Software Books

Most artists can't do everything - usually they are somewhere in the middle of a chain of production responsiblities that don't include the skillsets involved with presenting a portfolio, digital or otherwise. Many points of insider knowledge are invaluable - I was on the cusp of using PowerPoint for my CD portfolio (my wife has strong skills with this) before being warned that this bussiness presentation software's would be viewed with derision by art directors, and that a high resolution version of a website format is the way to go here - this one parcel of knowledge was worth the price of the book alone, but it is far from the only lesson imparted. Highly recommended - it doesn't stray into realms of esoterica for the sake of pagecount.

This handbook is targeted at beginners in designing portfolios to submit their artwork or photos when job hunting. It is filled with information, however most is very basic and will only be a review for most readers.

If you set can aside the near 100% focus on digital media (though it is excellent for that kind of format) and not hyperventilate in feeling like you need to come up with Flash or DVDs after reading this, it offers solid points on portfolio content, whatever format you choose.

It covers what should go in, what should not go in, how much should go in, how/if to deal with process pieces, storyboarding,
thematic ties to pull a disparate portfolio together, and sage advice on basics like the kinds of written copy you want to include, such as design briefs, problem statements, and tag lines. It's my favorite book for this effort right now. My husband's, too. I have to pry it off his desk.

It's also savvy when it comes to marketing, so I think it will have a long shelf life in my library for the days when I need to market myself on other things besides landing a job, like marketing my firm.

It has some printed web site design examples which offer visual eye inspiration for printed page layout. It even has great image workflow tips, towards preserving the best image quality with the least needed resolution, that are comprehensible to the lay person as well as meaningful to someone with a high degree of digital photographic processing background.

For several months I searched for an appropriate textbook for a course that I was developing. Several days prior to the deadline for the course outline, "Designing a Digital Portfolio " was published. After reading the book, I realized this was the authoritative text for anyone in a creative field. The book asks and answers all the essential questions. It is perfect for the technological savvy multimedia programmer or for any artist with limited technology expertise. I urge anyone who is even considering developing a digital portfolio to buy this book. Without qualification, this is the most valuable book on the market

Multimedia Portfolio Instructor/Art Institute/Art Institute Online
Subject Matter Expert / Curriculum Development Multimedia Portfolio

This is one of the best books on its topic that I have ever seen. From the title, I expected to find advice on preparing images for the screen, how to put them on a CD or DVD, etc. Those things are there, but the book begins in a logical place that I wouldn't have considered. Brown's approach is truly holistic.

Check out page 23 for the first page of a three-page self assessment check list. It has you evaluate your professional strengths and weaknesses, goals and personality.

Chapter 3 asks you a bunch of questions to help you identify who your audience really is and focus on them.

The rest of the book covers various digital formats, how to organize your work, how to get images of 3D and oversized work into your portfolio, including choosing a camera and setting up for shooting.

Ms. Brown covers editing your images to remove the most common problems, such as moire, sharpening needs, bad crops, etc. And ... she devotes a section to creating written content to accompany your stunning images, telling you how to write to that audience you defined earlier.

She explains the differences between a monitor screen and a printed page. You need to know that to design the correct interface for your portfolio. She also has a full chapter devoted to marketing and copyright issues.

The entire book is scattered with quotes (in friendly green type) from experts and those who have gone before you. The quotes tell you what agencies are looking for in a portfolio, how others have found success at this, what things you can do to streamline the process, etc.

The book provides many useful examples of core technology issues in building a JWS powered web site. Its treatment of the upcomming jsp standard (in JWS 2.0??) is helpful, but points to the fact that compiled pages (jhtml) may be short lived.

The clearest explanation I've seen of multithreading and synchronization

The authors explain the JWS, administration server and admin tool in very clear terms. The second part of the book does an excellent job in discussiing JSP, Servlets, and other advanced topics. Very practical.

This book is without peer. It is succinct and yet covers the JWS in depth and detail. The writing style is fluid and the organization is excellent. Alas, now that this superb book is available, Sun has announced it is pulling the plug on JWS!

With regard to this talented author and developer, all I can say is Larne Pekowsky ROCKS! This book is a great investment -- Larne Pekowsky truly IS Java Web Server Development.

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This book is extremely well organized. It includes outlined summaries of techniques and products as well as detailed text. A refreshing emphasis on detailed implementation practices and case studies.

Scope includes analysis, design, Use Cases, Design patterns, and reuse.

