Customer Reviews

Photoshop 5.5 and ImageReady 2.0 Hands-On Training

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

While Lynda's style has been called "cute" I think you'll really like her training exercise examples because they're easy, and they teach multiple aspects of each operation. Don't be mislead by the some what dull visual examples, (many recycled from her previous books,) I think she does that on purpose. Too many books profess to be "design" books when they really just borrow from everyone else, and teach mechanics rather than Design. Lynda's other books were like this -- called "design" but teach mechanics. This series is different though - in the "Hands-On-Training" books you get exactly what she says you're going to get. You get the real Lynda, the best Lynda, training technique and mechanics. Her section on creating and generating rollover buttons and rollover maps is unquestionably the best I've seen, to date, in any book, anywhere. If you want to utilize the hidden powers of ImageReady (even generating the HTML code for the rollovers) the book will pay for itself in just that lesson alone. And, if you don't know and understand rollovers after the book, then you probably should look for another line of work.

Photoshop 5.5/ImageReady 2.0 Hands-On Training is for the BEGINNER to INTERMEDIATE Photoshop and ImageReady user. It's an ideal manual to start with, even before cracking Adobe's own manuals. (In fact, Adobe should BUY Lynda's training for THEIR manuals.) Those of you who got a bundled version of PS or IR with another product should get this book anyway. For old pros, it might not be as important. I learned quite a bit from the book, and it helped me remember some techniques I knew, but had forgotten -- proof that you can, in fact, teach old dogs new tricks. If you have a studio or design facility, this book can be instrumental in getting new employees up to speed quickly -- so bosses, dig into your pockets and put a copy of this book on each web designer's workstation.

We reviewed Lynda's "Dreamweaver H.O.T. " book in March and it's been a "Best Seller" at the Design & Publishing Center. For Photoshop users this one can't be beat. If you are just purchasing Photoshop 5.5, or upgrading, then put this one on your list. You'll be glad you did. Fred Showker, Editor/Publisher DT&G Magazine

This is a great Photoshop/ImageReady training or hands-on resource. It really should be titled "Lynda's ImageReady training, co-starring Photoshop." The book is geared for those who know the basics of Photoshop, but it focuses on ImageReady, not Photoshop. It gets a little repetitive, but my biggest problems with the book are a.) all the blatant advertisements built into the lessons, and b.) the fact that their tech support is completely un-responsive.

Every other exercise in the book contains a graphic with a marketing ditty for Lynda.com. I hope her upcoming Dreamweaver 3 HOT book is less obnoxious.

My CD came with a scratch that made the files for one of the lessons inaccessible and I e-mailed her "tech support" for help. That was over a week ago, I have still not received a relpy, and I don't expect to. Why offer to help if you don't do so?

Other than that, it is a very well written learning aid for how to apply ImageReady (and Photoshop) to the Web. I recommend it for anyone who already knows basic image manipulation.

You can easily spend thousands of dollars & a couple of years & still fall short of gaining the technical background this book easily provides the motivated self-teacher. It's organization is brilliantly clear, it's topics relevant. I'm a long time professional Photoshop artist for print now entering the web arena, & Ms Weinman is helping my transition enourmously. What a find.

This book is the most easy learning I have ever read. Easy too understand, adn full og examples and explanations. It`s helpful for everyone, beginners and profesionales. Buy this book, and learn new things

Great book for Mac Owners, I was surprised the hole book was color illustraded with a lot of exercies, and I guess this is the best way to learn, not only that! what about the 22 QuickTime movies on the CD rom.... just a great book for the price...***** 5 stars *****

If you are serious about learning Photoshop 5.5 and ImagerReady 2.0, then you must buy this book. I will point out that this book should really be named ImageReady 2.0 and Photoshop 5.5 because most of the lessons are in ImageReady. After reading the Adobe Classroom book I put it down and didn't really retain a lot of what I learned. This book however, was a great refresher to the Adobe Classroom book and the fact that it mostly concentrated on ImageReady was awesome since the Adobe Classroom barely even mentioned it.

This book also comes with several "movies" which are great tools to use. After watching the movies I was better able to understand more complicated chapters. The movies are of Lynda walking you step by step as though you were a student in one of her classes.

The book boasts color pictures throughout. It is easy to read and flows as though Lynda herself is there with you. As I said this book is a must have if you are serious about learning this stuff.

Good luck!

Lynda is a well-known, successful book author and hands-on course instructor. This book will tell you again why. A well-paced, greatly designed, clear, goal-oriented, fun-to-read book which you will not want to get away from.

This was the required textbook in a Web Graphics class at college. I agree with the reviewer below that there's a little too much advertising for lynda.com, but I like the way she writes instructions for the exercises (very simple, but without insulting your intelligence). I learned a lot about Photoshop and Image Ready. It's really not a "beginner's" book, as she makes clear (of which I still consider myself at this point). Also, the exercises are fun and informative.

With so many books to choose from, and many of them so expensive, it's hard to know which book to choose. This book got me working with Photoshop and Image Ready right away. Lynda gets straight to the point and explains real issues involved in web graphics. I was not a novice to HTML, but I had no idea where to get started with Photoshop. Here's a rough layout:

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. Interface (intro to toolbars, shortcuts, tools, etc. I started feeling less overwhelmed here.)

Chapter 3. Color Management (excellent because the book helps you format colors specific for web output)

Chapter 4. Optimization (Tedious, but probably most valuable chapter. Techniques that really decrease download time)

Chapter 5. Web Color (Another tedious chapter, but helpful. Lynda includes a swatch on the CD Rom that is organized by hue, value, and saturation. I thought the swatch alone was worth the price!)

Chapter 6. Type (Finally got to the fun stuff. Fonts, styles, effects, etc.)

Chapter 7. Background images (Another informative chapter)

Chapter 8. Transparent GIFs

Chapter 9. Image Maps (I thought I wouldn't use them; she made it easy!)

Chapter 10. Slicing (Best chapter in the book!)

Chapter 11. Rollovers

Chapter 12. Animated GIFs (Really good information, too.)

Chapter 13. Automation

Chapter 14. Importing/Exporting (GoLive, Dreamweaver, Illustrator QuickTime brief topics)

Chapter 15. Troubleshooting FAQ

About the negative criticism . . .Lynda is a teacher. She operates a teaching institute. I've heard a lot of students say their teachers were "full of themselves" throughout college because they had knowledge about a topic. I was neither offended or distracted by her references to lynda.com. Her exercises are brief and focused. It is the way I like to learn.

Oustanding job by Lynda againg! This book is fully color illustraded, specially for Mac users, but covers windows too you will be up and running in no time, creating navigation bars, buttons, rollovers, animations, if you learn by doing, you got a have this book! it is just excellent!