Reviews (14)

iLife for controlling your Mac activities
In reviewing iLife '05, I must say I've never seen a more thorough presentation. I would recommend this book to any Mac user. The included 90 minute CD is reason enough to purchase this great CD. What you read is supplemented by pictures to further explain each topic. A valuable investment.

Excellent Info for the Mac User
I am a new Mac user and this book is a great introduction and tutorial to the iLife 05 programs.The book is well written, easy to read and has lots of helpful photos and graphics. THe DVD is a great supplement as well.I would recommend this book to anyone new to Mac or iLife 05.

Very Helpful
This book is incredibly helpful for people just beginning on the Mac.It sets up each program seperately and also shows you how to get the best use of all of them together.The DVD is also a wonderful suppliment to the book, they follow along with each other. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Animation    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computer Graphics - General    6. Computers    7. Interactive multimedia    8. Macintosh (Computer)    9. Operating Systems - Macintosh    10. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    11. Multimedia   

Reviews (176)

Required Reading for all text workers
As the subject says, I'd consider this book required reading for everyone trying to express ideas in text. For example: I'm a professional software developer and have yet to get into a situation where I'd have to design a poster or similar thing,and yet, the principles Robin Williams explains in this book also apply in the context of software development as far as the layout of our source code is concerned. Design is everywhere, so you might as well learn the basics of it.

NonDesigners and Designers get fueled
This is an extremely helpful book for anyone of any history in design.Back-to-the-basics design by an author that keeps it simple.Has a huge typography section, as well as some humor (a rare find in these type of books), and a lot of learning without the struggle.Buy it, read it, and add it to your library.
book review
This book was very helpful in my computer graphic class. I learned alot about alignment and proximity. I recommend this book to all beginner graphic students ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Art & Art Instruction    2. Design - Book    3. Desktop Publishing    4. Desktop Publishing - General    5. Graphic Arts - General    6. Layout    7. Printing    8. Printing, Practical    9. Typography    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    11. Desktop publishing software    12. IBM mainframe operating systems    13. Macintosh   

Reviews (3)

Another great one!!
Fireworks made easy!!!

Good Concept to Get Started Fast
Macromedia is clearly devoted to the web page production business. Fireworks is their graphics package that is ideally suited for producing the kinds of images you want on web sites. It is also smoothly integrated into the rest of their packages such as Dreamweaver, which is hands down the preferred web authoring package available at the professional level.
callipygia600.com
Having bought Studio MX 2004 because I wanted the easiest way to integrate graphics with DreamWeaver, I struggled and struggled to use Fireworks.I use Photoshop, but read how great Fireworks was and wanted to try it.I found that it's HELP is terrible, and not very useful to new users.Then I found Sandee Cohen's book, and all is now clear.This is a great book, walking the user systematically through how to use Fireworks, and emphasizing the ease and simplicity of keystroke shortcuts.Very highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Internet - General    8. Microcomputer Graphics    9. Multi-Media Hardware & Software    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    11. Multimedia   

Editorial Review

Too many writers of books about software let the software determine how they organize the material. If the File menu contains commands A, B, and C, the writers put A, B, and C in the same chapter, regardless of whether they're functionally similar. Read more

Features

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Reviews (13)

You Have Got To Be Kidding?
As someone who bought his first computer in 1986 it's been a long strange trip from there to here. And things have not exactly been gettin better all the time!
The Missing Manual
Just Switched from MSFT. Not as good as Apple Works For Dummies.

