How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3: The art of creating photorealistic montages [Paperback]

Steve Caplin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240520629 | ISBN-13: 978-0240520629 | Publication Date: June 8, 2007 | Edition: 4

* New! Zip through the learning curve in a snap with the free DVD! * Hundreds of new Photo Objects, companion project files, QuickTime movie tutorials, sample plugins, and more.

* Don't miss the website www.howtocheatinphotoshop.com where the author answers your reader questions directly!

When you're short on time with crunching deadlines, but there's no way you can sacrifice quality, this book/DVD comes to the rescue. Nobody knows more about how to work fast under pressure and still produce top-notch photographic images than hands-on graphic artist and journalist, Steve Caplin.

Steve cuts through the grind with on-the-job, do-it-now skills, techniques, and shortcuts guaranteed to show you how to work faster, smarter, and better to produce the best work of your life. With a lifetime of practical experience in photo-montage Steve is the go-to person for professional designers, graphic artists, illustrators, photographic retouchers, and students of design media and illustration who want to create photorealistic effects using Photoshop.

Updated for Photoshop CS3, this must-have resource is also backwards compatible - relevant to any version of Photoshop.

'How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3' helps you "cheat in" (or take advantage of) Photoshop in two important ways. You learn how to make images look like photographs, when they're not so that you can create photographic work without a studio. And you find useful shortcuts to work more efficiently, economically, and with quick solutions to achieve the same superb results that come from long, complex operations that take forever.

Whether you're working for print or the web, dip into this book and extract the info you need - fast. Icons mark where Photoshop files or movie tutorials are available for you to open immediately to try for yourself. Stuck? Visit the Reader Forum on the web and question the author directly (and expect other readers to weigh in, too!) at www.howtocheatinphotoshop.com.

Crammed with gems that other books simply don't cover, this book/DVD excels in practical tips to turn the ordinary into the awe-inspiring, quickly. Don't miss how to create new artwork from scratch from starting points that aren't always obvious.

This fully updated new edition shows you how to get the most out of Photoshop CS3, including the Quick Selection and Cloning tools, and more. Yet it's backwards compatible with previous releases of Photoshop. The book's step-by-step tutorials alongside the DVD packed with hundreds of images, project files, and live tutorials show you how to:

* Create convincing smoke effects and make effective explosions - the simple way
* Take years off someone's appearance
* Turn a photograph of someone looking straight into the camera into a different perspective with the entire head (not just the eyes)
* Modify a statue so it looks like a living person or paint hair directly on any surface
* Produce the perfect cutout in the shortest time with Photoshop CS3's new Quick Selection tool... and more

A host of timesaving techniques and insider secrets teach you to work faster and more adeptly moving from the problem to the solution to get fantastic results!

Steve Caplin is a graphic artist, author and journalist.

* Extensive new material to show you how to take your Photoshop skills even further
* DVD includes all the brand new images from the book, 300 high resolution AbleStock images plus over 2 hours of QuickTime movies of the projects
* Benefit from a professional illustrator's timesaving tips and tricks!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A fun project-led workbook for anyone who wants to get to know Photoshop more intimately. Covering all the techniques you'll ever need, it's packed with inspirational projects to try - from combining body parts, to making introduced light sources, shadows, textures and reflections look realistic. With this handy guide, the digital world really is your plaything." - Photography Monthly (Aug 2007)

Previous edition reviews:

"The tutorials are concise, well presented, [and] show the reader what is possible with a select few of the tools, those which serve as the quickest and most practical in any given situation.. The only title which focuses on getting things done in the shortest amount of time as well as producing photo-realistic results."
David Asch, UK based freelance digital artist and photographer specialising in photo-montage and image effects.

". refreshingly candid and easy-going approach to teaching Photoshop techniques. It is enjoyable and informative. It's greatest strength is its approachable, friendly writing style combined with obvious expertise.. more personal and direct than any other Photoshop book I've read."
Keith Martin, UK based freelance graphic designer, Technical Editor for MacUser magazine.


"...this book is fascinating and Steve is unquestionably the master in his field." - Amateur Photographer

"Brilliant illustrations, step-by-step instructions and packed full of tricks from one of the finest masters of them all." Tom Ang

"An invaluable guide to creating impressive montages from your digital photographs. Composed primarily of step-by-steps, this tome is packed with useful shortcuts and time saving tips." - What Digital Camera

"A must-have for all Photoshoppers" - www.total-image-nation.co.uk

"Covering all the major techniques, author Steve Caplin takes you on an intriguing and insightful journey through the realms of the digital montage." - Advanced Photoshop

"Its 376 pages, plus CD, are crammed with colourful instruction on making your dull, unexciting snaps look altogether different...It should be required reading for anyone using Adobe's image tweaking tool in a semi-pro environment." - MacUser

"You'll find plenty of fun in the author's offbeat lessons and examples which explore the program's hidden powers. What makes CHEAT so unique are the gems that other volumes simply don't cover. The juiciest bits that real artists hunger for are here. So dig in, dig deep, and Shop yourself mad." www.dingbatmag.com

Book Description

When you're short on time with crunching deadlines, but there's no way you can sacrifice quality, this book/DVD comes to the rescue.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 4 edition (June 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240520629
• ISBN-13: 978-0240520629
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steve Caplin is a freelance artist and author working in London, England. His satirical photomontage work is commissioned by newspapers and magazines around the world, including The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Telegraph, The Sunday Times Magazine, Radio Times, Readers Digest and L'Internazionale.

