Lots of stages' color photographs make learning them easier than many other similar books as each stitch has so many stages - some complex ones are over twenty. They are in full color, but the easiest to follow are the ones where the yarn used is a good contrast to the canvas. Some of the paler yarns make the stitches less clear so read this in a good light! It is a feature of this series to pepper their books with pretty historical illustrations, quotes and tidbits of information about the history of the type of work, as well as gorgeous examples of projects from Inspirations magazine. Combined with the spiral back, this all adds up to a handsome, user-friendly and useful primer. My only sorrow was the lack of any projects at all; I wanted to do more than just practice my newfound knowledge of needlepoint. There are other books available in the series, and of course the magazine, but even half a dozen projects would have made a good book truly great.