The Missing Macros
Page 323-327 tells you how to use the macros in AppleWorks 6. It says to look under FILE and MACROS. If they're there I couldn't find them. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. AppleWorks    2. Business Software - General    3. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    4. Computer Books And Software    5. Computer Graphics - General    6. Computers    7. Integrated software    8. Reference - General    9. Word Processing - General    10. Computer / Apple/Macintosh    11. Computers / Business Software / General    12. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    13. Computers/Word Processing - General    14. Integrated software packages    15. Macintosh OS   

Reviews (8)

A thorough grounding that will need supplementation
Let's start with the basic, should-be-obvious premiss: the Final Cut video editing platform is NOT "iMovie Complete"...except in the sense that it is completely different. The differences between Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro are in certain capabilities -- Express is not a "dumbed-down" version of Pro, it just lacks certain capabilities. The interface is a professional non-linear editing (NLE) tool whose efficient use is not obvious at first launch, unlike iMovie.
Be Careful of Second Hand DVD's
The book looks good and but it was a few months before I settled down to start learning Final Cut Express.Unfortunately the DVD supplied with the used book was seriously corrupted so the book is virtually useless and I do not remember where I bought for return....grrrr

Well Intended but Painful
If you like to read every last detail of how to perform a task, this is the book for you. She really was complete.
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Computer Animation    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Data processing    8. Digital video    9. Editing    10. Final cut (Electronic resource    11. Motion pictures    12. Operating Systems - Macintosh    13. Video tapes    14. Computers / Interactive Media    15. Image processing: video    16. Video photography   

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Apple And Macintosh Programming    3. Computer Animation    4. Computer Books: Operating Systems    5. Computers    6. Computers & Technology    7. Data Processing - Speech & Audio Processing    8. Desktop Publishing - General    9. Education / Teaching    10. Miscellaneous Software    11. Operating Systems - Macintosh    12. Computer-aided learning (CAL)    13. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh   

Reviews (4)

Nice book
This book will take you from A to Z but seam to be a little outdted because Studio Pro is now 4.0 but anyway,this book is well done. I will gladly share it to my videographer friends.

Took me from "somewhat willing" to "very able" in two days!
Thank you Martin Sitter!I am a filmmaker/photographer who needed to move into the realm of making DVDs. You took me from A to Z in an informative, easy to understand way.I really liked how you started at the beginning of what the differences are between DVDs and CDs and especially what countries use what format (all those film festival markets!)Words like MPEG-2 video streams, encoding, and assets roll off my tongue now and it all makes sense!
Good, But!
Basically a excellent tutorial and reference. But unfortunately falls into the
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - Desktop Publishing    5. Desktop Publishing - General    6. General    7. Operating Systems - Macintosh    8. Computers / Interactive Media    9. Computing and Information Technology   

Reviews (10)

Nice
everything was in order... and my b ook was recieved in a timely fashion

Just what I needed!
Use it everytime I am using/learning In-Design. Would be lost without the quick reference. A must have!

The Mystery Stops Here!
Great book for learning InDesign. Every time I open InDesign, I pick up this book. No book is perfect, but this is close.Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe InDesign    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Desktop Publishing    7. Desktop Publishing - General    8. Electronic Publishing    9. Computers / Electronic Publishing    10. Desktop publishing software    11. Publishing on the Internet   

Reviews (5)

Computer Reference Books
I received Excel X for Mac OS X in excellent condition. Love it. Thank you.

Great for beginners
This is the second book I've purchased written by Maria Langer.The first was Mac OS X Panther (Visual QuickStart Guide).Like the book for panther. Excel X is great for those new to the program, or for those who have little experience in formating the spreadsheets, conjuring up formulas, and establish and managing lists.
Excellent way to quickly transfer your Excel skills from Wintel to Mac.
This book probably works just as well for an introduction to Excel for the ones who have no experience with this program.Given that I have extensive experience with Excel, my review focuses on this guide's ability to transfer your Excel skills from the Wintel to the Mac OS environment.
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Subjects:  1. Business    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer programs    5. Computers    6. Electronic spreadsheets    7. Microcomputer Spreadsheet Software    8. Microsoft Excel (Computer file    9. Microsoft Excel (Computer file)    10. Operating Systems - Macintosh    11. Spreadsheets - Excel    12. Spreadsheets - General    13. Computers / Spreadsheets / General    14. Excel    15. Macintosh OS   

Reviews (4)

Easy to use reference for a Novice-Intermediate After Effects Student
I found this book to be a very easy to navigate reference for my attempt at learning and using After Effects. I recommend it as an excellent cross-reference resource, especially if you are attending an After Effects classroom. I'm not sure, however, whether a nubie or novice would be able to learn easily just from reading this bookalone. Nevertheless, I give this book and the way it is structured, two-thumbs up as far as adding it to anyone's Visual Media Library.

