Adobe Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques (Paperback)

by Ben Willmore (Author) "Opening Photoshop for the first time and seeing all the tools and palettes competing for space on your screen can be a dizzying experience..." (more)
Key Phrases: unadjusted image, blending sliders, sampled brush, Smart Object, Camera Raw, Quick Mask (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

If you're ready to go from blindly following step-by-step instructions to "Aha, I finally GET Photoshop!" this is the place to start. In these pages, world renowned Photoshop instructor and best-selling author Ben Willmore writes in his signature style–intuitive, crystal clear, and in-depth–helping you gain the deep understanding needed to master Photoshop's most essential features. Complex concepts like Curves and Channels are broken down into easy to digest metaphors and descriptions, and features new to Photoshop CS2–such as Bridge, Smart Objects, the revamped Layers Palette and Camera Raw dialog box, as well as the awesome new Warping and Vanishing Point features–are all covered in the depth they deserve, making it possible to quickly adapt them into your daily workflow. Whether you’re a photographer, designer, production artist or hobbyist, the knowledge you gain in this book can dramatically change the way you think about Photoshop.

About the Author

A senior engineer from NASA once said that this man gave the best technical seminar he ever attended. That same year a computer-phobic who had been struggling with Photoshop for years proclaimed that “He takes the Boogie Man out of Photoshop!” This seems to be Ben Willmore's special gift; he has an uncanny ability to connect with users of every level and mindset; whether it’s first-timers taking their first sniff of Photoshop, or razor-sharp nerds and nerdettes who are on the fast track to technical illumination. The common echo that Ben leaves in his wake seems to be “Aha! I finally GET Photoshop!”

To date, Ben has personally taught over 45,000 Photoshop users on three continents. His descriptions of Curves and Channels are thought to be the best in the industry and his breakthrough teaching style of “not-just-how-but-why,” has made him the in-house instructor of choice for companies such as Mercedes Benz, Adobe Systems, America Online, the U.S. Airforce, Lexis Nexis and Fisher-Price Toys. His award-winning, best-selling book, Adobe Photoshop Studio Techniques is said to be “Arguably, one of the best Photoshop books ever written.” by Photoshop User’s publisher, Jim Workman. His latest book 'Photoshop CS2: Up to Speed' is a new concept in books and is the only book focused exclusively on the new features in Photoshop CS2. He is also co-author (with Jack Davis) of “How to Wow: Photoshop for Photographers”, and creator of the best-selling Master Series videos.

He continues to be a featured speaker at publishing conferences and events worldwide, including Photoshop World, American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and the Royal Photographic Society of England. He's a member of the Dream Team for NAPP and writes for numerous digital imaging and photography publications, including a monthly column for Photoshop User magazine. In 2004 he was inducted into the Photoshop Hall of Fame. His reputation as the “expert's expert” prompted NAPP's president, Scott Kelby, to say, “When we get stuck, we call Ben!”

Ben sold his house in the mountains of Colorado in early 2006 and started to live a mobile lifestyle. His home is a 1997 40' Prevost bus (often referred to as a Rock Star Bus) that was converted by Liberty coach into a motorhome. The bus is pretty much a one bedroom apartment on wheels. Ben spends his time driving to speaking events and photographing National Parks and small town America.

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Press (August 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321321898
• ISBN-13: 978-0321321893
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #40,956 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extremely well written and full of great techniques, December 5, 2005

By	Jeff Wignall "The Joy of Digital Photography" (Stratford, CT USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ben Willmore is one of the world's best Photoshop teachers. He possesses an extraordinary wealth of knowledge about Photoshop and, just as importantly, he has a great gift for sharing that knowledge in an almost folksy and down-home style. In one of the editorial reviews above it says "arguably one of the best Photoshop books ever written" and I would take the word "arguably" out of that sentence--it's absolutely one of the best Photoshop books ever written.

I have taken all-day seminars with him and when I leave them my head is swimming my so many new ideas that it's hard to know where to begin (and if you're like me, you forget a lot the minute you walk out the door--good thing he hands out notes!). That's why Ben's books are so great: they are beautifully written and he carefully explains myriad technqiues in simple step-by-step fashion. If you've been bewildered and frustrated by the awful guides that Adobe includes with Photoshop CS2, you will find this book to be incredibly refreshing and simple to use.

Ben has a very scientific approach to Photoshop which you might think would take the fun out of it, but it doesn't. In fact, by explaining things in a very clear way and giving you the underlying "why" of how things work, you understand the tools and techniques of Photoshop much better. Things like Curves (a huge thing in Ben's teaching) and Layer Blending Modes (a world unto themselves) become easy to understand and use.

