Customer Reviews

Photoshop Elements 3: The Missing Manual

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I have only had the book a few days and the software for only a week. I was a Mac Version 2 user for quite a while and decided to have a look see at what the new product was about. I like a number of things better than Version 2. There are a few drawbacks if you own a Mac but none so bad that it can't be worked around. There are a few things windows users should be aware of also but again nothing very serious.

The scan and fix multiple photos is a great feature! The new shadows and highlights fast fix is one I am using a lot and find this a great quick edit tool.

I had already purchased a differing book last week but found it lacking and have returned the book post haste.

After a good hour of looking thru the Missing Manual book I said THIS is the one I SHOULD have purchased first! Easy to understand, easy to find the parts I need, and written so non nerds can figure out what is being said, conveyed and instructed. Many thanks for making digital photograph editing not so mysterious and now fun again.

Warning though- Adobe software is a bit tricky if you have NEVER used it, there is a learning curve, this is why they wrote books like this one. If an old codger like me who remembers rotary dial, all black telephones, party lines, pay phones that cost only a nickel, rotary dial, AM tube-type radios that had to warm up first, and the days BEFORE DVDs, CDs and ATMs can figure it out, you can too! Ya gotta get away from the couch and the channel clicker, read the book and apply the instructions, it aint that hard using HOW TO Books such as this one.

Good luck and keep taking pictures.

This clearly written and well organized book is perfect for the total neophyte - which I was - and it is the book I constantly return to as my skills and knowledge improve. Whenever I'm confused or can't remember something, I go back and find my answers here. One might think that a book with this depth would be intimidating for anyone starting to learn Elements, but it never assumes either geekhood or total ineptitude, and never condescends. The writing style is easy, without constant bantering and wisecracking. I have several good PSE 3 books, but if I had to go with only one, this would be it. It is the most battered and beat up of all my books, with the most placemarks in it. Which says something!

I also purchased "The Photoshop Elements Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby and "Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3" by Richard Lynch to help me learn this software, but I found both books to be unsuitable for a beginner like myself. After spending a week struggling with these two volumes, I happened upon "...The Missing Manual. I haven't been able to put it down since. I am now learning exactly the basics I need to start using the program with some confidence. Perhaps those other books will come in handy later on when I gain some experience.

Having bought Classroom in a Book, Sams Teach Yourself Digital Photography and PhotoShop Elements plus a couple of Scott Kelby books (and others) I can say this is by far the easiest reading and possibly the most informative PhotoShop Elements book on the market today. In a very clear and concise manual all of the major components of the program are discussed and how and where to use them. It is also gratifying to note that the author shares my view of the "panorama" feature of Elements (not very good). The full color examples make this very readable and understandable. If you are going to buy one book this should be it or you can be like me and spend over $200 before you discover it!

I'm quite computer literate and have learned to use many computer programs, some of them quite complicated, just by exploring the program. Photoshop Elements isn't like that. You will barely scratch the surface of this powerful program if you don't get this book.

Elements comes with very basic tutorials. If you want to unleash some of the power of this excellent software, you need to get this book. To really did deep, you'll probably need to do some digging yourself, but this book gets you started and shows you what direction to dig in.

I wish I'd had this book when I started using Photoshop Elements 3. As 15-year Windows veteran with experience with two other photo-editing packages, I found Elements to be far from intuitive. "The Missing Manual" does an excellent job of getting you up to speed with Elements non-standard user interface. Barbara's emphasis on using keyboard shortcuts to be efficient is especially appreciated.

I also have Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers" and Richard Lynch's "The Hidden Power of Photoshop Elements 3". If I could keep only one of these books, "The Missing Manual" would be it.

Barbara's book is really wonderful, it is helping me greatly. I'm learning better from her book than I ever have with the other books.
I do plan to buy some more copies and donate them to our schools.
Its the one book that I recommend first.