Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia [Paperback]

Roger Pring (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 28, 2002

The ultimate rich resource for amazing type design with Photoshop. Nothing can ruin a stunning piece of art quicker than finishing it off with poorly executed type effects. The Photoshop Type Effects Encyclopedia is a non-linear tutorial and a visual reference walking users step-by-step through complete details for designing professional level type effects. The book is organized into two general parts: a contextualizing introduction; and the actual encyclopedia, with rich illustrations of what each effect looks like, how to create the effect (including screenshots and other illustrations showing the step-by-step progress of each effect), and how to do your own variations of the effect. Each page is easy to read and follow, yet is packed with information.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Years ago, there was a tiny wonder of a book called Photoshop Type Magic, soon followed by its sequel, Photoshop Type Magic 2. And despite their popularity, they remained alone in this category; there just weren't a lot of books available on using Photoshop to create type effects (despite the fact that you see Photoshop-created type effects everywhere). When New Riders had the opportunity to bring back Photoshop Type Magic, we had the fortune to run into Roger Pring and Alastair Campbell, who had an even better idea: Double the number of effects shown in the original Magic books, preface these tutorials with a contextualizing section on designing with display fonts (and generally being creative with type), and end the book with an extensive catalog of the most popular filters available to Photoshop users. Wrap it up in this funky trim-size (big and nearly square), full color treatment, smartly designed layout of all the lessons, and of course all of the files you'd need to duplicate these type effects are on the CD that's bundled with the book.

I said "You can do all that?"

They said, "Of course. That's what we do."

I blushed.

They added "We're thinking a complete listing of Photoshop default actions would be good to include. Third-party actions, as well. And a list of all Photoshop Shortcuts."

How can you not do a book with these guys?

So here it is: 14 Reflective Effects; 12 Solid Effects; 4 Atmospheric Effects; 7 Lighting Effects; 13 Typographic Effects; 18 Simulation Effects; 4 Mood Effects; all of which you can use as-is, or merely as starting points for modifying and creating your own unique type effects.

Photoshop users, there is no other book like this. Check it out. Thanks for listening. Steve Weiss, executive editor, [e-mail].

From the Back Cover

The ultimate rich resource for amazing type design with Photoshop. Nothing can ruin a stunning piece of art quicker than finishing it off with poorly executed type effects. The Photoshop Type Effects Encyclopedia is a non-linear tutorial and a visual reference walking users step-by-step through complete details for designing professional level type effects. The book is organized into two general parts: a contextualizing introduction; and the actual encyclopedia, with rich illustrations of what each effect looks like, how to create the effect (including screenshots and other illustrations showing the step-by-step progress of each effect), and how to do your own variations of the effect. Each page is easy to read and follow, yet is packed with information.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 225 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Press (June 28, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0735711909
• ISBN-13: 978-0735711907
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #500,044 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but not great, July 25, 2002

By 

Quynh Le (Los Angeles, Ca United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia (Paperback)

This book provides a wide seletion of type designs. Most of them are excellent. But honestly, I feel that the author holds back a lot of important details. For example, usually there are no specific color values (just light red, dark yellow, ...), this is really disturbing, 'cause even a small difference in color values may give you a completely different results. Also, I don't know why he never tell which font he is using, and I have to spend my time searching through my font list. This book is about type but it never digs deep into basic design principles of fonts and their effects (like modern, sans serif, script and such).

I learn quite an amount from this book, but waste a great amount of time experimenting different color values and fonts. The time that I could have spent to read many more books about Photoshop.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a surprise! Sophisticated instructions & fun techniques, September 13, 2002

By 

Leslie A. Davidson "Avid technical reader" (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia (Paperback)

When I saw this book, my first impression was `Cool, it looks like a great new Photoshop 7 cookbook.' If that had been the case, I would have been happy enough, but it turned out to be the type of book the expression `Don't judge a book by its cover' came from.

When you first hold this book in your hands you instantly know it is something special. The cover is made of a beautiful thick material and has large flaps that can easily be used to hold your place when you have to grudgingly walk away from the computer.

The next pleasant surprise is the table of contents. I had no idea this book not only included some of the classiest style ideas I've seen in a long time but also some lessons in typography, a very important part of the art world that has been struggling to break into the minds of many web designers.

There is no way this book will sit on your bookshelf. Instead, it will be one of the first you open when deciding how to start a job or complete a logo or fix a clients problem.

Happy Styling! Leslie

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars sure to inspire you, October 30, 2002

By 

Tim J. Thomas "preacher00" (anchorage, ak United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia (Paperback)

Photoshop is an amazing tool and each new version brings with it new tools, features, options, and complexity. Even long-time users can find it hard to keep up, especially in areas that aren't your speciality.

For instance, I use Photoshop fairly extensively as an image editor for my photography. But when it comes to Photoshop's text manipulating capabilities, I'm behind the curve.

If you want to use Photoshop to a degree even approaching it's potential, you need help. Thank Buddha, there are lots of good books being written about Photoshop and how to use it. Among those written specifically to educate users how to handle type and type effects, Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia from New Riders is one of the best and deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

Author Roger Pring sets forth to inspire, inform, and teach in his book designed to turn on your creativity where type designing is concerned.

In the first section of the book, Pring lays out basic information explaining the various ways to work with type in Photoshop. In the later part of the first section, we see real-world examples of type at work, including many examples of signs and signage.

This book is called an encyclopedia after all, and the second section includes 72 different effects with step-by-step instructions so you can try them out. And many of the effects include alternatives with the instructions.

The effects are grouped into categories, like reflective effects, atmospheric effects, lighting effects, simulations, and mood effects.

There's also a very good appendix at the back of this book showing page after page of type with Photoshop filters applied, so you can see and compare what different filters do.

One way to increase our productivity in Photoshop is to learn to use Photoshop's built-in shortcuts. We know that keeping our hands on the keyboard is more efficient than switching to the mouse for things like changing tools and views. So there is a complete listing of all Photoshop's shortcuts at the end of the book.

The book also includes a CD filled with all the various effects samples, and a collection of about 20 Photoshop 'actions.'

If you want to learn more about handling type in Photoshop, pick up a copy of Photoshop Type Effects Visual Encyclopedia. I give it a solid rating of 4 stars.