April 1998

The Photoshop 4 Wow Book, by Linnea Dayton & Jack Davis, Peachpit Press, $44.95 w/CD-ROM.

This completely new revision of the Photoshop Wow series is a book that can be used on many levels. Basic information, tips and tricks, galleries of work for inspiration, detailed descriptions of how functions work to create special effects, and a CD-ROM packed with dozens of Actions , special effects, stock photos, filter demos and a demo version of Photoshop 4.01 all make this an essential resource. The information on what the filters can do is the best found anywhere and its attention to fixing problems as well as dealing effectively with color issues makes the book both a teaching and production tool. And like all the other WOW books, it's beautifully laid out, encouraging even the fainthearted to follow the detailed steps and create exciting art that prints or displays properly. 

PageMaker 6.5 for Mac, by Ted Alspach, Peachpit Press, $19.95

Pagemaker 6.5 for Macintosh's Visual QuickStart Guide makes executing individual tasks easy. Teaching oneself Pagemaker, however, can be a daunting task. This book tends to bounce around the first few chapters and may be confusing to beginners; later chapters are clear and concise. Experienced users will find it a superb guide, making integration from other programs virtually effortless. The command key notes, shared tips and tricks, as well as the information covering PageMaker's integration with other programs are helpful to all users. Overall, this book makes an excellent reference manual for anyone interested in optimizing their use of Pagemaker.

Reviewed by Denise Fanelli

Macromedia Director 6 and Lingo Interactive, Peachpit Press

This book and CD-ROM combination makes learning Director 6 seem easy. Via QuickTime movies, the reader can watch instructors from Macromedia demonstrate how projects are assembled. The CD contains complete demo versions of all the software you will need to work on the projects demonstrated in the text.

Reviewed by Marvin Friedman

Adobe Wild Type: Typefaces for Work and Play, Adobe Systems, Inc.

This review is for all my Adobe Illustrator students who can't draw. Five of the fourteen funky typefaces in this delightful package are iconic typefaces. This means that by converting the type to outlines, you have hundreds of pieces of vector art -instantly! The Critter typeface gives you animals, Mythos gives you mythological creatures, Toolbox contains letters fashioned from tools, Rad has rollerbladers in different positions, and Giddyup Thangs is a typeface created from Western images such as boots, guitars, and horses. Packaged with ATM 3.8 and Myriad (Headline, Tilt, and Sketch), Cutout, Studz, Quake, Giddyup, Birch and Utopia Headline, this is a playful and lively collection for jazzing up those dull office documents as well as for designing Web pages. (The banner for this page was created using Mythos, Giddyup, and Critter.)