Well-balanced, and easy to follow, this book is very well-written.

Based on years of real-world projects, it strikes a balance between no documentation and a bureaucratic paper trail. It introduces the concept of a workbook which groups documentation under the following headings: Requirements, Project Management, Analysis, User Interface Model, Design, Implementation, Testing and Appendix, with detailed traceability information. The section dedicated to User Interface Model is a welcome change, acknowledging what so many have concluded: that UI design is a formal part of the design process, seperate from system architecture design. It's a light on exactly how to evaluate interfaces effectiveness, for this I refer you to usability guru Jacob Nielsen's book "Usability Engineering" also available at Amazon I'm sure.

Notation draws from Booch and Rumbaugh. Lots of worked examples makes the first project using this book a pleasure, and following projects even easier. Thoroughly recommended.

The project management process described in this book iscentered around defining and producing a set of deliverables (WorkProducts) and has the following characteristics: · Focuses on Work Products organized into a logical repository known as a Work Book. Each Work Product is concisely defined in the text as to its content, structure, purpose, value and traceability (relationship to other Work Products). The list of Work Products is adaptable according to project needs and extensible in terms of defining additional WPs. The authors define WPs in terms of Objects in the Policy Management domain and present a class-definition style view of their properties and relationships. END

This book is simple for the beginner and covers some advanced concepts for not the beginner. Overall a must read for a serious OO programmer/designer. I recommend reading this book as a first or second book on OO design. The case study is great.

I found this book to be very thorough and well-written. It strongly emphasizes a separation between analysis and design, and describes every possible work product I can think of in an OO project. One small criticism is that the coverage of Use-cases is fairly weak (Scenarios should probably be requirements work products rather than analysis).

This book is great for beginners, but it lacks depth. It provides a lot of examples for creating pages, but my experience is that background information is important. I would like to have seen more information on Master Page inheritance. This concept is ideal for standardizing the UI and establishing consistency throughout the application. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book, but I expected more detailed examples. Experienced developers may want to pass on this one.

This book is fantastic for self-study and the only prerequisite is that you should have some understanding of C#. I bought Essential ASP.NET by Fritz Onion before this one but it was a little hard to follow at first - also, it deals more with ASP.NET architecture and internals and isn't so practical if you have to start building ASP.NET applications right away. I assure you this one can get you started in 2 to 3 days if you know C#. It covers all the major topics, doesnt have any mistakes (at least I couldn't fine any), has superb explanations and straightforward coding examples. It even teaches you ADO.NET if you dont know that already.

I knew Java and ASP for several months, and I had to do ASP.NET with C# at work. This is my first and only DOT NET book so far. This slim book got me into working on ASP.NET in few days. This is NOT for the BEGINNING Programmers. If you have experience in OOP like JAVA and Serverside Web scripting like ASP, you would find this book get you to ASP.NET developing fast. It has real world example and explains core essential things. Just what you need to know to get on the job quickly. You don't spend time on what you already know. It doesn't teach you C# but since I knew Java, it was perfectly ok. For more detailed stuff where I needed, I went to MSDN library. To learn more and deep in certain sections, I'll buy some other books. I am giving 5 stars because it's the only book I read and it did good job for my purpose. Thank you very much!

I think this is a great book for entering ASP.NET programmming if you come from the old asp world.

I knew Java and ASP for several months, and I had to do ASP.NET with C# at work. This is my first and only DOT NET book so far. This slim book got me into working on ASP.NET quickly. This is NOT for the BEGINNING Programmers like college freshmen. It doesn't teach you C# but since I knew Java, it was perfectly ok. If you have experience in OOP like JAVA and Serverside Web scripting like ASP, you would find this book get you to ASP.NET developing fast and worth the time. Each chapter gives you core essentials. It has good examples and explains well.

It's concise: it tells just what you need to know to get on the job quickly. You don't spend time on what you already know like basics. No book can be indepth at every area, for more detailed stuff where I needed, I went to MSDN library. To learn more and deep in certain sections, you need buy some other books. I am giving 5 stars because it's the only book I read and it did good job for my purpose. Thank you very much!

The author gave some great historiography infromation concerning various religious sects as to how pastoral care emerges from each group. The book was not to finite with detail, but it was precise and breif enough to encompass a broad perspective. The CD that comes along with the book was just as useful to use as the book itself.

