How to Wow with Flash (How to Wow)

Book Description

Wouldn’t it be great if you could have one of the world’s most accomplished and sought after Flash teachers sitting next to you at your computer as you navigate the infinite possibilities of Macromedia Flash 8?

How to Wow with Flash is the next best thing. Flash powerhouseâ Colin Smithârenowned author, Web designer, and trainer, has developed an effective way to help you reach your full creative potential. Just like great cookbooksâthe ones with short, clear-cut instructions and mouth-watering photos of the delectable concoctionsâthis book identifies challenges, provides simple recipes for overcoming them, and plugs in inspirational full-color photos of the glorious results.

Colin guides you step-by-step through real-world projects, with an emphasis on uncompromising quality, last-minute flexibility, and go-home-at-night speed! You’ll learn tips and techniques on everything from common workflow problems and exciting Web animation techniques to custom projects and movies using Flash 8. This is a fast paced book that exposes the secrets to making things move in new ways, add interactivity, sound and video to make audiences go wow!

This book begins with the essentials of workflow and Flash foundations (including Frames, Keyframes, creating shapes, blend modes) and then moves on to motion and effects, sound and video, and widgets and interactivity. Next comes the fun with creative projects such creating sweeping motion using custom easing, generating interactive navigation, creating slide shows, using masks, producing stunning effects with Flash 8’s new filters, adding looping music, and more. The How to Wow! companion CD makes it a snap and is packed with everything you need to work through the projects in the book and start creating your own Web sites and animations that wow!

Customer Reviews:

Wow with Flash.......2007-07-28

I purchased this text for a technology course that involved the use of flash. Each chapter contains various activities and techniques that are flashy on websites.

I managed to work through all the chapters with few difficulties, all except chapter 5, adding motion on animation. You will need some extra time and patience when you get there.

The book goes through each activity in written form, step by step. It would have been nicer to have directions listed in bullet form, which would have made it easier to return to the next direction instead of searching through text.

The CD however makes up for this. It contains a pre and post file for each chapter activity. You are able to work on each project using the start file, and then watch what the finished project looks like on the end file. This more than makes up for the directions being written into the text.

I like the book. You learn as you work through the projects. It is good as a course book, or for individual use. You should enjoy it.

An Excellent Book.......2007-07-07

I have just completed 2 classes in Flash and although this book was not required, I'm VERY grateful I had it in my library. The info in this book is covered in other books, but Colin's book is FAR more clear and easy to understand. When I was stuck on my projects for class, I could refer to How To Wow to figure out what the other books were trying to say.

It shows so many techniques you will really use in flash, making them in the simplest way. He also shows how to add creativity and elegance to keep your flash projects from being boring. And he even manages to explain simple ActionScript in a way I actually understood.

I refer back to this book constantly. Do yourself a favor and get this book! You'll finally understand Flash better than ever.

Not File Friendly.......2007-07-02

I bought this book with the impression that it had the files needed to be able to work through the projects. I was unable to find the motionstart.tif file which was indicated to be used to start the first project. After an hour searching for it I started flipping through the book looking to see if there was anything I could use. Not one project listed specifically which program to use to open up the files on the CD. I tried to use the 3rd party programs which were included with the CD. None of them matched up with how the examples looked in the book. I would love to have been able to learn what the book listed but have not been able to use any of it. This book is definately NOT beginner friendly.

OK If you want a little extra........2007-05-08

I am not sure WOW is the word I would use to describe this book. While I learned some new things about Flash, I did not learn anything that made me feel WOWED. Not bad if you have a little extra time on your hands and want to learn a little something new. If what you want is to really learn some of the higher functions of this program, this is not the book for you.

Very GOOD and USEFUL.......2007-04-04

I love this book...
- very well written
- Useful
- Very detailled
- Can suits for the novice or the experimented user too
- Opens fields to explore by yourself

Highly recommended

How to Wow: Photoshop CS2 for the Web (How to Wow)

Average customer rating:

Very Helpful
Not for professionals
Learn to create great web pages
Extraordinary - How to take your web site into the 21st century!
Not useful

How to Wow: Photoshop CS2 for the Web (How to Wow)
Jan Kabili , and Colin Smith
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Adobe Photoshop | Digital Photography & Video | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0321393945

