Customer Reviews

Photoshop Elements for Dummies

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

 

 

I'm a fan of "Dummies" books, as well as those titled "...for Complete Idiots" because they compile lots of useful information in one place. I bought this book because I felt that it would help me, a person relatively new at photo editing, understand and quickly learn to use the features of Elements. This book does provide a lot of detail for both PC and Mac users, but that is, for me, part of the problem. It launches very quickly into page after page and chapter after chapter of procedural sequences and commands and bogs down in detail. I have found myself frustrated and impatient to get to where I can learn how to do something--but also to where I can learn exactly what this program can do. I feel that an initial chapter giving an overview of PSE, describing its major features with examples would encourage the reader to plug on through the details, knowing the rewards that await him. Such a chapter would also provide a meaningful context for those many command sequences and procedures, like a map and compass for a hiker. Also, some step by step demonstrations of projects commonly useful to photographers and artists would have made the book much more useful.

Overall, there is a lot of useful information in this book, well written and indexed, and I will keep it for reference and maybe even finish reading it! But I have reverted to the Elements Online tutorial and the manual that came with the software, and I have also purchased the book by Andrews and Evening: "Adobe Photoshop Elements: A Visual Introduction to Digital Imaging." Introduction..." too.

Deke and Galen have done a good job with this book but, egged on I'm sure by the "dummies" editors, they've made it almost nauseatingly cutsie-pie. A few important things are left out of the index: how to add a border or a caption to your print, for instance. If your stomach can stand the syrupy cuteness though it's a good tutorial and a pretty good reference work.

This book provides a complete description of the vast array of photo editing tools that are available in Adobe Photoshop Elements.However very little guidance is provided on how best to use these tools and this was disappointing."Photoshop Elements Solutions" by Mikkel Aaland covers this area very nicely.

This is a wonderful book for explaining the workings of all the amazing tools available with Photoshop Elements -- and a steal at the bargain Amazon price. (How well you get on with Dummies cutesyness is your business).
However, in general it does not give one an overall sense of what makes for good photography with good image-editing. (Exception: with the blur tool it does explain that this can be used to help increase attention to the foreground). You may not be able to see the wood for the trees if you start here.
As a starting point the best book I have found is Bill Corbett, A Simple Guide to Digital Photography, which covers both taking photos and some important uses of Photoshop (notably the key Levels stuff).
I am taking the liberty of posting this against both versions of the Photoshop Elements Dummies book.

I got Adobe Photoshop Elements with my new scanner, and I didn't know a thing about how to use it. This book told me everything I needed to know! It really gets into the basic principles of making digital pictures (pixels, resolution, etc), which is really important when you get into the subject deeply. The author's tone is very friendly and even funny at times, which is a good thing since the subject could be a bit dry in the wrong hands. If you're a dummy about digital pictures, this is the book for you!

This book will simply get you started in Photoshop Elements. In fact, although I've been using the program for a while, I learned usable stuff immediately. It solved some mysteries for me quickly. I recommend it most highly.

Overall a really good book for learning Photoshop Elements. I was ready to switch to a more user friendly program but this book helped me get started. I would've liked to have had more color examples but it still gave good information on many topics. I will read it again now that I have some basic knowledge to really get into the more complex options available with this program.

For starting out and learning, this is a fine how to book. It gets a bit technical but is not that hard to understand. Now if you need to get into the very technical stuff one of the other books would be better

This book is amazingly comprehensive-not really for Dummies at all. It starts out very simple, but quickly picks up to explain the program from every angle. But it's always really easy to understand, and fun to read. A great program, and a great book!

This book shows you everything you need to know about using Photoshop Elements. It's a must have for anyone with a digital camera and a computer. Deke McClelland is a well known authority about Photoshop, and his vast knowledge pays off here.