Customer Reviews

The Photoshop Anthology: 101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques

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

 

 

A previous reviewer, "S. Lensselink" was disatisfied with the book, having expected more advanced techniques. But the book's title aptly sums up the contents: this book is a collection of tips on how to create web design elements you've seen on many websites, using photoshop. It is not geared toward advance users, but individuals like myself who wish to create a website, have photoshop, know the basic tool functionalities, but would just like to skip learning everything in detail and jump right into creating design elements.

I was worried because the book begins with the most basic of steps, such as "how to resize an image" - which belongs in a basic primer photoshop book instead. This continues for the first 50 pages and if you judged the book only on those 50, then you would agree with Lensselink wholeheartedly. But the book begins to pick up the pace and can be breathless in its instructions. Another reviewer suggested the author's quickened pace neglected many steps, but none were missing. The problem lies in the layout. Instructions are giving in paragraph form like a narrative. The steps should have been broken into bulletted or numbered steps, making it easier to follow and turn back to.

Advanced tips specific to web presentation are quickly introduced such as creating bevelled buttons, confined text, color-matching photos, and layouts.

Lensselink belittles other readers for being lazy, implying all the information contained in the book is readily available through a simple google search. As a new photoshop user, I would have to disagree. As of Feb 2007, the search engine results are still populated with false positives and unless you know specifically what to type, you'll end up browsing through multiple webpages looking for instructions matching exactly what you want to achieve.

Although many tricks can be found in other photoshop books, they are scattered in a myriad of titles. Few books focus specifically on photoshop for web design, and this book does a great job of collecting some of the best ones. It's great reading for beginners (or Photopaint/Paint Shop Pro migraters like myself) and anyone who doesn't have the luxury of time to go on a wild google chase for the info.

Here's a book that's aimed at a small niche in the web site creation market, that is, web site programmers who don't know how to use Photoshop to create graphics and need help in converting those graphics into files that can be inserted into websites. The book covers only the Photoshop operations necessary to create web graphics. It does not cover any use of cascading style sheets (CSS) or hypertext markup language (HTML), or even the use of software like Dreamweaver to create a website.

The book starts out with an explanation of fundamental Photoshop techniques like using layers and drawing simple shapes. Next it covers some of the fundamental skills for making web graphics like the creation of buttons and backgrounds and working with text. There are two sections on working with images, and then a discussion of using PS to design a website. The author finishes up with a potpourri of advanced techniques like creating actions and animated GIFs.

The book is somewhere between a tutorial and a cookbook. The author doesn't provide detailed instructions to create the graphics but moves quickly through the steps to take to achieve a product. One can be aided by downloading files of the completed graphics from the publisher's web site. Readers comfortable with looking at things like the layers palette can follow along with what the author has done to create each graphic. But be warned that the method of finding the file you want and getting it into Photoshop can be confusing. I finally unzipped the files and copied them into another folder where I could conveniently select the right file with Bridge.

I have to admit that since Barry Haynes dropped his chapters on Image Ready from the "Photoshop Artistry" series, I've felt there was a need for a book like this. Unfortunately Haffly moves too quickly through the recipes for this book to easily work for a beginning web site builder. To use this book you will need some experience with Photoshop so that you are not lost, and you will certainly have to know how to build a web site with the graphics that you create here. I frequently found myself rereading sections several times to understand the steps that the author had followed. I occasionally wanted to shout "slow down".

I was dissatisfied with this book, and yet, if you are going to create graphics in Photoshop for a web site, this book will help you to do so, even if the learning may be somewhat painful.

For the last few years I've done a pretty good job of avoiding Photoshop, hiding behind the "I'm not a Graphic Designer" line. However I've recently taken on responsibility for the interface design of the Intranet systems where I work, as well as the backend stuff. So needing a crash course in Photoshop I picked this book up. I was amazed how quickly I got to grips with the concepts - I was whipping up professional looking graphics very quickly.

The most striking thing about the book is the quality of the printing. It's in full color, which is a massive help with a graphics book, and it looks great. Probably the best looking technical book I've read for a good while. It is slightly larger than the usual size of technical books, and laid out in a very easy to follow way - the book has a real sense of flow thanks to this.

