Customer Reviews

How to Wow with Photoshop Elements 4

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I found this a fun book to go through, while a few, of the exercises seemed to be missing steps and a bit confusing (Most of them went smoothly).

I have a problem with devoting over a quarter of the book's 175 pages to "Essentials" covering basics like using layers, selecting, resizing, organizing images etc. If you need to learn the basics this shouldn't be the book you buy. The essentials/basics section of How To Wow with Photoshop Elements 4.0 is not comprehensive enough for a beginner to get a solid foundation. Yet, much of the basics would be repetitions to those already comfortable with Elements who may have bought the book wanting to increase their skills and learn new processes.

As I said the projects are fun to go through and are loaded with neat, practical techniques and tips that could be used in many situations outside the examples covered in the chapters.

I could find no mention of color management or printing issues in this book? Also, I found the section on Camera Raw and its advantages and uses a bit brief.

The book is written for Windows users. Using the Mac version of Elements 4.0, I had no real problem following most of the exercises in the book. Beyond the Organizer versus Bridge issues, there is no major problem for a Mac user.

The book is full of practical projects for the non-professional digital photographer. After you get the basics down and what to progress on with Elements, this is a good book to consider.

I checked out this book at the local library, and liked it so much that I ordered it thru Amazon. I have several different books on Photoshop 4. Several things about this book made it a pleasure to use and read, for me. The layout was straight forward and broken down into six major parts. They then further divided these six groups into specific topics that a person might like to try with photo enhancement fixes using everday language for the most part. You can pick a topic that intrests you, and go straight to it. As I stated earlier, I have several other books on Photoshop 4, but this one is the most straight forward in my opinion. The authors also give recomendations on settings to try when using their techniques, (which is a great place to start, and I really liked). When covering a technique, they also explain what not to do, and what happens when using that technique. That in turn, allows a person to develop a greater depth of understanding about Photshop Elements. Steps were well explained and clearly illistrated. Topics covered, appear to be ones that I actually will have a need for, and not some make believe fantasy use to fill up a book.
Only five pages are devoted to RAW format. I wish that section had more. All in all, a great book for starter and intermediate levels.

Great book with lots of good information for those just starting out. Don't expect to be an expert after one read. You do have to practice in order for what you learn to actually be of benefit. The CD is great too! Lots of nice extras!

Book Review of How To Wow with Photoshop Elements 4
Reviewed by Marty Grauer, Fresno MUG
Rating 4 Stars

Although this book was written for Windows users, it can provide much useful information for the Macintosh. There is a great transfer of knowledge here. There is somewhat of an emphasis on retouching especially of people. The book begins with The Organizer, which Mac users may not have a need for since they have iPhoto for such a purpose as well as storage. It then progresses to The editor, and several others before getting to rezizing, replacing a background, working with layers, managing colors,raw files, scanning images, fixing images, and many more topics. Subjects are presented in a way making them understandable.

In the back of the book is a CD with the images necessary to complete the lessons presented.

There is coverage of the new features of Elements 4 which are not in Elements 3. The authors stress the use of layers which Mac users will find not completely necessary. They also save the files in .psd ( Photoshop format) which a large file size. This could make one run out of Hard Drive space. The easiest way is to save as a .tiff,.png or .jpg, using far less memory yet still leaving the original.

The basic difference between Windows and Macintosh is the changing of the Apple (command) key for the Alt Key.
Marty Grauer, Fresno Macintosh Users Group