Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator are two of the most widely-used and powerful image-editing and illustration programs available. Graphic designers, illustrators, artists, and Web gurus often turn to both products in tandem to create professional-quality graphics for print and the Web.
Design Essentials, which has been called "the Joy of Cooking for designers," is part tutorial, part inspirational resource for graphic designers and illustrators who are familiar with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator and want to produce superb graphics. Perhaps you need to create text effects, patterns, textures, or transparent shadows? Look up the technique you want to learn, and this book leads you through the paces. Concise two-page spreads let readers digest the information quickly and easily--just follow the step-by-step text and four-color graphics. Readers will discover operations and techniques that open up new avenues of creativity.
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
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Photoshop & Illustrator tutorials:
In Italy this book is considered as one of the best graphic design "bible", is used in every graphic institute to teach & learn essential tutorials that everyone who wants to become a graphic designer must know.
THIS BOOK IS NOT FOR WEB ARTISTS:
I am not an artistically gifted person, so I was excited to see this book. I hoped, by the title, that there would be some good ideas for doing cool stuff with vector graphics in Illustrator and then optimizing them for the web with Photoshop, but I was sadly mistaken. The coolest elements of this book were the "60's Style" Conformed Text and the Text Following Path tidbits, but anyone with much experience in Illustrator probably already knows those things.
Do not get this book if you're looking for... more info
Slight additions to 3rd Edition:
It is an interesting book if you happen not to have the previous edition. There are not too many new examples, these are added to most that appeared on 3rd edition. Sadly a compact narrow book format has replaced a more suited wide desktop size. Techniques have not either got to far or up, is still somewhat basic and does not cover transparencies or other Illustrator 9/10 features. A pity I went on holidays and could not return it on time. If you have have earlier book, look elsewhere.
Useful and inspiring:
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... more info
Customer Review: So I got this book because of the movie. I struggled to read it. The author goes into tooooo much detail about things and it just drags on. She also writes the book for higher level readers which turns me off since there is toooo much detail
Customer Review: As an academician, I do a lot of research work. This book has made it very easy for me to do the proper referencing in my research papers. On top of this, I like the details on research writing such as 'How to express ideas and reducing bias in language'. As English is not my first language, this... more info
Customer Review: Kaplan's "Sharp Writing" is a practical overview of grammar and usage, but is quite basic. If you are looking for a book that will provide you with more "Style" advice than grammar, I would recommend Style: Toward Clarity and Grace (Chicago Guides to Writing, Editing, and Publishing). I would... more info
Customer Review: The book is generally poorly written. It is extremely colloquial, and thus could be of use for teaching younger students. However, for an educated audience (college level), it is extremely weak and close to useless. I was assigned this book for an introductory writing course at my college and was... more info
Customer Review: This seems to be a pretty comprehensive guide to English grammar which is to the point. There are plenty of useful examples and it covers common mistakes as well as how to write and speak clearly. Best of all it's free. What's not to like?
Customer Review: Had Twain stopped after the first section, in which he describes riverboat piloting and his exploits therein, I would have come away with a positive impression of the book. His piloting writings were entertaining and interesting, even though not particularly relevant in today's world. However... more info
Customer Review: Jane Austen's first completed novel is lighter and more humorous in tone than her subsequent work. It is however, as beautifully written as that later work - there was, as always with Austen, a lot of rewriting before publication, which in this case was posthumous - and it is in no sense an inferior... more info
Customer Review: I had to buy this for my honors thesis course in college, but ended up never having to use it. You could easily find anything useful in this book for free online. This book was too long and too expensive.
Customer Review: Our order was scheduled for 24 hour delivery. It disappeared. Called Mon. about Thursday's shipment. (Fri. due date.) I was told I could get a replacement by talking to someone at the end of the day. Replacement was sent without an additional call. (Thanks!) Product arrived Wed. evening.
Customer Review: My daughter had to read this book over the summer for a grade in her Honors English class. I liked the fact that it was cheap, but on the other hand, what I paid for shipping I could have went ahead and purchased it out of the store. I wasn't to thrilled about that!
Customer Review: Amazon has started lumping together all of the reviews for the various versions of a title, even if the review doesn't pertain to that particular version. The review by Forestlawn, above, is a prime example. Their review has to do, apparently, with a 48 page printed book, and not the audio book... more info
Customer Review: Research is most definitely a craft and as with all research books, there is a great deal written about scientific research and medical research. Generic research guides do little to offer help to Musicological research. Yet this is a helpful resource tool if taken generically.
Customer Review: where to bloody begin.... ah.. in my junior year i and everyone else in class was forced to read the book and watch the horrible origanal slow and boring movie. after we got done with it almost everyone in the whole dang room yelled out that it suck, right at the same time. both this and the great... more info
Customer Review: Great job! I ordered a total of three books with my order. I paid extra fees for quick shipping, but not for this book. However, this book arrived first.
Customer Review: It was not the book advertised--close, it was the red dot 2009 MLA updates but no APA updates. My professor said it will work--but really need updated version. Need to be careful you are getting the right product. I did not realize it was the wrong one until my professor said it does not have the... more info
Customer Review: This book is a must have for anyone attending college that has to write papers. It will guide you through citing your references correctly. I would have been lost without it. I was happy that this book was cheaper on Amazon versus our bookstore, and other retailers in the area.
Customer Review: It's a very helpful book to any writer.
It will have you taking a closer look at how you write and edit your work. Should you hold the craft of writing dear enough, you'll never write without it. Prepare to realize many of the simple writing mistakes you make every day that, while proper in... more info
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