Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop CS3 A-Z: Tools and features illustrated ready reference

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Photoshop is not known for it's easy user interface or help files. There are many tutorial books that take you step-by-step through common tasks, but this is finally the book to let you quickly look up all those little things you can't remember. The book starts with about 20 pages of step-by-step summaries of common tasks (importing photos, selection techniques, retouching, etc) then the remainder of the book is an alpha listing of every Photoshop feature. Each feature has a consistent format showing a small before and after photo, the menu path for the command, the shortcut key for the command, what versions apply, "see also" and where needed a screen shot of a dialog box. There is no index - it's not needed. this is a handy size and it stays out now when I am using Photoshop.

Philip Andrew's "Adobe Photoshop CS3 A-Z" is my choice for a great desktop reference. Even though I am an Adobe Certified Expert, I still can't remember everything. This book allows me to quickly lookup something, and get a concise description or function as well as having excellent image and screen shots.

It is the "perfect" size for me, in dimension and number of pages! Excellent binding, image quality, and pages. I have to mention this because I am so tired of buying a book that falls apart within a couple of weeks or has such "off" color in the images, that it makes you wonder if the author actually knows what they're talking about. Not the case here...the quality is top notch!

This is not a "how-to" book but, as an instructor of Photoshop, I highly recommend this book as a reference companion to any how to book, whether you are a beginner or an expert.

Even a casual reader can get tips from this book because a single topic is covered just on that page. If you have a question about a technique or are unfamiliar with some of the terminology, this is a great reference book.

The book is not very thick and it is a concise explanation (sometimes too concise) of what each function does. But after having said that, it is well printed (semi gloss paper), in colours, and easy to read. Great reference book on CS3 and is only half an inch thick.

Not written as a tutorial. Supplemental to your regular instructional books. That being said, this is a necessary book if you believe in the power of dictionaries. When I am stuck, I look up the term, and there is an illustration and definition with a popular use of the tool.

all I need to know about CS3
and really extraordinary

This is a concise, well-written quick reference for Photoshop CS3. I would say, as someone who takes the ACE exams when they are newly released for each version, that this book would be helpful in studying for the ACE exam but not sufficient on its own.

All of the major features and dialogs are covered but some of the important functions associated with a given feature or dialog, are not. For example, there is a column about the Channels panel, but no columns or descriptions relating to some of the important functions held within the Channels panel, such as the ability to create a Spot Channel. There are of course many other examples, many of which are specialized but nonetheless important features that anyone serious about Photoshop will want to know, ACE exam or not.

I've also noticed a few layout and typographical errors (for example sometimes section headers for two different functions, will mistakenly show the same menu tree / shortcut. IOW, the layout person cut and pasted, but never updated the text).

Overall however, this is an affordable and worthwhile reference to have, especially if you're not as concerned about the specialized functions or hidden commands within a given panel or dialog. The quality of the binding and paper are very good and the image reproduction is decent. I would recommend the Photoshop CS3 On Demand book because of its added depth, but it is riddled with errors.

Excellent Photoshop guide .All Photoshop users should have this reference
sitting alongside their Computer as an instant companion when delving into Photoshop
Highly recommended

when you forget how to use a tool or how to do something in photoshop this is great to have around better than going to the manual to figure something out