typical
I wasn't expecting anything less and the only reason I got the book was because it was cheaper on amazon then at my college's bookstore.Now what I didn't realize was the fact that Creating Motion Graphics with After Effects volumes 1 and 2 are far superior to any other book out there.So I recommend those instead.This book is just as dull and boring as most informational software books with little explanation about how to do things, little picture representation and only explaining the basics oh in say 700 pages.... if you know how to use adobe illustator or photoshop which u clearly should if you intend on using aftereffects, I suggest whether you are a beginner intermediate or advanced animator to get the creating motion graphics books instead.Ya 10$ more but the learning experience and education you'll get from those books compared to this one is uncomparable.
Good Basic Book for After Effects
It says the books in the Visual QuickPro series are similar to the Visual QuickStart series, but QuickPro is for more advanced users. After Effects is, by its very nature, a more advanced application for creating video than, say iMovie. That's because After Effects is a "motion graphics" program with far more features than basic video editing. I think of it as Photoshop with motion and a timeline.
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Subjects:  1. Adobe After Effects    2. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    3. Business Software - General    4. Cinematography    5. Computer Books: General    6. Computer Graphics - General    7. Computers    8. Computers - Desktop Publishing    9. Data processing    10. Operating Systems - Macintosh    11. Operating Systems - Windows    12. Special effects    13. Computers / Computer Graphics / General    14. Image processing: graphics (static images)   

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Computers - Desktop Publishing    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Interactive & Multimedia    8. Multi-Media Hardware & Software    9. Operating Systems - Macintosh    10. Operating Systems - Windows    11. Computers / Interactive Media    12. Multimedia   

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Database    2. Computers    3. Computers - Data Base Management    4. Database Management - General    5. Database management    6. Desktop Applications - FileMaker Pro    7. FileMaker pro    8. FileMaker pro (Computer software)    9. Microcomputer Database Management Software    10. Microcomputer Operating Environments    11. Operating Systems - Macintosh    12. Operating Systems - Windows    13. Computers / Database Management / General    14. Database software   

Reviews (5)

i have not recieved my book
i cant really give a rating on something that i have not recieved... it has been a month and i have not recived my book. i am not pleased with the service or tha book for that matter. (seeing how i paid for it and i have not recieved it) even without express shipping it should not have taken so long to recieve, on my other orders (made at the same time) i didnt have express shipping and i recieved them in a respectable time but my purchase from you (even if i can call it a purchase because i feel as if i have been robbed because i have not recieved my book)was and still is UNsatisfactory

Excellent
This book makes it easy for beginners while offering a vast amount of information for advanced designers as well.The step by step instructions are easy to follow.Great illustrations and graphics.A must have for ANYONE who wants to use Illustrator, whether you are just a kid playing around, a student, or a professional artist.

A MUST HAVE
This Visual Quick Start Guide Book is excellent.Easy to follow directions for anything that you want to do in Illustrator.Highly recommended for beginners, and experts too. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer Graphics - Illustrator    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Desktop Publishing - General    8. Macintosh (Computer)    9. Microcomputer Graphics    10. Microsoft Windows (Computer file)    11. Programming    12. Computer graphics software    13. Computers / Computer Graphics / General   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (3)

