Customer Reviews

How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements 7: Creating stunning photomontages on a budget

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

While a very basic (very basic: upload pics, open pics, save new version of pics) knowledge of computer use is required, there isn't anything to prevent a Photoshop-newbie from making the most out of this book. This is not an "Intro to Photoshop" book that is quickly outgrown in the first fifteen-minutes, but a task-specific how-to book that will grow with your skills from basic to intermediate.

The book is divided into 12 chapters:
1) Selection Techniques
2) Montage Essentials: Layers
3) Hiding and Showing
4) Image Adjustments
5) Light and Shade
6) Transformation and distortion
7) Materials and Textures
8) Working with text
9) People and Animals
10) Shiny Surfaces
11) The Third Dimension
12) Print and the Internet

Each chapter is also subdivided into specific tasks, for example, heads on bodies (i.e. making bobble heads), photomerge faces (what would your kids look like?), reflections, etc., Each photo-illustrated task is usually not more than 1-spread (2-pages long). Just enough detail but not overwhelming to newbies. How much you achieve depends on how much time and effort is put into each project.

Also included with the book is a CD with the same cheesy stock photos used in the book so you can practice recreating the images in the book with specific skills until you are ready to doctor your brother's bachelor party photos.

Conclusion: a great reference book from basic to intermediate. Advanced users may not find anything new here nor gorgeous pictures. Not for computer never-ever newbies either.

I would have to agree with the other reviewers that this is not book for beginners, nor is it a book encompassing all the various aspects of Elements. But I certainly disagree that book is worthy of only 1-2 stars. This book has page after page of examples showing different techniques that you would think you could only do in Photoshop. There are so many examples, the authors could have easily spread out the information into more than one book, but instead packed this book with ideas.

If you are a graphic designer or photographer who does not have the budget for Photoshop, and need to know how to come up with creative techniques using Elements, this is the book for you.

"How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements 7: Creating Stunning Photomontages on a Budget" is my new Best Friend and desktop companion! :) An amazingly easy to follow "cheat" and walk-thru of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7.

Large color photos, clear and detailed instructions, extremely interesting tips and tricks to some pretty amazing photo finishing techniques. "How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements 7: Creating Stunning Photomontages on a Budget" is a lot about learning keyboard shortcut keys (mac or pc) and comes with a handy tear off shortcut key card found on the book cover. :)

A real photo-finishing confidence builder, imo. also, see my review of Adobe Photoshop Elements 7. Highly recommended! --Katharena Eiermann, 2009

First and foremost, this is NOT an "intro to photoshop elements 7" book. Don't buy it if you want to learn the fundamentals of PE 7, rather get this book when you want to take your manipulation of digital images past fixing red eyes and brightening up dark shots. This book tells you how to have some real fun and engage in creative applications with your photos by constructing photomontages.

The lay-out and organization of the book is logical and improves usage. For instance, the first four chapters lay the foundation. They cover how to select portions of an image, how to work with layers and keys to adjusting images. The authors note: "...many Elements users ...have never learnt how to make layer masks, or picked up the essential keyboard shortcuts...we need to bring everyone up to speed..." That's exactly what those chapters do - they enable the user to become comfortable doing these kinds of digital manipulations. If you do nothing more than work through these four chapters and learn these techniques, the book will have been worth it.

Another helpful facet of the organization is that each "topic" is arranged on two facing pages, so the user is able to set the book open in front of the computer monitor and look between that topic and the screen, no flipping of pages necessary. It may seem a small point, but it really works when one is attempting the 'assignment'.

On the margin of each right-hand page is further organizational help - small icons that indicate, at a glance, whether this particular topic also is covered in a QuickTime movie on the accompanying CD, whether there is an additional source file for the tutorial on the CD and whether this particular technique is only available with PE 7. Many of these tutorials can be done with earlier editions of PE (so the book is not just for PE 7 users), but when PE 7 is essential, you can tell at a glance without wasting time trying to find features that aren't available in your version.

