Desktop Publishing Books

I've reviewed various books for learning Macromedia Flash MX 2004. This is the best. Along with this is "Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX 2004". They are both wonderful and each have their own purpose. I started with Sams Teach Yourself Macromedia Flash MX 2004 in 24 Hours and use "...At Your Fingertips..." for an excellent reference guide. I recommend both books.

Review: FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need

The title of this book: FLASH MX 2004 At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need, really says it all! The book is so well organized and tabbed that the information is truly "at your finger tips". The reader can get in, find exactly what is needed and get out quickly and easily. The problem is that you can never do that with this book! You get in, and in, and in... it's a veritable black hole that sucks you into its instructional depths and keeps you there forever. When your fingers go numb and the book accidentally closes, you realize it's the next day and your brain is about to explode with new and exciting things to try with the program. Well, that may not happen to everyone, but for computer geeks like me, watch yourself! Beginners don't be afraid, you too can be victims! This book is written for every level of user and for both PCs and MACs. The graphics and text couldn't be a better combination unless some how Sham and Jen could transport themselves into your living room to accompany their words and pictures. As applications manuals go, this one's a "keeper"- it keeps you.

FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need is composed of five sections and a special inset section all about color (which is actually in color!); 1) Flash Workspace, 2) Authoring Tasks, 3) Scripting Tasks, 4) Testing and Publishing Tasks, and 5) What's New. The color section is all about panels, pickers, spaces and video color. Included with this section is a gallery that shows some really interesting examples that will challenge your understanding of design and development (deselopment - a new word for me).

A nice thing about the interface overview section is the contents outline that delineates Windows versus MAC. Right up front you have the information you need as a specific platform user. Being a MAC user, I knew right off which sections I could skip and didn't have to "double read" any of the sections pertaining to Windows users.

Quick tips and cross-references are listed in the outside page margins that give you chapter and section references for more information, alternatives and related activities. Both Windows and MAC keyboard short cuts are listed in the margins as well, saving an incredible amount of time in finding the short cut keystroke as well as referencing the short cuts at a later time.

FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need is crammed full of screen shots and examples that help the reader understand what is being explained. An unusual, but extremely helpful addition to this book is the little black labels that match the text. These quickly draw the reader's eye to the area of the screen shot or graphic being discussed. There is no confusion and no guessing about what is being demonstrated or shown, or where to find the corresponding item.

I found the scripting section to be extremely helpful. While I am still not crazy about writing script, I did like the authors' explanation of scripted animation versus timeline animation and creating timeline flow with scripts. While all of the scripting components are discussed at length (button, checkbox, combobox, list, loader, numericstepper, progressbar, etc), the authors don't forget to add explanations of basic things like spell checking and creating a custom mouse pointer for the beginning user.

For those who are veteran Flash users, the new v2 components (some of which are listed above) make life in the fast developer lane just a little more efficient. FLASH MX 2004: At Your Fingertips; Get in, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need now has enhanced import options for Adobe PDF and Illustrator files as well as enhanced supports for MP3 meta tags and runtime loading. The de-bugging panel works like a charm and can be manually changed during an SWF run session. The "What's New" Appendix provides a great chart of enhancements and where to find the corresponding information. No long dialogs about new improvements to wade through - just a simple, easy to read chart and a reference to find out more... if you want.

All in all this is a great reference book for FLASH MX 2004. Although the title says "Get In, Get Out, Get Exactly What You Need" - be forewarned. You may get in but getting out is a bit harder! And you will get much more than you need.

I absolutely LOVE the new layout in this book. Instead of having to go through pages and pages of explanation to find one specific topic, this Fingertips book is divided into specific topics, with very specific information related to what you are looking for. Using the table of contents, you can easily find what page the tip is on, go to that page, and get the specific you need for that topic. Most tips are on one or two pages. I hope this 'fingertip' idea is used in other application books! Thanks for providing this great reference book!