Check out the hyperlinking ability
The Apple DVD Studio Pro is a popular but very complex tool for authoring DVDs. This book shows why it is popular, and also offers an improvement on the Apple documentation. The program has immense ability to record audio and video and to merge these in as intricate a fashion as you desire. There is a panoply of editing functions. For such things as adding subtitles to video tracks. Or supporting several languages using the audio tracks. Or to have a multistory project.
Good introduction to a tricky application
If ever Apple made an application that could use some usability work it's DVD Studio Pro. It's a comprehensive and powerful application that has a user interface that only a mother could love. That's why I found this book so critical. It's an end-to-end guide from the very basics of DVD construction through to using templates and building custom transitions. There are also pitstops along the way into building DVD games and creating easter eggs.
You have to see this to believe it
This book breaks new ground for O'Reilly. I'm used to finding great technical content in their books--that's what they're famous for--but media tools like DVD Studio Pro require a more visual approach for explanation, and Marc delivers this extremely effectively.
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Subjects:  1. Authoring programs    2. Cinematography & Videography    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers    6. Computers - General Information    7. DVD-Video discs    8. Digital video    9. Editing    10. Interactive & Multimedia    11. Operating Systems - Macintosh    12. Videodiscs    13. Computer graphics software    14. Computers / General Information    15. Computers / Interactive Media    16. DVD Studio Pro, ProApps, DVD, Authoring, DVD+RW, DVD-RW, SuperDrive, Mac    17. Video photography   

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computers    5. Operating Systems - Macintosh    6. Photography    7. Techniques - Digital    8. Computer graphics software    9. Photography / Techniques / Digital   

Reviews (5)

Horrible
Rather than present genuinely useful information on the various theories behind color management which can be applied to a wide variety of situations, the author of this book instead chooses to pad page after page with promotional fluff advertising a select handful of software products the reader is encouraged to purchase in order to follow along. Granted, you can't build a printer profile without a spectrophotometer of some kind, but the tone of the book is generally "go buy this and you're done" rather than "this is what needs to happen and here are a variety of ways you can choose to accomplish these goals". Apple might have invented color management, but they've let their ColorSync CMM grow horribly stagnant (and buggy) over the years, and this officially endorsed training manual reflects the company's priorities unfortunately well. Hopefully Aperture's belly flop will convince someone at Apple that people really do care about this stuff and spur someone into action, but until then, buy Bruce Fraser or Abhay Sharma's book instead.

Demo applications don't work
This book has a serious flaw.It includes a demo version of ProfileMaker, which you need to use to create profiles in Lesson 4.Unfortunately, the demo version doesn't actually allow you to create profiles, so you can't complete the lesson!In other words, you really can't use this book unless you spends hundreds more on various software and hardware to actually do the color management.

Title is a misnomer
This book should be titled Color Management in Adobe Applications on MacOS X. I picked up this book with the expectation of finding tips on how to print using Apple's Colorsync color management facility but most of the book simply covers printing using Adobe's color management system, which has totally different controls to Colorsync.
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Color Computer Graphics    3. Computer Books And Software    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computers    6. Computers - Operating Systems    7. Operating Systems - Macintosh    8. Operating Systems - Windows    9. Computer graphics software    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / General   

Reviews (2)

The book on how to use Quartz right away.
Quartz is 2D graphics light-way API on Mac OS X. It is resolution and device independent. It is based on Adobe PDF imaging model. It supersedes QuickDraw as a primary drawing API on Mac.
Best Practices for Mac programmers.
I thought this was a great book for Mac programmers who want to know more about Quartz. It is well written and easy to follow. There is a CD-ROM with the sample code included with the book. It covers the essentials and gives "Best Practices" advice on actually using Quartz in a professional program, including performance issues.R. Scott Thompson is a talented author and I hope he will write more programming books in the future.
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Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh Graphics And Sound    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: Operating Systems    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers    7. Macintosh (Computer)    8. Operating Systems - Macintosh    9. Programming    10. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    11. Macintosh OS   

Reviews (1)

VectorWorks 10 VQG a must for the novice user
I always purchase Visual Quickstart Guides when I buy new software because generally they make the task of learning the product that much easier. This one is no exception. The guide that comes with the software is extremely difficult to understand because of the way it is written - they go into too much detail. VQG explains things in a way that a is simpler for a non-technical type person to understand. The only problem with this guide is that it is now out of date because VectorWorks has now released version 11.5 and obviously some of the things written in the guide no longer apply. I would still recommend it though. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. CAD-CAM - General    2. Cad/Cam    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics - General    5. Computer-aided design    6. Computers    7. Computers - Other Applications    8. Data processing    9. Engineering design    10. Miscellaneous Software    11. VectorWorks    12. Computer graphics software    13. Computers / CAD-CAM / General   

