Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium All-in-One For Dummies 2nd Edition

This book is essential for someone who owns the Creative Suite for Designers. If you have had it before, it brings you up to date on the changes and additions to each individual program. If, like me, you've owned individual programs in the suite but never the entire suite, it gives you a general overview of the purposes and capabilities of each individual program, and an idea of how to make the Suite work together seamlessly and in an intelligently coordinated manner.The initial overview serves to:* define the scope of each program* help you set Suite-wide preferences for color management, etc.,* familiarizes you with elements of the user interface, concepts like layers, shortcuts, and menus that are common to all programs,* shows you how to move the same file from program to program or work with files created in another Suite application* and just generally points out ways to work more efficiently.From there, you proceed to program-specific details on each of the seven component programs. Each program is given sufficient attention that you become familiar with its capabilities, interface, and very general usage instructions for common tasks. This overview or introduction covers the important features and is sufficient to make you feel comfortable in the workspace and eager to experiment, but is not a substitute for a book that goes into more depth and specifics on the type of work that you plan to do with an individual program.Looking over the programs I know fairly well (Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Acrobat), I found the information to be both general and relevant to all types of users. In Photoshop, for example, which has two constituencies (the photographer and the designer) both needs were well covered. Since this is the first time that I have owned Photoshop Extended, I appreciated the introduction to those features. The coverage of the other two is equally good and, since I was upgrading from several versions back, I really benefited for the review and update.I was vaguely familiar with both InDesign and Illustrator and had often seen other people work with them. I found that the explanations were very understandable and sufficient to allow me to create a basic document in either, but not a complex project. (Both these programs have steep learning curves).Flash and Fireworks were two programs I've even never seen used. I now understand them enough to know that I'll probably never need Flash (thank goodness!) but I really should get to know Fireworks better. I'm actively getting familiar with the program and I can understand the explanations given and the concepts involved since it intersects so well with both Photoshop and Dreamweaver. The instructions in this book are sufficient to get me started and keep me entertained for a while.So, all in all, I'm delighted to have gotten the book. It is fact-oriented, not project-oriented. It is not aimed at the professional who has been working with all these programs for a long time, but anyone else (from beginner to strong intermediate) will benefit from the coordinated overview. Sure, it's possible to just play around with the programs until you figure them out (or, at least, those parts you actually need), but there is no substitute for laying a good groundwork of basic skills and practical knowledge about each program and a clear and up-to-date overview of where everything fits in.

I am not a graphic designer or big user of the Adobe software but I use it occasionally and found that this book was great for getting me up quickly and helping me use the software. I found that the instructor was clear and simply stated so even a novice like me could get going and produce some nice projects very quickly.When I looked to see what else was available from these authors, I found that they have a many more books with video and lesson files on DVD, which I cannot wait to try out. Look for another review from me on one or more of their books under the series name Digital Classroom.

I did not personally use this book. I bought it for someone who needed to learn Adobe Creative Suite fast. This book really seemed to help him get the overview of the program. He still had to search for tutorials on how to do the more detailed work. Overall I would highly suggest these 'For Dummies' books. There are full of great basis info and are laid out in a way that it is very easy to follow. I really do like that they put all of these 'books' into one larger volume. So much easier to keep track of one book than EIGHT!! I would highly suggest this book in particular and this brand of books to my friends and family. Don't feel like a dummy for reading FOR DUMMIES!

I couldn't have asked for more out of this book! Since I am a complete beginner in all Adobe creative suite products, I was surprised at the books ability to walk me through the basics as well as teach the new features that are introduced in the CS5 version - and pack it into just 1 book. This book covers a lot of ground (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Acrobat 9, Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks) while keeping it simple enough for "Dummies".I do not hestitate to recommend this book to a beginner, intermediate or to someone with more advanced skills; the Creative Suite 5 Design Premium all-in-one for Dummies is a valuable resource. I will definitely keep this book handy - I plan to use it as a reference guide until I become an expert with the programs.

This is a great reference book which has all the ingredients to understanding and using the Creative Suite 5 package from Adobe. Now that I know most of the programs and how they coordinate I am rereading the book and find it very useful and well written. My hat goes off to the authors for being willing to write a how to on such a huge amount of information and make it concise and easy to use as well.I highly recommend this book. But you have to open the programs and be willing to use them to really learn and understand how great they all work for whatever your graphic writing needs are.

I have CS3, and got a book like this to get to know it better. So when I got CS5 this book seemed like what I needed to know and use all the new parts that it has. So far, Yes. I am looking forward to learning all the new stuff to play/work with Photoshop all over again. ;)

This book covers everything you need to know without reading like a 1st grader's textbook. It also doesn't assume what you know or that you've ever used the previous versions of the software and covers the necessary points with the perfect amount of detail. I found the tips and tricks that are sprinkled throughout the chapter to be extremely helpful and I have a much better grasp of how to accomplish my goals when using any of CS5. I highly recommend this book- even a seasoned pro might discover some features that they weren't aware of.

I usually use "Dummies" books as a starting point for most new subjects. However, in this case, I was looking for something to help me quickly make the transition from CS3 to CS5.5. I use Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver and hoped this would be less expensive than getting a book on each product. My mistake. For someone using CS5 for the first time, it may be great but for the person who wants a more comprehensive understanding of the various features Adobe has built into CS5 - Photoshop layers for example - this book is kinda weak.

Excellent book that covers each product in quite a lot of detail. If you dont want lots of seperate books on each Adobe product then this is the book for you. It gives you ample amounts of information and guides on what you can do and then the rest you will learn by playing around with each Adobe programme.

if you are looking for the full how to of the versions of e.g Ilustrator, Photoshop and InDesign in this book - you will be disappointed as it only covers the new features of the version.If you want to learn the package in its entirety I suggest you buy another book - as this book assumes you know how to use the packages already.

He says that it has been very helpful. Does what it says on the tin as he can be slow picking stuff up... That sounds terrible!

this is a easy to understand book for beginners if you already know how to use the suite this will be of no help to you

Helped me out a lot. A bit out of date on some things now though.