Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) 5.5 and Illustrator(R) 8.0 Advanced Classroom in a Book

As always, the lessons are written so that even readers with just a beginner's familiarity with the software can follow along yet more experienced users are not left twiddling their thumbs. There are thorough explanations of each step and sidebars along the way that offer further tips and insights. Working through the lessons on the computer would be most effective, though the tutorials are so generously illustrated that it's still possible to learn quite a bit by just reading.

The first lesson begins simply enough by resizing and resampling an image in Photoshop, adjusting the colors and preparing it for either print or the Web. The next lesson compares shading and blending techniques in the two applications. There's an excellent tutorial on acquiring images, whether through scanning, digital cameras and Photo CDs, screen captures, or analog and digital video. It shows how to decide on resolutions beforehand and clean up the images afterward.

Other lessons cover masking techniques, using Illustrator for typography and layout, learning how to master the pen tool and Bézier curves, using spot colors and creating a duotone, making an animated Web banner, and combining the two applications with After Effects to create animations (a trial version of AE is included).

It's recommended that readers work through both the Adobe Photoshop 5.5 CIB and the Adobe Illustrator 8.0 CIB before starting on this book. But even if they haven't done that, anyone who works with images will find these tutorials accessible and immensely useful. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Topics and tasks using Photoshop 5.5 and Illustrator 8.0 not covered in previous CIB editions, including acquiring, editing and compositing images, shading and blending, working with the pen tool, masking, color management, creating duotones and using spot colors, preparing images for print or the Web, and working with animations. CD-ROM includes all lesson files, the Adobe fonts used (including Garamond Expert and Jenson), and Acrobat Reader 4 and After Effects 4.1 trial.

Product Description
Provides lessons in Photoshop 5.5 and Adobe Illustrator 8.0 designed to let you learn at your own pace. Each lesson provides step-by-step instructions for creating a specific project from start to finish. Softcover. CD-ROM included.

If you like this book, be sure to pick up Wendy Crumpler's Photoshop, Painter, and Illustrator book.


Good tutorial   November 5, 2000
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

As with the rest of the "Classroom in a Book" series, this is probably the best way to learn Adobe Products. This is a great tutorial for intermediate-advanced users of Illustrator and Photoshop to fill in the gaps of their knowledge especially for anyone who doesn't understand the synergy that exists when these two products are combined.

I really hope more tutorial books using multiple software packages to complete projects are released.


A "must" for Photoshop 5.5 and Illustrator 8.0 users.   July 4, 2000
 4 out of 5 found this review helpful

The Adobe staff's training workbook Photoshop 5.5 And Illustrator 8.0 provides advanced users with a series of training lessons developed by experts and tested in classes and computer labs. Projects use both applications and include plenty of tips for preparing and editing Web graphics, animation, and skills already learned by the user. Ownership of these programs is a 'must' for users, with some prior background lending to these books' easy instructions.


Advanced Techniques for the Intermediate level User   April 10, 2000
 224 out of 227 found this review helpful

Ok, this is a good book. A very good book. It is well written, clear and easy to follow. And the projects are, for the most part, more useful in real-world than the basic classroom in a book series.

I just think the title is misleading. This is NOT a book of ADVANCED techniques. It is NOT "Bert Monroy" advanced techniques or "Photoshop channel chops" advanced techniques.

What this book actually is, is the NEXT STEP UP from PS & Illustrator basic classrooms in a book. And if that is where you are in your level of knowledge of PS & Illustrator, then put your money on the table and get this book because you will learn A LOT.

Maybe my problem is that I expect more from the people at Adobe. Every week they post these "showcases" at Adobe.com showing these amazing images that were created using their software. I for one wish they would start showing us HOW to create them instead of WHO is creating them. Anyway, I digress.

Here's some usefull information on this book.

Chapter 1; PREPARING IMAGES FOR PRINT OR THE WEB. (yawn) You got this in the basic CIAB.

Chapter 2; SHADING & BLENDING. Been there, done that. Nothing new.

Chapter 3; ACQUIRING DIGITAL IMAGES. Scanning, Photo CD, etc. (I kid you not).

Chapter 4; ADVANCED MASKING. O.K., now you're starting to learn something. A nice chapter on some neat masking tricks in both PS & Illustrator.

Chapter 5; ADVANCED COMPOSITING. Nice chapter on blending with layer masks, layer modes, etc.

Chapter 6; COLOR MANAGEMENT & DISTRIBUTION. Hey, you at Adobe... quite with the chapters on "optimizing web-art". WE GET THE POINT, already...Low resolution & Primary colors. Jeez.

Chapter 7; ADVANCED TYPOGRAPHY AND LAYOUT. Always useful, always overlooked. Great stuff.

Chapter 8; MASTERING THE PEN TOOL. If you didn't get the hang of it in the basic CIAB, this info isn't going to help.

Chapter 9; TWO COLOR PRINT PROJECTS. Art on a budget. Actually, this chapter does have some nice info on getting good results with spot color.

Chapters 10 & 11; Throw away stuff used to fill pages (animated Web Ad Banner, etc).

Well, thats it. It's your call. If you need to bone up on some of the techniques listed above, they are well presented and you WILL learn from this book. It IS very well done.

If you are looking for REAL ACTUAL EARTH SHATTERING GURU advanced stuff on PS & Illustrator, save your money. You should buy "Photoshop Channel Chops" & Bert Monroy's "Photorealistic Techniques with PhotoShop & Illustrator". Now THAT book will put hair on your chest.


The advanced book which was missing in a successful series   March 28, 2000
 22 out of 33 found this review helpful

This book meets the needs of many people who are happy with the best-selling Adobe Classroom-in-a- book series, but found their content to be more appropriate to novices. Using the same tutorial approach with concise, well-illustrated and clear explanations, this book is a must for web designers and any digital-era artist.