Using iPhoto '11 Review

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(More customer reviews)This book offers "Show Me" videos however I am not able to access the videos and find this book to be less useful than if all the information was in printed form as a book should be.
After writing to Que Publishing, I received a detailed email explaining how to gain access to the videos. I have a Mac so I needed to be in Safari as opposed to my other browser and follow directions given in the email. I am a 79 year old lady who is not savvy with all that I need to know to easily maneuver around the Internet. I am grateful for the personal support I received from Que and happy with the book now that I can use the videos.
If you can read the "Comment" of my review it will assist with getting access to the videos.


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Get comfortable with viewing, editing, enhancing, printing, sharing, and creating photo projects using your digital photos and the popular iPhoto '11 software on your Mac. Don't just read about it: see it and hear it with step-by-step video tutorials and valuable audio sidebars delivered through the Free Web Edition that comes with every USING book. For the price of the book, you get online access anywhere with a web connection–no books to carry, content updated as iPhoto '11 changes, and the benefit of video and audio learning. Way more than just a book, this is all the help you'll ever need…where you want, when you want!learn fast, learn easy, using web, video, and audioShow Me video walks through tasks you've just got to see–including bonus advanced techniquesTell Me More audio delivers practical insights straight from the experts

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Apple Training Series: iWork 08 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is good tutorial on these three programs, with extremely detailed step-by-step instructions. It assumes essentially no prior knowledge of the programs or even of Macintosh software.
Each chapter works through building a complete document, and the book covers most kinds of work that people would typically need. It makes heavy use of the existing templates that come with the programs, which again is probably good for beginners but less useful for professionals or advanced amateurs who want their own formats.
The book sticks closely to the script in going step-by-step through the examples, with few digressions or explanations of why things work this way. It has a lengthy index which seems well-done and would probably be adequate to look up any particular technique you needed. There's a puzzling reference (p. 239) to a mail merge feature--puzzling because the continuing absence of mail merge in iWorks is one of the biggest gripes users have about it. The mail merge mentioned here is just an intelligent drag and drop that puts the lines of the address in the right place when you drag and drop from the address book. You can only do one at a time, though; it's not a true batch mail merge.
The book has a very heavy emphasis on Keynote, the presentation (slideshow) software, with over half of the book devoted to this topic. Pages (word processor and page layout) gets about one-quarter of book, and Numbers (spreadsheets) and an integrated example get the remaining one-quarter. There are two additional chapters on the included DVD-ROM dealing with linked text in documents, camera RAW image files, and multimedia. The DVD-ROM includes all the needed files for the examples as well as the finished documents for comparison.
I wonder about the emphasis on Keynote. I'm skeptical that the absolute beginner that this book is aimed at would do very many slideshows; they would be much more likely to start with page layout.
Very Good Feature: several pages explaining how to get your computer hooked up to a projector. This is a subject that always stumps people and has caused many delays in getting presentations started.
Bottom line: good for beginners, still useful but very slow paced if you already understand slideshows, page layout, or spreadsheets and just want to get smart about iWork.

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iWork 08 Keynote, Pages, NumbersApple's enhanced iWork productivity suite is poised to allow Mac users to create, present, and publish their work with style. iWork '08 offers three powerful applications—Pages '08, Keynote '08, and the brand-new spreadsheet program, Numbers '08—for creating everything from newsletters and stationery to polished business presentations to graphics-rich spreadsheets. This self-paced learning guide, which includes a companion CD jam-packed with practical media files, takes readers step-by-step through essential, real-life tasks for home and office that cover all aspects of iWork '08. The book is both a self-paced learning tool and the official curriculum of the Apple Training and Certification Program, used by schools and training centers worldwide, and is ideal for users of all levels.

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Apple Training Series: iWork 09 Review

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(More customer reviews)I'm finding these PeachPit Press Apple Training Series books to be a great resource for learning the Apple Pro and Consumer software products. I've always looked at another product previously for more information on Apple software. Since learning Aperture 2 with Harrington's book, I decided to try iWork as well. I'm a newcomer to iWork and bought iWork for the first time. So, I needed instruction to bring me up to speed. This tutorial/project based resource was just the ticket for me. This book covers the basics very handily and goes into a few specific and outstanding features for each of the 3 programs. With Keynote, I was most impressed with one of the actions that animated a motorcycle to appear to 'drive' off the slide. What is amazing, is how simple this is implemented in Keynote. Pages had a few hidden features that Harrington's book pointed out. One was autoflowing text between text boxes and another connected objects with a connector line. Again, Apple's software engineers use elegant solutions to implement. Numbers is different from Excel in that while both use sheets, tabs are accessed from a sidebar rather than at the bottom of the page. Numbers spreadsheets are designed to offer richer formatting options and content than you would find in Excel. I think the most outstanding features in Numbers would be the unique way of categorizing columns and the exceptional way that address book integrates with tables. Just remarkable the way this all comes together especially if you've been building on OS X for years as I have. I recommend this book and while it doesn't cover every detail in the iWork suite, it does encourage you to explore and create on your own. It covers integration with other Apple software. It gives examples of how to share your work with others via email, websites(i.e. iWork.com beta), pdf's and printouts. It also explains how Apple can play nice with Microsoft. Clearly, not every transition in Keynote will translate to Powerpoint, but Keynote does a pretty good job of cleaning up a Powerpoint presentation ( with some editing tools). This book will explain some of the pitfalls that can befall a user without being armed with the knowledge contained in these pages, so it pays to take your time and follow all the examples to a 'T.' The organization, writing and illustration in the book are all well done making it less likely you will get lost along the way. Harrington takes you through each program's interface, associated inspectors, format bar and Apple predefined templates. He takes you through menu items and shows you many keyboard shortcuts explaining many ways to accomplish the same task. It is easily worth investing time to complete this book because I will guarantee you will learn something you never knew about the iWork software. Some of these tips in their aggregate are worth more than the price of admission. Pick up a copy today and see how iWork can bring greater productivity to your life or just have fun learning iWork. Warning: After learning iWork you may become addicted to formating and creating spreadsheets, presentations and newsletters.

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In the only Apple-certified guide to iWork '09, you'll learn to create everything from first-rate business presentations and newsletters to effective budgets and event planners. Focused lessons take you step by step through all aspects of Keynote, Pages, and Numbers. The self-paced book/DVD combo uses real-life material and practical lessons that you can apply immediately to your own projects. You'll learn to:• Master the iWork suite of tools quickly through fun, real-world projects• Design a Keynote presentation from storyboard to Web export • Add animated charts and custom backgrounds to a presentation with ease• Publish great-looking newsletters and brochures in print and on the Web• Build a professional marketing package from scratch• Create expense reports, track budgets, and plan special events• Sort, organize, and chart data using sophisticated spreadsheet calculationsThe Apple Training Series is both a self-paced learning tool and the official curriculum of the Apple Training and Certification Program. To find out more about Apple Training, or to find an Authorized Training Center near you, go to www.apple.com/training.

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