Adobe Illustrator is one of those vast applications that you could use every day of your life and still not get to grips with some of the higher functions.

Its power and sheer versatility is matched only by Macromedia's erstwhile Freehand; for beginners, however, approaching either of these packages is something of a daunting task.

So hats off to the folks from Easy Steps for lending a much needed helping hand to all new Illustrator users.

The series continues its ever popular and user friendly approach to learning with a well laid out guide to all the tools, filters, tricks and techniques to get you producing professional results in next to no time.

Covering both Macintosh and Windows versions to 8.0, this handy guide takes the reader straight through the basics, whilst still managing to throw in a few tasty titbits for more seasoned users.

Of particular note is the section dealing with the Pathfinder commands, undoubtedly one of the program's most powerful functions and difficult to get your head around.

For those with limited drawing skills this is as good a way to expand your talents as any and for the price, you simply can't afford not to give it a go. -- Steve Russell