The 2015 edition of the Creative Cloud is the most powerful and versatile toolset Adobe has ever produced and we’re seeing a lot of demand for good training resources to learn how to best use this fast-growing product…
A while back, we posted details on over 1,000 pages of free ebooks for CS6. But if you’re just getting started with the core CC 2015 design tools, what’s better than a step-by-step book that will teach you the essentials of Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign from the ground up?
Fortunately there’s a very helpful new book you can download that will teach you all of this for free, courtesy of author Professor Thomas Payne… The way the book does this is by introducing and explaining the tools in a logical way that builds upon what is previously learned. These applications present a vast array of buttons and gadgets that can be overwhelming to the new user. This book makes sense of it all, not showing how everything works, but instead giving a foundation and a path to learn about all those controls and what they can do for you.
The 12 chapters in this book (listed below) look a bit like tutorials. As with tutorials, you work in the programs as you follow along with the reading. Unlike tutorials, the steps here present the information in a way that is geared to having you actually learn the material, not just a list of steps to get something that looks decent.
The book is built for the new CC versions of the applications. There is also a previous book edition that can be used with CS6, CS5.5, CS5 and CS4. The older releases don’t have all the same features and functions as the newest tools, but the general concepts presented are similar.
You can download the e-book in PDF format after signing in with your Adobe ID (which is easy to create if you don’t already have one). The full book file is less than 5MB in size and fast to grab:
If you don’t have the software yet, just download a free working trial of any CC 2015 product for either Windows or Mac (or try the whole Creative Cloud) – then install, run, and start your training…
If you’re interested in Adobe Dreamweaver too, then we should tell you that Professor Payne also has some great free ebooks for Dreamweaver (both CC and CS6).
Free Stock! Download 1,000,000+ premium assets from the new Adobe Stock Free Collection
These books are written with a Macintosh in mind, but with the change of a few keys they can easily be used with the Windows versions of these apps. Knowing that the Mac Command key is the same as the Windows Control key, and the Mac Option key is the same as Windows Alt key is just about all you need to know.
Since it is essential to work while reading, the book’s pages have been optimized to read on a portable device. If you are using an iPad or tablet, you can view it with two pages side by side or vertically page by page. With a smartphone, this book can be read with the phone in the horizontal orientation. If you need to read these pages on a computer, use a different system or monitor than the one you are working on to avoid having to switch back and forth on the same screen.
Table of Contents
Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . III
1 The Applications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 Illustrator Basics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Illustrator Paths. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4 Illustrator Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5 Photoshop Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6 Photoshop Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
7 Images to Illustrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
8 InDesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
9 The Right Tool. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
10 More Illustrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
11 More Photoshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
12 More InDesign. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Appendix I Photoshop Trouble? . . . . . . . . . . 189
Appendix II Sizing images (steps) . . . . . . . . 191
And to continue learning, don’t miss dozens more free books for many Adobe products, covering recent versions of all major applications.
See Also
- Get free guide on Photography, Photoshop, Lightroom
- Don’t miss Adobe’s current specials and promotions
- Download free Adobe books (choose over 30 titles)
- How to save 60% with the Student & Teacher Editions
- Free Adobe Stock! Download 1,000,000+ top images
- Don’t need full Cloud? Get PS + LR for $9.99/month
Do you have any questions about this article? Just ask them below and we’ll get you answers fast!
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awesome freebie, very helpful – thanks !
Love this, everything is presented in straightforward and easy to understand fashion for all three apps. Wish I’d had it earlier.
Please include the links for download.
Hi Jv, just click on the green “Download” button in the article to download the book, and it will be be yours forever!
I had a license for CS4 and lost the program when we did some computer migrations. I still have my old 24 digit license access code. Is it possible to pay to upgrade to a more recent version of Adobe Photoshop?
