Product Description: Adobe Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom is like having a personal instructor guiding readers through each lesson, while they work at their own pace. This book includes 13 self-paced lessons that let readers discover essential skills and explore new features and capabilities of Adobe Photoshop. Every lesson is presented in full color with step-by-step instructions. Learning is reinforced with video tutorials and lesson files on a companion DVD that were developed by the same team of Adobe Certified Instructors and Flash experts who have created many of the official training titles for Adobe Systems. Each video tutorial is approximately five minutes long and demonstrates and explains the concepts and features covered in the lesson. Coverage includes information on Adobe Bridge, Camera RAW, masks and layers, painting and retouching, and selections and layers. Jam-packed with information, this book and DVD takes users from the basics through intermediate level topics and helps readers find the information they need in a clear, approachable manner.
A Great Introduction I purchased this book in order to get more insight on all the features of Photoshop. I wasn't disappointed. I thought the chapters were well organized. And everything worked that way the book said it would. Just follow the directions and you should do well.
Once you finish this book, get a copy of Photoshop CS4 Channels & Masks One-on-One by Deke McClelland.
Practical Introduction to PS If you're new to Photoshop, this book gives you the essentials of the program. It then goes beyond the basics and shows you handy techniques in this very robust program. The exercises are step by step, and even in the early chapters experienced users can pick up handy tips for routine processes. The integration of the text and the disk is well done, but you can learn from the book even without the computer explanations. A particularly handy quick overview is the video summary of each chapter. Worth the money because it allows the user to get the most out of his or her investment in the Photoshop program.
Excellent I've gotten through the first nine chapters and find this book has an excellent way of teaching. In only two cases have I looked at the videos for help. I like the way they use pictures to help you see exactly what you are going to do. I just checked the errata on their website because I was having problems with the "reset Adobe Photoshop CS4 Preferences" on page 3. I found on Adobe that you should press Ctrl+Alt+Shift immediately AFTER launching Photoshop. I highly recommend this book. I had been dabbling in Photoshop for about a month before receiving the book. The book helped me explore some amazingly powerful aspects of Photoshop.
Mystery solved I used to wonder what was so great about Photoshop. I had often heard of it's use by photographers and how it could be used to falsify photographs of real world objects. Then, as an artist, I learned that it could be useful from a illustrator's point of view. This book opens up all the aspects of photoshop that are not apparent from the many menu and dialog items available in the application itself. It provides examples of how to use Photoshop to its fullest. Now I think I have an idea why it is so expensive! It is just an excellent piece of software! I can only say that because of this book. It has opened up possibilities that I have not even dreamed of before, and has widened my artistic horizons.
Finally, a book I could learn from! I've spent a small fortune on CS4 books in the past 4-6 months, and can honestly say this is the first one that was understandable, especially coupled with the videos that explain each chapter. There may be some details that would cause this book to not qualify for the full five star rating, but I'm too new or dumb to know the difference at this point. What I do know is that I've understood how to use masks for the first time... and it is soooo easy! Wish I had found this book first.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
