The Graphic Designer's Digital Toolkit: A Project-Based Introduction to Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud, Illustrator Creative Cloud & InDesign Creative Cloud (Stay Current with Adobe Creative Cloud)

Bought this for class, opened it once

I give only three stars because I am not happy with the price of this book; it is so expensive that I had to opt for an e-book which I hate. Impossible to rent a paperback version either. I downloaded Kindle and that a few minutes after I had the book for my Introduction to Computer, a class I had to take when I actually passed my Adobe Certifications already, but but having transferred from a college where the book author taught ,I am still waiting for my equivalences which I will probably never obtain. Anyway, it turns out that you should get this book or a previous version if you have never studied anything about Illustrator, PSD and Indesign, or if you barely practice and want a refresh. If I am not happy with the price, the book goes to the essential.The book is decomposed into 4 unequal units, each being divided into 2/4/4/2 chapters which include tutorials and exercises (you will have to create an account on Cengage.com to have access to free material).To start with, this book introduces you to the "OS World" through Mac OSX Maverick® Windows 7® and Windows 8® and consequently it should be revised a 8th time. That being said, the book underlines the necessity to understand one's equipment and softwares like Word for instance as all of us will certainly have to import Words files into Indesign at one point. Another important aspect of the GD profession in Unit I part 2 refers to the importance of respecting certain rules when designing for the client (just like never avoid to consult him all along the project for instance).Unit II is about PSD CC. (Adjusting Images in Photoshop, Working with selections, layers and channels. A tutorial is about restoring old pictures. Unit III is about Illustrator CC and deals with shapes, brushes, Symbols, and Layers, but also with the Pen Tool. UNIT IV is about digital publishing and is about the fundamentals of Indesign, how to work with multipage documents...I think the fact they have a glossary is a very good thing as I noticed that most of the students in my class are bad at terminology. Helpful pieces of advice are graciously provided all along the chapters and through the 40 projects the book includes.

I am unsure what all the fuss is about with all the negative reviews of this book. I agree that it costs more than it should, but I have found it very informative. I have used Photoshop for years but not to the level that this book teaches. I have learned so much more than I have ever used. It is possible that those that have used this book may not have followed the steps closely. I am disappointed however that I am not able to obtain the content as explained in the text. When I go to the site as directed I do not have access to the material. Support just directs me to the same place and most of the content is locked. I would need to purchase the book from them in order to access all the content. Not really all that big of a deal since the material for the class I am taking provided everything needed for the select sections being taught. This will make a nice resource for my library. My only complaint, and that is not really the fault of the book, I am using the current version of Photoshop, and so far a couple of things were changed in my version that the book refers to as something else.

This is a required book for a college class I'm taking. I am a beginning Photoshop user - as in never touched the software in my life (though I've used other photo editing software). So I needed the basics - like where stuff is, what is meant by "Tool Options Bar", where the "Lasso" tool is, etc. This book is being used to teach beginners yet the author assumes the person has used the software before.The print is tiny and cramped together, it's difficult to figure out which part is reading material and which part is the actual assignment, there are grammar errors, typos, and misspellings throughout, it's sloppy and incredibly frustrating. I ended up having to buy an online class just to show me the basics, how to set up my preferences, have access to practice materials, etc.Additionally, this book is just a scanned copy of a book. And not a good scanned copy (see photos) It's not a digital book, so you don't get all of those benefits. It constantly refers to getting "Extras & Goodies" material from a website called cengagebrain dot com. It claims all you have to do is type in the ISBN and voila! However, it doesn't work. It's been 4 weeks of emails back & forth between this Cengage company who has no idea what book I'm trying to find, even though they rent/sell it too. All they want to do is push some $50 a month plan on you, implying you need it to do your coursework. I didn't get any access to anything promised.If this is required for a class - tell your instructor to choose ANYTHING else.

Needed this book for class but I was not impressed by the knowledge. There were a lot of spelling and grammar errors which bothered me a bit and a lot of the context is outdated. If you need it for school then you have no choice but if you’re looking to actually learn and become a better designer I would pass this one up.

I used this book for a class and the instructor has to change how to do assignments because the book was wrong. I have never used a book for a class that was like this before. In my last assignment, the book said to find a file before beginning the assignment. This was just one of the issues I had using this book, I spent almost an hour looking for this file only to find the file didn't exist. Beware of the book. If I could give it a 0 rating I would.

The book does fall apart but it has been a great learning tool. The step by step projects have really helped me to learn new skills.

I would have to agree with so many other reviews. Chapter one was painfull to read. Overly detailed & lots of issues loading stuff from the publishers site. Hopefully thinks will pick up.