The book is also nicely illustrated with good step-by-step photos and diagrams and is very well indexed (what good is a Photoshop book that isn't well indexed?).

I am a photo how-to writer myself and even though I've been working with Photoshop since 1993, whenever I finish writing a piece on Photoshop I double-check my facts with this book (or one of the older versions). I think that Ben Willmore and Katrin Eismann are the two best Photoshop teachers that I've encountered so far (Katrin is brilliant and funny and quite an artist I heartily recommend anything that she writes). If you ever get the chance to spend a day at one of Ben's $99 seminars, do it, you'll be glad you plunked down the money.

Finally, there are a few small things I look up occasionally that are not covered in this book, but that is rare and the topics really are minor. On the other hand I've never picked this book up and not walked back to my comuter to try something new. You learn something worthwhile every time you open the book and that is saying a lot.

Jeff Wignall
Author, The Joy of Digital Photography (Lark Books)

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most comprehensive books on Photoshop, April 13, 2006

By	Quasimodo (Pakistan) - See all my reviews

I'll be very honest about how I found this book and how I ended up ordering it from Amazon. I have mentioned in my previous reviews that I live in Pakistan where we do not have Photoshop books readily available in bookshops to browse through. So I am always on the look out for "other" means. I found the e-book version of Adobe Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques on the internet and out of "curiosity" downloaded it (I know its unethical but could not help it..wanted to see what the book was like).

Guys, when I was half way through this book (reading it from the PC screen) I had made up my mind that I needed a hardcopy of it in its original form, not because my eyes were all puffy and red but this is one amazing Photoshop Book. I own 10 Photoshop books at the moment including Katrin Eismann's Photoshop Restoration & Retouching 2nd Ed. and Masking & Compositing and thought Katrin was the best when it came to explaining techy stuff. But Ben Willmore is masterful. I have yet to see a Photoshop guru explain Photoshop blending modes in the crystal clear way he did in this book. Simply amazing. Infact each and every concept of Photoshop has been dealt with the same finesse. People who want to learn the "behind the scenes" of Photoshop must buy this book

Ben's blend of explaining every tool/technique and the situations in which they can be used is fantastic. The pages are chock full of information...nicely arranged small images which might be too small for some but do the job perfectly fine along with perfect explanation. I mean Scott Kelby can make atleast 10 books out of this one amazing book by leaving out extra space on pages and using larger images. This book is 573 pages ...but it is much bigger when it comes to the information it contains. The only thing I wish is that the bonus chapters on the CD were included in the book...small gripe though

I hope Ben would forgive me for reading the ebook version since I bought the book eventually along with Bruce Fraser's Real World PS CS2.

P.S. Both books arrived with free samples of Degree Silver Ice deodorant. Do the folks at Amazon think that Photoshop users have smelly armpits? It can't even be a third world country aid thing cuz the delivery was made in Missouri and I got the books when my relatives from US flew in.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best introductory and intermediate Photoshop book for Photographers, June 30, 2006

By	R. Marshall "5 BY 7" (Chicago) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have read many PS books, and have spent many hours in bookstores carefully reviewing all of the popular PS books. This is without a doubt the best book to start with, and may be the only one you will ever need to buy.

This is the PS book best suited to photographers, either digital or analog. It covers the basics in great detail, and also the sophisticated techniques and tips required to optimise any image.

Most PS books fall into one of two categories: either they are full of "creative tricks" like showing you how to replace someones nose with their dog's tail; or they simply state "to achieve this do this", with no explanation. In both cases they scrimp on or gloss over what is important to photograhers: how to get a great image from a digital file. Getting from a raw file or scan to the optimal print or web image in the easiest and quickest way is all this book is about. Because of that it concentrates on the features in PS that are crucial to achieving these ends, and has enough space to explain them comprehensively and clearly.


Most PS books don't explain features well or at all; they say "do this in this situation" but when you happen upon a slightly different situation you are stuck, because you don't understand what you are doing. This book explains clearly, and in simple terms, all of the CS2 features that a photographer needs, and doesn't waste your time on anything you don't need.

Covered in detail:

PS tools and how to use them
Making selections
Using layers
Optimising images, color and grayscale
Understanding curves
Color managment and correction
Camera Raw
Color manipulation
Adjustment layers
Sharpening
Advanced Masking
Collage
Retouching
Workflow (thorough coverage of all of the steps to follow, and why from start to finish)