How to Do Everything with Photoshop CS2 (Paperback)

by Colin Smith (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In this full-color, easy-to-use book, award-winning designer and best-selling author Colin Smith teaches the fundamentals of Photoshop then covers the more advanced features the software has to offer. Learn to use traditional drawing and painting tools ranging from pencils to airbrushes, then discover how to add and manipulate text, retouch photos, create special effects, and more. The techniques professional artists apply to their work are revealed in a special "Behind the Scenes" section.

From the Back Cover

Maximize all the features Photoshop has to offer with help from this full-color guide. Award-winning designer Colin Smith shows you how to create, edit, and enhance sophisticated images and feature-rich web pages using this powerful graphics tool. You’ll learn to use all of Photoshop’s painting and drawing tools, fix and retouch photos, add special effects, print high-quality images, and much more. A bonus “Behind the Scenes” gallery demonstrates the Photoshop techniques used by professional artists.

• Manage the interface, toolbar, palettes, options, and preferences
• Import, place, organize, and size images and adjust resolution
• Edit, repair, retouch, and organize digital photos
• Draw and paint with the built-in tools
• Create and manipulate text
• Use and manage multiple layers
• Create a variety of colors using channels
• Automate tasks using tool presets, actions, droplets, and other methods
• Create bevels, sheens, shadows, and other special effects
• Use ImageReady to create Web graphics
• Set up your Photoshop file for high quality printing

About the author: Colin Smith is an award-winning graphic designer and author or co-author of 11 graphic design books including Photoshop and Dreamweaver Integration. He is also founder and publisher of the #1 resource site for Photoshop users, photoshopcafe.com.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media; 2 edition (May 12, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0072261609
• ISBN-13: 978-0072261608
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #639,571 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The information was well written and to the point, December 10, 2005

By	D-MAG.org Reviewer (Lexington, KY USA) - See all my reviews

This book is my first introduction to Colin Smith. Prior to reading the book I decided to visit his site to see what kind of designer he is, and how he uses Photoshop. His site listed some of his awards and displayed some of his techniques, of which I might add are pretty impressive. After visiting his site I decided to read/skim through the book to see what kind of information he would present. Being that I've been using Photoshop for some time, I wasn't expecting to learn much from the book. I was expecting a bunch of very basic information for users new to Photoshop. To my surprise the book covered everything from the fundamental to the more advanced techniques and tools used in Photoshop.

The information was well written and to the point. The wording wasn't cumbersome which made the reading interesting as opposed to the boring monotony of user manuals. The writing felt more like a conversation as opposed to a read, of the which I enjoyed.

Not only was the information thorough, so was the colorful layout. The colors were used in tandem with the layout making it easy to follow the topical layout. The colors in the layout as well as the colorful images used in the tutorials were eye catching and interest keeping. The colors were useful in conveying the information provided. This also helped as a reference guide, because each topic was emboldened in a purple font making it easy to flip through and find the topics that may catch your interest.

Also included was a behind the scenes gallery with techniques from Photoshop professionals. This section introduces the reader to real world techniques used by professionals in the design industry. I particularly liked this section, because I'm always interested in how others get to the end result. The step-by-steps were easy to follow along and even recreate.

I would recommend this book to the novice and any ongoing Photoshop user. The book was well put together and entertaining. I would have liked it better if the book came with a bonus CD of images or plug-ins. Even still, the easy to use style makes it a welcome addition to any Photoshop library.

Lafe Taylor
Member, D-MAG.org

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How to do Everything with Photoshop CS2 , January 3, 2006

By	Darren "Daz" (USA) - See all my reviews

This book has 14 chapters packed with fun and knowledgeable facts about Photoshop CS2, ranging from basic to advanced techniques.
It all starts with getting to know Photoshop CS2 Workspace and Organizing Palettes.
Some nice and clean diagrams of the tool box and a good brief rundown of each tool, (ideal if you are an absolute beginner). Intermediate/Advanced users will probably know this. Also a nice section for the beginner is the common color modes and common file types.
Through out the book there are Notes, Shortcuts, Tips and cautions which are pretty easy to see, they are in blue type.
If you are an Intermediate or/Advanced user and just want to brush up on the new features/tools in Photoshop CS2, this book is for you, they are all in here, Spot Healing brush, Smart Objects, Vanishing Point etc.... There is far too much good information in the book to put it all in this review.
The book also involves Image Ready when you take it to the web.
At the back of the book there is a section called, "Behind the Scenes" which is a gallery with techniques from some of the pros, it shows what you can do in Photoshop.

This book is well put together and very easy to follow.
Basic beginners will have no trouble understanding PhotoshopCS2, plenty of clear visual figures.
All in all, there is something for everyone in this book. Very handy for the beginner and intermediate, advance users will pick up some good tips and tricks.
It may lose a point/star for not having a CD-Rom with the book, but that would be from a beginner's point of view. As an advanced user, I don't feel you need a CD-Rom; the easy to follow style of the book makes it a good choice for everyone.

I give it 5 (five) out of 5 (five)
Suggested retail $29.99

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Layers are the key idea, August 13, 2005

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This book is best suited for someone already using Photoshop, and who knows the basics of it. Smith focuses on more powerful and also more complicated methods available within CS2. [Though as an aside, the moniker CS2 seems so clumsy. Like an HP product label.]

Of these, perhaps one of the most powerful ideas is layers. That you can compose an image out of several layers. Where each layer can essentially be manipulated independently of the others. And the objects in a layer can thence be moved around, relative to another layer, until you get a satisfactory juxtaposition.

It is worth your time to thoroughly study what Smith has to say about layers. Because without layers, an image is often no more than a collection of coloured pixels. Layers are like object oriented programming, to use a rough analogy.