Customer Reviews

Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(5)
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Photoshop CS5 The Missing Manual is the book you should buy first and will refer to most often.

It is well and clearly written so that you don't need to read some other book to understand this one. Excellent and complete tutorials teach you how to use the most important tools. It is well organized and referenced so you can find what you need to know when you need it, It is also interesting and pleasant reading.

You will refer to Photoshop CS5 The Missing Manual the most because it covers all the Photoshop concepts and information you need, and because it is so well organized. There is a special listing for photographers of the material they will need.

Part one, The Basics, begins with the information you need for working with workspaces, panels, and documents, and then moves into the basic photoshop concepts of layers, selections, and color channels. All are covered simply and clearly.

The chapter on Selections begins with selection by color using the Quick Selection Tool with a tutorial including the new Refine Edge so that you not only understand it, you can do it. Then it describes how you can use selections by shape and add and subtract selected areas.

Part two, Editing Images, covers editing images; cropping, combining, changing color, Photoshopping people, and sharpening. Part three, The Artistic Side of Photoshop, covers painting, drawing, typography, and filters. Part four is Printing and the Web. Part five, Photoshop Power, covers working with actions and plug-ins. There is is a five part appendix and the usual fine Missing Manual index.

This is one of the most difficult to follow manuals I have ever read, on any subject. I do not question Lesa's knowledge of her subject, but her style of writing leaves me frustrated. I am not new to PS; CS5 is only my latest after CS2, CS4 and a couple editions of Elements. What I find frustrating is her constant need to refer the reader back and forth to other sections and/or pages in the book. It is common to be referred backward and forward several times in a single paragraph. How helpful is it to be referred to page 388 when you are reading on page 133 and then in the same paragraph be referred back to page 58. This happens over and over and I finally laid the book aside and ordered another version, different author. I also found it heavy on illustrations, documents, text and art work, and light on digital image post-processing. This is OK for those who do this, but the book should be presented as such.

I have been teaching Photoshop for five years. I've read over 5000 pages of various manuals and books and finally there is a clear, comprehensive, and, most of all, complete book for Photoshop CS5. It's all there: how to do it, where to find it, and why to use it. There are more than enough clear color illustrations and links to additional on-line information. Ms. Snider presents it all with a sense of comfortable knowledge and a sense of humor. All the information is thoughtfully laid out with step-by-step instructions on how to use each command. This Missing Manual goes beyond just photography and clearly presents Photoshop CS5's illustration and web applications. This is the new "buy-this-one-book" for all my students. Roger Baker, Albuquerque, NM, USA

'Photoshop CS5: The Missing Manual' is a 750+ page book that will show you ALL the ins and outs of using Photoshop CS5. Tailored towards the newbie Photoshop user, the content here is anything but newbie! With 19 chapters of content and in FULL FULL FULL color, this is a great learning tool to getting through all the ABCs of Photoshop!

McKinnon Overview

01. The Basics
02. Opening, Viewing, Saving Files
03. Layers
04. Selections
05. Channels
06. Cropping, Resizing, Rotating
07. Joining Images
08. Draining, Changing, Adding Color
09. Correcting Color and Lighting
10. Photoshopping People
11. Sharpening Images
12. Painting in Photshop
13. Drawing with Vector tools
14. Creating Artistic Text
15. Filters
16. Photoshop and Print
17. Photoshop and the Web
18. Actions
19. Plug-Ins

This is an easy book to put a stamp of approval on and it's another gem in the Missing Manual line of books, one of the greatest technical publishing lines out there today!!

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

The first thing I noticed that about lesa's book on "photoshop cs5 the missing manual" is that in the very beginning she talks about it being dedicated to the god of wine bacchus, which kind of sets the whole tone for the book. She has a very light style, but the book is extremely informative and for those of you more familiar with Photoshop CS4 already the first chapter talks about the differences between the two versions and is must start place. This section is very concise and well written. It guides you to exactly where you need to go and hyperlinks take you right there. This feature along almost makes price-to-book worthwhile.