Book Description

Wouldn't it be great if you could have two of the world's most accomplished Photoshop and Web design experts sitting next to you at your computer as you
navigate the infinite possibilities of Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady? How to Wow: Photoshop CS2 for the Web is the next best thing. Two Photoshop and ImageReady powerhouses--Jan Kabili and Colin Smith--renowned authors, graphic designers, and trainers, have developed an effective way to help you reach your full creative potential. Jan and Colin guide you step by step through real-world projects, with an emphasis on uncompromising quality, last-minute flexibility, and go-home-at-night speed! You'll learn tips and techniques for creating everything from stylish navigation to eye-catching animation using Photoshop CS2 and its companion program, ImageReady CS2. Whether it's speeding up your workflow or making a modular home page for a game site, you're given the tools at every stage of the creative process in order to learn How to Wow!
This book begins with the essentials of Web site navigation, teaching you skills for building, slicing, and optimizing navigation graphics. Then things really get moving with how-tos on creating scene-stealing animations. Next, you'll find out how to automate repetitive tasks and create conditional actions that can distinguish between graphic types. Finally, you¹ll learn how to build eye-popping home pages and sites designed to keep viewers coming back for more.

The How to Wow: Photoshop CS2 for the Web companion CD at the back of this book is packed with everything you need to work through the projects in the book, along with some extra goodies to use as you create your own graphics for the Web.

The CD includes:

All the original designs by award-winning Photoshop guru Colin Smith that are used in the projects in this book. Use these files as you follow along with the lessons to dramatically improve your understanding of the innovative techniques explained in this book. Working along with the authors will stimulate your own design ideas and let you discover how you can apply these techniques to your own work.
Styles, actions, and pattern presets developed to enhance the look of the projects you'll produce in the books lessons.
PLUS extra style presets from the collection of over 1000 presets in Jack Davis' Adobe Photoshop One-Click Wow!

Customer Reviews:

Very Helpful.......2007-09-04

If you are a beginner looking to learn how to use Photoshop CS2 for web site work, I believe that this book is very helpful. Pick up a copy you won't be disappointed.

Not for professionals.......2007-07-12

This book is not meant for professionals. The examples and projects in this book mostly look like someone who just started using Photoshop made them. Some directions in the don't match the images (one example in the "Web Pattern Recipes" section says "choose a 3-pixel hard round tip" and they used a 5-pixel brush for their example).

I was hoping for the ins and outs of file types, best practices of optimizing, color tables, etc.. For building a website based on standards, this book is not going to help. It will help you build a site with billions (slight exaggeration) of hard to manage slices and table cells along with plenty of spacer gifs. About the only chapter I plan to fully read is the one on Automation.

Learn to create great web pages.......2007-05-17

If you want to learn how to create a great-looking web page, this is without a doubt the best book you could possibly buy. It is well worth the price and more. I've looked through a lot of books and have not found a better book. This is a must have book for anyone who wants to create beautiful graphics and useful web pages.

Extraordinary - How to take your web site into the 21st century!.......2007-03-07

This is an extraordinary book. I have to completely disagree with the naysayer reviews below. I've been building web sites for a long time, and I've been using Photoshop for the past couple of years (including CS2 since it first came out). But until I read this book, I could not get the hang of all these new web-specific features in Photoshop, nor could I fully utilize ImageReady. I have now read this book from cover to cover, and it completely explains, with stunningly attractive examples (included on the enclosed CD-ROM), how to use Adobe Photoshop and ImageReady to make web sites with world-class appearance, navigation, remote rollovers, and even built-in Flash animations. The book itself is beautifully crafted, with just enough explanation of everything (very complete, but no irritating fluff). It is like the veil has been lifted. My web sites no longer need to look like 1999 -- they can look like 2009. I am deeply impressed. If you want to learn how to design web sites with amazingly professional graphics, either as a business or just because you want to build the best, even if you are not artistically inclined, pick up this deceptively slim volume. It will make an enormous difference in your web site efforts.

Not useful.......2006-05-16

This week-end, my significant other asked me to help her with her Photoshop homework. (The class uses this book as its text.) Although I'm not a Photoshop professional, I've been using the software since Photoshop version 3.

Although the authors are certainly expert Photoshop users, and have a vast knowledge of the product, the information was not conveyed in a consistent nor coherent fashion. Key steps were omitted, important concepts were not clearly explained, and exercises were not presented in a useful order. (The tasks you perform in step 3, for example, conflict with what you are asked to do in setp 5.)

The experience with this book reminded me of that old joke, How to Carve and Elephant ("Start with a block of wood and carve away anything that doesn't look like an Elephant.")

Unless you are well-versed in Photoshop, I would not recommend this book.