The other thing that struck me was the way in which it's written. The author takes a very informal tone which I had mixed feelings about at first. However it was easy to get used to, and the writing style gives the book a very relaxed, friendly feel - it makes the book very easy and enjoyable to read.

The book is made up of sections of related short tutorials, for example a tutorial on making buttons leads into making buttons with various types of effects and looks. In isolation some of these tutorials don't seem very useful, especially considering the current trend for clean CSS driven websites. However they are in fact excellent at teaching the core concepts used in creating the majority of the highlight graphics you'll see on websites today. Once you've mastered the gradient and glassy buttons, for example, you can use the highlight techniques from these tutorials and apply them to highlight graphics, icons and other little niceties for use all over the place. The book goes on to teach the most of the concepts in involved in creating graphics for website, either from scratch or using existing images.

I was very impressed with how quickly I was able to start using Photoshop and producing graphics without having to rely on tutorials or other images for guidance. Its one of those books that's best read next to your PC while your trying out ideas and concepts as you go along - if your after a book that's light on theory and that will very quickly get you exploring Photoshop for yourself I'd definitely recommend this.

Being relatively new to Photoshop, this book has proved very helpful. Everything is briefly and easily laid out for rapid application of content.

I consider myself of moderate Photoshop knowledge. When working as a real estate protographer, I used Photoshop a lot in the "digital darkroom" sense. But I never got much farther than that.

SitePoint's Photoshop Anthology is written as a series of tutorials that take you from the very basic (creating new documents, working with layers, etc.) to the advanced (creating actions and droplets). The tutorials are well written and easy to follow and are excellently illustrated in full color. This is, by far, the nicest printing job I have ever seen for a Photoshop book. Full color cover-to-cover. While very advanced users might not find too much in the book, the majority of Photoshop users will get something out of it. Anyone who is used to learning Photoshop from web-based tutorials will feel instantly comfortable with this book's style. And the fact that each tutorial is presented as a real world problem with a solution is a bonus. (For example, I recently had to create a tiled background from an image for a website... I had no idea how to do that. So I opened up my copy of The Photoshop Anthology, flipped to page 93: "Making a Seamless Tiling Background" ... voila!)

[...].

There are a whole lot oh Photoshop books out there teaching all sorts of cool stuff, but if you are graphically challenged like some people (like me) most of those books just stay on the bookshelf and never see the light of day. But his new book on Photoshop by Corrie Haffly makes sing Photoshop easy and actually fun.

Every page is in a workbook like format to make it easier to understand every concept with beautifully detailed screenshots and explanations. The author assumes no prior knowledge and takes the reader through the basics first and then goes through some very special exercises creating backgrounds, buttons, text formatting, image adjustment, and web site layout design.

Chapter 1 explains to the reader the basics of Photoshop:

Workspace, image file types, layers, toolbox and tools, palettes, saving preferences

Chapter 2 describes how to gain basic skills of manipulating images:

Placing artwork on your workspace, creating Smart Object, rasterizing objects, resizing a layer or selection, rotating an image or selection, creating curves, reusing vector shapes, adjusting layer transparency, fading an image into background, blending two images together, and adding a drop shadow

Chapter 3 shows you how to create different kinds of very cool buttons:

Flat buttons, smooth buttons, chiseled buttons, gradient button, button with matte finish, metallic buttons, shiny buttons, aqua button, glass buttons, and plastic button

Chapter 4 shows you how to create different kinds of tiled backgrounds:

Photographic backgrounds, striped background, pixel background, metal background, wood-grain background, textured stone background, and textured paper background

Chapter 5 shows you how to manipulate and add text to your images:

Adding single and multi-line text, increasing space between lines and letters of text, warping text, wrapping text around curved object, making text follow a path, making text glow, creating chisled or engraved text, and adding a show to text

Chapter 6 shows you techniques on adjusting your images:

Creating adjustment layers, adding tone adjustments and contrast, making colors more vivid, removing tint from photos, darkening areas on an image, fixing red-eye effect, converting images to black and white, and combining two different images

Chapter 7 shows you how to design a website from scratch in Photoshop.