One of the pleasurable aspects of this book is watching the document names used throughout the examples. I won't spoil the surprise but make sure when you read the book you watch for them. They really show off leas's sense of humor and her Texas twang comes throughout even in her writing.

From the technical point she is right now. Adding on to her already excellent missing manual cs4 book cs5 is well integrated and the differences are highlighted so that the experienced user transitioning to cs5 can quickly find the differences, but the new user to photoshop is given very easy to follow instructions. There are more Then an ample number of examples with the files readily available for you to follow along.

My only real criticism of this book and it really is not a criticism but more of a wish, is that the book is designed as a reference manual and as that it is wonderful. What lesa needs to develop is a companion book that is tutorial in nature so that it could be used in the classroom, or for home training. While there are excellent example photos provided on the web site, i think that formal lessons with this as the reference manual would make this a killer combination.

If you only can have one photoshop book in your electronic library or even the hard back edition, this is the one to get.

I've used a number of how-to books on various adobe products.
I just started learning photoshop and I have to say this book is not so helpful.
I really feel that I learn best when the book is in workbook style. So instead of saying "the layers are here and brushes are here," I'd learn much better if the book was like, "let's make a poster and learn how things work."
I'm sure that the author is a photoshop guru, but the organization is truly confusing because you have to jump around all the time to different pages to learn one feature.
Also, I appreciate books that show you where the tools are with a picture instead of saying that "this is the second tool in the upper left hand option bar."
Maybe the book is easier to understand towards the end, but I can't seem to get past the first couple chapters.

I think I'll hang on to this book because I think it will work as a reference book, but for my learning guide I think I'll need to find a book with a DVD that contains lessons.

I've been using Photoshop since 1991 when it first came out. When I got Photoshop CS5 Extended I considered all the books available to help me use the features of this ever evolving monster app. Lisa Snider nailed it. A pleasant and friendly writing style that shares the tips, secrets and side shows plus the essential basics we need. The number of illustrations really helps the reader grasp what she's describing and the whole "feel" of the book is substantial without being one of the "Bibles" on Photoshop that no one expects you to read cover to cover. If you are new to Photoshop - or just upgraded for the first time in years - this is the Missing Manual you need.

I tip my hat to Lesa Snider for creating an accessible and comprehensive learning tool on the power tool we call Photoshop.

-Robert Barnes

I found the author's writing to be clear and precise but entertaining to read . . . Ms. Snider's a real gem. As a Photoshop novice, I often turn to this book to find out how to do most anything, and I've yet to be disappointed in how techniques were explained or sad because something was missing. I'll keep this book right by my computer for as long as I use CS5, and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs Photoshop help, from the very basic stuff to the more complex.

Explains in detail how to acomplish each task. I owned The Missing Manual for Emements 8 before I purchased CS5. I looked for a book in this series and could not find one when I first purchased CS5, yet all the other books out there seemed geared towards more experienced users. This came out about 5 months after I purchased CS5. Best beginner book out there!

The book is not only thorough in its coverage of of PS, but more importantly, is entertaining and non-monotonous to read. That's quite a feat for a reference book when the reader is always compelled to keep reading through to the next page. The author clearly knows her stuff, and she breaks down all the features of PS in a very well thought out manner. The screen shots in this book are definitely worth more than a thousand words, as they greatly help clarify some of the more confusing or hard to visualize concepts of PS. The author doesn't just explain a feature, she then relates it to the real world in her examples. Always mindful to make that connection between a feature and how it can be applied on your own just amplifies your appreciation of what and why you're learning something. This isn't just a glorified tutorial on PS- it truly is a manual on it, but written in a tutorial style. That's what makes it such a great book. I'm only close to half way through it, and every page has added to my understanding of PS in a practical way. Highly recommended.