[.uk] Adobe Acrobat 8 PDF Bible (ISBN 0470050519)

Great Content, Dreadful layout:
Be advised that, while the content of this book is great, the formatting and layout are dreadful. I got it to read, so I could understand of Acrobat's diverse features. I've ended up using it purely as a reference. Every time I've tried to read it, I've given up in frustration after a few paragraphs. Like many technical manuals, the book is wide at 7.5 inches. A wide-format page calls for creativity in how text is formatted. With my book-length Lord of the Rings chronology, I used that extra width for some 1200 sidebar references to passages in Tolkien's writings. That worked quite well, much better than putting those references (footnote-like) at the bottom of the page. This book shows no such creativity. The body type is far too small (roughly 9 points) and appears to be printed in grey ink rather than black. The numerous 5 1/2-inch-wide lines of small type make it almost impossible for most readers to jump from the end of one line to the start of the next. In general, any text with more than 70-75 characters per line is hard to read. This book has page after page with 105-110 characters per line. Sheer misery. As any graphics pro will tell you, tiny type and a wide format don't go together. With a bit of work, the staff at Wiley could have created a much better looking book. The one saving grace is that the book includes a CD with the book as a PDF. Blown up 200%, it is a bit easier to read. (I've even thought of using my Mac's text-to-speech feature to have it read to me.) But the book on CD is almost a case study in how not to do an ebook. It's an enormous 255 meg file that causes Preview (on Macs) to moan and groan. And worse than that, it's formatted just like the printed book, rather than as a demonstration of how PDF can create an ebook that's better than the printed version in some ways. I can at least understand why Wiley might have used tiny type to reduce the page count in their print version. But I can't figure out why they'd do that with an ebook, where pages are virtual and free. In short, this book is an excellent reference to Acrobat 8, particularly since Adobe no longer includes printed manuals with their products. If that's what you need, look no further. But unless your eyes are young and sharp, don't buy this to read and study, particularly not while traveling by bus, train or plane. Like a dictionary, it's for reference only. --Mike Perry, Seattle Untangling Tolkien: A Chronology and Commentary for The Lord of the Rings

Difficult to read and incomplete:
Loaded with typographical, grammatical and even spelling errors, this book seems rushed to press. It's even missing crucial details about dynamic forms ("expand to fit"). Too much of this book is hard to follow and seems unnecessarily long. I expect more from a "Bible" book.

PDF Bible is great reference:
I bought it as a reference, not a tutorial, but it does have the latter and the CD with it has samples to use with tutorials if you choose. The CD also provides a searchable PDF of the entire book. Great if you have a laptop as the book is a bulky 2 inches thick. Each chapter has frequent CROSS-REF statements that refer you to other chapters which will elaborate in more detail on something mentioned in the current chapter. This is a plus! Reduces search time! If you are looking for an easy cover-to-cover read, this ain't it. If you want a reference where you can look up what you need only when you need it, this 1000+ page book is for you. Many books on this software cost as much or more but have perhaps 1/4 the material with lots of white space and cartoon silliness. The 22 page TOC and 36 chapters gives you some idea of the depth of coverage. Some books do not have that many pages in the index.

Heavy reading:
Excellent book to use as a reference. I keep it close by and can always find answers when I use it. Could use more informaion on creating forms, and integrating forms with application data.

Very Helpful:
Lots of good tips and very helpful navigating the new interface which is a pain to learn. Glad I bought this.