How to Wow: Photoshop for the Web (How to Wow)

Average customer rating:

Missing files found on publisher website
My Favorite Bookstore
Good in every way except a few typos.
Wow Doesn't Wow
A complex subject treated very well

How to Wow: Photoshop for the Web (How to Wow)
Jan Kabili , and Colin Smith
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Adobe Photoshop | Digital Photography & Video | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 032130330X

Book Description

A gaming site, a portfolio site, an information site: Each requires a home page, but each of those home pages requires disparate elements and approaches. How to Wow: Photoshop for the Web walks you through the process of designing each, plus 15 other navigation, animation, and automation projects that show you how to add wow to your Web pages with Photoshop-created graphics. Just like your favorite cookbooks-the ones with short, clear-cut instructions and mouthwatering photos of the delectable concoctions-this book identifies challenges, provides simple recipes for overcoming them, and plugs in inspirational photos of the glorious results. Part 1 takes you through a range of navigation, animation, and automation projects (creating rollover navigation, building animated slide shows, producing a dynamic Flash banner, and more), while Part 2 walks you through the steps entailed in creating home pages for gaming, portfolio, and information sites. Each project explains how to create a lush graphic element, while sidebars and glossaries provide the low-down on important underlying principles. A CD includes the lesson files and image assets required to complete the book's projects.

Customer Reviews:

Missing files found on publisher website.......2006-05-04

http://www.peachpit.com/title/032130330X#info2

I stumbled around the publishers website after being annoyed at the missing Chapter 4 files, and I found the above link to download the files.

Overall it was a decent book, but as a newb I was looking for a whole lot more information on building from scratch.

My Favorite Bookstore.......2005-10-01

The title says it all. I think that this website provides a service for all type of readers.

The book is an excellent book for graphic ideas. It is especially useful for beginners who suffer from "Designers Block". However, the title may give people the idea that this Book will show you step by step Photoshop techniques which it does not.

Good in every way except a few typos........2005-09-06

Pros: Great examples and information. Learned a lot in the week that it took to go through it. Will use it as a photoshop reference for a long time.

Cons: A few typos or missed steps that left me hanging and needed to play around with various options to get the desired result.

Wow Doesn't Wow.......2005-09-01

Corrupt and missing project files for Chapter 4 got me off on a bad foot with this book. The integration of the book with its CD contents also strikes me as having been very poorly done, definitely inferior to what I have come to expect from the many Book/CD combos that I have purchased, especially for books dealing with Photoshop. On the plus side, the book is well illustrated and the textual instructions are reasonably clear. The projects tend to be cookie-cutter in their approach - which could be a plus or a minus depending on what you are looking for.

The one thing missing from this book that would have been of real benefit is one or more examples of creating a complete web page design from scratch.

A complex subject treated very well.......2005-07-22

This book does a great job of covering a complex topic in a clear, concise, and beautifully illustrated way. It teaches by step-by-step example, and it distills what could be pages of background info into short "Insight" explanations that appear on the page to answer your questions exactly when they occur to you. "Tips" and "Cautions" help you work more efficiently and avoid pitfalls. In just 200 pages the book covers the use of Photoshop and ImageReady for designing and producing interactive navigation elements, animations, individual web pages, and entire web sites. The beautiful book design (by Jill Davis) helps make all of this information accessible. And all the pieces you need for the examples are provided on the CD-ROM that comes with the book. This book is a winner!

Average customer rating:

Lamest design book I've ever seen
Outdated
book was ok not what I expected.
Not bad, but VERY outdated!
This Book Is Not Good

Web Design WOW! Book, The
Jack Davis , and Susan Merritt
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

French | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Nonfiction | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Professional & Technical | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All French Books | French | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0201886782

Amazon.com

This outstanding full-color guide teaches you how to apply design principles to the creation of on-screen interactive media-- primarily Web sites and, to a lesser extent, CD-ROMs and floppy-disk presentations. The authors first provide an overview of what you need to consider when creating a Web site or any other multimedia project. They discuss production methods and teach you how to define your purpose and audience; decide on your project's organization, content, and navigation; and assemble, test, and market your final product. Next they delineate the various interface elements you need to consider, such as buttons, backgrounds, typography, animation, images, video, and audio, and they discuss the trends in each area, such as the decreasing popularity of beveled buttons and the increasing popularity of 3-D graphics, interactive help, and user feedback. The following chapter is devoted to teaching you five basic tenets of good design, including clarity, consistency, and contrast. The following chapters show you successful Web sites and CD-ROMs in the areas of marketing, entertainment, education and training, publishing, portfolios and presentations, and sales. These case studies show lots of graphical elements along with explanations of why certain approaches work and others do not.

