Customer Reviews

Elements Bundle: Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0: A Visual Introduction to Digital Imaging

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This isn't a book just about Photoshop Elements, there are plenty of books like that. This book teaches you how to improve the photos you take with your digital camera as well as how to improve them in Photoshop Elements. Let's face it, about half of the problems that can be corrected in Elements can be prevented when the photo is taken. The book is laid out in a logical progression and with short concise explanations. Because the approach of the book is visual (a picture is worth a thousand words even adjusting for inflation) the concepts are easy to understand. Whether you are new to digital photography or are a professional this book presents information you need to take better pictures and then use Photoshop Elements to enhance (or correct other's mistakes because after reading this book you won't be making those errors again). The other advantage of the book is the way it is organized. Let's face it, no matter how good a technical book is, no one will read it from cover to cover. The organization of the book makes it easy to find the topic you want without reading the entire chapter. If you know someone who just got a digital camera as a graduation gift, this book would make the perfect companion.

Maybe someone will find this 'introduction' to Adobe Photoshop helpful, but I sure didn't. It is difficult to read, and the graphics do not interact well with the text. But perhaps the biggest problem I found was that there was lots of explanation why Adobe decided to create a feature like 'layers' for example, (to mimic the old double sandwiched negatives photographers used to use in darkrooms), but very little clear instruction on how to do it. In fact, I looked through 15 pages of the section on elements and had no clue how to even begin using the layers function. I did a google search and found an explanation that took two paragraphs. I really don't understand why the book had so much 'interesting' information with so little clear practical advice. It was more like a philosophy of photo manipulation software than a clear guidebook. Look at the subtitle: 'A Visual Introduction to Digital Imaging.' That's not what I had in mind

I had a GPA of 3.75 in high school and I found this book hard to use. Hint, hint...

Very good book that covers the complex subject very well.