Review: Adobe Illustrator CS4 How-Tos

 "Adobe Illustrator CS4 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques" by David Karlins is an excellent resource for both new users to Illustrator as well as users who have been taking advantages of this application's powers for years. Without getting too advanced, the book does what it promises. It teaches the essentials of Adobe Illustrator.

The book begins with how to create documents, save files, work with the art board, how to understand what vectors are, and so on. As the book progresses, it covers the major milestones and concepts that make Adobe Illustrator one of the most powerful pieces of software on the market.

My recommendation would be that this book is more for people new to the software rather than professional users looking for mind blowing tutorials. This truly is a book on the essentials of the program, teaching you skills that will allow you to build upon a basic knowledge base.

As someone who has been using Illustrator for over 10 years, there was still plenty of information and tips and tricks that I had not used for a while or forgotten , such as using type and glyphs, and working in isolation mode .  Having a handy reference book for basics such as these make this book an item that should be included on your bookshelf. 

So, from working with masks and layers, to creating gradients and blends,  "Adobe Illustrator CS4 How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques"  is well worth an Illustrator users time.

Reviewer: John Collins