Photoshop(R) 7: The Complete Reference

Author: Laurie Ann Ulrich List Price: $49.99 Our Price: Click to see the latest and low price ISBN: 0072223111 Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media (01 August, 2002) Edition: Paperback Sales Rank: 168,686 Average Customer Rating: 4.43 out of 5

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Customer Reviews

Although the tools and basic concepts are well explained, it is really for the beginner. Buying this book, I expected to master better artistic techniques, some new concepts, etc. I didnt want to get an 'overview' of photoshop, i didn't want to know basic things like what is the eyedropper, what masks are, etc. Finally, i don't think that Laurie Ann Ulrich knows Photoshop better than the average intermediate level photoshop user.

So if you are already using photoshop, don't buy this book.

Reviewed by Michael Pastore, Epublishers Weekly

Before studying Ulrich's new book, every time I sat down in front of the Adobe Photoshop desktop, I would take a deep breath, mumble a prayer to the Greek god of electronic images, and then swallow a long gulp of strong green tea. With its hundreds of tools, palettes, options, and possibilities, I felt like I was sitting in the pilot's seat of a jet airplane. To be completely honest, I was so frustrated at my Photoshop ineptness, for a while I considered switching from Photoshop to the 99-dollar competitor, knowing that the competitor had fewer features, and hoping that it would be easier to use.

But no, I couldn't give up on Photoshop: it was the industry standard -- for web documents, for graphics of all kinds, and for print. The only good solution to my problem was to stick with it, and to invest the time in learning how to use the software well. In this quest, I tried a number of name-brand books, all without success. Whether they failed me or I failed them is impossible to tell. Some of these learn-Photoshop books were so easy that they didn't teach anything significant; other books left me drowning in mental dust as they assumed that I was graphic-arts professional who worked with the Photoshop software sixteen hours every day.

Photoshop 7: The Complete Reference proved to be exactly the book I had been looking for. Everything that I wanted to learn about the Photoshop software is covered in the book's four parts: Getting to Know Photoshop; Editing and Retouching Images; Building Original Artwork; and Photoshop on The Web. My three special interests -- creating and optimizing graphics for the web; creating book covers for print; and managing artwork for electronic files -- all were explained in depth, with explanations that were simple to understand. Ulrich's book is comprehensive, featuring coverage of dozens of topics not included in the User Guide that comes with the software.

Illustrations and screenshots on almost every page add to the clarity of the explanations. And the book is filled with hundreds of "Tips" and "Notes" that offer shortcuts and professional advice. Ulrich's work especially shines whenever she explains the things that Photoshop dabblers like me had never before bothered to learn about: What can all the tools and palettes do? How do the colors work? What does Photoshop do best, and when should you not use Photoshop? How can you master the key facets of Photoshop, including layers, actions, filters, and masks?

All the brand new features of Photoshop version 7 are taught expertly, including the Web Photo Gallery; something called presets -- the ability to save your settings; the healing brush that makes old photos look new; and -- at long last! -- a spell checker for text.

As I worked with this superb book and gained skills, a remarkable thing happened: I began to enjoy using the software. Before it was always a question of "Can I do this?", and "How many hours will it take to figure it out?" ... But after reading the book, the questions has changed to: "What interesting effect will I discover or create today?" ... Yesterday -- using Photoshop 7 software with Ulrich's open book beside me -- in sixty minutes I designed and made an attractive cover for a paperback book.

Photoshop 7: The Complete Reference will teach you how to use Photoshop with skill and confidence, and then work as the book you flip open again and again to create, to tweak, or to enhance all varieties of your electronic art.

- Michael Pastore, Editorial Director
Epublishers Weekly

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