This is an extremely comprehensive volume that covers all the ground that designers, budding designers and photoshop enthusiasts need to know...The case study even tells you how to create a postcard ready for the printers and how to create your own site using ImageReady. There's stuff on printing, workflow, image correction, filters, as well as the obvious like layers and selection... This book is another winner from friendsofED!

I've had Photoshop for over a year. I've spent most of that time being frustrated with the program. I bought Foundation Photoshop 6 a little over a month ago and am now learning in leaps and bounds. Foundation Photoshop 6 is truly excellent for beginners, providing easily understood instructions, explanations and exercises. With this book, anyone can learn to create amazing graphics. I highly recommend it.

For me as a beginner it was really helpful and covered a big range of topics

I didn't think there would be anything easier than the "... for Dummies" instructional books. However, this FrontPage 2000 for Visual Learners by Chris Charuhas and all of his Visual Learners series, by far, are he easiest to follow. Every step, even graphically showing you to click the right mouse button, enables even the most challenged computer user to program web pages and designs. The pages have simple one to two lines of written instructional text and mainly graphics to allow users to visually see each step. Definitely a must for anybody learning to develop web pages.

I've been a Information System Director over 35 years with my Masters in Computer Science. Staff size 30 to 140. During this time I've seen and used about every type of manual dealing with computers as one can imaging. Thus far these are the best. Not only are the manuals easy to understand, the people behind this concept are never too busy to take my seemly-mudded questions and reply with a simple to the point answer. Their writing plus the pictures make each manual a winner. I for one thank you for your straight forward approach

This book provides both a great way to learn FrontPage 2000 and a super resource for quick reference. I am a technology educator in a K-8 school with a masters in educational technology. I strongly believe we should not do for children what they can do for themselves so my review has to include a child-centered test. I like to teach them to use reference materials, because what they do from year to year both in school and after will always be slightly different. I want them to grow up knowing how to follow written directions when working with technology. Part of my criteria for purchasing is that books can be used by students. To test the value of this book, I placed it in my classroom library and allowed students in grades 5-8 use it as we worked on web building. I actually used the book to teach a related unit to younger children (3rd grade) about web page construction.
They did a marvelous job! I got exclamations from many children! Although I have several other resources this book quickly became a favorite. This book is definitely a valuable asset in my library. I recommend it to anyone learning or teaching FrontPage to anyone; at home, at school or in the workplace.

A great reference for anyone who has not used digital imaging,very helpful,and informative for all applications required

We just bought a digital camera and were looking for different ways to use it when we came across this book. We got ideas that we never would have thought of otherwise. The directions are easy, the photos in the book are helpful and pretty.

I was looking for a book to help me figure out how to incorporate photographs in my volunteer work. Digital Imaging worked perfectly. The book is written just for me, no high tech mumbo jumbo. Loved the photos in the book, too.

If you are interested in computer graphics, this is one fine book. The kind you devour by a crackling fire, or take glimpses of before you turn out the lights to have sweet dreams. The kind you take your time to savor. In short, a beautiful book!

     Janet Ashford and John Odam have teamed up to produce Getting Started With 3D to offer aspiring and seasoned graphic designers alike with the perspective they need to create outstanding 3D graphic images that can be used for a variety of uses, including Website designing. With the heavy emphasis that is placed on Web graphics today, serious web developers cannot afford to ignore the visual impact that good 3D graphics can have!      Creative graphic design plays an integral role in the development and success of any Website. The quality and thoughtful manner in which graphic images are created and put to use will say a lot about the companies, organizations, products, services, and other information represented on the Internet.      There are a number of programs available today that can produce impressive 3D graphics images. Many of them are highly recommended. Samples of their work are provided and their general features are covered in this book. However, to fully appreciate and understand what is involved in creating 3D graphics one needs to develop an artist's eye for creative design. The authors provide a panoramic, in-depth education in 3D design concepts to aid in the design process. The use of shadowing, alignment, and textures are dramatically brought to light. The use of outstanding 3D illustrations, explanatory text, tips, and sidebar comments provided throughout the book contribute to a very fine educational experience!      The large 8 1/2" by 11" format of this book makes for easy reading and viewing. Readers will be inspired to become more creative graphic design artists by what they see and read in this book! They will have no trouble at all achieving favorable results. Highly recommended for every Web graphic image designer!

