Customer Reviews

Photoshop 5 Web Magic (Magic Series)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

If I hadn't gotten this book for free, as a gift, I'd be asking for my money back. Even though it's labeled as a Photoshop 5 book, which implies that it will describe techniques that can be created in PhotoShop, in reality the book relies very heavily on Extensis plug-ins. This is the case even when certain effects (like bevels) CAN be created in PhotoShop if only the author had bothered to describe the method. Of course, the promo descriptions carefully avoid mentioning this fact, which leads me to think the author and/or publishers don't have enough faith in the Extensis software to sell it directly and have decided to hitch a ride on Adobe's reputation instead. And I'm sure it's only a coincidence that the author works for Extensis.

To add insult to injury, the book is poorly copy-edited, with typos that confuse and incorrect procedures that cannot duplicate the illustrated results. And the CD Rom was defective, managing to crash my computer several times when I tried to open certain folders.

Unless you have money to burn in order to pick up a few new fancy tricks, spend your money elsewhere.

The beginning of this book has an intro to some common Photoshop commands used throughout the book. Fine, but no magic. The next 1/3 of the book's examples are on animated gifs and special effects using the DEMO software on the CD! Still no photoshop "magic." The last parts of the book actually leave off using the DEMO software on the CD, but a few pop in there here and there. There were probably 5 official Photoshop effects in here that I liked. Really not worth the full price I paid at the book store, and since I didn't crack open the CD since I read that it was Demo software and really wasn't interested in annoying animated gif's, I'm probablybringing it back. BTW, the author works for a software comapany and he was just using this book to push his own stuff. He calls it "magic" I call it dishonest.

I bought the book at a discount dealer for half the list price, and I believe I may have still overpaid for it. The major problem is that I haven't been able to get many of the examples to work. It seems there are either steps left out in the example such as 'filter edges' starting on p. 140, or else the writer has not proofed the book to prevent abundant errors. Some of the examples do work, but the ones that don't create much frustration. Perhaps a Photoshop expert could easily detect the errors, but intermediate users such as I can't. Another problem is the abundant use of commercial plugins rather than simply emphasing Photoshop 5 techniques. It would help if there was a web site correcting the book errors.

First of all, it was expensive, second, there isn't anything in this book that isn't already easily accessible on the web.

The tutorials did not go as smoothly as planned, even though I've been using PhotoShop for 4 years now. (Important) Steps seemed to be missing, and without them, you may as well not finish the tutorial.

I've had this book for over a year, and to tell you the truth, the tutorials compiled in this book may very well be considered "tacky and overused." I suggest resourcing the web for the latest and greatest in special effects.

I originally found this book to be promising while browsing through it at the local bookstore. However, once I got it home and began to work on the tutorials, I quickly became thoroughly frustrated as key steps were left out and/or most of the initial work was already done for you. I can see where that might be of some help to some people, but for me, it was a disappointment. I am a relative new comer and I had envisioned a book through which I would learn by completing projects in their entirety.

I don't mind too much that this book relied heavily on plug-ins and demo software, but it would have been nice to have, when applicable, provided companion tutorials where all the effects are accomplished using Photoshop alone.

Bottom line: I wish there was a zero star rating as I cannot in good conscience recommend this book to anyone.

This book does not deliver what it promises. In the first place, the CD locks up my computer every time I try to use it. In the second place, the lessons are full of errors. I think the author or publisher owe it to the readers to maintain a web site where corrections could be obtained, but no such luck with this book. What good is a special effects book if the steps in the lessons are just plain wrong? Not only did I waste my money, but also alot of time. Don't waste yours.

"Photoshop 5 Web Magic" is definitely not for the beginner. I bought this book, worked through many of the tutorials and found dead end explanations half way through the example. I returned this book and bought "Adobe: Classroom in a Book". Maybe I got ahead of myself by starting off with this book, that is my fault. But who's fault is it when the written examples are not complete?

Hello my name is Johnathan Mark Smith from 1HOSTPLUS.COM and as a web designer I am always looking for cool ways to make new magic for the logos and web sites I have to make for clients. After reading this book I now know how to make alot more magic with photoshop then before. If you are looking to learn how to make magic with photoshop for the web then this is the book for you

I ordered the book Photoshop 5 Web Magic several days ago from amazon.com. I was so excited when I got my package in the mail and then I started to read the book Photoshop 5 Web Magic. My heart fell as I read the pages. Then I got angry, very angry. When I bought this book I was under the impression that I would only be using Photoshop 5 to do the web magic; however, I noticed that in each chapter there was an add on program or filter that I needed to get the results. I feel that if this was the case that I needed the extras in order to get the job done that they should be free with the book. They are not free with the book, only a demo version is free. Thus if I like the effects I create then I would have to go out and buy all these extras. I was mislead into thinking that it was going to deal exclusively with photoshop 5.

I would not recommend this book to anyone after having seen it. I think it is very misleading and overall a bad choice if you are looking for a photoshop 5 book. I hope my comments will help someone not buy this book and be disappointed as I was. After glancing thru the book I called up amazon.com and asked what I could do to return it. I am sending it back as I wanted a book that delt with photoshop 5 not other add on programs that I would have to pay for to get the results.

As an instructor I am always looking for good reference texts, and I bought this one to use in my web design classes. Like other folks who bought this book, I found the title to be somewhat misleading.

Photoshop 5 Web Magic is not so much about using Photoshop for the web as it is a "cook book" with special effects recipes for folks who are already comfortable with the basics of Photoshop and want to expand their repertoire of tricks. It doubles nicely as "eye-candy", or a reference that helps stimulate the creative juices when your graphics muse has taken a coffee break. By flipping through the pages, looking at the different special effects, I often get ideas for whatever project I may be working on. Also, the recipes are good for someone who wants to get a better feel for how to mix and match different Photoshop filters.

On the down side, this book is NOT a good reference for folks who haven't quite figured out what feathering is for, or for those who are still having trouble working with layers.

If you can:

1) work comfortably with ALL the tools on the tool palette, and
2) are familiar with the "multiple-personality" aspects of some of the tools, AND
3) can add, delete, rearrange and use different blending modes for multiple layers,

THEN and ONLY THEN will this book be useful to you. If these tasks are still beyond your comfort zone, get Lynda Weinman's Hands On Training for Photoshop, or one of the Dummies Guides, or take a class before you spend your money.

Once you have mastered the basics of Photoshop and want to move up a rung or two in skill level, buy this book, run through the recipes that interest you and see what new and interesting ideas start to fill your head!

BKA