Customer Reviews

Photoshop Elements 8: Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks (Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a great book! Don't miss this one! I have several books by Rob Sheppard. If you are using Photoshop Elements, his instructions are fast, simple, and clear. You don't have to be an expert using Elements to benefit from this book. Whether you want to do simple things or complex, this book is one of the best on the market for using Photoshop Elements 8.

I recently needed to to do some photoshop-type photo editing but I did not want to spring for the full PhotoShop program so I went for the much more reasonably priced PhotoShop Elements. While this program doesn't have all the bells and whistles it was adequate for what I needed. I have reached a point where I can at least spell "computer" but I am far from an expert. This book was a life saver. It showed me, in simple enough terms that even I could understand, how to do the basic photo editing and manipulating that I needed to do. The easy instructions and pictures made a difficult task easy to learn. I highly recomend this to anyone who needs to learn the basics in a hurry.

I have several book from the 'Visually' series. They are all very good at presenting complex subjects, like photoshop Elements, in a simple easy to understand format. I purchased this one to bring me up to speed on Elements 8. It did the job admirably! Since I teach Photoshop Elements classes, I already have a pretty good working knowledge of the program, but I find lots of useful information in these books on simple ways to present complex ideas and methods. Many of my students buy these books to help them learn to use this great program. I subtracted one star because I would have liked to see lot more on blending modes (a subject not coved well in most books on Photoshop Elements). Other than that - Good Job!!

I have been trying to learn Photoshop Elements for several months and it is no easy thing to teach yourself. There are so many processes and procedures. This book really highlighted the most appropriate applications of the software, and was a logical stream of information.

I really enjoy this one, because it is very easy to follow. Each step is explained in word and picture by number - you can't go wrong. It provides practical tips anlong the way and teaches you to develop a workflow. Everything is covered, Importing your images, orginizing and preparing Photos for Processing, creating Albums, setting your own Preferences, Editing of course, working with Raw, the tools you'll be working with, Layers, Adjustment Layers, Problem Solving, Sharpening, Black & White, Plug-Ins and how to best print your photos. A big Thumbs up, a mighty fine book!!

I learned a great deal from this book. It is written with step by step instructions for most of the important PSE functions. You could probably learn a lot from this book if you had not previously touched PSE but, I'd really recommend it to people who have a slight familiarity with PSE. As advertised, it is not too wordy; it is more for visual learners.

The reason it received only three stars from me is because the graphics used to illustrate the steps are too small. In over half the tips/tricks, you cannot actually see the effect that is being taught because it is too subtle for such a small illustration. I'm really shocked that this got by the editorial process. It must have been an economic decision because larger illustrations would have taken more pages and raised the cost of printing the book.

My suggestion would be to remove the second to the last chapter on add-ons and use those pages gained to enlarge the picture illustrations. I don't think the average person trying to learn PSE through this book is going to consider purchasing expensive add-ons until he or she has a better understanding of the base program. The add-on chapter seemed more like an advertisement for the add-ons than an actual tip or trick. That was the only chapter that disappointed me.

This is the kind of users' guide to a software package that was written just for me and other like-(simple)-minded folks. Lots of pictures and visual explanations, without a whole lot of text. And of the text itself, it's written in dummied-down language, which is also great if, like me, you have adult ADD and can never seem to get past one paragraph or so, even when taking your medication.

Having said all this, I guess I should give myself some credit and point out that I suppose I'm not entirely dim-witted (I somehow managed to acquire 2 Masters degrees and a PhD during my lifetime), just to lend some level of creditability to my reviews. But when it comes to things like this, I need all the help I can get, and this book does just that. And it does it extremely well. In fact, there have been several instances in which I proclaimed, "Wow! I could have figured that out on my own!" after reading about a particular component of Photoshop - but of course, I likely would not have been, or it would have taken me forever to do so.

In a nutshell, Rob Sheppard has given us an easy-to-follow, inexpensive tutorial - more like a "treasure map", so to speak - on a software package that seems to have limitless potential!

Photoshop can be overwhelming. Clear and concise, this book takes you thru the work process of editing photos and guides you thru each menu with a commen sense approach of 'how to make your photos' look their best. As importantly, this book blends the 'work flow' of processing your photos with the technical elements of organizing and editing your photos. So you will end up with a well managed and understandable library of your work to reference and enjoy for years to come. For us 'newbies' the book provides a firm basis for understanding the current terminology and processes of enhancing our digital photography.

These books are great. They show you what to the screens will look like and you can follow the instructions easily.

this book is great, it doesn't take weeks to get through like the other text book types.