Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit [Paperback]

Lisa Matthews (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 5, 2002

With the arrival of Photoshop Elements came a number of books aimed at helping you get the most out of Adobe's slimmer and friendlier Photoshop cousin. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit adds a unique twist to the melange: It steps you through the processes of creating special effects and fixing problems in digital images and then hones in on how to use those images to easily create 20 fun and useful projects. Whether you're a hobbyist who wants to use your snapshots to create a postcard, flyer, or personal Web page; or a business professional looking to create slide presentations, a customized Web gallery, or custom CD and video covers--you'll find that Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit is your new best friend.

Working templates of each project are included on the CD-ROM, making it easy to produce polished finished projects. The book begins by stepping you through the basics of image correction, including how to color images by hand and add borders, and then moves on to explain basic layout strategies for a number of projects: using photographs in newsletters and creating flyers, posters, postcards, and more. The latter part of the book focuses on more complex layout projects such as slide presentations, Web pages, and banners. Loaded with step-by-step instructions and handy, time-saving templates, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit lets you produce creative digital-image projects without reinventing the wheel.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

With the arrival of Photoshop Elements came a number of books aimed at helping you get the most out of Adobe's slimmer and friendlier Photoshop cousin. Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit adds a unique twist to the melange: It steps you through the processes of creating special effects and fixing problems in digital images and then hones in on how to use those images to easily create 20 fun and useful projects. Whether you're a hobbyist who wants to use your snapshots to create a postcard, flyer, or personal Web page; or a business professional looking to create slide presentations, a customized Web gallery, or custom CD and video covers--you'll find that Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit is your new best friend.

Working templates of each project are included on the CD-ROM, making it easy to produce polished finished projects. The book begins by stepping you through the basics of image correction, including how to color images by hand and add borders, and then moves on to explain basic layout strategies for a number of projects: using photographs in newsletters and creating flyers, posters, postcards, and more. The latter part of the book focuses on more complex layout projects such as slide presentations, Web pages, and banners. Loaded with step-by-step instructions and handy, time-saving templates, Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit lets you produce creative digital-image projects without reinventing the wheel.

About the Author

Lisa M. Matthews is a design consultant and professional photographer. She has contributed artwork to a number of Adobe Press books and has taught digital imaging classes at San Jose State University and the Santa Fe Workshops.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Press (August 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 032113009X
• ISBN-13: 978-0321130099
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,652,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Photography & Video > Adobe Photoshop Elements

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

92 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Chris Seibold MyMac.com Book Review, October 24, 2002

By 

Tim E Robertson "Publisher MyMac" (Battle Creek, Mi United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit (Paperback)

So you've got a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements and you use it for the regular stuff, red eye removal, picture cropping, fine tuning the color, but that's about it. Oh sure you know you could do more with Adobe Photoshop Elements but you (like me) probably reason that whatever else you might be able to do would be difficult, time consuming and possibly of little practical value. Well Lisa Matthews is out to change your mind about extending your Adobe Photoshop Elements abilities with Adobe Photoshop Elements Idea Kit. Adobe Photoshop Elements Idea Kit is a different kind of book. It's not a reference manual by any stretch of the imagination. Instead Adobe Photoshop Elements Idea Kit does provide something most books don't: a bit of inspiration. The Idea Kit doesn't house a whole slew of ideas but the ideas found between the covers are very useful and left me in a constant state of "Hey, why didn't I think of doing that?"...Of course all these ideas aren't worth much if the instructions are hard to follow or so tedious that you'd never actually bother to attempt the project (notice how many people do macramé?). No worries about the clarity of the instructions, if you have trouble following this book you may want to take an English language refresher course at the local community college. The instructions aren't overly tedious either, you never feel that you've wasted your time reading and working through a project. Still some of the projects would be hard to complete if you had to whip your own bit of Photoshop goodness for ragged picture corners or something, fortunately you don't. Lisa Matthews includes a CD with a plethora of templates and other goodies you need to finish these projects. Here it's important to remember that Lisa Matthews is a Photoshop uber guru so her stuff looks much better than what the average Joe could generate. Think of the CD as a low cost sampling of pro level goodies.

It's hard to criticize this book on any one level, and I wish there were more books that focused the end product rather than the minutiae of a program...Adobe Photoshop Elements Idea Kit is a real find for Adobe Photoshop Elements novices who want to get the most bang for their Adobe dollar and may even help intermediate users to think of new things to do with Adobe Photoshop Elements but I was left wanting a few more ideas.

MacMice Rating: 3.5 out of 5

35 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good techniques, October 18, 2002

By 

"paul42002" (colorado springs, co United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0 Idea Kit (Paperback)

A bit pricey for the limited pages, however it covers a number of very good techniques that can be applied from Photoshop Elements 2. This book has an excellent intro to guide the reader in a logical sequence of setting up the image to start the photoshop process. It has a useful CD and does cover many of the concepts available in PSE 2 which are usually skipped by other PSE users texts.