Adobe Illustrator CS3 Classroom in a Book

I'm very happy with my purchase. The product was in perfect condition and I recieved it in a timely manner.

I am very satisfied with the product and service provided.

I recently completed the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book and decided to follow up this success by taking on Adobe Illustrator. Since my first experience with the Classroom in a Book series had been so positive, I picked up their Illustrator book. When I started the Photoshop book, I already had some self-taught knowledge of the program. When I started the Illustrator book, I had never used the program, other than to complete a couple of lessons in the previous book that integrated Photoshop and Illustrator files. And, I'll admit that my skills in drawing with a mouse are poor at best. However, I hoped to walk away from the Illustrator book with a higher level of comfort with the tool and be able to utilize it for some of my design tasks.

This book helped me only partially meet my goals. Like the other books in the Classroom series, the Illustrator book was separated into step-by-step lessons for beginning users. However, in contrast with my previous experiences, this book felt less cohesive and at times poorly written. While most of the lessons in the Photoshop book centered around completing one specific project designed to teach a particular set of tools, the Illustrator book tended to jump around, having the user complete bits and pieces of several projects. I didn't get the satisfaction of looking at one completely finished piece that I could compare with the illustrations in the book. Some of the lessons were too long based on the concept being taught. For example, an entire lesson on how to use the Zoom tool seemed extraneous. Other lessons seemed to skim over more complex concepts that I felt would have benefited my foundational knowledge of the program. In addition, the instructional writing was poor in this book. I found myself reading some passages several times to determine what I was actually supposed to do. I suppose, this could partially be blamed on my lack of familiarity with the program, but if the book is marketed for beginning users, the language the authors use to describe a task should be clear and easy to follow. Overall, I was disappointed with the quality of this particular title in the Classroom in a Book series, and I seriously question whether I'll look to this series when I get ready to pursue Flash training.

So, I'm walking away from the Adobe Illustrator CS3 Classroom in a Book with a basic familiarity with Illustrator. I have basic competency using the available tools in the program. However, the level of instruction the book provided hasn't given me confidence that there will be lasting knowledge transfer to design tasks on the job.

Some of the chapters are just wayyyyy to basic. I do not need a whole chapter on how to use the zoom tool

I had to purchase this book for a class and even though I am completely new to Adobe Illustrator I did not find this book useful. I actually had a easier time using the Help in Iluustrator or going online. The index is mislabeled and doesn't even list everything that is in the book. I will be donating this book to my local library because I don't see me ever using it in the future.

Having never opened Illustrator before I took a class in it, this book has been a life saver. This book is utilized both with the instructor lead course and the on-line course. At the end of a session, I am often confused and struggling, but when I go back and step-by-step review the lesson in the book, it becomes clear and makes sense of what we did in class. In actuality, with this book, you don't need an instructor. You can be your own at your own pace.