Design Essentials for Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) 7 and Illustrator(R)...

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 240 pages
• Published by: Adobe Press
• Edition: 4th Edition July 9, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0201713632
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0201713633
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Weighs: 1.4 pounds

Product Review
Luanne Seymour Cohen has assembled another solid design "cookbook" in which the recipes are complete meals, not just snacks. Design Essentials for Adobe Photoshop 7 and Illustrator 10 has step-by-step instructions for real-world design and illustration problems using Photoshop and Illustrator. It's perfect for those times when you know exactly which visual style you need--perhaps a neon lighting effect or that cool "graphic novel" look. And it's equally as helpful for times when you're just looking for inspiration or to sharpen your skills--for example, learning how Channels can be better for turning a photo from color to grayscale.

Projects include transforming a photograph into various styles of painterly images and into a mosaic composition that looks handcrafted out of tissue paper. Readers also find out how to simulate marbled paper, make transparent shadows and gradients on a path, draw 3-D packages and bar charts, create type with a scratchboard fill or even in the style of a '60s psychedelic poster. One section shows a sampling of filter combinations, like "Mosaic + Ripple" and "Dry Brush + Graphic Pen."

Design Essentials is laid out with the steps on the left of the page, color screen shots on the right. Although this is not a "basics" book, even a beginner would be able to follow along. The book assumes that readers are familiar with Photoshop and Illustrator, but a nifty appendix of shortcuts and handy tips (for example, hit the X key to switch the foreground/background colors) makes this a great reference for readers of all levels. And even though the focus is on the latest versions of Photoshop and Illustrator, several of the sections will still make sense to those readers who haven't yet upgraded.

Featuring completely new examples, this book's usefulness will last long after newer versions of Photoshop and Illustrator have come out. I still regularly reach for my copy of Cohen's 1993 Imaging Essentials (featuring similar tips on using Photoshop 2.5 and Illustrator 5!). This new edition has now earned a prominent place on my bookshelf as well. --Mike Caputo

From Library Journal
Here are the latest editions of two very good manuals.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Design Essentials (3rd Edition) (Essentials) (Paperback) I'm not a professional graphic designer. But as a graphics enthusiast, and webmaster by profession, i take my occasional graphic design work quite seriously. As someone who is always searching for ways to use Photoshop in better, more efficient ways, I found this book to be both helpful and inspiring. Design Essentials is a very hands-on book, providing basic, short instructions, which familiarize the beginner and novice Photoshop user with all the little tricks that transform an image from "nice" to "great", as well as providing the necessary explanations and "how-to" information on those tools beginners like myself still need to discover and maximize the full potential of. Personally, i had a lot of fun both reading the book, and experimenting with its tutorials. I just wish I had a copy of Adobe Illustrator, since it seems like a wonderful tool. Comment | | (Report this)