Macworld® Photoshop® 5 Bible [Paperback]

Deke McClelland (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0764532316 | ISBN-13: 978-0764532313 | Publication Date: July 13, 1998

Now that Photoshop 5 is finally here, it's time to get up to speed on all that's new and improved in the latest version of the world's most powerful and sophisticated image-editing program. That's a pretty tall order. So where do you start? How about with the updated version of the most comprehensive Photoshop guide around.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This well-rounded guide to Photoshop 5 for Macintosh and Windows helps beginning, intermediate, and advanced users learn essential image-creation, -editing and -retouching techniques. The author, Deke McClelland, starts off with help for novices, including an introduction to Photoshop and digital-imaging concepts such as resolution, file formats, color and color management, and printing. Next you work with the paintbrushes, the Brush palette, the smudge and sponge tools, Fills, Strokes, Arrowheads, the Pattern Stamp, the Rubber Stamp, the Eraser, and the History Brush and palette as you create, retouch, and restore photos.

McClelland also teaches you how selections work, how to make selections using everything from the magic wand to the path tools, and how to move and duplicate selections. You create masks, work with layers and transformations, and add and format type. The section on filters covers corrective filters for improving the look of photos as well as creative filters, such as Distortion and 3D Transform. You even construct effects of your own with the Custom and Displace filter. The final section covers color-mapping and color-correction features such as Hue/Saturation and Brightness. In this section, you work with adjustment layers to help you apply and manage your changes. You also work with Opacity and Blend modes and Channel operations to create interesting effects. Finally, you create graphics for the Web, fine-tuning the size and color of your images.

McClelland does a fine job of teaching you how to do each task, sometimes by showing you what he's done and sometimes by stepping you through an image of your own. He carefully explains the technology behind a lot of the advanced features, such as the Custom filter and color-mapping tools. An appendix helps beginners select the best hardware for their image-editing needs. Two full-color sections show you images from the book's projects and examples of the application of filters and color-management techniques. The included CD-ROM has images from a variety of artists; a demo version of PC MacLan, a PC-Mac networking program; demo and full versions of third-party plug-ins; a sample Photoshop lesson and course information from a Web-based training company; and images from a variety of digital cameras (so you can compare their output). --Kathleen Caster

From the Back Cover

"This Bible is a must-have encyclopedia of Photoshop info." — Jeff Schewe, Imaging Artist and Author Deke McClelland's international bestseller has been meticulously updated with hundreds of illustrated techniques and detailed guidelines for exploiting the latest version of the most powerful image-editing software available. From adding spot colors to using layer effects to editing text to wrapping a selected image around a three-dimensional primitive, McClelland breaks down every Photoshop function and feature — enabling you to produce high-impact images for print, multimedia, and the Web. Bible-Exclusive fully-functional and demo plug-ins from:

• Alien Skin
• Andromeda
• BoxTop Software
• Xaos Tools
• Digital Frontiers
• Extensis

Over 150MB of cutting-edge images from professional artists (see inside front cover for details) Plus complete information on key Photoshop 5.5 enhancements Shareware programs are fully functional, free trial versions of copyrighted programs. If you like particular programs, register with their authors for a nominal fee and receive licenses, enhanced versions, and technical support. Freeware programs are free, copyrighted games, applications, and utilities. You can copy them to as many PCs as you like—free—but they have no technical support. Also available for Windows users! www.idgbooks.com System Requirements: Macintosh system 7.5 or later; 32MB RAM; OR Windows 95, 98, NT 4.0, or later; 32MB RAM; color monitor; CD-ROM drive

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 913 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (July 13, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764532316
• ISBN-13: 978-0764532313
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.4 x 2.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,116,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author response, February 16, 2000

By 

Deke McClelland (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Macworld® Photoshop® 5 Bible (Paperback)

I don't normally respond to the reader reviews; I think they should be allowed to stand on their own. But I feel compelled to address the one titled "Rehash" below. As with all my Photoshop Bibles over the years, I rewrote the Macworld Photoshop 5 Bible, replacing more than half the images and roughly 70% of the text. Four chapters (6, 10, 14, and Appendix A) are either new or bear no resemblance to previous incarnations. With this in mind, I don't quite understand how the term "rehash" applies.

The rest of the review is fine, I suppose. True, the book is not a tutorial, but nor does it claim to be. I believe the term "Bible" implies an authoritative reference, and that's what this Bible is intended to be. I can't comment on whether the info is too basic (though I've never heard that one before) or whether everyone else is on drugs (just say no, kids). But the rehash thing -- well, I've stated my case on that.

Anyway, probably should have let it go. The "rehash" review is six months old, after all. But couldn't help myself. Thanks for indulging me.

--Deke

PS: I entered a five-star rating because that's the mean for this title. I would have prefered to forego a rating, but the system wouldn't let me.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best software book I've read (and I've read many!), June 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Macworld® Photoshop® 5 Bible (Paperback)

I teach computer graphics, and am constantly in search of good software guides. Most are simply warmed-over manuals, or "recipe books" that are no help in building a basic understanding of a given software package. This book breaks down every aspect of Photoshop, and explains the full function and possible applications of nearly every aspect of this powerful software. Deke's book is simply the best of it's type I've ever read. Some of my students don't care for his sense of humor (which seems to be more evident with every new edition, for better or worse), but most find that it helps break the tedium of the technology. I agree with the latter. An earlier edition of this book was instrumental in my professional career, and I simply can't recommend it enough.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVE THIS BOOK!, June 22, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Macworld® Photoshop® 5 Bible (Paperback)

I never thought I'd be reading a software reference like a novel, but I'm halfway through and enjoying every minute. I use PhotoShop every day, but I'm learning so much I never knew--I now realize what a small piece of PhotoShop's vast capabilities I was using. I can't thank Deke McClelland enough for writing this book, a humorous, informative, common-sense reference guide to PhotoShop.