This was an excellent instructional on the basic workings of Illustrator that I would recommend to anyone mildly computer savvy. This is not a "for dummies" edition. I, in fact, prefer the straightforward approach taken here as opposed to the more longwinded, and often redundant, nature of many of these tutorial books. If you're ready to jump right in, this is a fantastic start. I would've given it five stars if not for one very major gripe, and some minor complaints. There is no mention of the gradient mesh tool anywhere, which I find surprising, given that it is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. An entire chapter should have been devoted to it. I also felt that there was not enough instruction on gradient fills. Without extensive knowledge of these tools, shading and blending effects in Illustrator are all but impossible to achieve. A troubleshooting chapter would have also been appreciated. Perhaps they shouldn't have limited themselves to 100 techniques.

Like Tester from Maryland, I selected this book because I'm a true beginner with Illustrator. I had hoped to find a single, good book to get me started using Ai CS3 on a real world project. I'm going broke buying Id and Ps CS3 books, but alas, this book won't be the only Ai guide I need. An example is Tip #2 on page 6, defining preferences: "The significance of some of the options in the Preferences dialog will only become clear as you learn more about Illustrator." Well, as a truly rank beginner trying to work on a project right out of the box, this doesn't cut it. I need to be clear on all the preference settings so I can pick the right ones. As I go deeper into my project, I find difficulties that are probably related to something I didn't do setting up the project preferences, like not being able to click on a preview box in Live Trace, Object, options. I need to be able to see how various settings look on the screen, but the preview box isn't active and I can't check it. Is this because I didn't set something up in Preferences, or because I didn't select the map on the art board first? Or was it because I need to create it as a layer before I can work with it? I know it's my fault, but this book won't help me figure that out. The description of cropping is also wonderfully arcane, skimpy, and woefully inadequate for this beginner. I'm used to cropping tools in other apps that all work similarly, but in Ai are very different. That being said, I still would have bought this book knowing what's in it, and after I find a few more basic and in depth books, am sure that this one will be really useful. I don't regret buying it. If I knew more I probably would have given it 5 stars. It's not the author's fault.

This book is great for every kind of Illustrator user. If you are new to Illustrator it gives you straight out instruction on how to accomplish several important tasks in an easy way. If you are an Illustrator expert it's perfect for looking up a feature you don't use often to get a refresh on or more insight to the feature then you had before. This book is also great for anyone upgrading from previous versions, it has a nice overview of all the new tools and features. Also this book doesn't add the fluff and gets straight down to the point which other books can take 4 times as many pages to accomplish the same points. This book is highly recommended.

This is an excellent reference for someone that simply needs to quickly know how to do something in Illustrator CS3 (should also be useful for CS4) without having to wade through too many pages to do it. The truth is, what is contained in this book covers 95% of what you need to know, and it has become the first book I grab when I need to refresh my memory about a technique. I would think a student would want to learn what is covered in here first, as it serves a good framework when they go back and learn in more depth later about various techniques, so I think it would be great in a classroom setting. Plus, it is certainly priced right for a student.

I learned Illustrator on a need-to-know basis. Like many busy professionals, I learned only as much as I needed to know when I needed to know it. In the past I tried using the Classroom in a Book to increase my Illustrator skills, and while I generally like that approach - the book comes with a CD of sample files that allow the user to complete an interesting, attractive and complex project while working through each chapter - I've never managed to find the time to work through a whole chapter in one sitting. I need instructions in bite-size pieces, and that's what Adobe Illustrator CS3 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques provides. Each technique is explained in just a few pages, so it's not comprehensive enough to turn the reader into an expert but it provides enough guidance to make the reader proficient in the use of that technique in just a few minutes.

Going through the book from beginning to end would give the reader a broad competency with Illustrator, as the 100 techniques cover the software fairly comprehensively. It is probably more effective, however, as a reference book. The book is great for beginners as it starts with the basics: creating new documents, saving and printing, finding tools, and drawing lines. Topics are arranged in a logical order, so that a technique never requires skills that weren't covered on previous pages in the book, but there is no progression from topic to topic. Techniques are arranged by topic into eleven chapters. The reader is not instructed to create a project and then build on it as he or she progresses from technique to technique or chapter to chapter. Each technique stands alone, and it is up to the reader to create a new AI file and try out the technique in his or her own unique way. At the end of the book I had screens full of interesting doodles and shapes, and a head full of new information, but no satisfyingly professional-looking image - as with the Classroom in a Book approach - that I could show off proudly and say "I made that."

The book includes many screen shots, but none of them are in color. This makes it less visually interesting than other books, but it does not interfere with instruction - everything is illustrated clearly. Another thing you won't find here is creative ideas for using Illustrator. This is a straightforward technical manual. It explains the basics, step by step, and it is up to the reader to provide the creativity and inspiration.