Adobe Photoshop CS3 Studio Techniques (Paperback)

by Ben Willmore (Author)
Key Phrases: layer mask, smart object, camera raw, Production Essentials, Ben Willmore, Quick Mask (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
 “Arguably, one of the best Photoshop books ever written."
-Jim Workman  
Publisher, Photoshop User Magazine  
(www.photoshopuser.com)
 
“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 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.”
—Jeff Wignall "Author, The Joy of Digital Photography

“If you’re interested in mastery, not just recipes, this full-color book stands way above the crowd.”
—Bill Camarda, Editorial Review, Barnes & Noble

“Ben has a real gift for teaching Photoshop, and the uncanny ability to make difficult concepts seems absolutely simple. I have every book Ben’s ever written, and when he comes out with a book, I buy it! Ben has a way of cutting to the chase and explaining things in a way that just make sense. His approach to training has won him legions of fans, and this book continues his tradition of making Photoshop easy and understandable.“
—Scott Kelby
President, National Association of Photoshop Professionals  (www.photoshopuser.com)
 

Product Description
Adobe Photoshop CS3 Studio Techniques has been completely updated to cover the new features in CS3. In a friendly, easy-going style that's long on information and short on techno-babble, Photoshop Hall-of-Famer Ben Willmore guides you through the concepts, features that will truly make a difference in how you use Photoshop every day. He takes you from blindly following step-by-step instructions to an in-depth understanding of how Photoshop works, cutting through the fat to focus on what he considers to be Photoshop's essential features. This full-color book delivers the content in three easily digestible sections: Working Foundations, Production Essentials, and Creative Explorations, and includes a companion CD with bonus chapters and practice images so you can quickly and easily apply the techniques covered throughout. Beginning with the working foundations of Photoshop--the basic tools, palettes, layers, and masks, you'll quickly move on to real-world production techniques, such as how to sharpen scans, correct and optimize images, and use the powerful Curves and Channels features to your advantage. Finally, you'll get to fully explore Photoshop's creative potential by blending and enhancing images, creating collages, retouching photographs, colorizing, and working with filters and layer masks. By the time you finish this book, your creativity and efficiency levels should soar and you'll start to feel like you finally "get" Photoshop.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Adobe Press (December 20, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0321510461
• ISBN-13: 978-0321510464
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 7.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,627 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great info in a poorly bound book, December 21, 2007

By	Tom (Orange Park, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This is an updated version of Ben Willmore's Adobe Photoshop CS2 tome. The CS3 revisions were written by Ben Long. (Not that that really matters) Both Mac and PC keyboard commands are explained. The screenshots are all Mac OS X. PC users need not worry however as the functionality is pretty much identical between the two platforms.

Pros:

Packed with useful easy to find information.

Written in plain english. You don't need to know all of the trade words.

The CD is loaded with pictures you can use to do the lessons. Also the CD contains 5 "Bonus" chapters. (To keep the weight of the book down they say)

The bonus chapers are:

Line art scanning
Channels
Shadows
Type and background effects
Resolution solutions

Cons:

When I bought this is was listed as a hardback book but it is not. It is paperback. (I see Amazon has changed their listing)

Most of the pictures printed in the book are too small to see what the author is trying to show you.

The book has the worst quaility of paper I've seen on an Adobe printed book. The cover pages are thinner than they should be and the ends of the interior pages are cupped as if someone rolled them in a tube. Quite maddning as they are not cupped in the same direction and it makes it difficult to read.

I give this book 5 starts for content and 3 stars for the poor way the book is bound.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Down-to-earth review of the tools and techniques of photoshop., February 6, 2008

By	heather_29 (California) - See all my reviews

This book is the text for an advanced photoshop class I am taking. The author explains everything in simple terms and very thoroughly. The CD that comes with the books provides all images he uses as examples so you can try the techniques along with the book or use your own pics. I am only half way through this book but I think it's definitely helping my understanding of photoshop. The only thing is that I don't think this is an advanced book, I feel that this should have been the book for last semester's beginning photoshop class. Overall: great book for starting out in photoshop.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good!, February 18, 2008

By	N. Chilbert - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I love this book! It makes using Photoshop easy, but doesn't treat the reader like an idiot. It walks you through useful editing techniques step-by-step so that you can get the most out of Photoshop. It provides helpful examples to assist the reader in understanding the concept as well. A great purchase!