Photoshop CS2 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech)) (Paperback)

by Peter Bauer (Author) "Adobe Photoshop is, without question, the leading image editing program in the world..." (more)
Key Phrases: custom layer style, color look natural, eyeball column, Camera Raw, Basic Training, Healing Brush (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
If you’re a photography hobbyist, would you like to brighten up that gloomy island vacation photo? Slim down without going on a diet? See whether white or green shutters look best on the house? Expunge the ex-boyfriend from family photos?

If you’re a pro or semi-pro photographer, would you like to make it snow in that ski resort photo?  Replace the old logo in the glamour shot of the corporate headquarters with the new one?  Grow hair in the CEO’s glaring bald spot?  Freshen up the lettuce in that food shot?

You’ve come to the right place. With Photoshop CS2, you have the tools. With Photoshop CS2 For Dummies, you’ll have the know-how.  In full color, with all kinds of examples, screen shots, step-by-step explanations, tips, and techniques, this guide takes you from the fundamentals to special power-user tricks! Cross-platform Mac-PC coverage includes:

• The basics of getting around in Photoshop, getting images into and out of Photoshop, choosing the right file formats, and setting your preferences
• Working with Adobe Bridge to organize and manage your images
• Working with tonality, including making easy Auto Repairs, making adjustments with Levels and Curves (and the eyedroppers), and using Shadow/Highlight and the toning tools, Burn and Dodge
• Making color look natural using the color adjustment commands
• Taking advantage of the RAW format for maximum flexibility, including using the Adjust, Detail, Lens, Curve, and Calibrate tabs and the Camera Raw buttons
• Fine-tuning your fixes, including making your selections with tools (four marquee tools, three lasso tools, and the Magic Wand tool) 
• Masking for both layer visibility and for protecting parts of your images
• The most common problems in digital photos—red-eye, wrinkles, unwanted objects and people, and noise—and what to do about them

With Photoshop CS2, you can go beyond enhancing your images to create “art.” You have a very powerful painting engine, an extremely complex Brushes palette, and all kinds of painting tools. Photoshop CS2 For Dummies walks you though:

• Compositing (combining images into a piece of artwork) and working with layers, including choosing from the almost two dozen blending modes
• Selecting with Extract which is great for making tough selections, such as flyaway hair and various types of fringe
• Using Vanishing Point to “map” a pattern to angled surfaces
• Creating panoramas with Photomerge
• Creating precision edges with vector paths, including using shape layers and the Custom Shape tool, choosing from more than 300 ready-to-use shapes with the Custom Shape Picker, and using the Pen tool to create paths
• Where to find dozens, or even hundreds, of custom shapes already on your computer – absolutely free
• Dressing up images with layer styles, including using the Styles palette and creating custom layer styles
• Adding text messages and tweaking your text
• Using the extensive painting tools and the Brushes palette
• Using filters, including sharpening to focus the eye using blur filters or the Unsharp Mask and the new Smart Sharpen filter that give incredible control
• Getting fun effects with the Liquify filter

In a special Power Photoshop section, you’ll learn about streamlining your work, including creating a PDF for both onscreen presentation and for printing. You’ll discover how to spiff up your online images by working with Image Ready to slice, optimize, and otherwise juice up your images for the Web and how to create fancy rollover buttons and fun animations, 

From basic cropping to complex techniques that can turn good photos into great ones, Photoshop CS2 For Dummies is your guide to exploring all the possibilities that await you in Photoshop CS2.

From the Back Cover
Tame the Photoshop toolkit and get dazzling results

Grasp the basics, correct color and tonality, work with Raw files, and more

Wait till you see what you can do with Photoshop CS2! You'll start with the nitty-gritty stuff, like how to get images out of your digital camera and into Photoshop, and go all the way to creating works of art with twisted type and the Photoshop Brush tool. Feeling even more adventurous? Check out Part IV for power-user tricks!

Discover how to:

• Download, scan, crop, and print photos
• Adjust brightness, correct color, and fix flaws
• Choose the right file format for your images
• Understand the Raw file format
• Turn photos into works of art

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: For Dummies; illustrated edition edition (June 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0764595717
• ISBN-13: 978-0764595714
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #25,093 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and Useful, June 24, 2005

By	John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Except for the yellow cover, this just doesn't look like a For Dummies book. As soon as you open it you start to see color printing everywhere. There must be dozens, if not hundreds of four color images, and they are scattered throughout the book. This isn't at all like a lot of books that only have a few color plates. It also appears to be a higher quality paper that looks brighter than the other books in the series. This makes sense because Photoshop is a highly color oriented software package. The really nice thing about all this is that they didn't raise the cost significantly. A lot of books printed like this one are twice the price.

Of course the real test of a book is not its appearance, but its content. This book is aimed at the beginner to intermediate level user. It kind of combines a tutorial and a reference approach. The first few chapters are really introductory. It doesn't make much sense to jump around in them. But after that the chapters are pretty much stand alone. You can use the index or the general chapter heading to find the particular area that interests you and get the information you need.

This is a welcome addition to photoshop literature. While it's aimed at the beginner, even an expert will find a few points that will help him on his next project. The author runs a help desk in real life. That means he knows what people are going to ask and he included it in his book. Very well done.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not for beginners, August 27, 2006

By	Blackjack Davy (somewhere in the UK) - See all my reviews

Judging by the number of people who don't find negative reviews helpful people don't like to hear the truth - that this book is not for beginners. Its a reference book for intemediate users and above and possibly a reference for beginners who are receiving tuition elsewhere - because theres none to be found here.

Despite the sneering tone of at least one other revewer here it *is* possible to be a newbie and be serious about learning Photoshop - but not with this book. Do yourself a favor and buy Sams' "Teach yourself Photoshop CS2 in 24 Hours" because that *will* teach you how to get to grips with the basics - and avoid this book.

41 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Few Notes from the Author, June 7, 2005

By	Peter Bauer "Author, 'Photoshop CS2 for Dummies" (South Bend, IN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hi, I'm Pete Bauer, author of "Photoshop CS2 for Dummies." First I'd like to let you know what an honor it is to follow in the footsteps of Photoshop Hall-of-Famer Deke McClelland! Deke (and his co-authors) did a great job with earlier versions of "Photoshop for Dummies," and I am sure that you'll find this version a wonderful addition to the series. This is a completely new version of "Photoshop for Dummies," written from scratch, to present you, the reader, with a fresh new look at the software. In addition, this is the first version to use color images throughout the book -- what better subject for a full-color "for Dummies" book than Photoshop?

"Photoshop CS2 for Dummies" should be considered a beginner- to intermediate-level reference book. It's not lesson-based, and you don't have to start with Chapter One and work through the book front to back. Instead, take advantage of the Table of Contents and the Index to find topics with which you need help or which sound interesting to you. Flip to those pages and have at it. (Of course if you do start at the front and read to the back, you won't miss a single tip, technique, or cartoon.)

As the Help Desk Director for the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP), I answer tens of thousands of Photoshop-related questions every year. That gives me a pretty good idea of what folks want to know. I've used that experience (and my experience writing a half-dozen other books on Photoshop and Illustrator) to put together what I think you'll find to be a great resource. Easy to read, entertaining, yet filled with information you need to become proficient with Photoshop. Have fun & best of luck!