InDesign CS3 for Macintosh and Windows (Visual QuickStart Guide)

This book is very in depth and the author is clearly knowledgeable, so for that I give it high marks. However, as someone who was completely new to InDesign (and all Adobe programs), I was hoping for a guide that was easy to follow and that gave me some sort of path to take to become comfortable with the program. This guide claims to be "the quick, easy way" to learn but there is no step-by-step instruction and the pages are cluttered with information. I was hoping for a "classroom approach," and this guide reads more like a reference manual with no cohesion between instructions. It's got all the answers, but the presentation is clearly geared toward more experienced users. Anyone approaching Adobe products for the first time should look elsewhere. I am going to try CS3 for dummies and hope for better results.

With zero experience with layout programs, this book did a very credible job of walking me through and making me not only knowledgable, but competent. A couple of spots in the book I thought could have been better arranged...different order of teaching, but that is really a minor detail. A number of software books just take you through the keyboard strokes without detailed explanations of the tools, their properties, and especially, how those tools relate to actaul production. This book does a great job of giving the complete picture of not only how, but when and why.

If you've never used InDesign CS3 this book is for you.

Okay, I know I rated Blatner and Kvern's RWIDCS3 book 5 stars, but when you're on deadline and looking for a quick, concise answer on how to do something fast this one's the book to reach for. Frankly, do yourself a huge favor and keep both titles close at hand. They make a powerful duo.