Reviews (6)

Great Text!
The learning curve for Pages can be steep if coming from Word or new to word processing all together.(Actually, it's probably less frustrating if your new altogether.)That's not Pages fault.I think Pages is actually quite intuitive.It is just different than Word, and in my opinion, far superior.This text does a great job explaining Pages' ins and outs, and also offers great tips that will help when using Pages in projects.The tips captions give the text a real hands on feal.It is written from the perspective of someone who really uses and enjoys Pages, not just a lifeless manual like the one that comes with iWork.(Though the one included in the box serves as a good reference.)I have't read the section on Keynote, as I do not have a need for it.Great Book, and still very useful even if you are an 06' user.

"HI-HO HI-HO-- OFF TO IWORK WE GO" ...!!
Would you like to create documents with classy and colorful Pages templates that make you appear like you have the art department on your payroll? If you would, you're in luck! Author Jim Elferdink, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that introduces iWork '05, a brand-new software suite that'll eventually replace the venerable but aged AppleWorks.
A solid reference which will appeal to beginners and advanced users alike
Jim Elferdink's iWork 05: The Missing Manual covers Pages and Keynote 2 as it provides all the basics of how to create documents and produce presentations with iWork's latest, powerful features. Mac users receive a solid reference which will appeal to beginners and advanced users alike: particularly appealing when covering such new functions as Keynote, which has gone through a major update to make it a formidable competitor to PowerPoint. Business users, especially, will find iWork 05: The Missing Manual an essential reference to maintaining professional standards. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    2. Computer Books: Desktop Publish    3. Computers    4. Desktop Publishing - General    5. Hardware - Personal Computers - Macintosh    6. Computer / Apple/Macintosh    7. Computers / Interactive Media    8. Computers / Personal Computers & Microcomputers / Macintosh    9. Desktop publishing    10. Integrated software packages    11. Macintosh (Computer)    12. Presentation graphics software    13. Word processing    14. iLife, David Pogue, Missing Manuals, AppleWorks, PDF, TIFF, JPG, QuickTime, Macromedia Flash, iWork, Pages, Keynote 2,AppleWorks, Mac, Apple, page layout software, presentation software, PowerPoint   

Editorial Review

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Reviews (2)

NOT a power user book
I purchased this book sight unseen since it was referenced as a "Power-User" book. I've used Macs for the last ten years and consider myself savy but no tech-geek or mac expert. Yet almost everythingin this book i already knew, both in terms of mac use in general and 8.5specifically. To be fair, I did find a handful of useful tips or insightinto several areas i was less familiar with, but this accounts for maybe 5%of the book. On the other hand, if you are new to Mac and/or 8.5 this bookis excellent and I would give it a 5 star rating. For power users, it getsone star for the few tidbits it offers mac savy users. The included CD,like all book CDs, strikes me as pointless since its almost always out ofdate by publication time. For its steep $50 list price, the book offerspower users little value for their money.

An essential resource for MacOS 8.5 users
At first glance, I thought that this was just another of those too little too late books that seem to be all too common. Not so, this has to be the first book I have ever had on the Mac Os, that is worth the purchase price.It covers all aspects of Apple's MacOS 8.5 and is a goldmine ofinformation. The book is also loaded with information on many usefulshareware and commercial applications that enhance the Apple systemsoftware and demonstrates many useful solutions that will greatly enhanceyour Mac operationsThe section on Applescript is excellent for people whoare using or learning to use Applescript, or for those who just want tounderstand scripting in general. This book also describes connecting Macsto various PC operating systems including NT and Window 95 this sectionalone is worth the price of the book. Having used Macs and Pc's for manyyears I was pleasantly surprised by this excellent resource. A must havefor anyone using MacOS 8.5. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Apple / Macintosh    2. Computer Books: Database    3. Computers    4. Mac OS    5. Macintosh (Computer)    6. Operating Systems - Macintosh    7. Operating systems (Computers)    8. Programming    9. Reference - General    10. Macintosh    11. OS/2 & OS/2 Warp