Whoever you are, whatever you know, you'll always discover something new and often extraordinary in an Ashford/Odam book. I first became a fan when I bought their "Start With A Scan" (best value of any book I ever purchased - yes, ever). Here, our talented and skilled authors have done it again. Marvel as they demystify the somewhat daunting 3-dimensional world. Learn about light, study shadow, let bevels bemuse. Often complex information is presented simply and beautifully. Something I enjoyed hugely about this book is the very clever and appropriate choice of illustration. If, like me, you thought 3d was the domain of adolescents and fantasists you'll be delighted. These are the graphics of the working digital artist - graphics that you and I can learn to create, graphics that delight the eye, that enthrall and attract the shopper. And we all know what happy shoppers make - yes, happy clients! If you want a comprehensive guide to everything 3d, without finding you're tied to using a specific program, this is the book you need. Elegant, informative - perfect.

I'm a software developer, and spent some time looking at beginner's HTML books recently because my dad asked for a recommendation. This book was my favorite of the ones I looked at.

This book is perfect for newcomers to HTML. The author focuses on all the right things, drawing special attention to common areas of confusion, such as: pairing of HTML begin/end tags; resizing images; alignment of text around images; and so on.

The book starts with super-simple samples. Note: unfortunately, there's a serious mistake in the very first HTML sample! Near the top of p. 28, where the sample has one line which says, "", cross out the "<>", so that it just says, "Hi, my name is Paul Meyers". But don't let this mistake worry you; it's the only one I saw in the book.

The author has a breezy, joking style which I think will work well for beginners, preventing them from being intimidated. But he knows what he's talking about.

This book does not talk at all about fancier stuff like Javascript, ActiveX, and so on. And I think that's a good thing. Those are deep subjects which shouldn't be discussed in a beginning book.

One other problem: The book frequently refers the reader to an accompanying web site, however, that web site is empty! As of this writing, the site says, "Under Construction." Hopefully they'll fix this soon.

As an update to an earlier review, the companion website for this book is online and up-to-date. The online support adds to an already tremendous resource.

This book is a can't miss for beginning web designers. The author's simple, step-by-step writing style makes web development possible for the most novice web user.

This book doesn't miss a thing. Filled with plenty of very explicit examples, Paul Meyers finds a way to bring a virtual instructor into your computer room.

This is a can't miss for the novice web designer!

QuarkXpress used to rule the world of layout and Pagemaker was a program produced by Aldus. At least that's the way it was when I began my career in graphic design. I started on a PC platform using Pagemaker. After struggling with file formats and printing issues for a year, I convinced my employer to make the jump to QuarkXpress on Macintosh. My justification was that the incurred cost of new equipment and software would be paid back in reduced printing setup fees, as well as more efficient production time.

Long story short, I happily abandoned Pagemaker for over a decade, and became an ardent supporter of Quark products. In the meantime, Pagemaker was bought by Adobe and was morphed into InDesign. At first, I ignored it, since Quark had been proven to be a stable and consistent program. But, as most Quark fans, I eventually started to see how the company was resting on its laurels. Adobe was on the cutting edge, and Quark has seen a major drop in use.

They say all things go in circles, and that was the case for me when I changed jobs and was given a shiny new PC with Adobe InDesign. I had to relearn Pagemaker again, along with dozens of new features. Simply put, this book is exactly what you need.

InDesign has tons of great features, and chances are you won't know about half of them without this. And best of all, it explains things in a way that you'll understand.

If you are using QuarkXpress now, you won't be for long. You'll need this.

