InDesign CS4 For Dummies

I could find few books that covered Adobe's InDesign CS4 & a DVD tutorial costs more than the program. I am not all that familiar with Adobe products, including Photoshop, but I needed a program that could handle complex graphics, etc in a book format. I found that even the best Word Processing programs froze once I got a chapter to a certain length. Due to the topic, the format of my writing style is complicated, very note heavy with maps, sidebars, photos, as well as varying levels of indentation, bullets, etc.Unfortunately, this book is way over my head. I struggled through Chapter 1, wondering why a beginner with the program needed to know about the changes made from CS3 before anything else. Finally, when I got to Chapter 3, it began to explain how to create a document, but if you are a beginner/dummy, you don't already know what various Icons mean... nor do you understand the jargon & techniques used in the printing & publishing industry. Frankly, I despair.What I really needed, before progressing to this book, was "Teach Yourself InDesign CS4 Visually." The Teach Yourself Visually series is the absolute best for the absolute beginner. Unfortunately, there is no such book for this program.

In Design for Dummies was just the resource I needed when I suddenly needed to learn the program. It doesn't presume too much knowledge of Adobe software and covers the basics to get you started. Then it gets into many of the more sophisticated features of this awesome program. I needed to get a corporate newsletter on the street in less than a month and this book took me from complete tyro to turning out a professional-looking product. It's a life-saver. Easy to use, easy to understand, easy to reference.

Most products are better-learned when self taught through trial and error - with a great reference book. I passed this book along to associates who needed to learn the product but had no budget to take a class. They utilized the book and became more than functional - so I call it a success.

Easy to follow - Only weekness is quality of actual illustrations. Images could be clearer or easier to read if the paper was of better quality allowing for image detail.

This is a very handy book to have for those new to InDesign. I highly recommend it.It arrived in a well protected packing, and in excellent condition.

[...] has a great online course for InDesign versions CS3 and 4. But if your new to this arena as I was, you must read this book thoroughly first! These "Dummies" book are simply the needed ABCs you need for any subject you're interested in.

This book for "dummies" is WAY too technical for me - both in language and content. Finally gave up and just used it for reference.

helped a lot!

The `Dummies' series of books can be a bit hit and miss depending on the subject, but this is one instance where they've got it just right.It's pitched at exactly the right level in my opinion. The structure is superb, so that depending on your familiarity with a particular part of the software, you can dip in and out as required, without having to read the whole book from start to finish.All the essential bits of InDesign are covered, and the index is also great for clarifying things as you work through the actual software. Just don't expect it to make you a graphic designer - no handbook in the world will do that, but what it will do is break down all the elements of this powerful tool to make your first steps into layout just that little bit easier.Of course, there is no substitute for a proper training course and the experience acquired from many hours in front of a monitor, but this is still an indispensible book for any beginner.Highly recommended!

This book has been brilliant for dipping into when I need it. It is written very clearly and has the brilliant icons as the side of the pages so that you know the main points where to take extra note.As an experienced designer it has still been a valuable source book.

as a dummy it was only ok