There's very little emphasis on the tools you need to accomplish the design of your site or CD-ROM. But, where such information is relevant, the authors mention the Windows and Macintosh products designers used to create a special graphic or effect, or products frequently used in general, such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Flash. Unlike other books in the Wow! series, the focus here is not on software how-to tips but on design tips, so just about anyone--whether beginning designer, creative director, production manager, or marketing professional, for example--can learn what's important in planning, designing, finalizing, and updating good sites and CDs. One thing that's consistent with the series: each topic is addressed in one or two pages, so you get a quick glimpse into each topic and therefore an easy way to browse to find whatever might interest you. The included hybrid CD-ROM comes with demonstration versions of WYSIWYG and standard HTML editors and full versions of Netscape Communicator 4, Internet Explorer 4, Macromedia Shockwave and Flash, RealPlayer, and GIF and other Web utilities. --Kathleen Caster

Book Description

Here's an indispensable source of practical advice and creative inspiration for anyone designing screen-based communications-from Web to CD-ROM and beyond. From Jack Davis, co-author of the award-winning Photoshop Wow! Book, this book covers the conceptual process, design fundamentals, and essential interface components. It includes over 50 case studies and more than 600 full-color examples of highly successful and creative interfaces for marketing, sales, education, and portfolio presentations.

Customer Reviews:

Lamest design book I've ever seen.......2006-07-13

I was required to buy this pointless little book for a college class I took several years ago and I still regret wasting money on it. It had no substance whatsoever. Every once in a while I'd see a nice little blurb about information architecture or page layout, but it was 99% fluff. Everyone stoped bringing it to class after the second week, because the only times it was useful were those rare occasions when we had designers block and needed to jack someone else's full-color idea.

Now I am the kind of person who likes to horde all kinds of books, but I sold The Web Design Wow Book at the campus bookstore (only got a couple bucks for it because, surprise, it was never used in any other classes) because I was embarrassed to have it on my shelf.

People learning how to design interfaces or looking for inspiration would be much better off with something like Web Pages That Suck or Edward Tufte's Envisioning Information.

Outdated.......2004-08-04

This book is useful for one thing... an interesting historical perspective on the web.
Published in 1998 (thus written in 1997) this is a a 7-year old book. MUCH has changed since that time, and leaving this in print without a new edition is disgraceful on the part of both the authors and publisher.
I guarantee that 90% of the websites they use as examples have completley changed their interface and design since this book.
In fact, many of the examples they show are hopelessly confused and chaotic front pages, that may have worked as a novelty back in the day, but will not have staying power with modern-day web surfers.
They are dozens of new and much better books on the market for the moeny... "Home Page Usability" and the incredible "Design of Site"s are two of my favorites.

book was ok not what I expected........2003-08-24

The book was not that great source it was ok but the condition of the book was excellent. Thanks

Not bad, but VERY outdated!.......2002-09-02

I ran into this book while looking for the best thing out there in terms of Web Design. Well, this book is just 4 years too old, unfortunately. Some of the examples, yes, they made sense... but they lack some of the elements that have come to the forefront of the field in the past few years. I was amazed that it was still in the shelves, in fact! If you want an EXCELLENT and current (as of this writing) book on the topic, get yourself a copy of "Web Redesign: Workflow That Works" by Kelly Goto, Emily Cotler. You'll be happy if you do!

This Book Is Not Good.......2002-07-04

I do not understand the reason they chose to tie the title to web design only, since the book addresses CD-Rom and multimedia projects also. Furthermore, this book is too simplistic to be really helpful. I read the first half and only scanned the rest of it. With all the good materials on web design, I could not afford to waste my time on this one. The pictures of web home pages disseminated here and there are the only good thing about this text. They are good looking and can help generate some ideas; plus, they are in full color.

Average customer rating:

Intermediate focus
Confusing book, lots of errors
Loving this book! Perfect for the classroom.
Great Book
Everything to get you excited about using InDesign CS

How to Wow with InDesign (How to Wow)
Wayne Rankin , and Mike McHugh
Manufacturer: Peachpit Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0321316185

Book Description

With InDesign CS quickly becoming the new king of the desktop publishing hill, there's no shortage of books promising to get you up to speed it. None, however, does so quite like this one, which keeps the focus right where you, as a designer, want it--on designing! Providing just enough theoretical grounding to use the program effectively but omitting the tech-heavy under-the hood discussions that represent the core of other InDesign tomes, this full-color guide uses gorgeous real-world examples and simple step-by-step instructions to cover all of InDesign CS' features, including its newest: the Story Editor, a Separation Preview palette, nested styles, the Package for GoLive command, and more. As you work through chapters on text and typography, pages and documents, placed images, tables, color, special effects, multimedia, preflighting, and more, you'll quickly master both the InDesign basics you need to get your job done and the advanced techniques that will give your pages that extra flair! A companion CD includes lesson files plus style sheets, templates, graphic libraries, images, and more!