Finally, there is a supplemental web site prominently mentioned on page one of the book. If you get stuck, you can go to the website and submit a query. In the book, they mention a forum, but at the present time, the forum link isn't working. Nevertheless, despite the web site currently being little more than an advertisement for the book itself, the author, David Asch, does have an e-mail listed and you can contact him directly with questions. The book states the following: "...visit the Reader Forum...this is where you can post queries and suggestions...expect other forum members to weigh in..." This is either a classic "which comes first, the chicken or the egg?" problem or a case of high expectations that may or may not be realized. To get the idea out there, it has to be written in the book before this forum actually exists, but then you have to sell enough of the book and get enough of a reader base willing to contribute to a forum...anyway, it hasn't happened yet - time will tell if it does.

One last organizational aspect of the book that works is the list of Keyboard Shortcuts printed on the back flyleaf - it's a summary that will keep you from having to hunt through the book for those shortcut keys you learned in...now, which tutorial was that? No need for the hunt, just flip to the back and there it is. Also attached to the back cover is the CD and plastic sleeve; handy.

So who's this book for? As mentioned before, not someone just starting with PE 7 who wants to know how to organize their photos and do rudimentary corrections. I can see this book being useful for crafters who want to go beyond the basics in digital scrapbooking, artists who want to manipulate digital images to make their own greeting cards and the like. Also, small business owners who want to try to do brochures or other marketing media that may need manipulated images.

I own Photoshop Elements 7 and am disappointed at the fact that barely any directions or information is provided in writing to help me learn the program. I find it very hard and frustrating to learn from their help section. I used to own Elements 3 and for six years barely used it as I didn't understand the program or even what was possible to do with the program. After purchasing Elements 7 I vowed to teach myself to make better use of the program and to use it to do what I wanted that I was sure it was capable of doing. I realized to achieve that I'd need a book from a third party to learn from. Before I purchased any book I had the chance to accept a review copy of this book. I consider myself a beginner user of Photoshop Elements 7 and this is the first book I've used to teach myself with.

This book works with PS Elements versions 3 through 7.

The first thing I was happy to learn in the preface is how Photoshop Elements 7 compares to Photoshop. Full retail price of the Photoshop is ten times the cost of Photoshop Elements. I keep hearing that Photoshop is what everyone should own if only they can afford it. However in the preface it says this "As the `baby brother' to the full Photoshop CS4, Photoshop Elements has long suffered the stigma of being a cheap, unprofessional product. Cheap it may be: but it contains 90% of the features found in the full Photoshop and, as we've seen from user-created artwork, it's anything but unprofessional. It's true that Elements is rarely used in a graphics studio or publishing company. But this is mainly because it doesn't include the high-end prepress features found in Photoshop; using Elements doesn't mean that you're working with a substandard application." Okay, fantastic, I now knew that PSE7 is not junk!

In order to do some techniques that apparently Photoshop does, one has to "cheat" in PSE7. This book teaches those cheats as well as other steps to photomontage processes. A person may say "PSE7 can't do that, you need Photoshop" but according to the authors of this book, that is not true, you can often get the same exact effect and end result by doing processes they teach in the book even if you use different buttons or actions in the process itself.

The best thing is that the book is laid out with two page spreads on one topic. All you need to know to do a task is on those two pages. The book is heavy on illustration with stepped out images for each step as well as text to explain it. Introductory paragraphs tell background info before you get started. A `hot tip' is present for every process as well. I feel the stepped out illustrations combined with text and the way the authors get to the point, don't fill the book with extra words is just fine for a beginner to learn from.

I had two main questions. First, is this the book that could help me learn to use the program in ways I wanted to use it and second, is this a book for beginners?

I do believe that a curious beginner can learn just fine from this book. Knowledge and skill builds up so if you want to do an advanced technique from the middle of the book you may first need to spend time learning the foundation steps taught earlier in the book. This seems perfectly reasonable to me. So to thoroughly learn the program, the terms and processes it would be best to start at the beginning and go through a good number (if not all) of the exercises, even if you think you don't need to know that process. Spending time learning the program before the exact moment that you desire to do something seems to be the best thing to do. I know that will take some time but I can envision less frustration on the day that you decide you want to do a certain process right then and there. The issue is in order to do something more complex like put open eyes on a person who closed their eyes in one shot, the beginner may not realize they first need to know processes A and B to try process C.

