Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Classroom in a Book

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Adobe Photoshop "Classroom in a Book" belongs to the series of "hands-on software training workbooks", published by Adobe. This book is written by people who know Photoshop better than anyone else, and is apparently intended to be an exercise book additional to the Photoshop manual. Indeed, it even uses some of the images which appear in the Photoshop manual. However, it can as well be used as an independent tutorial. The book is amazingly well written. Each chapter briefly explains the function of the tools discussed below, and then offers a practical lesson using images from the enclosed CD. The language of the book is very concise and easy to understand, which makes it suitable for people with every background, from middle-school students to professionals. The balance between the complexity of the tasks and the amount of information to learn is very well maintained. Description of the steps to follow is very accurate. I found only few minor mistakes in the text, which did not cause any significant misunderstandings.

Despite all these advantages, two issues should be emphasized to avoid disappointment. First, this book does not contain much more than can be found in the Photoshop Manual or online help. Therefore, this book can be recommended primarily for the beginners, maybe for some people on the intermediate level, who are learning the basic techniques of Photoshop. It does not go into details of how photoshop can be used to make those amazing tricks with photographs which can be done by photoshop experts. Secondly, this book IS a workbook, a practical tutorial, but not more than that. This means that you read it from the beginning to the end, do the tutorials, hopefully learn a lot, but most likely will never use this book again. This book is not a good reference, and it makes little sense to repeat the lessons more than once or twice. Therefore this book frequently appears on Amazon auctions, sold by people who used it and do not need it anymore. But it is still a great book!

Just get your hands on the software? Started the program for the very first time and watched your screen fill up with all those different windows and wonder - "Oh my God. Where in the world do I start?" Photoshop manual a little overwhelming?

Then buy this book! Seasoned photoshop-ers will more than likely not find this book of too much value, but for the beginners (or even tried and true users of other graphics editing software) will most assuredly find their dollars well spent on this book. The software has SO MUCH to offer. This book will not cover all of it. But if you need to familiarize yourself with the specifics, and you like learning from a structured and well organized presentation, then this book is for you.

However, the book does assume that you are familliar with the basics of computers (i.e. file management, navigation, etc.) It will, at the very least, get you off on the right foot and have you working with images from the very first page. Where you go from having finished the book is entirely up to you, but you'll have a WAYYYY better feel of the software and be much more educated as to just which book you need to buy next. (Personally, I found the Photoshop 5 Bible - Gold Edition to be my favorite bookshelf reference material.)

I just spent a great deal of money to learn this program. If I had only had the book sooner, I could of saved almost a months rent. The book is designed to teach all users of all skill levels at a pace in which they feel comfortable. Each lesson is laid out logically in a very dynamic user freindly fashion. You are immediately impressed with the programs ability before even making it past page 23. What I liked best about this style of book was that you can learn at your own pace. You decide when its time to move forward. It takes the functions that you learn on one lesson and incorporates them into the next. Therefore enhancing and strengthning your knowledge. I am so impressed with the series that I will be purchasing the remainder of the books available for the programs I already own

Who could know better about Photoshop than the makers themselves! Adobe Photoshop 5.0 Classroom in a Book is a fantasic help book because it does just that! It helps you learn the basics as well as the more advanced techniques. It may be a little more expensive than the rest but it is well worth it! The CD is also a nice extra.

This is a good book for those who have never used Photoshop before and are looking for a book that just tells you simply what to do. Step-by-step tutorials along with the files on the CD help you to learn the basics in no time.

Areas covered include working with selections, pen tool techniques, layers, painting, editing, masks, channels, photo retouching, web publication, getting accurate color & two-color image preparation.

Combining Photoshop & Illustrator is also explained. If you have Image Ready, you will be pleased to find that it is covered in depth. It is mostly in b/w, but has a small color section featuring examples & a toolbox overview.

Tool & menu selections are shown side by side with results to reinforce the learning process. The book guides you through using the program and getting results without being overly technical.

Other reviewers have slammed this book for not going into the more esoteric areas of Photoshop use, but the book's preface clearly states it will aid in learning FUNDAMENTAL concepts and features. This it does well. Not a book for advanced Photoshop devotees, it will however help novice users learn enough techniques to whet their apetites for more creative fare. Three stars for a good coverage of the basics, despite an admittedly dry presentation.

During my Master's work in Design and Digital media, we were required to train in photoshop and illustrator. This was the text for that training. From the perspective of a student in a teach yourself environment, I felt this book presented itself well. The layout and information was informative. The lessons are great if you learn best through hands on application. I really recommend this series if you have the time to dedicate yourself to it. You will learn a firm foundation in which to advance yourself on your own. These books now serve as a reference on my bookshelf.

I have been searching for a PhotoShop book. I finally found that this one is the best. The content is well-organized. The author try to explain the design purpose of each functionality. This way the reader will understand the concept and hardly forget those tools.

This book does what it claims to do. It'll get a beginner up to speed on the tools available in Photoshop. As a computer book it stands out for having a clear layout and concise explanations. It's very easy to follow along with the tutorials. I'd reccommend it for novices who don't posess the manual *wink*.

I should have saved my money. This book basically has the same content as the manual that comes with the software. Yes, it is a little better organized, but there is really no more information in it that in the manual.

Also, if you are looking for a book for photo retouching and repair, this is not it. It tells you how to use the basic tools, but there are not clear examples of true "restorations" and how they got from one point to another.

I am a very computer literate person, and I found this book annoying, the same as the manual. I have learned a lot more by trial and error.