Customer Reviews:

Intermediate focus.......2007-01-09

Being a new InDesign user of two months, the 189-page "How to Wow with InDesign CS2" was a good starting point for me to begin to learn how to more effectively use IDCS2. Written by two of Australia's experts in using InDesign, Wayne Rankin and Mike McHugh, I learned many of the IDCS2 basics and beyond through the text, numerous graphics, text boxes, and accompanying CD. The CD provides raw text and graphic examples from the text as well as templates to practice with and/or see how they changed during the development of the book. Almost every other page has one or more short tips or insights to help you with the topic at hand. The book was written with the beginner to intermediate user in mind although I think it's more toward the latter. The book also covers both MAC and Window applications.

"How To Wow with InDesign CS2" is broken down into nine chapters, a nine-page index, and accompanying CD that includes grayscale and RGB textures, templates, graphics library with custom-made elements; project files; document presets; stroke styles; and a list of keyboard shortcuts.

Chapter 1 covers the basics including your desktop workspace, creating a document, setting defaults, transforming (moving, resizing, and rotating) objects in your new document, how text frames are created and work, acquainting you with Adobe Bridge to work more effectively with other Adobe products, and using color management to name a few topics.

Chapter 2 "Text and Typography" covers the important features of importing, formatting, and positioning text, using grids, using the eyedropper tool to format text, and styles. One topic I noted not there was changing text direction which I'm using currently doing a lot of.

Chapter 3 provides help for converting Quark Express documents, creating templates, imposing document pages, and long document features.

Chapter 4 covers creating, customizing, fills and strokes, images, and more for tables.

Chapter 5 addresses using color, swatches, tints, gradients, and more.

Chapter 6 reviews graphic placing, positioning, and linking as well as PDF Illustrator & Photoshop files and formats, and Photoshop Layer Comps.

Chapters 7, 8, and 9 deal with "transparency, interactive elements, and output of which the former two may be more of an interest to the intermediate user although the output chapter is a must for any user.

My only wish for a future edition would be to interweave the text into the CD more so that the various examples would be better illustrated before, during, and after the finished action and/or product - perhaps a book on CD? I would recommend beginners look for a different book if they are not experienced with INCS2.

Confusing book, lots of errors.......2006-11-13

I would say it's good if you already know how to use InDesign so you can spot the errors.

So far I have spent a whole day going through this for my students for only two of the book's chapters so far!

I wish I had checked out the errors in this book before having my students buy this book.

The fonts that the CD files ask for are TrueType so you have to know how to edit your fonts when opening file one (chapter 2). If you have a Windows operating system you will not have the free dingbats that come on a Mac so just do the best you can by choosing webdings or similar font. Someone needs to update the book's CD files to include Adobe's Open Type.

I had to tell students that page 42 starts with page 2 of the start file that is on your CD, Ch2. The way the illustrations are arranged it is hard to tell which file you are to be working on. The wqay illustrations are arranged is even more confusing. If you have a Windows computer, the RTF will not work as the book indicates.

Page 45 note: The Vertical justification will not work unless you have a new document open and you place the text. It will work if you click on the "Ignore text wrap" option but then the type runs over the other type in that area. If you look at their example in the book, there is no other text on the page. Would a beginner know this? The CS book is correct but the CS2 book has all the same screen captures of the justification choices but they don't match the examples underneath. Students will have to create a new document and place the text and then choose Top, Center, Bottom and Justify. Then you'll see your type positioned like the examples shown in the book.

Page 46 note: If your baseline grid will not show up when you choose view>grids and guides>Show baseline grid, check page 47, 3rd line up. If your view is the default setting of 75% or higher you can see it. So how do you change your view? Lower left area has the % of view size and you can change it there. You can also type in 75% or just zoom in closer.

Note: for some things to work you have to be sure you have the appropriate "A" or the "P" chosen in the control palette. For example, the instructions on page 47 to align to baseline will not work unless you are in the Paragraph palette.

