[.uk] The Adobe Illustrator CS3 Wow! Book (ISBN 032151842X)

so far so good:
the book does what it says. but it's full of little nice surprises. i've been using adobe illustrator for over 12 years now and it was a nice thing to find out i could still find some new tricks and different ways to use the tools that the ones I'm used to. it is really a great book for both beginners and experienced users, especially the showcase sections, you can learn a lot form that one.

great tool for learning/improving:
For the beginning illustrator/AI user, this is a great book with lots of useful techniques, easy to follow, comes with a CD.

Hard to follow, thank goodness for lecture!:
I had to purchase this book for a Adobe Illustrator class I am currently taking. I have to admit, this book really hasn't helped me learn a thing. It is very hard to follow and I am constantly lost during the sample exercises in each chapter. My professor has even told us to not follow quite a few of the steps and shows us the right way to do it. I'm so thankful I have a lecture to supplement reading, but at the same point that means I cannot miss one class! I have given up on the book as of now, the eighth week of class. I took a class last semester on InDesign, the text book was amazing (Exploring InDesign by Terry Rydberg)! I wish this book had the same type of format.

Disappointing;sparse info on a complicated program:
I was very disappointed in this book. The cost of the book, even used, does not justify the content; sparse on instructions for a highly complicated program. Illustrator requires detailed instructions because it is not necessarily user intuitive nor friendly. The book features many pages of fancy colored illustrations created w/ the program but does not go into any details on how they were created. Even some of Illustrator's advanced features like Live Trace and mesh blends; not enough instructions provided. Important areas such as Pathfinder and custom brush, I felt was glossed over. The help files on the accompanying CD is no better. Tutorials on the bezier pen tool is marginal at best. You'll find much better tutorials on Adobe's website. Its a good book for getting inspiration with the full color gallery section but don't expect much on clear detailed instructions.

Amazing book!:
This book is amazing for graphic artists. It's full of tons of tricks to perfect your design game. I recommend it!