Real World Illustrator: Industrial-Strength Production Techniques is a very good source of reference for the nitty gritty parts of Illustrator. Mordy Goldman was the Adobe project manager for Illustrator from 2001 to 2004 so his expertise in the product is substantial. Furthermore, his knowledge of all Adobe design products allows him to provide useful additional cross-functional information.

One thing that I really like about this book is that it gives a good descriptive treatment of the “why” you would use one tool over another. Many times, (I probably do this in Photoshop more than any other program) I will use one tool for a variety of different jobs. I am the kind of person that could build an entire house with a screwdriver, or a hammer, whichever happened to be handy. That, of course, is not always the best way to work, especially when you have such an expanded toolset as Illustrator CS4 does. This book then can really help you streamline your workflow.

The Real World series from Adobe is different from many other books of its kind because it takes a strong focus on the user. Many books written about software fall into two categories: tutorials or reference. This book falls a little bit between the two. It is like a reference book because you aren’t provided with an accompanying CD, however the way the topics are written it can be considered an Illustrator user guide. It is also written so that you can easily find what you are looking for. For example, you can find information about the selection tool under “Using the Direct Selection Tool.”

I would recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good succinct reference guide. If you compare it to the “Bible” series, I would recommend this one easily. I say this not because it has more information but because it has more useful information that is right in your face. This is a book written for people who want to do something right away, or learn something right away. Not sift through pages and pages of reference material.