Pages 48-52 note:The text they supply and the text that is in the book is different so the lessons will not work exactly as shown. The end file is even the same as the beginning file so students may not know what they are supposed to do.

Page 53 note: The examples of text they use in the book has punctuation to align. The book's examples are good to show how Open Type works. However, the text they supply on the CD does not really give you an idea of what they are trying to communicate. Better examples are needed.
Page 57 note. Screen capture is wrong for optical kerning. Gee who put this book together?

Page 59 note: To alter the "earthwatch 2004" go to the Master pages in the top right of your screen. Pages can be set there and they will change for all the pages in the document. (Beginners would not know to go to the master pages)

Page 60 note: The word "watch" they try to sample is already the same in the CD files. The book shows a different font to begin with for the two words so you get the idea about formatting with the eyedropper. Beginners would be saying what's this supposed to do?

Now I see the disclaimer about the CD and the "notice of liability" and wish I had not been so trusting of good reviews.
Seems like the authors or Peachpit have had ample time to get the right files and right fonts on the accompanying CD for the CS2 version. Seems like they could place the right images since the book is mostly a redo of the CS book. I really don't find a reason to really buy the CS2 book if the CS version is a bit more accurate.

Lots of nice designs (pretty pictures) but content is much better in other books or the help section of InDesign. Like so many other books this is a redo of CS with negligible changes (for the worse).

Loving this book! Perfect for the classroom........2006-08-09

Just rec'd the book and I must say, I love the Illustrator, How to Wow book, and now I equally appreciate this book. Excellent layout and design, attractive examples (so important, who wants to learn the skills when poor examples are given?), large color graphics, enough detail to complete tasks. Short wide pages with fairly large text and helpful color blocking make it easy to actually use the book as you work if you have enough space to open it next to you. Only 1/2 an inch thick, but close to 200 pages, well-indexed, packed with exactly what you need to know and not a whole lot of extra. The nine chapters are very logically put together, abbreviating a bit, 1-Basics, 2-Text, 3-Pages & Documents, 4-Tables, 5-Using Color, 6-Importing Graphics, 7-Wkg with Transparency, 8-Adding Interactive Elements, and 9-Output. Handsome logical layout, beautiful but practical examples, well written. It zeroes in on exactly what I wanted to know and without glossing over the more intricate aspects, like some books do. I teach this application software at the college. InDesign is a marvelous, user-friendly application. This book helps to make all the possibilities of InDesign apparent. It would make a marvelous text book for teaching.

Great Book.......2005-11-21

This has to be one of if not the best book for InDesign. It goes into detail for various aspects of the design process like preflighting for example. Also this book has very good tips.

Well worth the price.

Everything to get you excited about using InDesign CS.......2005-06-07

I learned QuarkXPress in school ... hated it then, still hate it. Bought the Adobe package one version before CS came out (InDesign 2.0) and didn't care much for ID, so used Illustrator 10 for all my page layout projects.

I have recently discovered ID CS ... with the help of this book. It is clear, to the point, and tells you everything you need to know (the basics to intermediate) to get started using ID CS for everything. It even has a chapter on how to make interactive PDF files out of ID.

Did you know that there is no white swatch? There is only "Paper" ... which you can change the color of to simulate the printed paper color ... but this "background" will not print. Pretty cool, huh? Learn other awesome stuff in this book.

Create Web Content That Sells! Wow Your Market With Writing Strategies, Search Engine Hints, and Graphic Tips That Work

Average customer rating:

Buy this book! It's excellent
Please Please don't buy this book

Create Web Content That Sells! Wow Your Market With Writing Strategies, Search Engine Hints, and Graphic Tips That Work
Renee E. Kennedy , and Kent Terry
Manufacturer: Universal Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Web Marketing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Computer Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Investing | Business & Investing | Bargain Books | Stores | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

Computers & Internet | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
ASIN: 1581126263

Book Description

Are you ready to build an effective Web site that sells? One that brings in serious prospects? Then Create Web Content That Sells! is for you. It's a tutorial about writing effectively for Web visitors, creating a useable site structure, getting a marketing mind-set, and choosing practical graphics for your Web site.

Whether your site sells wrenches to left-handed mechanics, offers landscaping services, or strives to cultivate loyalty in the hearts of your existing customers, the basic tenet of great Web content is universal: speak to your audience. And Create Web Content That Sells! shows you how to get down and dirty, one-to-one, with your audience, through writing, structure, and graphics.

Small business people need every edge they can get, so we designed our marketing section to fit this need. Plus, anyone involved in content development will find the writing section extremely valuable.