The book is meant to be used as tool, to go through it and learn as you go along. This makes it perfect for those who learn best "by doing". If you are looking for a text heavy book that is very watered down then maybe a more basic introductory book to the program would be best for you, I'm not sure, because this is a preference thing that is unique to each person. If you are a beginner who feels confident that if they do what the book says, that you'll learn, then this is the book for you. Beginners who know they know little but who feel capable to "learn by doing" will be just fine and can learn a LOT from this book.

As the subtitle states this book is heavy on artistic techniques for creating photomontages. This is useful for the family photographer for things like putting open eyes on a person whose eyes were closed or swapping heads or cleaning up backgrounds or changing backgrounds, how about putting a blue sky behind that famous building you visited on a cloudy day? Fun techniques like changing a parked car to look like it's moving with a blurred background are also taught. If you want to play with your photos and do cool things with them, or even add text to an image, this book provides all you need to know.

If you still wonder if this book is good for a beginner I'll share that I put it in the hands of my nine year old on his first time using PSE7 and he was able to follow the directions and do what the book taught him to do! He also had much less fear about learning the program and a lot of laughs while doing funny things to photos he had taken.

I'm rating this book 5 stars = I love it. The price is reasonable. I feel a beginner can learn from it. It teaches a ton of information in one volume (more than I will ever want or need to do with the program). I love the clear directions and the stepped out visual instructions.

The things I don't like about the book which are not enough to downgrade the star rating or my love of the book are: some of the images they created look fake. Some examples are the pumpkin carved page 185, bad skin tones on page 201 and 203 of famous people's heads put into a family photo, and shadowing or light not quite looking right on page 211. Also not counted in my rating is that the book contains directions to do things I'd never want to do as I realize we all have our own preferences for how we may want to use the program plus I'd rather have more processes in the book than less. Lastly, I would have liked (even a small) gallery of just photos that showed stunning photomontages to inspire me or show the range of possibilities and that showed superior examples, rather than just seeing them as the `end' shot on the process pages.

Note to Mac Users: The book is set up to teach to Mac and Windows users which I thought was great. At the time that I'm writing this review, I read that after the book was published the program had not been released to Mac yet. This is something that Mac users will have to research yourself to check the status of. I didn't feel that the book's authors should be criticized or the book downgraded due to a decision made on behalf of another company.

Despite the magician's gloves, wand and top hat on the cover of the book, it's not magic. You can learn to manipulate images to achieve professional looking results, but you must be willing to spend time learning the program. This book assumes you have some knowledge of your software but that you don't know how to accomplish specific tasks. If you're an inexperienced user expect the learning curve to take a lot of time and a lot of patience. It would also make things easier if you're using something like a Bamboo (Small) Pen Tablet with Pen Only for fine manipulation of the cursor, rather than a mouse or a touchpad.

This book is quite good at explaining how to accomplish the desired effects. The format is simple and quite nice; techniques are explained and beautifully illustrated, on two facing pages. Commands are color coded for Windows, Mac, or both. Many of these tutorials can be used with Photoshop Elements versions 3 through 7. A sidebar to the right of each tutorial lets you know if the technique can only be used with a specific version of Elements (7 only!), refers you to the accompanying CD if necessary, and offers additional "hot tips". The inside back cover flap gives a quick reference for certain commands, also color coded for your operating system.

The CD that comes with the book includes video tutorials, project files, shapes, and best of all layer mask files. A lot of the Photoshop "magic" involves using layer masks, which you can create in Photoshop but not in Elements. However, you can import layer mask templates from the CD and use them in Elements.

In the past I've had concepts in mind that I wanted to use on images or website graphics. I knew they could be done but had no idea how. Tutorials are available on line, and you can surf around for hours hoping to find good ones, print them out and come up with an inches thick binder. Many of the whiz bang effects are here, in one place, with the necessary high resolution background images and shapes. It's extremely convenient!