This quick overview doesn't do this book justice of course, but it is a great book nevertheless. If you already a Photoshop user it is still a great book because there are so many things you can do in PhotoShop that it is impossible to know them all. So this can be either a great beginner - intermediate guide or a superb reference book for designers looking for a specific technique. A must buy!

I bought this book today after considering one other books. I needed a book on simple graphics. I have worked with Photoshop for a while but only for photo processing and need to learn more about graphics. I'm a very graphically challenged software developer (my 6 year old draws much better than me;) so I need every bit of help I can get;) However I'm going to return this book tomorrow for the other book I was looking at, Scott Kelby's "Adobe Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks" as I found some omissions in the book that make it less useful than Scott's book. For example the section on creating a product box is only about placing the image on the box, but not about how to create the box. I need tutorials that take me step by step through how to make what I want to make. This file may be in the online archive for it, but I feel the book should have demonstrated the steps to create it.

I see some reviewers saying this book is garbage and for beginners. Well, it IS for beginners, which is why I bought it. But this book is definitely not garbage and there is a LOT of good stuff in it. It is aimed at a certain niche, which is people who want to start with something simple for their websites - pretty obvious from the title I'd think. If you are advanced user of PS for graphic work you will be disappointed, but IMO that's self inflicted since there is nothing that indicates that this book is for advanced users. For example there is a very good section on creating seamless tiles, something I have looked for in online tutorials for quite a while without much luck.

I give it 4 stars because it is lacking in some respects, but it does a good job overall. Just paging through it I have picked up quite a few ideas that I will be able to implement.

If you are creating or maintaining your own website and want to create some nice looking graphics for it but you are not familiar with creating graphics in Photoshop, this would be a good book. If you are looking for advanced book or bleeding edge graphic designs then this is probably not the book you are looking for.

Some very good information in this book. Quite a bit has been very useful.

This book is very basic. I was hoping to find some information on how to create interesting backgrounds and web graphic's instead I found garbage. If you have used photoshop for any amount of time this book is generic. I was very disappointed.

There are much better books that cover a much bigger range of photoshop tricks but I wasn't looking for tricks I was looking for a detailed book on designing things like web 2.0 buttons and backgrounds. If your looking for something like that turn around.

Was long time thinking of buying one more nice Photoshop book. But this one is absolutely useless.
"101 Web Design Tips, Tricks & Techniques" is not correct name for this book. I would say: "how to use Photoshop for starters".

About author: "Corrie Haffly has been using Photoshop to create web graphics since building her first web page in 1998"
That's exactly time from wich i use Photoshop and at that time we waited for 5-th version of programm. Very strange book for person who works so long with Photoshop.

Whole book is a bit information from "help" and other you can find out yourself for some hours just checking what every button means.
Author very much likes such layer styles as "bevel and embross", but for person who used and uses photoshop nowdays should know that people already not exited about "candies" and are very much fond of really good design.
A lot of screenshots that are about a half of book (1/3 as minimum) The book is really for people who are too lazy to read "help" and wanna it in printed version. But don't think it cost 27 dollars.
For people who have at least medium level in using Photoshop this book will be really useless. I wanted some book that will help me to find smth cool before i will pass my Adobe Sertification Exam, but when i choosed this book i just through out my money on wind.


Don't know what author trying to say with this book, but i think it's not fair. I still have book from '99-2000 year where is absolutely the same information. Everybody who knows photoshop in middle level and have a bit of time and wish can also read such book himself.

1 star. Yes and it's even too much, cause it's only for color-printing of book, to what the author have no connection.

Think good reviews (so more then two stars) to this book can give only people who don't know nothing about Photoshop and have no wish to find out primitive things themselves of just friends of author.

In this book you will find last two pages of website example that you can for free see in FrontPage. So pathetic!

And as for author - i would strongly recommend her subscribe to "Advanced Photoshop" magazine

As for people who wanna REALLY know Photoshop - "Photoshop CS2 Bible" from Wiley Publishing - much more information (every small detail about Photoshop) for the same money.