Customer Reviews

Photoshop Type Effects Gone Wild

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Some of the other "Gone Wild" books have been a bit iffy but Al Ward has done a good job with the (Photoshop) Type Effects title in this series. I just worked through it quickly and tested out three of the exercises and found that there are some neat tips and tricks that help reinforce using Photoshop in general. Several tricks I have learned by playing and practicing with the program and it is good to see that I was on the right track. Better yet Ward points out the right or the better way to do it!

While there are getting to be way too many books on Photoshop out there - Enough already! Al Ward's book might be a good buy to get those folks who are at least just beyond beginner stage with a good set of tools to march or type their way forward in their creative endeavors. It does cover a good bit of ground (more than just the word Type implies) and also covers some neat advertising approaches to boot. Likely definately worth a glance at.

Well, it looks like the author's friends have added their "unbiased" reviews. Now for the truth.

I have been a Photoshop user since version 5. In the last 10 years, I have bought many Photoshop books (at least 20). Some were very technical and some were fun and informative, but they all had something good to offer. Even if the majority of the book was poor, I could always find one or two nuggets. At least 2 of the books that i own are from Al Ward and I thoroughly enjoyed them. Which makes this critique all the more difficult. I wanted to like this book, but just could not find one redeeming quality.

I work at a large company with many levels of Photoshop users. I've seen people as they just get started with the Photoshop (myself included) and most users all produce the same types of initial "creations". I've seen enough badly manipulated photos that new users seem to be drawn to. The type of photo re-touching that only the creator can find enjoyable, entertaining, or inventive. Anyone who has used Photoshop for more than a few months will have an idea of the type of work that I'm talking about. Unfortunately, this book is full of those very same amateurish photo projects that very few will find useful. Honestly, the completed projects look no better than what you would expect from a total beginner. A number of projects will use segments and partial images to create a montage or composite image. The techniques are nothing more than taking a photo and inserting some text on top - often time without even attempting to "blend" the text to the image. Truthfully, think about some of the worst compositing of text onto an image and you'll have a good idea of this book's content.

I must confess, this book is not a total waste. It would make a great gift for anyone just getting started with Photoshop - at least this will help them quickly get through that initial, crap-producing introduction stage. After they get that out of their system, they'll be ready to move on.

Let me say for the record, I have read many books, articles, and tutorials from Al Ward and find him to be a very competent Photoshop instructor. And I think that is why it is so disappointing to see this type of output from such accomplished author and teacher.

Type and type styles have been around since Gutenberg, 500 years or so ago. You would think that just about everything there was to do with type would have been done, and of course that's all wrong. Photoshop and modern printing techniques have completely changed all the rules, and this book shows you how.

This is an intermediate level Photoshop book. You should have some experience with layers, masks, tools and palettes before you begin. The style of the book then is to define a series of project, usually to produce an advertisement, always with some special type requirement and then go through the steps to do the ad.

This, I guess you'd call it less structured, approach to learning rather than a formalized tutorial is the way most of us actually learn things. Yes, it would be nice to be able to sit down for a few months and learn Photoshop inside and out, but meanwhile there's work to be done, bills have to be paid.

There is a CD provided with the book so you can go through the procedure he describes using exactly the same input that he has.

Learn how to pair splashy images with appropriate text, design logos with modern appearances, and use Photoshop for creative, modern projects such as creating a tattoo that appears to be embedded under the skin, with Photoshop Type Effects Gone Wild, a guide anything but ordinary. Any collection strong in Photoshop references needs this: it offers up a eye-catching, alternative set of projects for using Photoshop's advanced features, and packs in color photos throughout of unique examples and applications. A 'must' for any serious Photoshop collection, this offers plenty of alternative projects.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I have been learning Photoshop CS3 for the past few months. I have looked at many books and i ran accross this book and flipped through it and thought it would be a good book to buy. The chapters seemed to be fun. Although after going through the chapters in the book, i have to say i wasnt really impressed. It mentions about alot of functions that are helpful, but some functions it asks you to perform and then leaves you out in the open to find out where they are located. Also, while following the chapters step by step, the book leaves you hanging on what to do on some designs. I wasnt very happy to come to the end of what you THINK you are going to design and get told by the book that "this is in a later section", after you learn that section, u'll just have to come back and figure it out for yourself. Not to say this is a REALLY bad book, but i think it could have been better then what it was, and yes, it is helpful in some ways, but:

1. if you know NOTHING about photoshop and you want to learn, this IS NOT the book for you.

2. if you know some stuff and want to learn different ideas, this book is great.

3. if you are an expert in photoshop, this is just a fun book for you to refresh on or a waste of your time

hope this helps the next person








I just completed the book and my overall opionion is:
THIS BOOK SUCKS, ABOUT EVERY CHAPTER LEAVES YOU HANGING ON WHAT THEY ARE DOING OR IN SOME MANNER FOR YOU TO READ THEIR BRAIN, THEIR FUNCTIONS THROW YOU IN LEFT FIELD ON WHAT TO DO, AS FAS AS SOMEONE THAT HAS BEEN USING PHOTOSHOP, I WAS VERY DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK. ALSO, WHEN THE BOOK TELLS YOU EXACTLY WHAT TO DO AND THE SHOWS A PICTURE ON WHAT IT SHOULD LOOK LIKE, IT LOOKS DIFFERENT, WHATS UP WITH THAT!!!! I CAN SAY I LEARNED A LITTLE BIT OF DIFFERENT WAYS TO DO STUFF, BUT NOT FOR THE PRICE I PAID FOR THIS. I WISH I COULD GET MY MONEY BACK...

Al has outdone himself this time. His book ROCKS!!! He not only addresses working with text, but incorporates it into a variety of projects providing the reader with hints toward project development using his suggestions and their own creative idea. This book will remain on the forefront of my best reference materials.