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Book Review of:
CorelDRAW 
Wow! Book 

From the August, 2000 issue of PC Alamode Magazine
by Clarke Bird
coverPure and simple, CorelDRAW Wow! Book is a nifty idea generator for the CorelDRAW user. Thumbing through the pages, you can't help but murmer "Wow" every few pages, befitting the book's title. 

The 256 page, 7½ X 9¼ ?  paperback book, consists of seven chapters with step-by-step tips and techniques for all versions of CorelDRAW. There are five kinds of information in the book: 

  1. how CorelDRAW’s tools and functions work
  2. short tips for solving problems and making your design or production work easier
  3. step-by-step techniques for particular kinds of treatments and effects
  4. galleries showcasing other work by CorelDRAW artists (this was the part that really inspired me) and
  5. illustrated lists that make it easier to choose and apply CorelDRAW’s built-in color schemes and special effects. The book is chocked full of four-color illustrations with color appearing on every page.
Included in the Wow! book is a CD-ROM containing try_out versions of CorelDRAW 8 and Adobe Photoshop 5, utilities, fonts, some of the art presented in The CorelDRAW Wow! Book, stock photos, and other goodies. Some of the directories include their own ReadMe files that will help you use the contents of the directories.

Included on the CD-ROM are fonts, Time Tunnel (folder contains sample images in *.jpg format), and several CorelDRAW tool demos.

I am a newbie to CorelDRAW and I’m attending the CorelDRAW SIG which is helping me understand the program. In other words,  I’m moving  along but with a once-a-month class, my progress is slow. This CorelDRAW Wow! Book allows me to practice certain techniques between SIG classes.

The “Wow!” series of books by Peachpit Press include The Photoshop 4 Wow! Book, The Illustrator 8 Wow! Book, The Painter 5 Wow! Book and the Web design Wow! Book. The books in the Wow! Series showcase the artwork and savvy techniques of top professional artists and by following the steps described, the reader can apply these same techniques to her/his own work.

My recommendation is to go to a local bookstore with a good section on computer books and look in the graphics section for some of the Wow! books. Thumb through the pages but don’t let the saliva drooling from your mouth get on the pages. Better take your credit card with you because I think you are going to want this book.

    CorelDRAW Wow! Book
    ISBN 0-201-88632-4 Suggested list price is $44.95 although Amazon.com listed the book for $39.99.