The Dictionary is useful for readers across a wide spectrum, not only for pastoral carers. Contains concise and practical information. The theological import of each entry is spelled out. Each entry has a bibliography for further reading or cross reference. I found myself browsing at leisure!

Anyone who has worked in the area where psychology and religion interface will appreciate this solid, thorough and carefully edited work that is without par in the field. Grounded in the actual experience of the "theology of living documents", the articles are as much practical as theoretical and academic. Thoroughly ecumenical, this massive reference work promotes dialogue between faith and theology and clinical theory and practice. If this is the kind of subject that interests you then you need to own this book.

F.X. Charet Phd

This a comprehensive and well-written reference work with more than 1200 articles and 1346 pages. For the parish minister or pastor who needs guidance, this book should definitely be on the shelf as a mandatory reference work. For seminarians, it might be overwhelming, but would be a wonderful book to own. For more experienced religious leaders, pastoral counselors and pastoral psychotherapists, however, there is much here that can be gotten more easily and in more sophisticated form from smaller, more specialized books on theology and especially aspects of psychology/psychiatry. Still, it is an admirable piece of scholarship and one that most caregivers will want and use. (Non-religious mental health workers could also use it for working more effectively with religious populations.)

The Dictionary is useful for readers across a wide spectrum, not only for pastoral carers. Contains concise and practical information. The theological import of each entry is spelled out. Each entry has a bibliography for further reading or cross reference. I found myself browsing at leisure!

I bought this book with an Idea I might learn quickly some of the attributes and controls of My Fuji9500 and I have to say its a great help. It was worth the wait and I would recommend it to anybody with a Digital Camera, I even found the answer to a "Ghost" effect a friend experienced ,a question that has baffelled a lot of Amateur Experts. I would definitly say that this book should be supplied with every Digital Camera, it is a Great Purchase and wont ever be lent to friends, they can buy their own.

If your in the market for an all around excellent book on everything from picture composition, calibrating the color on your monitor, using photo software and anything else you may need, this is the one for you.

This book will be tremedously helpful to the beginning or intermediate digital photographer. It covers taking and editing images and explains complicated procedures clearly and concisely. It is an attractive book, copiously illustrated in color to make its points. I bought it based on two reviews (thank you, reviewers) and I wanted to add my positive comments. You can't go wrong with this book for adding useful information to your knowledge of digital photography and it is certainly priced right!

This book is a great way to start using your cameras full potential in the least amount of time! Plus it's in full color. I find black and white photography books to be nearly useless! It guides you through a cameras features and helps you select a camera or an upgrade but moves quickly into how to take the best shots.

This book is heavily illustrated so I could see the difference that a white point setting had or the difference of a low or high f-stop setting. Mr. Sahlin explains with pictures how to setup your shoots, how to get the best portrait or landscape, motion (waterfalls and sports) how to correct and a ton of other things. There are a lot of tips and cautions along the way. If you want to put your digital camera to full use then get this book...I don't know how they can sell it for so little and teach such complex settings in a way anyone can understand!

I picked up this book a couple of weeks ago along with 3 other books on digital photography and one on Photoshop. I am a professional desiger and I just bought a decent digital camera to be able to shoot my own photos instead of having to hire a photographer whose hourly rate is very expensive. Out of the 5 books I purchased I have to say that this Quickstep book was the easiest to read and got me up and running taking pictures immediately. I was very intimidate by this camera at first (Canon EOS ) but this book was the most helpful in explaining really complex techniques in a simple way. The other books, although helpful, were a little wordy for someone who wants to get down and start working right away. Rick Sammon's Complete Guide to Digital Photography is good too but dwells way too much on things in Photoshop and there are a million Photshop books all the same out there. To put my 2 cents in, I highly recommend this Digital Photography Quicksteps book..

Great reference guide for video production especially for beginners. Simple easy to read and apply!

I wish I had bought this book initially.
I was pretty new to digital video. I had lots of questions about transferring, capturing analog, audio, and so far this book has answered them. It would have saved time to buy it first.
I'm using the digital video for a vidcast.

If you're new to video editing, it is the one for you. It'S a good start

"3rd Edition" I would recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a Video Editing Guru. Now there isn't much fame or glory in such a title, and I'm not implying that after reading the book you will be able to instantly break into the "Pro" video editing business either. But it does give you some useful information on how to digitize those video clips and turn them into a respectable home movie or corporate presentation.

