Review: Adobe InDesign CS Bible

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Reviewed by
Peter Florczak

Book Review of:
Adobe InDesign CS Bible

Adobe InDesign CS Bible

Peter Florczak put himself through Architectural school (late 60’s) using computers and then did his final thesis using an IBM 360/50. He says he then went through his rebellious phase when he wanted nothing to do with computers for the next 15 years. A good friend (another Alamo PC member) eventually re-introduced Florczak to computers in 1985. Since then he has steadily, once again, grown to appreciate them. He is now an artist living in the Texas Hill Country, and has been a member of Alamo PC since 1993. He has a website here .

From the September 2004 issue of PC Alamode Magazine

I have been a user of desktop publishing programs for over 10 years, first with Microsoft Publisher, then Adobe PageMaker, and later with InDesign 1.0 and 2.0. Although I do not have InDesign CS, I was intrigued by the sheer size of the Adobe InDesign CS Bible that stared back at me on the software review table at the last Alamo PC meeting. 938 pages! “Hum,” I mused, “there must be something to learn from that one.”

Like most of Adobe’s high end products, there is no hand holding here. The user of InDesign is faced with a blank opening screen that seems to say, “Now what do you want to do?” The learning curve is pretty steep. You have to be very self-motivated to get anywhere, so a comprehensive book such as the Adobe InDesign CS Bible can be a great help.

The “Bible” is well laid out from the 19 pages that make up the Table of Contents to the 42 pages of the Index. It is a book that is not meant to be read cover-to-cover although, huge nerd that I am, that is exactly what I did. It is a comprehensive reference and learning manual. As Galen Gruman, the author, says in the book:

Since InDesign comes with good documentation that is full of examples, why do you need this book? To see that bigger picture. Publishing design involves much more than understanding a particular programs tools—it involves knowing when, how, and most important, why to use them.

Believe me when I say the last thing you want to do when you are in the middle of putting together a design project is spend a lot of time looking for answers. The book is very well done with lots of examples and illustrations. He also makes good use of icons scattered throughout to give Tips, New Features, Cautions and Cross References.

There is more information available to supplement the book at InDesignCentral.com, including some chapter updates for InDesign and Mac OS X changes that occurred after the book went to press. I went to the web site and was pretty unimpressed with the content -- quite different from my experience with the book. One memo on the site reminds us to REMEMBER: Adobe Creative Suite does not come with a printed manual for InDesign CS!

After reading this book I have significantly changed the way that I work with InDesign. To anyone looking to master this high-end desktop publisher I can heartily recommend the Adobe InDesign CS Bible as a book to have in your library. The Adobe InDesign CS Bible list price is $44.99, but I found the book at Amazon.com for $30.59 new, and $26.63 used--shipping was free. The best price was at Overstock.com for $25.99 plus $1.40 shipping.