This book it written for everyone! (unless you have no interest in computers or the internet etc..)

I am a graphic artist using Adobe Illustrator and I wanted to learn more about SVG. I asked the Adobe people about this file format that is included with the newest versions of Illustrator but was unable to find out much. Finally I found this great book.

This book begins with an overview and describes the justification and process of development of SVG. In chapter 2 it jumps right in and teaches the nuts and bolts of creating images with SVG. As I am not a coder or programmer, I was amazed at the simplicity. Once a few basics had been explained I was off and running. Anyone with even the most basic computer and a simple text editor can create sophisticated graphics.

Towards the end of the book is a section on using Adobe Illustrator and in the back there is a reference section for oddball color conversion. The book also comes with the Adobe Web Collection CD that includes the viewer and tryout versions of Illustrator and Photoshop.

I'm really excited by the potential of this technology and can recommend this book to anyone who wants to develop some expertise in a hurry.

Good Luck...Tom Burns

Teach Yourself SVG in 24 Hours, I believe, is one of the best computer books I've read. I am a computer savvy with 5 years experiences in programming and network administration as well as database management. Recently I am working on a project involving SVG.

This book walked you through a series of detailed tutorials to build a dynamic weather forecast web page using SVG step by step. In each chapter, a new topic is covered in an easy-to-understand and informative manner, which makes the learning curve pretty flat. As the title suggests, this book is an introductory primer to a new technique so it is not intented to delve too deep into a specific topic. However, a good many hyperlinks to W3C's online SVG specification appear here and there for your reference if you would like to make your hands dirtier...In a nutshelll, if you would like to teach yourself SVG from the beginning, it is The book, though it may, by a large chance, take you more than 24 hours to go through it.

Web developers and designers alike should have a full acquaintance with this exciting new technology. There aren't many resources yet available, and this book will prove to be a trailblazer.

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is an XML implementation utilizing a markup language similar to HTML but created specifically to render and control graphics. It is a robust mix of technologies including the DOM, CSS, Xlink, XSLT and JavaScript, and using the Adobe® SVG Viewer (a free plug-in), it supports static and dynamic graphics and WAV or MP3 audio.

Web developers should learn SVG because it is open-source and built in a simple text editor. It gives complete control of each graphic element. Web designers should use SVG because it is powerful -- graphics packages such as Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, Jasc Web Draw and others support SVG output. SVG also enables flash-like animation. In fact, SVG is THE open-source solution to web animation. No longer do you need expensive proprietary software to get the job done.

Anyway, this book is what you need. (That's how I learned all this.) Author Micah Laaker, while presenting the material in a comprehensive, straightforward and exciting manner, will leave an excellent reference guide on your book shelf. Buy it, read it and keep it handy.

"100 Essential Techniques" solved at least a half dozen situations right off the bat. George's writing style is clear and concise and his selection of techniques are those that you need to be aware of. Having flipped through the book several times reading what was intriguing, I am reading from front to back. I found that I could read this book on my comute and remember the simple steps on how to impliment the techniques when I was in front of the computer. Real sweet, what's next George?

Clear but concise explanations of many of the features and functions you may already be marginally aware of, but may not understand how to use. These features are generally only mentioned in other books, but are more clearly explained here. I teach the Adobe suite, and feel pretty comfortable using these applications, but most of what I know has come from books because I live in an isolated area. Whenever a book comes along that helps me to understand features I haven't been using, I really appreciate it. Short on glamour, it is just black text on white pages; the techniques are most often presented in two page layouts with screen captures as needed. The book is small enough to hold on your lap or have next to the computer as you work. Reading and using one technique a day might be a great way to go through the book as opposed to just reading. Some tips will be of interest to new users, while others are aimed at the intermediate or advanced level, which is exactly how it's noted on the back cover. Easy reading, chapter headings make it simple to find what you need, but there's also a good index. I find the organization very helpful. There are general tips presented first, regarding the use of Bridge, and setting up preferences to work with the suite more interactively. Then techniques for individual application components are presented and I appreciate the inclusion of GoLive here since I use it. I know everyone else uses DW, but our school chose to go with the Adobe Suite way back when. I have been responsible for the extensive dept. web site and I found GoLive up to the task. And last, tips having to do with the use of Acrobat and Version Cue. I've been using Acrobat for years, but on a fairly rudimentary level and I didn't understand Version Cue at all, so this book has provided some terrific information there. All in all, I think this book is a bargain, excellent, much needed information presented in a simple format. Some tips may be over your head if you're just beginning, but later on you'll be glad they're here. Especially useful: tips on using Bridge more fully, the most useful and least understood aspects of Photoshop and Illustrator, using Master Pages and Frames in InDesign as well as creating books (something I need to do right now), CSS in GoLive (a special thank you for that), time-saving batch processing techniques, and Acrobat and Version Cue techniques that wrap up the final needed tips. This book is definitely not a rehash of anything you've seen elsewhere. It's all the information I was hoping to find in other books and didn't. This book is an excellent resource and I'll keep it handy. There isn't one thing in here I would consider filler. The subtitle is 100 essential techniques and that seems to fit the content perfectly.

This book was super helpful getting me up to speed when I did an upgrade from the pre-CS product line. It covers the basics, but also gets you into some of the more advanced time savers. There's a website for it too, which has been updated with a couple of new tips.

An excellent book, particularly helpful in discovering the new nooks and crannies of the CS line. It's definitely a book I wish I had sooner. It shed a lot of light on the Bridge as well as Version Cue that I just wasn't getting before.

I am familiar with George's style of writing and this book is no exception, to his casual yet informative tone.

Thank goodness! Finally, a resource that's quick access, a quick fix to my problems and helpful, succinct answers to my questions. A must-have for anyone using the new CS2.