"Adobe Acrobe 5: The
Professional User's Guide"
by Donna Baker, Publisher APress
$39.95; ISBN: 1-59059-023-6,
includes CD,
551 pages, copyright, 2002
Review by Jim Massey, Editor-In-Chief,
International News Agency
This is SUCH A GREAT BOOK! Gush, gush. If you have any need, whatsoever, to create Adobe PDF documents, or PDF documents of any kind (for instance PDF documents from PHP tools), this book is for you.
Question
#1: What
does this book bring to the field that was not here before?
Answer
#1: Donna
Baker's masterpiece "Adobe Acrobat 5: The Professional user's Guide"
brings the soothing wisdom of a master document expert, who has been seasoned
in experience, marinated in the challenges that real-world document translation
provides, and then baked and coated in the design patterns that inhabit the
lives of real world automated document creators. In short, Donna is the real thing. This book is the real thing. This book delivers far more than it
promises.
The case study template alone is worth many times the cost of the book. There are many one-page instruction topics that are, in themselves, worth the price of the book.
A
great thing about this book is the smooth, soothing readability integrated into
the wide range of view-altitudes that the reader is taken on. From tiny, tiny make-or-break details to the
widest picture possible, the reader is swiftly swept along in this rapid, river
flowing masterpiece. By the end of the
book, the reader is left with dozens of valuable website addresses and names of
professional societies that are the center of the digitally rich document
creation world. Therefore, this book hand-holds and guides the reader through
this important step in a larger document creation journey.
Certainly,
the simplicity and confidence of the text inspires in the reader an urge to
hurry and go out and use the features covered and to create documents with the
tool presented. I suggest you, the
reader, follow your urge. Don't wait to
finish reading the book to go out and use the parts you have read. Start making documents WHILE you read the
book. Then go back to the book and dive in again. The smart double-versions of the tutorials (to-be-done versions
plus already-fully-done versions) allow the attention-deficit-disorder reader
to quickly get the goods (view the end result) without bothering to read the
details.
Question
#2: Why
does the reviewer believe that this book is superior to the normal user
reference documentation book?
Answer
#2: I suspect that the love of music of the
author provided a richly textured background from which the author approached a
complicated subject that is a literal forest in which the trees block the
view. Simply put, the dryness of the norm
of documentation makes it difficult for a reader to rapidly change their
altitude of view. Rapid mastery is not available in normal how-to
documentation. This book provides a
superior, integrated presentation.
"Adobe
Acrobat 5: The Professional User's Guide", from the first page to the last
appendix, steps outside the norm of documentation and provides the written-word
equivalent of a majestical musical journey through Adobe Acrobat 5 technology -
where the words are the notes; and the headlines and half-page topics give the
beat and tempo. [Editor's Note: There
are no actual music or sound files in the book or on the CD. The reviewer is
using a metaphor here.]
Recommended
Usage:
I
recommend this book be used by any document production shop, department,
division or even one-person office. It
can be a wonderful textbook for classes.
Corporations are well advised to form classes immediately and invite
persons from departments that previously had to fend for themselves or stay
with non-PDF document preparation (Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, HTML).
In
addition, the book serves as preparation for taking the Adobe Certified Expert
Exam. The value of certification cannot
be minimized. The expectation of a
solid ability to use the product correctly accompanies a person holding the
certification. Information technology departments would be wise to have some of
its members attain the certification and then offer professional help services
by certified professional Adobe Acrobat experts. Other non-certified IT department workers can tag along on
document creation projects, but, after they learn the ins and outs of Adobe
Acrobat as an authoring tool, they should get their certifications as well.
Question
#3: What is in the future of PDF documents?
Answer
#3: The future of PDF-based, automated documents includes more
features, and more abilities. Simply
put, the future includes smarter documents.
Toolmakers are busy at work creating these features as we speak (as you
read this). Knowledge engineers are offering increasingly powerful guidelines
for putting richer intelligence into automated documents. The demands on Adobe Acrobat authors are
going to increase. The competition from
non-PDF formats is going to drive this trend.
Question
#4: How does this expected richer future impact
users of Adobe Acrobat as an authoring tool?
Answer
#4: Persons should get up to speed now so that
they can be taking a little step at a time as new features roll in. It is much smarter to increase your skills a
step at a time every few months than it is to hold off and then face that big
brick wall learning curve all at once.
Conclusion:
This book is the best gift given the Adobe Acrobat authoring worker in a long, long time. Get the book, hear the music (metaphorical statement), and produce fascinating documents whose abilities are getting richer and more diverse, even as you read this review.
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Jim Massey, Editor-In-Chief