While the book can help you "cheat" by cutting hours off your research time, there is no substitute for spending hands on time trying and learning. If you're serious about learning to use Photoshop Elements, you will find yourself spending hours and hours mastering a technique. What you learn to accomplish one effect can translate into what you need to accomplish another effect. Over time it does become easier and your finished projects look better.

Recommended for those willing to put in the time.

I am not-quite-a-beginner in PS Elements. This was the most engaging, entertaining, encouraging "how to" computer book I've ever read. I know how to make minor adjustments in my pictures. I didn't know how to make complex selections, and then how to start "playing" to create anything more arty than the actual image I took with the camera. Now I do.

My first "real" project was colorizing pictures of a really boring kitchen to get an idea of what it will look like with paint. Not perfect yet, but at least as good as having to buy one of those "paint your own house" programs they sell at the hardware store.

The layout and illustrations in this book are excellent. They really make me want to play with PS more, and that's the best way in.

Note: Look at the subtitle: "How to create stunning photomontages on a budget." This is NOT a book about "how to use Photoshop." This is a book about how to do fancy stuff in PS. Enjoy!

This is not a book intended to explain each button, tool, filters in the Adobe Element 7. People with some basic (just basic would be sufficient) skills with Element (any version) should have no problem to digest the material. Beginners may have some hard time to follow up.

This book will teach you tricks and techniques you would probably hard to learn on your own. In addition, they give "cookbook" line by line instructions which even a complete novice can follow.

The contents are organized in a task-oriented manner which is convenient when you have a specific modification you want to make to your photo, for example, modify colors, restore old faded photos, merge pictures and many other ways to improve your pictures. The included CD with tutorial vidoes and photos indeed ease the learning curve.

The task oriented approach does have some disadvantages though. The book does not have chapters meant simply to explain each button, tool, etc in the program (kind of hard for beginners), rather you learn about the tools as you use them for a specific task. This is ok, but makes the book difficult to just sit down and read cover to cover in order to learn how to use the program. Rather it works best when you look up a topic one by one when you have a specific task you want to try.

In summary, this book has an amazing amount of information presented in a step by step fashion easy (but, still takes a lot of practice) to reproduce at home. It will teach you both simple and complex techniques to do amazing things with your pictures.

This book isn't for Photoshop Elements beginners, but if you've played around with it just a little so that you know about layers and masks, this book will give you a lot of ideas of cool things to do with your photos. One of the first things I think about when I think of Photoshop or Photoshop Elements is putting somebody or something into a photo that wasn't there before. This book will show you exactly how to do it with easy steps and pictures. It'll still take you some time to make it look real, but this book shows how it's done. I've added a one of my quick attempts at putting a toucan on the railing our staircase. It could use a little more work, but it'll give you an idea of a couple things you can do with the software.

There are all kinds of other effects like wrapping photos around a surface, (the book shows a picture added to a coffee mug) several different lighting effects, like light from a flashlight where there wasn't one before, shadows, movement, changing out a cloudy sky for a sunny one in a photograph or using Smartbrushes to make surfaces look like gold or silver. You can also do cosmetic surgery (you can look as young as you want now!), do all kinds of cool things with text or add a new floor to a room. You're really only limited by your imagination and if you like playing around with photographs, this will keep you occupied for many an afternoon or evening.

A CD is included with tutorials for most of the chapters so you can watch someone actually doing the things that the book describes. There are also images included that are used in the book for you to practice on. It'll still take you time and effort to use these tools, but the book and CD are an excellent teaching device.

I was one of those people who thought I had to have the full-blown version of Photoshop in order to be creative. A change of operating systems led me to Photoshop Elements 7 and . . . more creativity than I could have dreamed of.

"How to Cheat in Photoshop Elements 7" offers creativity for both professional and casual photographers and illustrators. The topics range from selecting areas and subjects to shiny surfaces and making jigsaw puzzles.

My favorites chapters deal with text styles, making Polaroids, shadow techniques, making blueprints and creating Warhol style pop art.

This book has a DVD in the back with video tutorials as well as project files, shapes, layer styles, smart brushes, and images.

The instructions are easy to follow - which leads me to my one complaint. I wish this book were a bit easier to stay open. However, all is well with an object heavy enough to hold your place while you work your own magic!