by Tom Piper
Author: Adam C. Engst
Publisher: Peachpit Press (part of the Visual QuickStart Guide series)
First Edition: May 6, 2009
Pages: 229
Series: Paperback
ISBN: 978-0-321-60131-5
Publisher’s brief description: Readers can start from the beginning to get a tour of the applications, or look up specific tasks to learn just what they need to know. This task-based, visual guide uses step-by-step instructions and hundreds of full-color screenshots to teach beginning and intermediate users how to make the most out of their digital photos with iPhoto '09. Perfect for anyone who needs to learn the program inside out, this guide covers everything from importing, tagging, editing, and perfecting images to creating slideshows and photo albums to easy online Web publishing. Readers will learn about everything new in iPhoto '09, including: Faces, which allows you to organize your photos based on who’s in them; Places, which uses data from GPS-enabled cameras or your iPhone's camera to categorize photos by location with easily recognizable names; themed slideshows; online sharing via Facebook and Flickr with one click; enhanced photo editing tools; and more.
My first impressions of this ebook (PDF version) were very good with a great Bookmarks side panel, it enlarges well (for the "hard of seeing"), and is appealing to the eye with a two-column format and serif font (sans-serif headers). The titling is bold, the tips are frequent and helpful, the pictures and illustrations are colorful and illustrative, the instructions easy to follow, excellent use of white space and balance, great “boxed” special notes, innovative applications, and empathetic perspective. Adam (and his co-editor Tonya) guides you through the experience as a companion, not as a pupil, understanding that the concepts are important before detail, with a supportive style (see example below).
The volume is well-organized:
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Getting Started
Chapter 2: Importing and Managing Photos
Chapter 3: Organizing Photos
Chapter 4: Working with Faces
Chapter 5: Working with Places
Chapter 6: Editing Photos
Chapter 7: Making Slideshows
Chapter 8: Publishing Photos on the Web
Chapter 9: Sharing Photos
Chapter 10: Printing Photos
Chapter 11: Troubleshooting
Appendix A: Deep Background
Appendix B: Taking Better Photos
Index
As Adam says at the beginning of the book, “Even though iPhoto ’09 is the best version of the program that Apple has released so far, it still doesn’t entirely demystify the process of importing a digital photograph, editing it, and presenting it on paper or on the computer screen. And iPhoto comes with no documentation beyond minimal and often incomplete online help.” So, this book should be read “. . . not just for the manual iPhoto lacks, but also for the help you need to take digital photos and make the most of them.”
My reading of this PDF is done on both a MacBook Pro 17” (unibody), and a second generation iPhone (16GB). On my laptop using either Preview or Adobe Acrobat Reader, the “pinch” command allows me to quickly zoom in or out of text and illustrations, and to jump to anywhere in the book from the Table of Contents (TOB) or the Index (or the Sidebar) for quick reference. On the iPhone using DataCase, the dual columns are a blessing because the reading is very comfortable when zoomed in on one or the other, while a “pinch” or a “swipe” moves me effortlessly around the pages. I’m still looking for an iPhone PDF reader that will read active embedded “links” so it can jump from the TOB or Index, just like in Preview on the Mac.
This wonderful book retails for $24.95 ($17.99 for ebook alone), but can be found for $16.49 ($15.00 for ebook) or less at various internet locations. A complete Peachpit description with purchasing details are available at http://www.peachpit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0321601319. The author-generated ebook version can best be purchased through the Take Control cart at: http://www.takecontrolbooks.com/iphoto09-vqs.
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