Steve has worked for advertising agencies including Saatchi & Saatchi, Bartle Bogle Hegarty and Lowe Howard Spink, and his work has won two Campaign Poster Awards and a D&AD Pencil award. He has lectured widely in England, Norway, France and Holland, and has taught digital design at the University of Westminster and the University of the Arts London.

Steve is the author of ten books: How to Cheat in Photoshop (five editions), How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements (co-authored, three editions), Icon Design, Max Pixel's Adventures in Adobe Photoshop Elements, The Complete Guide to Digital Illustration (co-authored) and Art & Design in Photoshop. He has also co-authored three mainstream books: Dad Stuff, More Dad Stuff, Stuff the Turkey and Complete and Utter Zebu.

When he's not at his computer Steve plays the piano well, the accordion moderately and the guitar badly. He spends his spare time making improbable constructions out of wood and other materials. His first commissioned sculpture was for the Bethlem hospital - the original 'bedlam' - in 2010.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best gets better. This is a must-have Photoshop book, June 24, 2007

By 

Jerry Saperstein (Evanston, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

I had ranked an earlier edition as one of the four best Photoshop books available. With the CS3 edition, Caplin establishes himself in my eyes as one of the best Photoshop authors out there, Katrin Eismann being the other.

"How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3" has grown once again from earlier editions, weighing in with 397 pages of instructional text and two hours of video tutorials. Caplin's facility as a teacher has been apparent since the first edition of this book. His confidence has apparently (and justifiably) grown with his edition. The CS3 volume retains many of the examples from former editions (which are necessary) and adds many new ones, making the book an all-in-one Photoshop training manual.

Caplin has never had to resort to the silly attempts at humor employed by Deke McClelland, Scott Kelby and others. He is more than well equipped with a natural sense of whimsy. Caplin's tutorial on "Combining body parts" at pages 180 - 181 is an absolutely hilarious spoof on Arnold Schwarzenegger's "girly men" comment of some months back. If you can stop laughing long enough, it is also an excellent tutorial.

In all, there are about 170 tutorials in the book and some excursions into related subjects, such as the wisdom of carrying a small digital camera with you at all times to build our own image library. Every subject of importance to using Photoshop (i.e., learning Curves, Layer masks, etc.) and creating effective montages (i.e., creating effective shadows, combining body parts, perspective, etc.) is covered. I think it fair to say that a total Photoshop neophyte could find everything they need to know in "How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3," even if they never intend to create a photorealistic montage, but I would also recommend Katrin Eismann's books on montage and retouching be purchased as well. These three volumes would form a literal encyclopedia of Photoshop.

Finally, you don't need Photoshop CS3 for this book to be useful. Perhaps 97% or more is applicable to any recent version of Photoshop.

As I said, I consider Steve Caplin to be, along with Katrin Eismann, one of the best authors on Photoshop. "How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3" is the biggest and best of the series so far and I am pleased to say that Caplin has maintained his verve, imparting a sense of freshness even to the examples he has picked up from earlier editions.

This book is simply a must-have in any Photoshop library.

Jerry

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best edition yet, June 8, 2007

By 

D. Stevenson (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

I've been following this book through each of its 3 revisions and this is the strongest offering yet. In addition to being updated for CS3, the content has been expanded and the new material looks good.

This book is great for Photoshop users who are interested in collage and digital illustration [worth1000 style]; not so good for those just learning the program, retouchers or digital photo types. But set against the millions of Photoshop titles out there, this one is unique and recommended.

4 stars for some hard-to-follow instructions, and the utterly uninspired narratives in the Quicktime tutorials.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Videos on the DVD bring a 4-star book to a 5 star rating, June 18, 2007

By 

MCSD for Microsoft .Net (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

This fine book will help you accomplish two goals: 1) save time while editing your photos, and 2) create convincing composites that will amaze your friends. The Quicktime videos on the DVD are an excellent supplement to the expository text. Note, however, that the instruction is aimed at Photoshop users who have some experience (at least weak intermediate-level ability, perhaps).

In all honesty, I did not realize what a Photoshop genius Steve Caplin is until I watched some of his tutorial videos included on the book's DVD. In my opinion, the author's skills are roughly(!) in the same league as those of Bert Monroy. The book's video showing the creation of a grave is absolutely amazing. I therefore highly recommend this 4th edition to anyone looking to improve his/her photo editing wizardry.