Smashing Photoshop CS5: 100 Professional Techniques (Smashing Magazine Book Series) [Paperback]

Sue Jenkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 5, 2010 | ISBN-10: 0470661534 | ISBN-13: 978-0470661536 | Edition: 1

EXPAND YOUR IMAGINATION

Smashing Photoshop CS5 is loaded with 100 creative and innovative techniques to help jump-start your creativity and inspire you to do more with your designs and photographs. This book is aimed at designers, artists and photographers who want to become proficient in Photoshop CS5, getting you quickly up to speed with many of the fantastic new tools and features.

Author Sue Jenkins is a photographer and web and graphic designer, author, software instructor and Adobe Certified Expert. Using her knowledge and years of expertise in the field she provides 100 hints, special effects, and techniques that will enable you to extend your existing skills and to develop and execute new ideas and trends.
Smashing Photoshop CS5 is the ideal guide to help you to get the best out of Photoshop CS5. This book will teach you how to perform specific tasks using a variety of tools, filters, styles, adjustment layers, and more.

With Smashing Photoshop CS5 you will learn how to:
• MAKE 3D TEXT WITH REPOUSSÉ
• CREATE ENGRAVED TYPE
• DESIGN A BLOG HEADER
• STIMULATE HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGES
• MAKE RETRO HALFTONES
• WORK WITH CUSTOM BRUSHES
• USE CONTENT-AWARE SCALING
• TRANSFORM WITH PUPPET WARP
• TRACE PHOTOS
• MAKE SCALE MODELS
• MIMIC CROSS-PROCESSING (XPRO)
• EDIT WITH LAYER MASKS
• CORRECT IMAGE DISTORTION
• RETOUCH AND RESTORE IMAGES
• EDIT WITH THE VANISHING POINT
• CREATE PANORAMAS

Key Topics Covered:
Part I: Web Layout And Optimization
Part II: Photoshop CS4 And CS5 Techniques
Part III: Text Effects
Part IV: Studio And Commercial Effects
Part V: Special Effects
Part VI: Image Distressing
Part VII: Image Retouching And Restoration

Smashing Photoshop CS5 is the perfect springboard for sparking new ideas and gaining inspiration for all your projects.

Smashing Magazine (smashingmagazine.com) is one of the world's most popular web design sites. True to the Smashing mission, the Smashing Magazine book series delivers useful and innovative information to Web designers and developers.

 

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Suitable for anyone fairly new to Photoshop...great for learning lots of relevant techniques quickly.' (.net, January 2011).

About the Author

Sue Jenkins is a web designer, graphic designer, illustrator, fi ne art photographer (www.suejenkinsphotography.com), soft ware instructor, writer, and the owner of the Luckychair (www.luckychair.com), a professional design studio serving companies across the U.S.A. since 1997. Sue is the author of several books on Adobe soft ware and design including Dreamweaver All-in-One For Dummies, Web Design All-in-One For Dummies, Web Design: The L-Line, Th e Express Line to Learning, and How To Do Everything Illustrator. She is also the award-winning soft ware instructor in six of ClassOnDemand's (www.classondemand.com) Adobe Training DVDs: Dreamweaver for Designers (winner of a 2007 Bronze Telly Award), Designer's Guide to Photoshop, Designer's Guide to Illustrator (winner of a 2009 Annual Communicator Award of Distinction), Fundamentals of Photoshop Elements (winner of a 2009 DV Magazine Award of Excellence), Complete Training for Adobe Dreamweaver CS5, and Complete Training for Adobe Photoshop CS5. In addition, Sue is an Adobe Certifi ed Expert/Adobe Certifi ed Instructor teaching three-day courses in Dreamweaver, Illustrator, and Photoshop at Noble Desktop (www.nobledesktop.com) in New York City, and is currently working toward her MFA in Photography. Sue lives with her husband and son in Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (October 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470661534
• ISBN-13: 978-0470661536
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 0.9 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #653,382 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sue Jenkins is a web and graphic designer, illustrator, and fine art photographer. She is the owner and creative director of Luckychair.com, a full-service web and graphic design studio serving businesses across the U.S. since 1997. In addition, Sue is an award-winning Adobe Certified Instructor, an Adobe Certified Expert, and an Assistant Professor of Graphic Design at Marywood University in Pennsylvania.

Sue has written many "For Dummies" and other instructional books on design including "Smashing Photoshop: 100 Professional Techniques", "Web Design For Dummies All-in-One Desk Reference", "Tumblr For Dummies, Portable Edition", "Dreamweaver CS5 For Dummies All-in-One Desk Reference", and "How To Do Everything Illustrator".