The collaborative effort of QuarkXPress experts David Blatner, Christopher Smith, and Steve Werner, InDesign For QuarkXPress Users is an impressive reference tool for those who are already basically proficient in QuarkXPress software and want to learn Adobe InDesign for the creation of professional graphics. Straightforward instruction, numerous screenshots and examples, and an easy-to-follow language makes InDesign For QuarkXPress Users an excellent and thoroughly "user friendly" informational and reference resource for a very rapid learning curve.

I too was terrified to make the switch from Quark to InDesign. I consider myself to be a Quark "power user" and was so comfortable in the program that I found it scary to leave. I recently saw David speak at the Digial Design Conference in Seattle and I felt assured that the time had come to make the switch - or become a technological dinosaur. So after seeing David speak I purchased the book myself to "test the waters." WOW. I was amazed by the things that InDesign allows me to do - such as dealing with transparency issues and no longer needing to save files as EPS to place in a layout program.

Keeping files in their native Photoshop or Illustrator layered format is PHENOMENOL. I saw live examples of the types of files I would use and the book gives detailed information on making the switch. It just makes sense - it's like the people who still use PageMaker?! Either catch up with technology or find yourself in the same job in 10 years. I can never imagine going back to Quark, and this book is my tour guide (and bible) to life in the new digital world.

Oh, and never again will I have to hold down the return key for an hour to update my images. Life is good.

This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)

I spent a long time looking for a good AutoCAD reference book. The problem I had with other AutoCAD references was that they based their teaching methodology on an creating an independent drawing. I'm sure this would be great in the classroom, but it was hard to translate the information to the projects I do at work. Basically, I needed a User's Manual on Steroids. And this is it! I've been using the book for 6 months now, and it's never failed to answer any of the oddball questions that come with using AutoCAD. Pretty amazing, considering how quirky the program can be. And it does it in straightforward language, unhindered by heavy doses of jargon. I would recommend this book to any 2002 user, especially to anyone who uses 2002 in their professional practice.

This new edition of Inside AutoCAD 2002 the best-selling classic by the collaborative team of David Harrington, Bill Burchard, and David Pitzer provides rock solid information on the latest changes and enhancements to the past two AutoCAD releases. Inside AutoCAD 2002 gets readers up to speed fast by clearly outlining what is new from the previous versions and showing how to apply these improvements to real projects. Inside AutoCAD 2002 explains how to use dimensions, explores 3D modeling, teaches how to plot, and uncovers dozens of other features just waiting to be utilized. From Attributes to Xrefs, Inside AutoCAD 2002 details the features that put readers on the fast track to AutoCAD success. 1264 pp. (1 CD-ROM)

If you are looking for a general, introdutory to intermediate-level Internet book, this is THE ONE. It will give you a good grasp of Internet concepts. You'll find it quite up-to-date (including Windows XP topics), accurate and concise. Specially interesting is the fact that it provides you with clear explanations throughout the pages, including lots of helpful examples and procedures, giving the "how-to" for many, many tasks within the Windows family of operating systems and the major software packages available for Internet.
Internet connections, Web bowsing, e-mail, chatting, newsgroups, security issues and so on, are all well covered with lots of real-world tips.
Notes:
1.Being for the beginning- to intermediate-level reader this book does not cover advanced Internet issues such servers, firewalls, network OSes, and so on; 2.The book comes with no CD-ROM (what in part, explains its reduced price)

In short, if you read my observations and found this to be the kind of book you are looking for, I assure you: You will not be disappointed.

One more thing: I'm using the book to prepare for CompTIA's i-Net+ certification and I can tell you that I find it to be one of the best references books out there for that target.

Thanks Margaret (et al) for writing such an excepcional book.

from Maputo, Mozambique,
an Amazon's customer

Astrogildo A. Guetsa, MCP, A+,CST, Network+, CNST
Systems Admin. of MEDIMOC SARL

I paraphrased a chapter from this book, by Margaret Levine Young. It is truly excellent. It was a Christmas present. ...:-(. There is a chapter entitled _Classic Applications_ which covers UNIX Shell Accounts. There is also a phenomenal amount of info on the history of Usenet! A truly excellent book!

