Photoshop CS QuickSteps (Paperback)

by Carole Matthews (Author), Mark Clarkson (Author), Erik Poulsen (Author) "This chapter introduces you to some of Photoshop's basic capabilities and its user interface..." (more)
Key Phrases: File Browser, Pen Tool, Save For Web (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Brace youself, because here comes QuickSteps: The fast, easy, accessible information on Photoshop X in a full-color cookbook-style format. Provides answers to all of your How-do-I questions in a concise and meaningful way. Lengthwise page layout allows for easy page viewing. Useful tips and cautions are displayed in the margins so that they don't break the flow of the quick steps themselves.

From the Back Cover

Learn Instantly from Step-by-Step Graphics!

We know a picture is worth a thousand words--so we went heavy on pictures and light on words in this easy-to-use guide. Color screenshots and brief instructions show you how to use all of Photoshop’s powerful features in no time. Follow along and learn to retouch photos, work with color, layers, channels, and masks, create great-looking Web graphics, add special effects, and so much more. Each chapter’s “How to” list and color-coded tabs make it easy to flip straight to the tasks you need to do. Written by Photoshop professionals, this book gets you started using Photoshop right away.

In Each Chapter:

• Shortcuts for accomplishing common tasks
• Helpful reminders or alternate ways of doing things
• Bonus information related to the topic being covered
• Errors and pitfalls to avoid
• Screenshots with callouts show and explain exactly what you’ll see on your computer screen while you’re doing a task

Carole Matthews has more than 30 years of computing experience. She has written more than 60 books, including FrontPage 2003: The Complete Reference, Office 2000 Answers: Certified Tech Support, and Microsoft OfficePowerPoint 2003 QuickSteps. Mark Clarkson is a 10-year Photoshop veteran, and the author of four books, including Photoshop Secrets of the Pros. Erik B. Poulsen, an author and senior Web Developer with Sherman Software Solutions, has more than 16 years of computer experience. He has co-authored and contributed to a number of books including FrontPage 2003: The Complete Reference. Doug Sahlin is an author, graphic designer, and Web site designer. He uses Photoshop CS as his digital darkroom, and to create and edit images for multimedia presentations and Web sites. Doug has authored 12 books including How to do Everything with Adobe Acrobat 6.0.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 1 edition (March 2, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072232315
• ISBN-13: 978-0072232318
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #781,866 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for intended purpose, July 2, 2006

By	avoraciousreader (Somewhere in the Space Time Continuum) - See all my reviews

Photoshop is so vast that it can be intimidating.

This friendly, compact book only skims the surface of PS CS, and if this is all you're ever going to learn about the program, you should probably have saved several hundred dollars and gotten Photoshop Elements (or some other program) instead.

However, PS CS QuickSteps may be just what you want if, for instance, you are forced to use full Photoshop for simple tasks in an office environment, or if you want a quick introduction to the broad swath of capabilities before delving into a 'thicker' general Photoshop book (such as Deke McClelland's "one-on-one" series), or one of the numerous books devoted to particular topics such as Kat Eismann's "Photoshop Restoration and Retouching," or before going online to search out tutorials and forums.

At the level dealt with here, there will be little problem applying this book to the newer CS2 version, except for the File Browser which has been entirely replaced with Adobe Bridge.

There do seem to be a few minor errors or omissions. For instance:
-- on pp. 8-9, "actual size" never seems to be defined (it doesn't actually mean actual size, inches on screen corresponding to the size in inches of the file; it means actual *pixel* size, one display pixel per file pixel).
-- on p. 129, in a very brief discussion of 8 bit per channel vs 16 bpc images, and when you might want to use the latter (when doing a lot of processing such as levels, to avoid posterization), the aside is made that "When you print a 16 bit image, the results are stunning." This is simply not true in the vast majority of cases, unless of course the 8-bit image also prints stunning hardcopy ;-).

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent book for anyone new to PhotoShop, March 16, 2006

By	Z*lda (Dubuque, IA USA) - See all my reviews

PhotoShop can be overwhelming to learn, and I think this is a superb book for the beginner. It is clear, and it is practical. The instructions are well-illustrated, and logically presented. I learned a great deal from this book, and it helped me to move forward in this extremely complicated software.

As a response to the previous reviewer who blasted the book because it was not Mac-exclusive, I'd like to say that if you substitute the Windows CTRL key for that funny looking squiggly apple-whatever key on the Mac, there's very little difference between the two Photoshop programs. I think this book could be useful to users on both platforms.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Photoshop CS QuickSteps, March 19, 2005

By	K. C. -Gates "MotherDog" (High Mountains in Idaho) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For the price, this is an excellent book, but it is difficult to believe, given the market value, that any book written for a program like Photoshop would be written for the Windows platform only. The Macintosh platform is the dish of choice among artists and designers, and that the effort was not made to include Macs in this publications was a great surprise. If you are familiar with both platforms, or can make the adjustment, buy the book - if you say "huh" when you hear "right click" buy a different book.