You've found the ideal book if you want a site that will: 1. Sell products. 2. Sell services. 3. Brand your product or business. 4. Improve your image. 5. Make every point clear and concise. 6. Publish your writing or art work.

Customer Reviews:

Buy this book! It's excellent.......2005-10-10

This book presents down-to-earth information that is needed by anyone who is designing a web site for their business, and wants to present as professional a web site as possible. Every page is packed with information that is of immediate use. Web site design is complex, but because this book presents its information in easy to learn chunks, designing a web site that sells is far easier than it would otherwise be.

Please Please don't buy this book.......2005-07-22

This book is horrible. I was very very disappointed. This book does not live up to the title at all. Don't waste your time or money.

Average customer rating:

Brush up on your Painter skills
Good Book
Frustrated to insanity
I am VERY impressed! It deserves every bit of "WOW"...
Inspiring and Comprehensive

The Painter 6 Wow! Book (4th Edition)
Cher Threinen-Pendarvis , and Cher Pendarvis
Manufacturer: Pearson Education
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Programming | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Design | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General | Software | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books

General & Reference | Technology | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Painter IX Wow! Book (WOW!)

ASIN: 0201354497

Amazon.com

It sounds corny, but when you first see this book, you have to resist the urge to say, "Wow!" Part of a long-running series, this one has to be the prettiest: the outstanding artwork is extremely inspirational. Like a kid in a candy store, you can't wait to get your hands on the techniques.

This is the fourth edition written by Threinen-Pendarvis, and her experience shows. The chapters have a logical structure that offers first the basics and then a variety of techniques that are shown step by step, with tips sprinkled throughout and galleries of work by talented artists (including the author herself). After an introduction to the application, the book covers working with color, brushes, selections and masks, layers, working with photographs, special effects, type, working in conjunction with Photoshop, creating animations in Painter, creating for the Web, and printing and archiving images.

This edition has been completely revised, with new material covering the latest features in Painter, like the industry-standard level masks and layers, a more versatile magic wand, editable Dynamic Text (with live drop shadows and other effects), and the ability to make sliced GIFs, image maps, rollovers, and animations. The companion CD-ROM includes custom brushes, textures, and other effects and scripts, demo software and stock images, and, best of all, QuickTime movies in which you can watch the artwork as it is made, stroke by stroke--very Wow!-worthy stuff.

The layout is clean and easy to read. You can glean a lot just by reading the detailed captions and tips in the slim left-hand column on each page. The writing is clear, detailed, and to the point--no conversational digressions get in the way. And, printed in full color throughout, the book almost glows.

Although this Wow! book isn't meant to replace the Painter manual, a beginner will get a good handle on all the tools, as well as quite a bit of painting and color theory. Intermediate and advanced Painter users will add a wealth of new tricks to their palettes. --Angelynn Grant

Topics include:

Basic instruction, tricks, and techniques in Painter 6, including building brushes (colored pencils, pastels, oils, watercolors, gouache, washes, thick paint, and custom brushes)
Working with masks (embossing, airbrush, color masks)
Working with layers and shapes (drop shadows, melting text into water)
Photo enhancement and montage/collage (sepia-tone photos, simulated motion, solarizing, tinting)
Special effects (distortion, impressionist looks, terrain maps, mosaics, draping effects on a weave pattern)
Working with type (over a photo, graffiti style, glows, beveled chrome, ice and stone effects)
Working in conjunction with Photoshop
Working on Web images and animations
Printing and archiving images

Book Description

Get artistic inspiration and practical, step-by-step examples in one book: The Painter 6 Wow! Book. Over 100 of the world's most accomplished Painter artists contributed stunning, full-color artwork, accompanied by detailed techniques, helpful tips, and expert tricks on how to re-create the effects you see. It's the ideal companion for fine artists,designers, photographers, and illustrators who use Painter to work in print, multimedia, and on the Web.

Thoroughly updated, The Painter 6 Wow! Book explores the major new features of the program: its streamlined interface, enhanced integration with Photoshop, easier export to page-layout programs, and more realistic natural media. It also includes expanded chapters on Web graphics and printmaking, a revised chapter on painting using the new high-performance brushes, and a brand-new chapter on special typography effects, geared toward designers. The CD-ROM is loaded with custom tools, stock photos and video clips, demo versions of MetaCreations and Adobe programs, and much more.

