Customer Reviews

Photoshop CS4 For Dummies

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

 

 

As a new person starting from scratch this book does not give the detail required for learning. I felt it would apply more to someone who has been using photoshop for some time and this book explains a few handy tips. It was not much help at all for me as a beginner

Although I previously had CS2 and CS3 I decided to start from "ground zero" with a CS4 "Dummies" book; I have had good luck with this series and found this book to be valuable regardless of whether you are a first time Photoshop user or migrating from a previous version. However, this book may not be advanced and detailed enough for very advanced users of previous versions.

Strengths: Well laid out , easy to use and in color. Price is well worth it. Authoritatively written.
Weaknesses: No Cd. You will have to find own photos to use regarding the tutorials.

Novice/Intermediate/Advanced



Introduction

Photoshop is the premier graphics manipulation application. From humble beginnings, this program has developed into a "blockbuster," getting better and better, adding new features over time. While there are many graphics programs that can do some of the tasks, Photoshop CS4 offers most power and flexibility for the graphic novice, intermediate and professionals. Graphic editors who use Photoshop will find this book useful for a variety of reasons.
The author is Photoshop World Dream Team Instructor and is the author of graphic books, a host for video training titles and much more. His experiences in the field of graphics are displayed in this book and display his excellent style, knowledge of graphics, capable utilization of the Photoshop program for many graphic needs. His reading style is both authoritative and informative. But there is more within the pages that assist with learning how to use Photoshop and its complexities.
Users gain a good sense of understanding through the excellent tutorials and readings. The book has 401 pages, as opposed to 396 pages in the previous version with CS3. Once again five sections and twenty chapters are highlighted. The pages and tutorials are well laid out. White space make for easy reading as the non-cramped text is very easy to read. Photos and illustrations are in full color. Tutorials are aided by bold titles, numbered sections and steps. Like many of the dummies books, there are icons which highlight tips, new features, warnings, technical information, remembering important knowledge. Cartoons, which adorn each section, are both humorous and artistically cute, relate poignantly to a computer/ graphic use life, computer usage or in another way.
The sections/ parts include: Basic training (warm and friendly introduction to Photoshop from the beginning), Enhancing for Digital Images (use of color, raw images and raw plug-in, fine tuning images and dealing with problems), Creating "Art" in Photoshop (combining images, using vectors, using layer styles, text messaging, painting fun and using filters), Power Photoshop streamlining your workflow and extending CS4. Lastly the Parts of Ten (Top 10 favorite Photoshop tips and tricks, Wacom tablet information, Ten reasons to won a digital camera). But there is more inside this version compared to the version with CS4.
There are several highlighted sections which designate information and guidance regarding new CS4 and specific features. Here there is additional information concerning new panels for adjustment layers, the use of camera raw files and importing, Bride review and commands, panorama sticking, new layer masking tools, color harmony and brush reviews, working with 3D and more.

Conclusions
I really like this book for many reasons. For one, this book is a great buy. It is a excellent guidebook, resource guide and readable. Novice users will not "become lost". The author communicates in concise, clear and understandable ways covering the strengths and versatility of the application. The text conveys a remarkable and easy to understand way to use Photoshop for your graphics needs.
This text will make a fine addition to graphic users library, especially to those who are in need of a fine resource/guide to learn about or upgrade skills with Photoshop CS4. You'll be up and running in no time and adding to your graphics capabilities and knowledge.

This book has a lot of info. If you are already familiar with Photoshop, it's probably just for you. However, is not for a Photoshop beginner.

The book starts out with way too much info about how to customize the environment and a lot of generic stuff about digital photography. It even devotes space to how to get your photos out of your camera and how to organize your photos in Photoshop.

Unfortunately, it doesn't really get down to telling you how to do fundamental Photoshop tasks until too late in the book. Furthermore, it uses Photoshop-laden jargon right from the start, and without defining the terms or showing you what it is referring to on the menu. And again, that is all great if you are already familiar with Photoshop, but is useless and confusing if you aren't.

I gave it two stars instead of one because there was a lot of useful info. And it would probably be a great book if it was aimed at the right audience. But Dummies books are supposed to be for beginners, and this book is not, which is why it only got two stars.

This books is not for a person new to Photoshop. It assumes far more knowledge about Photoshop, color and photography than the average beginner could possibly have. The organization of the book is a mess. For example, the author goes on for 5 or 6 pages about the "Histogram Panel" and how it controls brightness etc, but never once explains where it is located within Photoshop. If you want a step-by-step guide to getting started, this is not it.

Liked it...didn't quite do it for me and ended up having to by the Missing Manual version...wished I would have bought it first

This was much better and cheaper than taking a class. I learned so much in a short period of time. I highly recommend this book for photoshop CS4.

I usually do OK teaching myself programs, and have learned to do some stuff in Photoshop on my own just through poking around, but this book was a real slog. Just like Photoshop, it's full of non-intuitive terminology and undefined terms. It might be helpful to a graphics geek, or someone with at least a background in graphics theory (if there is such a thing) but I felt my eyes glazing over on most pages, with paragraph after paragraph of Photoshopese that left me baffled. It really isn't a book for true dummies. I'm not sure you could make a Photoshop guide for true dummies, Photoshop is probably too opaque and esoteric.

INSTRUCTIONAL BOOKS SHOULD HEED AN OLD REQUEST...EXPLAIN IT TO ME LIKE I AM A 5TH GRADER! ALTHOUGH THIS BOOK IS BETTER THAN SOME I HAVE READ, IT DOES LITTLE TO LIVE UP TO ITS TITLE...PHOTOSHOP CS4 FOR DUMMIES! I DON'T FEEL I WAS ANY MORE LEARNED THAN I WAS BEFORE I READ THE BOOK!

First, a couple of notes on this title:
--This is a book in the incredible "for Dummies" series and, as such, is a reference book. Please don't expect a lesson-based/for-the-first-time-user or a "cookbook" tips & tricks book. That's not what the "for Dummies" series is all about.
--Use the Index and Table of Contents. Add PostIt© notes and bend corners of pages (unless, of course, you borrowed the book from the library). There are some sections of the book to which you will refer regularly, those subjects that pertain to the specific sort of work you do with Photoshop. You could read the book cover to cover (which ensures you don't miss a single joke or cartoon), but that's not what we had in mind when we developed this title. Instead, we recommend that you consider this book to be more like a dictionary or an encyclopedia: when you have a question, look it up.
--"Photoshop CS4 for Dummies" is for smart people. To really take advantage of Photoshop CS4 (and this book) you might also want to use the Index to look up things with which you are already familiar. Who knows? There might be a better/faster/easier/smarter way to do things you already do.

Now, a couple of personal comments:
--I'd like to thank the incredible team at Wiley for making this project one of the smoothest book updates I've ever experienced! Bob Woerner and the rest of the gang, thank you!
--Congratulations to the team at Adobe for putting together another great product.
--Thanks to my colleagues on the "Photoshop World Instructor Dream Team" for always being willing to share insights and ideas.
[...]

Enjoy!
Pete Bauer