112 of 112 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It doesn't get better than this, April 27, 2005
This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
Photoshop Elements 3 is a very powerful program with a *VERY* steep learning curve. I've used it since version 1, and I still only understand a fraction of its capabilities. (I don't use it every day, so even if I do learn some arcane feature one day, I've forgotten the steps to reproduce it a few weeks later.)
The Missing Manual Comes to the rescue! There are a *lot* of books on Photoshop Elements. Of the half-dozen books I do have, none is better than The Missing Manual.
These are some of the other Elements books I have. I have "The Photoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby; that book is really great for "I have an immediate problem and need to solve it today". It gives quick step-by-step instructions, but has no background info. I also have "Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements" (for version 2) by Richard Lynch, and that's a great book for learning about color theory and it comes with very useful extra tools for Elements. I'd recommend that book only after you've gotten The Missing Manual, and have spent some serious time with the program.
The beauty of Barbara Brundage's book is that it's very broad (covering everything from importing your pictures from your camera to editing, correcting, and printing them) but it's also deep enough to have real meat.
The best part is, it's so practical. She even covers common error messages that beginners often encounter. You know, ridiculous error messages like "No pixels have been selected" and such. She answers these problems in an easy to read style that doesn't force corny humor on you but doesn't assume you're a genius, either.
It's a compact book that's quite heavy because all the photos are in glorious color.
OK, I guess to make this a balanced review, I should point out something negative. I hate to admit it, and it's really a picky point, but I noticed that the screen shots all seem to be JPEG compressed. I say that because when you JPEG compress an image with text in it (and most dialog boxes have text), the text gets fuzzy around the edges (mosquito noise, it's often called). It's not enough to reduce legibility or anything, but for a book on Photoshop that has such helpful and beautiful screen shots, it seems like a weird decision for the publisher to make. Like I said, that's a minor point. You probably wouldn't even notice it unless you read it here (or you're a perfectionist like me!). This in no way reduces the value of the book, however. It's still a 5-star rating.
In short, the only real fault with this book is that it wasn't released sooner! Highly recommended.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
143 of 145 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fine primer to a powerful program, May 5, 2005
This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
Although Photoshop Elements 3 is but the mere little brother of Photoshop CS, it is nevertheless a very powerful and feature-rich application. It is intended to appeal to the nonprofessional graphics person and especially the digital camera and photo hobbyists who want to edit their digital snapshots. While easier to learn and use than its big brother, Elements 3 still is a program which is not easily used well by "hunt and click" investigation.
Hence, there is a definite need for "Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual", the latest such entry in the series of "Missing Manuals" published by O'Reilly Media,Inc./Pogue Press. This series, in my opinion, is the benchmark for applications manuals, better than virtually any OEM-provided manual (rare these days, except for online hypertext versions) and more than mere manuals. This book continues the series themes of not only describing and explaining the subject application's features but in providing technical background guidance on its particular subject areas. Here it is how and why to edit photos, the concepts behind taking and making better photos, user-level insights on what works best, all wrapped in a casual writing style with some humor.
David Pogue, the editor of the series (and who has written the bulk of the volumes in the series) does it best - he writes with style and humor which elevates the manual beyond a mere manual, but an enjoyable light technical read. The other authors of the series' volumes, including Elements 3's author, Barbara Brundage, are also very adept technical writers who clearly and comprehensively cover their subject material.
I would describe Ms. Brundage, a member of the Adobe Elements preproduction group and graphics teacher, as having done a fine, workmanlike job. The book reads more "manual-like" than some of the others, but the subject material is daunting. In seven parts and 17 chapters she introduces Elements 3, proceeds through the bulk of the application's tools and features, explains how to share and distribute creations, and shows how to do some advanced work with the program. Appendixes describe the program's components menu by menu. Particular attention is drawn to the differences between the PC and the Mac version of Elements throughout each specific section.
While the book emphasizes the how of digital photo editing, it makes sure to cover the tools which facilitate creation of original artwork, especially the brush, shaping, and similar tools. Every stage of the creative process is covered, beginning with how to import photos into the program and manage them with the Organizer (PC) and File Browser. Basic editing techniques like rotating, resizing, and cropping are covered in the beginning chapters, while more involved techniques like use of the many selection tools and options, use of layers, applying the sharpening tools, and mastering the tonal adjustment tools - like levels, hue and saturation, and burn and dodge tools - are explained later.
The most interesting chapters deal with the more advanced topics. Chapter 9 is called "Retouching 102" and describes how to fix blemishes, apply patterns, change colors, create black and white images, and how to apply special effects. Chapter 12 informs about Elements' multiple filters, effects, layer styles, and gradients. Chapter 13 deals with effects with type.
There is complete coverage of all of the contents of Elements. Elements can, for example, prepare photos for web and email usages, and create photo galleries, slideshows, and panoramas. There is a brief chapter on extending Elements by use of graphics tablets, plug-ins, and configuring Elements to work more like Photoshop CS.
This is a handsomely-produced book with great, full-color illustrations. Virtually every page has a photo or graphic screenshot, comparison images, chart, or other informative illustration.
I'm a big fan of the "Missing Manual" series and this book is a fine addition.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
46 of 46 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
You get the "Missing Manual" -- but without the "Missing CD", October 2, 2005
This review is from: Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual (Paperback)
The title says it all and well - this indeed is the "Missing Manual" that Adobe should have provided in the first place. Better yet, it addresses in plain words how to tame (or kill) the resource-hogging 'Organizer', that brings even the fastest notebook to its knees. The writing is lucidly spare, comfortably conversational, delivers the complete package as promised - without attempting forced 'humor' - and it explains difficult concepts such as the histogram as well as I have seen. In plain words, it tells you not only the what-it-is and the how-to of the numerous tools and functions, but also the why's.
So why not award the five stars the text and illustrations fully deserve? It's for omission of a CD with high-quality work-along images that help you build the skills towards working on your own photo's. How many beginners would have access to an eight-layered image as shown in Fig 6-1? Just opening that image from an enclosed CD would have gone worlds towards a faster and better comprehension of the text - good as it may be. Likewise for the terrific Camera RAW Converter plugin - few beginners would have a RAW image handy, and so lose out on one of the best enhancements in PSE3. Even learning how to use the Organizer would have been helped by having a few dozen simple images on a CD.
True, the Introduction (p. xxiii) promises downloadable images to support the tutorials but, when you get there eventually, you'll find just three pitiful images to support another author's tutorial. In fact, the Errata section strikes out any reference to downloadable images at all. Even Scott Kelby's images - disfigured as they are - at least help you learn the basics by hands-on application of text. Lacking a CD that replicates the illustrations simply eliminates this book from top consideration for beginners, and makes it more suitable as a reference source.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
