Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0: A visual introduction to digital photography

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

 

 

This is the latest of Philip Andrew's series of books covering Photoshop Elements, now at Version 5, and fully updated, is aimed at those who are new to digital imaging and the software. One of the many strengths of the book is its "backward compatibility"; that is to say, you can use this book, even if you have a previous version of the software. This is achieved by stating clearly at the start of each section what the commands are for versions 1 through to 5. The book is divided into15 Chapters, covering everything from an overview of digital imaging and the software to creating a web photo gallery. In between each of the following topics and more is covered: Getting your pictures into Elements, tonal control, retouching techniques, making and using selections, organising your photos with tags, understanding and using layers, working with text, using painting tools, creating panoramas, preparing images for the web and printing, making creations. A further Chapter contains 12 "real world" projects that can be followed step-by-step to further hone your skills. There is also a useful companion website where there are further downloadable resources and all the photos used in the book are available to download and practice on. In summary, this is an excellent book that I commend to anyone interested in getting the most from the software. Philip Andrews has a clear, concise and easy style, and manages to explain complex terms in an easy to understand way. This, combined with great full colour screen shots and clear step-by-step instructions makes this a must for any Photoshop Elements user.

If you learn by doing, this book is not for you. I have recently gone from PSE 2.0 to PSE 5.0 and really needed to learn the new features. When I bought PSE 2.0, I also bought "50 Fast Digital Photo Techniques". It was a wonderful book. It included a CD of photos used by the book, so the reader could start with the original photo and follow the book step-by-step to end up with the final image. The book showed the "before" and "after" and all of the steps in between. That is what I had in mind when I purchased this book. What a letdown. Some of the sample pictures that this book uses are available at their website, but the book does not indicate when to use their picture and specifically which sliders to manipulate and to what value to obtain the final result. So it does little more than explain what each of the features do. You can sit on your couch and read it. No `real-world' applications. Don't waste your money on this one.

Having jumped directly from Elememts 2.0 to Elements 5, I decided to seek professional help on getting maximum usage from the program. My purpose is scanning 35mm slides and enhancing them along with digital images. I shopped and read many portions of various Elements 5 books and decided that Philip Andrews was talking to me so I bought this edition from Amazon.com. I now have better results and a better workflow for digital capture and editing. Mr. Andrew's explanations and particularly the advise on 16 bit vs 8 bit images has helped the quality of my images and my hobby enjoyment as well.

I am new to elements and I needed a guide to learn all the ins and outs of the software. This book is not it. I cant tell you who the target audience is but it is not the novice user. There are NO clear instructions in this book, just a lot of verbage from a guy who wanted to fill pages.

I have only had this book for two days so feel a review at this time is a little premature. I spent several hours last night going through it and found many features I am looking forward to trying since Adobe Photoshp Elements 5.0 is new to me. At 77 years old I find I learn best by doing and am looking forward to trying the new features shown in this book.

I started wioth Photoshop Element version onme and have updated ever since tom the newest version.

I have found Photoshop CS too expensive and too much info for what I need as a photograopher.

Therefore Photoshop Elements is just the right product for me.

All the answers to all your questions, plus other stuff you can use.