Okay...So Now I Just Put My Head On Denzel's Body...
Written: Aug 02 '00 (Updated Aug 02 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Reams of Excellent Information
Cons: Time Wasted on Slogging Through The Frivolity To Get To The Point.
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| caines's Full Review: Photoshop X for Windows for Dummies |
The first time I opened PhotoShop I nearly died. So many tools, buttons windows and…well…stuff!! I needed help and the manual wasn't going to do it. Adobe's PhotoShop, is the most popular image editing application in the world. Sure, others like Corel Draw are wildly popular, but PhotoShop is the industry standard among graphic designers, animators and people like me-photographers. It is incredibly powerful and a beast to master, even for the PhotoShop wiz (which I am not). At a street price of roughly $500 what would you expect?
If you've never encountered a "…For Dummies" book, the idea is to offer a book to give you a thorough understanding of the issue at hand-whether it's software or how to buy wine-but to do it in an entertaining non-geek kinda way. Photoshop 5 for Windows for Dummies is another in the wildly successful series of soft and fuzzy manuals by IDG Books.
Well, this contribution is very helpful in learning the basics and refreshing you on what you know so you can work more effectively with PhotoShop. There are numerous, clear color illustrations including step by step examples and directions to get you on the road to understanding the software. It is an excellent reference book for the novice PhotoShop user. As an intermediate user I find it amazingly helpful to remind me how to use features which I barely visit. PhotoShop 5 for Windows for Dummies is far better than any documentation provided by Adobe. But then, what book isn't better than the one provided by the software manufacturer?
Deke McClelland, the primary contributor/author of this book, is the author of Photoshop 5 for Windows Bible, a thick monster of a volume which is for the hardcore PhotoShop user. Barbara Obermeier has revised this version. The PhotoShop Bible is very well known and highly respected, so it seems it would make sense to hire that author to write a manual that was warm and fuzzy.
The Best Laid Plans...
Sometimes the most obvious choice isn't the best. While I'm sure Mr. McClelland is a funny guy after a couple of beers while hanging out with friends, he is pushing it in this venture. My biggest gripe with this book is that it tries so hard to be your friend and use humor (in the tradition of the Dummies series) that the frivolity often gets in the way of getting to the point. I found the humor, at least Mr. McClelland's humor, to be simply distracting. It often seemed that McClelland assumed the "Dummies" moniker meant he was auditioning jokes for a wooden sidekick. If I want a comedy book, I'll look for Photoshop 5 by Al Franken and Chris Rock.
Yes! There's tons of information, tips and tricks that you would never find on your own using PhotoShop every day. I even learned how to believably give my four-year-old two heads. (Sometimes I wonder...) But man, it became a bit tedious getting to the facts. I honestly found myself audibly pleading, "Jeeze! Get to the point!"
One negative point: I would have loved the inclusion of information around working with a graphics tablet as opposed to a mouse. Many of the PhotoShop tasks are performed far better with a graphics tablet. There are some nuances that an expert of McClelland's level should be able to share regarding settings, idiosyncrasies, and functions to avoid or only use with a tablet and pen. Most of them I keep finding-the hard way-on my own.
For the next edition I hope they assign an editor with a slightly more liberal proofreading pen. I have to give this book a qualified recommendation. You will learn what you need to know about PhotoShop 5, and you will likely find it a helpful reference tool, but you just might want to let out a good scream in between Point A and Point B as you wade through the sea of puns.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
caines
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Member: Bruce Caines
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 40
Trusted by: 41 members
About Me:
Emmy nominated director, photographer, dad, vegetarian, music junkie, long distance cyclist. Not necessarily in order.
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