I am 70 years old, have used the `Dummie' and `Idiot' books, plus several more. Not having ANY experience with computers, up until 2 years ago, I go where I please and do what I want, thanks to the good books on the markey. This book, was the most expensive; but by far, the most helpful! (My wife thinks so too.)

I have learned sailing, chess, computor languages, photography, tennis, and other skills out of a book. Personally Photoshop is a very user unfriendly software package but also the most capable one as well. After getting this book 1-2 years ago, it has been used extensively. The directions are excellent and the clarity is remarkable. Without question, I would recommend this book to any begginer using Photoshop. There really is no better book. I still refer to it often.

Before I use a book, I give it a feel test. I'm looking for a useful feel; is it inviting, does it compel me to open it, are the pages easy to read, is it easy to navigate, does the index work? Julie King's Everyday Photoshop for Photographers, passes all my preliminary feel tests with high marks.

The pages are laid out so the chapter headings flip across the top in an easy to read fashion. They are large and descriptive, so when I searched for masking, I flipped quickly to Chapter 6, Selective Editing: Masking in Photoshop. The right hand page lists the Part section in vertical type. I really appreciate a book that flips well.

The information presented utilizes brief concise paragraphs with lots of bulleting and bold headers. Snippets of important information are specifically color coded to content, Remember(Blue), Watch Out!(Red), and Time Saver(Green). These are strategically placed with excellent information.

However, when working with a subject such as Photoshop, it is extremely important to visualize the techniques discussed with images reflecting sometimes subtle differences. There's just nothing worse than portraying Photoshop results with lousy pictures. King has an excellent collection of high quality images that faithfully reproduce the techniques discussed. They are bright, clear and visualize even the most subtle Photoshop effects. The qualities of the images are crucial to the text and often self-explaining.

Included are excellent screen shots of Photoshop's tools and palettes. They are easy on the eyes in the context of the text. Tables list speed keys for tools and commands. King also added Tool Tricks, more blocked snippets of ready to use information such as:

Press a number key to adjust the opacity of the next stroke you paint with the Brush tool or Clone tool. Press 0 for full opacity, 9 for 90 percent opacity, 8 for 80 percent opacity, and so on. To adjust opacity in increments smaller than ten, type the specific value: 85, 23 or whatever.

King provides a basic background on the use of Photoshop, how to move around within it, providing basic element descriptions using common, everyday language that a novice user can understand and relate easily. She discusses manipulating photographs via cropping and color controls, masking techniques, levels filter use to control exposure and color variances, remixing and replacing colors, fixing defects with the cloning tool and healing brush. Her text will be useful to the novice or the expert.

Mary Kuster
Member, D-MAG.org

This is the second book about Photoshop that I bought. I started with How to Wow Photoshop for Photography... when I found you already need quite a bit of foundations to work with this book (I will let you know how it works when I get there). So the following week I went to the bookstore and go through all the beginners Photoshop books I could find.
This one caught my atention and I have to say that it has totally opened my eyes to PS. I haven't finished reading it yet (four chapters to go) but I am already able to adjust exposures and colors with levels and curves, adjustment layers, crop without altering the quality of the image... Awesome, all that in two weeks! Every single effect explained in the text has worked for me. The flow of the book, although a little boring at the beginning (two chapters making selections), works very well (I had to go back to those two chapters many times).
Also appreciated the lack of technical language and the moderate sense of humor that keeps you up without feeling you are being fooled with stupidities.
Overall, I am amazed of the profusion of details, for both PS 7 and CS, Windows and Mac operating systems, tricks to speed and improve your work, pictures ilustrating the before and after of the technique and almost every step in between!.
If you have been scared of Photoshop as I was, this is your book. It will help you go through the basic operations you need to improve your photographies and prepare them to print or share on the internet.