The book is very much based on Apple's "iMovie" and Pinnacle's "Studio 8". You'll skip around a bit because of the 2 different programs it explains, but you're really just getting 2 books in one if you ever decide to dabble in the 'other' program. If you're using a video editing program other than these, you may want to pick a different book.

Well organized and "dumb-ed down" enough for the beginner. The projects and included clips on CD Rom keep it interesting. I learned about many tips that I plan to use all the time in my projects now. Good work Underdahl!

Based on what I've seen in this book, I would definitely check out the Adobe Premiere Dummies book by the same author if I decide to move up to that program. I'm confident that I would not be disappointed.

The "Dummies" folks seem to be able to get it right pretty consistently, and they also seem to be willing to update titles with some frequency -- publish a new edition, that means.

When I bought this book, I bought another on the same topic from another publisher and neglected to check the date of publication. Well, it was antique, relatively speaking, so when I picked this one up, suddenly things started to make a lot of sense.

Also, the author seems to be able to cover three editing products without a lot of repetition. This is a good, workmanlike job.

Anyone who is new to Visual Basic 4.0 or those who are migrating / upgrading from Visual Basic 3.0 to Visual Basic 4.0 , will find this book as the basic tool to Object-Oriented approach in Visual Basic. Author has given some good ideas to tackle class hierarchy , not supported by VB. This is a must buy for all Visual Basic 4.0 learners who want to develop Business Objects in VB 4. But a serious developer who has already done programming in VB 4 may not find this book as very informative , for most of the subjects described may have been already done by him. (By the time I got this book I had already done a lot !) Hence , ABC learners must go for it but practical developers must use the experience they have

I was surprised to find the first half the book devoted to project and object design with very little code. Yet these sections turned out to be far more compelling than the (excellent) coding techniques that followed. I found the book an invaluable source for the more intangible side of programming: rather than teach dozens of techniques for coding yourself into misery, the author demonstrates how to design one's objects and applications correctly from the beginning. I can honestly say the book has saved me days, if not weeks, of effort by showing me how to design first and code later

If you are an experienced programmer looking to get into the Object Oriented side of VB, buy this book! Deborah Kurata and ZD have done an excellent job of laying the foundations of OO for you. All you have to do is read the book

Deborah Kurata has given the Visual Basic programming community something it has desperately needed for years -- a pragmatic framework for project development. In fact, any developer using one of the modern Interactive Development Environments (IDE's) will benefit from reading this book. Kurata skillfully combines a straightforward object-oriented methodology with practical examples of VB's new OO features. Every VB programmer (arguably every programmer of any language) should own this book

If you want to learn more about the entire design processes -- objected oriented design -- then read this book. You will not learn neat tricks in this book or even pick out a lot of Visual Basic code; however, you will learn how to better plan, schedule, and manage projects. Bottom line... if you must pick a book that will go beyond learning the language, and go into real-world project design... GET THIS BOOK

The book was in great condition and delivery was on time, I couldn't expect anything more.

This is a brilliant book for beginners and home page designers alike. Excellent online support and resources. Slightly dated now (July 2005), with nothing about CSS or "Style", so eagerly awaiting their next book which will hopefully cover these topics.
A great reference book.

Never seen anything better--probably never will. I have read about Web design, HTML, etc. in other books and articles, but I have never been completely at ease with the subject and didn't bother to read the material in detail. It never really sunk in. Then, this book came along and it opened my eyes. The whole book is superbly structured and the mystery about Web design is all cleared. Everything in the book is so well presented and appears in the right sequence. And there are so many tips strewn about. I now know HTML much better. Your confidence grows as you keep reading. I have a website done in Word2000 and I didn't quite use Word's full potential till I read Chapter 9. I had ignored WordArt for example. Now I am much the wiser in so many ways. I can't imagine any better book coming along.

I have been working with web page and web page design for about two years and I also teach the design of pages through HTML and FrontPage. For most people they need more than 1 or 2 days in a classroom in order to understand the concepts and this is where this book comes in handy.

Using the color photos of screen shots in order to make the understanding better, this book is broken down into 3 parts. Part 1 is the basics, helping you crawl in web design before you run. You'll be treated to topics like the elements of the web page, adding graphics, which include types of art, colors, pixels, photos, drawings, backgrounds and bullets.

Part 2 is the creation of the web page, which deals with subjects like posting, HTML layout, using Microsoft Word and FrontPage as web editors. The ideas and techniques for both Word and FrontPage are well explained and the screen shots included make it easier to visualize what the final outcome will look like.