Thank you,
Del
Hello Del,
Adobe no longer offers upgrades from CS4 to the ‘traditional’ versions of the software…
However, they do still offer discounted upgrades from any CS4 tool/suite to the latest Photoshop CC (with a Single-App Subscription for $9.99 a month) or to the complete Creative Cloud including all major applications (via a Full Membership for $29.99 a month).
Hope this helps.
I have a new laptop without a CD/DVD drive and I’d like to install CS6 master suite that I bought previously. Can you please direct me to the right site to download the software – I have the valid license number to enter when prompted to do so.
Sure Rosemary, here you go:
Adobe CS6 Direct Download Links – All Applications for Windows and Mac
The free trials there will convert to licensed versions when you enter your valid purchased serial number.
I plan to freelance with the most up-to-date features.
I signed up and received the “Thanks for subscribing! Here are your free Adobe eBooks” email, but for some reason I was only allowed to download one book.
I was hoping to be able to download the Lightroom book as well so that I could become more familiar with the program, but it says I must be a member. I don’t understand.
Hey there Don, sorry you’re having difficulties… You should be able to download any of the books after logging with your Adobe ID (which isn’t our requirement but theirs).
For the one in particular you’re talking about, please read through the comments on the free Lightroom book page to help solve your issue!
Download link not working for me…
Welcome Prabhath, could you please give a bit more detail or be specific about what the difficulty is – including what message or error you are getting, if any?
Did you happen to try it from a different browser, or another computer or device?
Also, are you restricting or filtering anything with your browser(s) – like cookies, downloads, or any sites or URLs?
Are you running any other utilities that might limit your web surfing, like Ghostery, Adblock, or Disconnect? Or possibly your firewall, antivirus program (esp. Kaspersky), or other third-party security software?
It could be because of over-aggressive software or utilities like these. For downloads, Adobe suggests temporarily turning off anything that might be interfering.
We’d be happy to help, but need a little more information on the problem you’re running into – thanks!
I opine that each time I click on the download green oval, I get a message that the site it takes me to is insecure and there is a blue back to safety rectangle to click, which I do, this was for a free book from Adobe which included Photoshop among other Adobe products.
Have no idea why that happened Joe, sorry. We’ve been Adobe partners for many years and there is absolutely nothing dangerous or unsafe going on here.
Did you try with another browser, or a different computer or device? Also see our previous reply just above your comment for some other suggestions.
Please I’ve failed to download one of these free books. Could you please help me with some guidance
Thanks
MIKE
Hi Mike, please see this response just above your comment.
I already subscribe to Illustrator and need to add InDesign. What is the cost to add that in to my subscription plan?
Dutton Design, Inc.
Greetings Anne, it would be US$20.99 to add. Please see:
Don’t Need the Full Cloud? Get Any Single CC Tool for $10-20 a Month
I have some problems with the e-book download, please guide me
Hello, not sure we understand the issue – could you please give more details on what you’re trying to do, and what the difficulty is? Any error or other messages? If so, what is the exact text of that?
Sorry, we’d need a bit more detail in order to help.
I signed up for the 10 free books but the link takes me to this page and there is nowhere to download my 10 free books, have I just given you my email so you can canvas me, it’s very confusing, the link should directly go to the download page, not this overloaded information page, can you please assist by sending me a link directly to the 10 book download as promised when I provided my email.
Thank you
Hi Christina, sorry for any difficulty you may be having. All the books come from different publishers and places/sites. Some come direct from Adobe, but most do not.
It would absolutely not be allowed for us to reproduce any of them, or copy them all into one place… We have to respect each author’s copyright, as well as their source & means to provide the books.
What we’ve done collect all the information on these helpful resources to provide to our readers, including descriptions and links for each title. Most Adobe customers were not aware of all of these free books, and the vast majority of visitors here are grateful for them.
For this particular ebook, clicking the “Download” button in the post above will take you to the place on Adobe’s site where you can easily download the Adobe Design Suite Basics book in its entirety (5 MB in size).
Thank you.