Those folks at Adobe Press just can't get enough of a good thing. Their Classroom In A Book series not only sells well, the media is constantly praising them. I just got a chance to look at a book of the series called Adobe PageMaker 6.5 Plus Classroom In A Book Productivity Kit. Boy, what a mouthful.

The book has 24 projects for you to try out. It has you use the existing templates that come with the PageMaker program. That way they didn't have to include a CD-ROM disc with the book. Too bad. I was looking forward to another disc to add to my shelves of CD-ROMs.

After a brief introduction, the book explains about the templates in PageMaker 6.5 Plus and how you can use them to make up your own projects. Why start from scratch when you can change a few elements in a document and end up with something brand new. Then the book starts you out putting together projects from the templates.

The first project has you putting illustrations into a flyer using clip art. Learn how to draw a shape and add text to it. Change the shape into a frame and add clip art to it. Then flip the clip art sideways or upside down for some fun effects.

Project seven lets you put together a powerful poster. Change the artwork in the poster with some that the book recommends. Then delete a column and change the text size. Learn how to change the font using the Character command.

Other projects show you how to design CD labels and self-seal mailers. One project has you using mirror images to produce a unique holiday card.

All through the book the authors provide helpful suggestions that enhance the usage of PageMaker 6.5 Plus.

Kate O'Day and Linda Tapscott are the authors of the book. Kate has been around the computer scene for quite a while. She has worked with Adobe System on providing instructional design and technical documentation for their products. Linda is a graphic artist whose illustrations were used for the Adobe Photoshop 5.0 User Guide.

Adobe PageMaker 6.5 Plus Classroom In A Book Productivity Kit is a great resource for folks who aren't too sure what the product can do. The projects in the book are fairly simple, but they cover some of the most common usages of the program.

If you want a good book to learn about how to use Adobe PageMaker 6.5 Plus, then grab up a copy of Adobe PageMaker 6.5 Plus Classroom In A Book Productivity Kit. You won't be disappointed.