Check out the following excerpts from the book:
Painting an Expressive Color Study
Creating a Montage Using Masks and Layers

Customer Reviews:

Brush up on your Painter skills.......2002-01-20

I've had every version of Painter software since it began as a grey-scale sketcher program. Since then, I've learned basic skills in Painter, but even with long experience, I found I needed a text for learning how to get the most out of this powerful but sometimes difficult software.

The book is complete in that it contains Basic instruction, tricks, and techniques --for example, how to paint in watercolors and oils. If you've used the software at all, you probably know how to do this. But looking at the fine examples of artwork in the book can help to suggest how to get more from the basics.

Where The Painter 6 Wow book really shines is in learning the more difficult techniques such as working with layers and shapes (drop shadows, dynamic text, melting text into water, photo enhancement and especially now to do montage/collage and terrain maps.) There are some nice examples of art work using these techniques. Painter 6 software added some features for working on web images and animations--these are also covered and for me, were the reason I really wanted this book.

It's nice to have the CD-ROM with extra textures, and other goodies. There are some trial software programs like Photoshop demo, a collection of stock photos, some "fabulous fonts", some backgrounds and video clips.

WELL WORTH THE PRICE.

Good Book.......2001-12-13

This is a very good book. Amazing and clean explanations. All is great, but... where's the trial of Painter 6?. There's trial for Photoshop 5.0, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, etc, but... NOT PAINTER 6!!! How can happen this?!

Frustrated to insanity.......2001-10-10

As a web design student, I found Painter 6 wow to be fairly difficult to follow. It doesnt do me any good to have examples that make reference to terminology not listed in the index. The step by step examples don't include any of the stock materials I need to replicate the work. I need something simpler than this, I need a Classroom in a Book. I can't understand what the book talks about, and FEW of the other students in my class have had much success either. Please, rewrite a version for college students, before we all drop out of web design!

I am VERY impressed! It deserves every bit of "WOW"..........2001-08-09

I am a traditional artist, accomplished in the fields of acrylics, crayons and pencil work in particular. I have long been drooling over what can be accomplished with Photoshop and Painter and their likes, in terms of building artwork and illustrations from scratch. However making the jump to computer graphics has proved to be quite difficult or complex at best. I have purchased nummerous books on those programs but they have all been 99% about image editing and touching up or making graphics for the web. Not exactly what I needed.

Till now! This volume has with one fell swoop fulfilled all of my above wishes. In here I have found detailed explanations of every technique imaginable from gouache to coloured pencils. It is wonderful! The explanations and learning aside, the book is also chokefull of inspirational work from master painters and illustrators.

And this is not all. All the primary focus of the book is on illustration and painting, the book also covers the programs abilities in touching up photos and creating web graphics.

I am very impressed, and consoled that I will soon enough be able to master computer graphics as yet another artistic outlet thanks to this volume. I believe it offers just as much for both beginners, intermediaries and advanced artist.

If you have any of the same aspirations as I did, don't hesitate to buy this book. Not only is it one of the few books that can teach you what you need to know, but it is also excellent value for money, as the pages are jammed full of tips, instructions and vivid colour images. Wow! indeed.

Inspiring and Comprehensive.......2001-07-06

Unlike most graphics books, this book uses color prints throughout which makes a lot of sense. It shows you good examples of artwork, some including the steps to "final" result. It is not any "... for Dummies" or similar kind of book, in that the author explains how to produce and highlights certain aspects of the software --- pitfalls (for example, those that may result in some things being converted and/or lost).

"This book is written by an author who knows the software well."-- this is the impression that I get when I use this book.

Who will benefit greatest from this book? I think anyone who has been using some other graphics editing software other than Painter and didn't get any of the earlier Painter Wow books will find this book a gem.

Average customer rating:
Web Pages: From How to Wow
Ulrich Wimmeroth , and Thomas Brochhagen
Manufacturer: Data Becker
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1585070556

Book Description

Inside shortcuts to dynamic web pages There are thousands of websites on the Internet and most look the same.

Customer Reviews:

Needs more basic design info then you have a real winner........2001-10-23

In the world of web design you need to know a lot of information in order to create and design web pages that are both complex yet effective. Formalized training is where most people start, but what if that is not an option you can afford?

With this course you get to learn at your pace, go over the areas you are having trouble with and best of all you can do all of this from you own house. The cd is easy to install and I had no trouble and was up and running in a matter of minutes.

It is imperative that you disable any virus software until after the install is complete. Also there is a book that coincides directly with the cd and is easy to follow. You'll be working with hypertext, learning web page navigation, using multimedia formats like gif and jpeg is but a few of the areas covered.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books