This is the Safari online edition of the printed book.

Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 is the definitive reference to Adobe's industry-standard vector graphics software and is now in 4-color. With an easy, engaging style, author and past Illustrator product manager Mordy Golding takes readers through all of the features of the program, explaining not only how to use the multitude of features but also why and when to use them. This edition has been thoroughly updated for Illustrator CS4 and includes techniques on using the new multiple artboards for quicker Illustrator work across a variety of designs, demonstrations of the new Blob Brush tool and transparency in gradients, overviews of the new cross-product feature support with InDesign, Flash, and Flex (opening up new opportunities for collaborations between developers and designers), and coverage on a whirlwind of other new useful features.

Along with tips, sidebars, and expert commentary, there are also numerous 4-color illustrations and screen shots from contributing artists included to offer readers the most complete coverage on this extraordinary application. Designers from all fields--illustrators, animators, package designers, graphic designers, web designers, and more--will find Real World Adobe Illustrator CS4 their one-stop guide to creating powerful designs in Illustrator.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 6 Ratings

Outstanding Book, a Pleasure to Read - 2009-03-13
Reviewer Rating:
As a longtime user of Illustrator (but an older, pre-CS version), I felt I had a pretty good handle on the program. Then I got Illustrator CS4, and I felt like a newbie all over again! I needed to get up-to-speed quickly on all the new features and changes,so, I started looking for a good manual, since Adobe offers no printed manual with their software. I chose this book, and I'm glad I did.

Before I go further, let me state that this book is NOT for someone just learning Illustrator. The book is categorized for "intermediate/advanced" users, and that's accurate. The author assumes that you'll have a certain familiarity with basic Illustrator terms and functions which have remained consistent throughout the program's various iterations. But, if you are in the intermediate-and-up category, Mordy Golding has written a book that is well-organized, well-written, and a 4-color pleasure to behold.

The author covers all the new and VERY cool features of Illustrator CS4, in an informal and non-technical manner that is quite easy to read. The book itself is laid out logically, and, in the introduction, the author even directs you to specific chapters which are of use to specific types of users -- production artists, web designers, package designers, etc. The table of contents is thorough, making it easy to find just what you want to know. Since this is a book for advanced users, it's more likely to be used as a reference for performing a specific task, so the ToC is really helpful.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants or needs to update their Illustrator skills to the CS4 version.

A book to grow with - 2009-08-30
Reviewer Rating:
The great thing about this book is that as a newbie to Illustrator CS4 it immediately revealed the mysteries of the basic tools while also providing a lot of information for more advanced techniques. I can drill down on more techniques as my skills progress. This book is well illustrated with good examples and the narrative is straight forward. I am glad I chose this book and highly recommend it.

GOOD FOR BEGINNERS - 2009-04-20
Reviewer Rating:
This is a thorough, but basic introduction to Illustrator suitable for users who have never used the program. It's a big volume, so experienced users navigate through hundreds of pages of fundamentals to get at the specific information they need. The TOC is good, but the index, which is more specific and speedier to use, needs to be massively fleshed out. I would rather have a book that focuses only on what's new in CS4, with a big fat index to keep around as a reference. I would have been happy with a Visual Quickstart guide, but couldn't find one for Illustrator CS4. Conversely, I always find the resources embedded in the programs clipped and inadequate, and most of the time I'm left going "Huh?" Adobe no longer includes a convenient paper manual. That's no big loss, but at least it was something on hand immediately. A CD ships with the software, but what a time-suck hassle. I'm too impatient. I need a great big index.

At the time I made this purchase, CS4 was so new there wasn't much of anything else. It was obvious this book was the best among the short list of choices. CS4 forums are still thin and generally hard to search. At this writing Adobe hasn't even upgraded their training videos on their website from CS3(!) Those are short videos that quickly cover specific functions when you get stuck.

Illustrator has definitely morphed into a different beast with CS4, so even most experienced users are going to need some training. I tried to wing it, but quickly got frustrated.

After CS2 corrupted, I automatically and blindly upgraded from CS2 to CS4 without checking it out. My bad. Had I been aware that CS4 had been deployed like one second before I installed it, that there was a dearth of training and that Adobe still offered tech support for CS3, I would have just upgraded to CS3 instead. Some people are not so enthusiastic about the new version. I'm one of them.

Very clear and useful - 2009-05-28
Reviewer Rating:
I am something of an Illustrator novice and I am finding this book enormously helpful. Well written and clearly laid out (as one should expect from a text about Illustrator!) I have read no other books that teach the software so cannot make an informed comparison, but no complaints about this so far (I am still working my way through it!)

Excellent "Nuts & Bolts" Book - 2009-11-04
Reviewer Rating:
I've read many how-to books on Photoshop & Illustrator. The two basic types are "Here's what the menus & buttons do" and "Here's techniques & recipes for creating a certain look or effect. This book leans more towards the first type but I learned just as much about the second type because he breaks down the complex new features like Live Paint, Recoloring Artwork, Meshes, and Gradients. It's my 6th Illustrator book over the years and I usually skip the parts I already know and look for the changes. I ended up reading it cover to cover by chapter with computer practice after each chapter. His description of each feature just made instant sense to me as I have more of an engineer's mind than an artist's and he tells me how Illustrator actually assembles the file. His is the best description of Live Paint that I've read. Now that I know what is really happening, Now I can start to concentrate on the creative stuff.

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