How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montages [Paperback]

Steve Caplin (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0240521153 | ISBN-13: 978-0240521152 | Publication Date: December 16, 2008 | Edition: 1

Do you want to let your creativity run wild in Photoshop, but don't know where to start? Are you having trouble getting your ideas out of your head and onto the screen? Do you need your photomontages to look convincing... and fast?

Nobody knows more about how to work quickly under pressure and still produce top-notch results than hands-on digital artist, author and journalist Steve Caplin. This guide is packed with real-world examples, timesaving hints and tips and detailed step-by-step instructions that make the impossible seem possible.

Fully updated for Photoshop CS4, this must-have-resource is also backwards compatible with any previous version of Photoshop.

* Extensive new material to show you how to take your Photoshop skills to a professional level
* 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

'Learn how to duplicate amazing effects using Caplin's quick and easy shortcuts... brimming with easy-to-follow instructions on compositing creative effects that are fun, useful and sometimes just plain silly.'

Shutterbug

 

'A superb set of step-by-step how-to guides from the master himself... quick, easy-to-grasp shortcuts'

Macworld

 

'What makes Cheat so unique are the gems that other volumes don't cover. The juiciest bits that real artists hunger for are here. Dig in, dig deep, and Shop yourself mad'

Dingbatmag.com

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.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; 1 edition (December 16, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240521153
• ISBN-13: 978-0240521152
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,207 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

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic composite photos, February 2, 2009

By 

Donald Martin "DonOES" (Renton, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

"How to Cheat in Photoshop: CS4" is the bible for realistic photo montages, no other book even comes close. This is the forth edition of this book. While most of the material from previous editions is carried forward, each new edition has had new material worth the price of a new edition. The layout is usually two pages per topic with well chosen examples, based on real world problems. These are largely self contained so you can skip around as needed. This is not a book for novices. It assumes a reasonable familiarity with Photoshop but not an in depth knowledge. Some of the sections may require some serious work. You might want to have a copy of Photoshop Masking & Compositing by Katrin Eismann for in depth information on some of the topics. Interspersed in the technical Photoshop material is a gold mine of advise ranging from handling deadlines to ethics. The approach is not just how to do it but includes much information on efficient work to minimize the time and effort in a task. This is one of the better Photoshop books out of the huge number available and I can give it my strongest recommendation. One of the reviewers of the previous edition stated "As I said, I consider Steve Caplin to be, along with Katrin Eismann , one of the best authors on Photoshop.". I can second this opinion for this edition as well. If anything, Caplin has further improved his standing as a top flight Photoshop teacher.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book of it's type I've read, March 28, 2009

By 

Dan S. Tong "avid SF reader" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

This book lives up to its promise to teach you all sorts of wonderful Photoshop techniques and tricks which are a must for creative projects, even for those who are already pretty well versed with Photoshop in general. The book is very well organized, easy to understand (you must, of course, follow along on your computer!), and very clear. I purchased the book after I had read and tested several excerpts that you find on the publishers web site. It is refreshing to be able to read chapter excerpts, so you can decide whether or not it is worth buying the book. I have no patience with dumb, poorly written books that simply regurgitate standard Photoshop basics and I've been very disappointed with too many books that I've purchased. This one is no disappointment and gets my whole hearted recommendation. Great Job, Mr. Caplin!

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "How to Cheat in Photoshop..." Is a must have *unless*, April 15, 2009

By 

D. M. Miller "Advocate of child powered toys" (Knoxville, Tn) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Cheat in Photoshop CS4: The art of creating photorealistic montages (Paperback)

If you've never had a version of Steve Caplin's "How to Cheat in Photoshop..." series, it's a must have book for all Photoshop libraries. The easy to follow tutorials will teach you how to save huge amounts of time creating images in Photoshop. The exercises are for real life applications, and I cannot imagine not having this book!
If you own a previous version to "How to Cheat in Photoshop...," however, save your money and buy some other book. This version, written for CS4, has nearly NO new examples, and is basically a rehash of previous versions. Oh sure, the language and commands have been updated for CS4, but otherwise it's the same book as the last one with a new cover, and a couple of videos tossed in. It's all-around a disappointment to an incredibly phenomenal and essential book series. If you decide to shop for another book, I'd recommend you check out Deke McClelland's Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One Deke's One-On-One series are the consumate Photoshop reference books, and if you only had two books in your Photoshop library, you would have an excellent library with only the "One-On-One" book, and ONE of Caplin's "How to Cheat in Photoshop" books!