Rating: 
Summary: Top Notch Book, Well Written and Laid Out!
Review: This is a very good book. In fact it is by far the best I have found to guide me in taking images from camera to use! Comprehensive, but easy to follow and read.
I am not a professional photographer, but I do take a lot of photographs. Some for fun, but many find their way into our company's website, PowerPoint slides, and promotional material (engineering and industrial projects). I also use a lot of photographs for my wife's travel business website and brochures. Mostly slides for years, but am now going "all digital." They all need adjusting, cropping, sharpening, fixing so I find myself using Photoshop more and more.
I started using Photoshop 5.0 almost 6 years ago, about the time I purchased a scanner and started trying to master inserting images in documents for my work. I was no computer amateur, but what a struggle. I fumbled through at least two of the obscure "list everything and every option" manuals Kelby describes-with time consuming, mediocre results. Finally admitted defeat and enrolled in a Photoshop night course at university. Three years, Photoshop 7.1, Win2000, and many thousands of photographs later, I am still learning. I read through parts of this book at a local bookstore three weeks ago and quickly concluded that this was a book I had to have. Just got it today, and have actually read a third already!
Good, solid advice on using Photoshop's browser was the first thing that caught my attention. I was using the limited "Zoom Browser" software that came with my new Canon digital camera and wasn't even aware of the browser capabilities of Photoshop. Also appreciated the advice on sharpening settings, some of which I had already noted from the class I took on Photoshop. I had been investigating sharpening plug-ins for Photoshop, and Kelby's examples are a good introduction to the different sharpening effects. Next will be colour curves and adjustments-which, despite appearances of my photos, I am still making a mess of!
The book is very well laid out. Use of colour and white space is nicely done. Easy to read and follow, and generously illustrated with colour photographs for every step. In fact, this is one of my criteria for an instructional book-if it's not "easy on the eye" it will probably just sit on the shelf. Of course, eye candy can grow old quickly without content. Kelby covers the subject well in an informal and humorous style. His advice is right on, and to the point: I have photos, now I need to use them-even if it's only to e-mail friends and family. He lays out how to do this.
Rating:
Summary: BEST HOW TO BOOK I'VE EVER READ
Review: MY QUALIFICATIONS: (ADVANCED NOVICE) I am a professional photographer and videographer. IMAGEWERX is my company. I am a video and photo editor, I photo and video weddings, and design and author custom DVDs. I have used Adobe Photoshop since 1997 and the only training I have had has been hands-on and tips from friends.
ADOBE PHOTOSHOP VERSION I USE: Photoshop CS (MAC)
MY OPINION OF THE BOOK: The best how-to book I ever bought. I have learned a lot about Photoshop from this book. It's Easy to read. Easy to follow. Takes me step-by-step through the process. The attempts at humor didn't annoy me. That didn't distract me from the content of the book. I liked it because it made me feel closer to the author and that he was writing to me and not at me.
HOW I USE THIS BOOK: Usually, I don't read this type of book cover to cover. If I need to know how to do something I look it up. However, I have found myself actually reading this book section by section. I have never done that before (I have adult ADD so keeping me focused and interested for more then 10 seconds is a challenge). But this book has so many valuable lessons that take you step-by-step through the process I can't help but read it. I used to do a lot of things the hard way. Now I am saving a lot of time (which means money) by doing them the right way. I now consider my self a Photoshop expert. My photographs are better quality and my processing time has been more than cut in half because of this book.
WILL THIS BOOK WORK FOR YOU? That's up to you. One review I saw here was worthless because it talked about the information being available on the Web. So what does that have to do with the book? Every book I have ever bought has information I could find in other sources. It is how well it is written that matters to me. I have bought several books on the same subject and they all had the same information, but what was important to me was the one that I could follow and understand the best. This book is that to me.
WHAT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE ADDED TO THE NEXT ADDITION: More Web site creation information including ImageReady how to steps.
Rating: 
Summary: entertaining the beginneers
Review: I scanned it in the bookstore and I thought it looked like it had something I could use. It does, but there is a lot of things I take issue with.
The basic philosophy behind this book is that photoshop, and digital photography, is best mastered by getting "tips" and "tricks" that will go "bam!" like something out of Batman's utility belt. You just have to know what button to press on your digital wizard/photogee-gaw/hookah-and-also-makes-juliened-fries answer device and Presto! It's perfect.
Many will find this appealing. And, Scott Kelby has got that appealing juvenile style a la Dave Barry which makes it seem at least like he doesn't take himself too seriously.
However, his description of how to "color-correct any photo - FAST!" is so misleading I really have to take issue with it.
I just wish I hadn't fallen for the glib tone and paid the huge dollars. What was I thinking?
Rating:
Summary: The Best Photoshop Cookbook I've Ever Seen!
Review: I'm certainly no Photoshop expert. I'm not even really a good photographer. But I've worked with Photoshop for years and I before reading this book I felt like I had a good handle on what could and couldn't be done with Photoshop. Boy, was I wrong.
Kelby's book is truly a godsend for anyone interested in digital photography. Airbrushing techniques, color correction, subject extraction, styling techniques....it's all there. He shows you exactly how to get the results you're looking for.
Note that this is NOT a book on how to use Photoshop. This is a book that tells you how to use Photoshop to get the results you're looking for. This book picks up where all of the other Photoshop books leave off.
Like I mentioned in the title, this is more of a cookbook than it is a textbook. All of the techniques he describes follows a format akin to a step-by-step recipe. Not a lot of theory is presented (none really). However, this format allows you to jump right into the book and find exactly what you need when you need it. And it's fun. It will remain on your desk for a long, long time.
A must have.
Rating:
Summary: Nice practical book
Review: Ignore all earlier comments about the book being too basic. These guys don't know what they're talking about. This is the best book on Photoshop I have ever read. It gives you real world settings instead of publishing pages of useless Phd-thesis-type(basic) information on specific features, e.g., USM, WITHOUT recommended settings. These real world settings require a pre-requisite knowledge of the features; WHICH is why the book is considered an intermediate-to-advanced book. Photographers looking for detailed explanations of each and every feature should just read through the HELP document or basic texts published by Adobe.
Rating:
Summary: The Best PS Book for Digital Photographers
Review: The moment I leafed through this book I was impressed. I picked up several useful tips in the first few minutes perusing it. This never happens - usually I look through a PS book looking for things that I don't know already.Scott Kelby doesn't waste time telling you how to take a photograph, but rather gets to the meat and potatoes of digital post processing. This is great for me, as I need to make the most of my time and this book has helped me to do that. Also, I really enjoy Mr. Kelby's writing style, and am oh-so glad that he came out with this book - it's the best thing to come along for digital photographers like myself, who have a working knowledge of PS but need to squeeze as much as possible out of the program. My sincere thanks Mr. Kelby! :-) I love this book!
Rating:
Summary: Best Photoshop Book I own
Review: I've been using PHotoshop since 1992, and I certainly didn't find this book too basic. Most photoshop books I own all cover the tools, but never venture to give specific settings for certain tasks. Even though the book covers a lot of basic concepts, I still learned tons of shortcuts and tricks that I didn't know about. I love this book and have read it cover to cover, which I rarely do with a reference book!
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