Adobe(R) Photoshop(R) 5.5 Classroom in a Book (Paperback)

~ Adobe Creative Team (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Classroom in a Book, Special Web Edition, like others in the fine Classroom in a Book series, is somewhere between a manual and a tutorial; the lessons can be read straight through or referenced on a need-to-know basis.

Photoshop 5.5, a significant upgrade to the top image manipulation software, now comes packaged with ImageReady 2.0, Adobe's Web graphics application. Combined they comprise an extremely powerful and very user-friendly set of tools for creating well-executed and optimized JPEGs, GIFs, GIF animations, sliced GIFs, rollovers, and many other complex images.

Each lesson in the book begins with an overview and ends with review questions, making it easy for experienced users to skip around to new material. Files for the lessons are on the accompanying CD-ROM, but there is plenty of room to experiment with your own images within each lesson.

The first two chapters in Adobe Photoshop 5.5 CIB are Quick Tours adapted from the CD-ROM that comes with Photoshop 5.5, each tour covering the key features of the two applications, respectively. The remaining lessons go into greater depth on these features.

And there's an amazing amount of information here: Lessons that cover layers, masks, channels, filters, and actions, not to mention the newest tools in 5.5, the Magic eraser and the Background eraser, both of which make silhouetting an image a breeze. Readers learn the new and easy ways to use compression previews in both applications. Slicing images and applying different compressions to each slice is also made simple.

The writing is thorough and concise, and each step is well-illustrated. A full-color section demonstrates selected tutorial steps, finished projects, and toolbox overviews. Similarly effective are the pages with thumbnails of different mode selections (multiply, dissolve, soft light, and so on). And throughout the book, sidebars address special Web issues and tips.

Like Photoshop 5.5, Adobe Photoshop 5.5 CIB, Special Web Edition is specifically aimed at the Web designer, however print designers benefit as well from the book's extensive instruction on new tools and color management. For those who plan to upgrade, Adobe Photoshop 5.5 CIB will get them up and running within a just a few hours. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: using Adobe Photoshop 5.5, including ImageReady 2.0, with emphasis on new features and creating for the Web; lessons on optimizing image compression, slicing and animating GIFs, working with tools, layers, gradients, channels, and masks; retouching images, basic pen tools, advanced layer techniques, special effects and filters, combining Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop images, working with spot colors, color management techniques, and preparing CMYK art for the press; CD-ROM contains files for all lessons as well as preview tours of other Adobe products.

Product Description

Photoshop 5.5, Adobe's powerful image-manipulation tool, continues to set the industry standard. Adobe Photoshop 5.5 Classroom in a Book is a thoroughly revised version of the bestselling tutorial that covers all the new features in Photoshop 5.5(including the History palette and spot color channels), with a new, in-depth chapter on preparing graphics for the Web.

Beginning to intermediate users will find the basics covered in the introductory lessons: getting comfortable with the Photoshop interface, using the toolbox and palettes, and working with layers and filters. Using a building-block approach, the Adobe Development Team then leads you into the more complex tasks of image editing and photo retouching. Production issues, color management, working with other Adobe applications in the Photoshop environment, and the new Web material are covered in short, focused lessons that you can follow at your own pace on your way to Photoshop mastery.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Press (September 27, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020165895X
• ISBN-13: 978-0201658958
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #679,539 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

111 of 111 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a must have for any photoshop user!, November 16, 1999

By	John Lill "gemini75" (Oak Harbor, Washington) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book not knowing much about Photoshop but being a photographer I needed to learn and learn quick so I could perform my job. This book is the best thing I have bought in a long time. The instruction was simple and I was working away in just 4 hours. I could not reccomend a better book than this. You also can't find a better deal than this price!

137 of 140 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A practical book that is easy to read, good for beginners., December 22, 1999

By	Jay (Canada) - See all my reviews

This is a good start if you are not familiar with ImageReady and Photoshop. It is because it covers all the basics. Therefore you won't miss a thing if you are serious to learn Photoshop. The examples are pretty easy to follow. I didn't find any problem with the CD.

The Adobe Classroom in a Book series use a texbook approach that is different from others. There are review questions after each chapter. Some people may find the teaching style pretty dry since they can find more design tricks in other guides (e.g. Offical Adobe Photoshop 5 Studio Techniques from Adobe Press). I think this is a personal preference.

The only thing I don't like is it's in black and white. The writing style is similar to the version 3 and 4 books. If you have the verion 5 Classroom in a book, you will not find this one useful for the main difference is only ImageReady. It is also a beginner to intermediate level book. This book is not for you if you want more advance techniques.

128 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great as a classroom book, April 11, 2000

By A Customer

I have helped teach a workshop using this book. The book explores what is possible in photoshop and is definately NOT a primer for the Photoshop Certification exam. What you need to prepare for certification is the Adobe Photoshop Certification Guide and a familiarity with Photoshop. The students do very well on their own with CIB 5.5 until they run into a glitch. Usually this occurs because they haven't read the text closely. Sometimes the glitch is a program preference that isn't mentioned or explained in the book or a problem navigating in their own computer. A troubleshooting section would make this book a better teacher.

The addition of Adobe Image Ready 2.0 is extremely helpful and I think worth the price of the 5.5 version even if you already have 5.0 CIB. The one thing I do miss is the 4.0 chapter on layers (the beach bunny), I think it illustrated the uses of layers more directly (and it was aesthetically a better complete image).

Honestly, CIB 5.5 is not a Photoshop Bible but a tool to help you learn what Photoshop is about. I would recommend this book for people who have problem solving skills and the ambition to learn what photoshop can do. This is an excellent book for beginners (who at least know how to navigate their computer).