Beginner's Guide to Adobe Photoshop [Paperback]

Michelle Perkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003 | ISBN-10: 1584281081 | ISBN-13: 978-1584281085 | Edition: 2nd

Providing new Photoshop users with concise, practical information on this world-standard software solution, this book shows photographers how to manipulate photos for print media and the web. Techniques show photographers how to avoid common mistakes and frustrations while creating high-quality, imaginative images. Each topic is broken down into short, easy-to-digest sections (usually only two or three pages long) with clear, jargon-free discussions and plenty of examples. Topics covered include basic image editing, selection techniques, using layers, and creating original artwork. As users' skill levels increase, they will learn how to make selections for more precise image control and how to use the artistic tools in Photoshop for painting, drawing, airbrushing, and correcting image flaws.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Easy-to-use techniques that allow readers to put their skills to work right away with PC or Macintosh versions of Photoshop."  —PhotoStockNotes, PhotoSource International

"From cropping and orientation to image retouching and outputting images and everything in between."  —SciTech Book News

"Each technique is explained in two pages. Many color photos, which can be downloaded from the publisher's website, serve as examples."  —Art Book News Annual

"There's no undecipherable jargon to thwart you as you learn how to crop, color and correct images you've made."  —Acadiana LifeStyle

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Michelle Perkins is a professional editor and book designer and the author of Traditional Photographic Effects with Adobe Photoshop and Color Correction and Enhancement with Adobe Photoshop. She lives in Buffalo, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Amherst Media, Inc.; 2nd edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584281081
• ISBN-13: 978-1584281085
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,586,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michelle Perkins is a writer, a photographer, and a digital imaging specialist. She is a technical editor for Rangefinder, a regular contributor to After Capture, and has written for PC Photo. She is the author of numerous photography books, including Professional Portrait Lighting and Professional Portrait Posing, and is the coauthor of The Illustrated Dictionary of Photography. She lives in Buffalo, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent place to start, one of a kind book.., September 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Beginner's Guide to Adobe Photoshop: Easy Lessons for Rapid Learning and Success (Paperback)

Although I don't agree that Amherst books are always a good choice, this one certainly is. There are a few excellent books out there for those wanting to invest the time in learning Photoshop inside out (Real World Photoshop 7, for example, as long as you have the time to read a book of a few hundred pages before you dive in). Usually I want the "most book" I can get for my money, but one asset of this book is its small size. It is an unintimidating introduction to a potentially intimidating program. The book really does start from the beginning, using clear and simple language, so you won't feel frustrated over terms you don't understand (although you might consider reading the part about Photoshop's tools first, then come back to the start of the book). The author manages to boil down Photoshop into several essential and logically chosen components - no small feat considering this program does just about everything. The author's distillation goes a long way toward helping a reader get a sense of this program. You will come away with a complete introduction. In the small space of just over 100 pages, the author also teaches you how to do many of the tasks you'd be most likely to want to do. Even experienced users will probably learn something new or find something that something they were fuzzy about is clarified. Her book, Traditional Photographic Effects with Adobe Photoshop, is an equally good choice, after you read her introductory text.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Confused by the voluminous Photoshop manuals?, May 30, 2002

By 

Marilyn Dalrymple "MaLing" (Lancaster, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Beginner's Guide to Adobe Photoshop: Easy Lessons for Rapid Learning and Success (Paperback)

If the huge and complicated Adobe Photoshop manuals have scared you off, this book can ease you into using Adobe Photoshop and remove your fears. The subtitle for Perkins' book is, "Easy lessons for rapid learning and success," and that's exaclty what this book offers.

Amherst Media's books are always in an easy-to-follow and well-illustrated format. This book is no different. Perkins explains Photoshop terminology easy to understand language. Not only is the language clear, but there are illustrations of what she is explaining - she leaves no room for doubt.

This compact manual holds much information, and I think if you learn what Perkins teaches, you can easily move up to the more complicated Adobe Photoshop manuals and understand what they are talking about.

Really a very nice book to have on hand, especially if you have been scared off from Adobe Photoshop in the past.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Enough Detail, July 3, 2005

By 

Cindy Sheridan (Huntsville, AL) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Beginner's Guide to Adobe Photoshop (Paperback)

I wanted to get a strong but basic overview of all the features of Photoshop. Based on other reviews I thought this book would be great. The section on filters tells you what filters are available, but doesn't go through the differences between any of them. The theme throughout most of the book is: Play with all of them to see what the differences are and if you make a mistake, there's always the Edit>Undo command. If this is the way you want to learn, don't bother buying the book. I was very disappointed.