Rating: 
Summary: Easy to follow, yet packed with information
Review: The Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia is a non-linear tutorial and a visual reference, which walks users step-by-step with complete details for designing professional level type effects. The interior design is crafted to work exclusively as a reference/tutorial book on type design. Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia is organized into two general parts: an introduction full of context; and the actual encyclopedia, with rich illustrations of what each effect looks like, how to create the effects, and how to do your own variations of the effect. Each page is easy to follow, yet packed with information.
Rating: 
Summary: Ok, but not great
Review: This book provides a wide seletion of type designs. Most of them are excellent. But honestly, I feel that the author holds back a lot of important details. For example, usually there are no specific color values (just light red, dark yellow, ...), this is really disturbing, 'cause even a small difference in color values may give you a completely different results. Also, I don't know why he never tell which font he is using, and I have to spend my time searching through my font list. This book is about type but it never digs deep into basic design principles of fonts and their effects (like modern, sans serif, script and such).I learn quite an amount from this book, but waste a great amount of time experimenting different color values and fonts. The time that I could have spent to read many more books about Photoshop.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning
Review: This gorgeous book is jam packed with photorealistic effects which are also included on the CD. This book is written for Photoshop 6 and 7 for PC and Mac. The tutorials range from downright easy to extremely complex. The book begins with an overview of using type in Photoshop. The book is heavily illustrated throughout. The layout is clean and sharp and is packed with information. There are a lot of dialog boxes showing the settings used in the tutorials. You'll find various realistic metal effects, gorgeous polished chrome including realistic reflections, and every imaginable texture or effect. These effects are very professional looking. There is also an encylopedia section with 72 different effects and an appendix showing all the Photoshop built-in filters and type effects. I found this book a great inspiration and easy to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Gorgeous and Well Done
Review: This is probably one of the most beautifully laid out instructional books on Photoshop that I've seen. Specifically if you're interest in type effects. You won't be disappointed, I mean this is knock-out gorgeous. I think it may be over the heads of beginning PS users, but it certainly inspires one to try harder. Of all the Photoshop books I own, this ranks at the top.
Rating:
Summary: What a surprise! Sophisticated instructions & fun techniques
Review: When I saw this book, my first impression was 'Cool, it looks like a great new Photoshop 7 cookbook.' If that had been the case, I would have been happy enough, but it turned out to be the type of book the expression 'Don't judge a book by its cover' came from. When you first hold this book in your hands you instantly know it is something special. The cover is made of a beautiful thick material and has large flaps that can easily be used to hold your place when you have to grudgingly walk away from the computer. The next pleasant surprise is the table of contents. I had no idea this book not only included some of the classiest style ideas I've seen in a long time but also some lessons in typography, a very important part of the art world that has been struggling to break into the minds of many web designers. There is no way this book will sit on your bookshelf. Instead, it will be one of the first you open when deciding how to start a job or complete a logo or fix a clients problem. Happy Styling! Leslie
Rating:
Summary: What a surprise! Sophisticated instructions & fun techniques
Review: When I saw this book, my first impression was `Cool, it looks like a great new Photoshop 7 cookbook.' If that had been the case, I would have been happy enough, but it turned out to be the type of book the expression `Don't judge a book by its cover' came from. When you first hold this book in your hands you instantly know it is something special. The cover is made of a beautiful thick material and has large flaps that can easily be used to hold your place when you have to grudgingly walk away from the computer. The next pleasant surprise is the table of contents. I had no idea this book not only included some of the classiest style ideas I've seen in a long time but also some lessons in typography, a very important part of the art world that has been struggling to break into the minds of many web designers. There is no way this book will sit on your bookshelf. Instead, it will be one of the first you open when deciding how to start a job or complete a logo or fix a clients problem. Happy Styling! Leslie
Rating:
Summary: Lavish and Stunning Type Effects
Review: Wow! even if this book didn't give detailed instructions on how to creat the type effects, it would still serve well as a coffee table art book - because type effects shown are that good and the color and layout of the book are museum book quality. This is a book you just want to sit down with a cup of coffee (tea works too)and just spend time browsing through it. It reminds me of the old Photoshop Type magic series with the exception that the type effects shown in this book don't look cheesy (which many did back in the days of Photoshop 4). The book is packed with a wealth of different effects that are breathtaking and as I read it it conjured up all sorts of ideas as to where I wanted to use the effects. The author gives excellent instruction in how to create the effects but does assume the reader has a working knowledge of Photoshop. While is this more of a challenge for a novice Photoshop user, it also means that pages are not wasted explaining what a layer is or where the Text tool is located. If you do any work with text in your creative designs, this is a must for your library.
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