Part 3 is the going live phase of the design, with the uploading of pages with the FTP protocol and web page updating after you have gone live. The hands-on really starts in part 2, which may be a drawback to the book, but overall information wise this book will transform the novice designer into a serious web master in no time flat.

Finally, a computer book that looks at the task at hand beyond the computer. I was looking for a book to help me do a decent looking web site on my own. This is the book to get. They talk about ALL aspects of the process - from how to write and plan the content to writing the HTML to do it AND everything in between like hosting, fonts to use, colors,... everything. I have found this to be a rare commodity in info systems books. This book gives you advice based on their experience and lets you know what to expect if you don't follow it. This is what I want in a computer book, not a step by step guide on how to execute menu items. This is truly a well-written book and I wish the authors would do many others. Good job!

If you want to build your first web site and you have no idea where to begin this is definatley the book to read! This book is very detailed and full of visuals that you will see when you are actually in the process of creating your web page. I find that the pictures are so much more beneficial than long drawn out explainations of what to do. The book is broken into 10 parts. Each part has a series of short, instructional lessons designed to help you create the best web page using your computer. This book starts off with the very first thing you need to do; it makes sure you have a web authoring tool and moves on to creating your web page. This book is like having your own personal professor teaching you how to create your web page. A very helpful glossary and index are also included that will help you understand key terms. This was definatly money very well spent. A stress free way to create a web page!

While the expectations of web page viewers has never been higher, it also has never been easier to build them. Software to semi-automatically create pages is available, efficient and often inexpensive. One of the packages that most satisfies these criteria is Microsoft FrontPage Express. Bundled free with many applications, including Internet Explorer, it is the package illustrated in this book.
The style of presentation is a series of screen shots with notational marks indicating where to click. These pictures are all in full color, closely matching what you will see on the screen. All of the fundamental steps of using the wizards to create a basic page are covered. Specific topics include: adding links, modifying the colors of text and background; embedding pictures, including tables and forms; posting the page online and announcing the page to the world. Throughout this, there is the occasional tip to help the appearance of the page. Presented at the level of the novice, the only prerequisite is the basic knowledge needed to point and click.
Realistically, the day is no doubt coming when your web page will be as much of your public persona as the job you hold, the car you drive and your place of residence. If you have a desire to have a web page and have no idea where to begin, this book was written for you. It is the best introductory book to building pages that I have seen so far.

Published in Journal of Recreational Mathematics, reprinted with permission

Ned Snell's Easy Web Pages will assist members of the online community to put together great looking and highly functional Websites with the use of Microsoft's free FrontPage Express that is supplied with Windows 98 and Internet Explorer. This book offers clear step-by-step instructions on how to use this program to create Web pages without the need to learn and incorporate advanced HTML programming.

Readers will learn a number of exciting techniques, shortcuts, and tips that will make Website creation a breeze. Readers will also learn how to add a variety of impressive features to their Websites such as sounds, pictures, animations, and other cool features! Only a modest knowledge level of HTML, the Internet, and computers is necessary to get started. Readers will have no trouble at all learning how to create Web pages and Websites.

Easy Web Pages is a wonderfully colored and illustrated book intended to be a starting point for designing Websites. As are other books in Que's popular Easy ... series, this large easy-to-read book is well suited for students of all ages from grade school through senior citizen who desire or may require an effective illustrated approach to learning. It easily rests in the open position on a table or on a lap and was written with beginners in mind.

FrontPage Express and this book does not offer all the bells and whistles that more advanced programs and books will but they do provide beginners with an inexpensive way to get started. If you would like to learn how to design and create Websites for yourself and possibly for others, this is a fun and great way to learn. Get started today!

Easy Web Pages second Edition by Gina Carrillo is a great book for building your own web pages. It provides meticulous step by step direction on where to get free resource, and how to use the resource. I was surprised when I read this book, because it supplies so many good website resources, and it even show you places to promote your finished site. The book contain three catogories, which then divided into numerous chapters.(But they are really fun to read and easy to understand). The first one teaches how to use programs to build website. The second one teaches how to use HTML to build website. The third one provides all the general informations that a beginner should know for websites.

This is an excellent book for someone who wants to use Front Page Express and create simple web pages. It is well laid out, has a good index, and is easy to understand. An excellent place to start creating web pages. freelandz28@mindspring.com