She also appears as the software instructor in several Adobe Software Training programs at ClassOnDemand.com and Lynda.com. Titles include: "Complete Training for Adobe Dreamweaver CS5", "Complete Training for Adobe Photoshop CS5", "Dreamweaver For Designers", "Designer's Guide to Illustrator", "Designer's Guide to Photoshop", "Fundamentals of Photoshop Elements", and "Designing Web Sites from Photoshop to Dreamweaver".

To learn more about Luckychair's design services, go to http://www.luckychair.com and to see a portfolio of Sue's fine art photography, visit: http://www.suejenkinsphotography.com

For questions, tips, and fun ideas, follow her on Facebook as "Luckychair" and on Twitter @LuckychairNews.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Tips and tricks for the Graphic Designer February 10, 2011

By W. Lyon Martin

Format:Paperback

I looked forward to receiving this book because I just recently started using CS5. This is a major upgrade leap for me since the last version I had of Photoshop was CS2, and I never actually learned the newer tools in that upgrade. I have been using Photoshop since it first came out in the 90s, before it even had a version number. I expected in depth discussions in the book about the new capabilities of CS5.
It should be noted that my main use of Photoshop is as an illustrator. While I do create personal web sites, that is not where the focus of my day-to-day creative endeavors lie. I do have an extensive background in Graphic Design, so most of the specifics to that profession are not alien to me.

The book subtitles itself 100 Professional Techniques. I think a better subtitle would be 100 Professional Graphic Design Techniques. Sadly, if you are not creating web or graphic design, this book is next to useless in smashing the new CS5 Photoshop tools.
However, if you do create web sites and need quick how-to instructions for special effects like grunge and retro halftones, this is the workbook for you. I tried several of the lessons myself. I learned new ways to do things with tools I had never explored, but the end products themselves are nothing "new." I've done similar things years ago.

My only complaint with the book is that the instructions were vague in where to find the tools required to create the effects in question. In one instance the reader is told to use the pencil tool to erase an area in a mask. I hopped right over to the pencil too, prepared it to the suggested 1 pixel and couldn't do anything after that. It took a bit of noodling around trying to figure out what I had done wrong before I realized I needed the eraser tool selected in pencil mode set to the one pixel. After that I quickly accomplished the desired outcome. I'd like to say this was an isolated instance, but it wasn't. I encountered this roadblock in a number of lessons. A simple image call out showing the tool or location in question would have gone a long way to reduce my frustration level.

With all this in mind, I would not recommend this book for either a raw Photoshop beginner or a seasoned Graphic Design pro, but someone in an intermediate level would benefit greatly by many of the techniques showcased.

Sadly, for an illustrator like me, this book was sadly lacking in what I am looking for in Photoshop training. Maybe one will come along soon.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's smashing! October 21, 2010

By Bonnie Grassie-Hughes

Format:Paperback

As a graphic designer, Smashing Photoshop CS5: 100 Professional Techniques has proven invaluable at increasing my Photoshop skills at a rapid rate as well as increasing my knowledge about the breadth and depth of what Photoshop can do. Each time I finish my newly created image by following the detailed instructions, I think, "Wow, I made that!" An unexpected surprise is the copious hints, resources, and freebies contained within the book, such as where to go for free downloadable textures and suggested tutorials to further expand my knowledge.

I have read a book by Sue Jenkins before and like my first experience, I found that she presents the material in easy-to-follow instructions and with lots of personality and encouragement. I highly recommend this book to all graphic designers or Photoshop enthusiasts who want to expand their range of abilities they can carry out with Photoshop to make their project look--well--smashing.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great for Web Designers Looking to Learn Web-specific Photoshop Techniques November 28, 2010

By George B. Martin

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

There are many Photoshop books available for digital photographers, but few that will walk you through the way Photoshop is used by top web designers. I'd give it five stars, but I purchased the Kindle version and I'm not able to find where to download walk-through tutorial files. If the book really doesn't make files available, then it's usefulness is limited for several of the tutorials. I'd look at the table of contents before purchasing to see the specific techniques taught, but even if you're familiar with all but 20 of the 100 or so, you'd be justified in purchasing the book for its price. Many of these techniques are ones you'll use over and over again in creating web page designs in Photoshop and they are taught directly rather than concealed within more advanced tutorials available on the web... Great job!