BECS, Digital Imaging SIG Book Reviews

Some Advice on teaching yourself Photoshop:
First off, don’t plan on using the documentation that comes with the Photoshop CD to learn Photoshop. Consider it a reference tool of last resort only!

I would suggest spending the money and buying a book to accompany your new software. This goes for beginners or those wanting to get up to speed with the latest version of Photoshop.

Most Photoshop how-to books are tutorial in nature, from the beginner’s book to the more advanced books. They are set up like learning in a classroom, taking sequential steps with plenty of pictures and examples, versus the included documentation on the Adobe CD that is more index/hyperlink oriented (confusing).

Regrettably, most Photoshop books have a short life span. They are dated as soon as a new version of the software arrives. That old Photoshop book passed down from a friend or the book you find at a used book sale may add a lot of confusion and frustration to your learning effort. I wouldn't bother with a book more than one version back from the software I'm using.

A request: Please help me add to this list of books. Send me a short review good or bad of a recent Photoshop book you have read. Feel free to add to, or criticize, my short reviews.

With this in mind, I find the following recent books very good. Either I have bought them, or others have recommended them to me.

Photoshop Elements 3
Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks
by Denis Graham
Visual Books published by Wiley Publishing, Inc
ISBN: 0-7645-6937-6

Highly illustrated step-by-step approach. This book is excellent for those starting at ground zero. This publisher’s books follow a highly graphic, almost comic book approach to learning, just follow the pictures. In my opinion this is the best way to approach learning a complex and sometimes intimidating subject. The Visual series of books cover many computer topics from operating systems to software.

Photoshop For Windows & Macintosh
Elaine Weinmann & Peter Lourekas
Peachpit Press

This book gets you going with many illustrations touching down on all the tools and functions Photoshop CS offers. Don’t let the “Quick Start” on the cover make you think the contents are somehow abbreviated; they are very comprehensive. I have also bought the Quick Start series of books for Adobe InDesign and Adobe Illustrator in addition Photoshop CS. I highly recommend these books as the first books you buy to teach yourself Photoshop, plus many other desk top publishing applications the series cover. I get one for every upgrade cycle—very affordable compared to most of these kind of books.

Real World Photoshop
David Blatner & Bruce Fraser
Peachpit Press

If there is a Bible for Photoshop this book is it. Blatner & Fraser are the guys the experts look to. This book drills deep into every aspect of Photoshop in a clear and readable fashion. However, I would suggest that you already know the essentials of Photoshop before buying this book. Real World Photoshop is not a step-by-step, how-to book, but more descriptions of what tools do and how and when to apply them. Unlike many Photoshop books, Blatner and Fraser cover the world of CMYK press publishing in great detail as well as the RGB world of the photographer. If you really want to know all the nuts and bolts of Photoshop this is your book. My book is a few versions old now, but I still find it useful when I'm trying to understand concepts behind different processes.

Photoshop Masking & Compositing
Katrin Eismann
New Riders press

After you are well on your way using Photoshop and want to explore composite imaging this is the book for you. Katrin gives the complex world of digital imaging a human touch and explores in great detail Photoshop selecting, masking and layering. Many approaches and alternatives to the same task are covered. Katrin is a Photoshop teacher and understands the confusing issues from a student’s point of view and doesn’t rush through any example using too few steps. The book is richly illustrated with example photos and dialog boxes, layer pallets etc. showing all the steps and processes. Most of the images used in the demonstrations are downloadable from her Web site. Using them as you follow along in the book is a fun hands-on learning technique—the best way to learn!