Customer Rating:  
Summary: Doesn't teach much
Comment: I was not a total noob when I started this book, but wasn't very accomplished in photoshop either.
The problem with this book, is that they teach you how to create the lesson final product, but just have you push some buttons on the keyboard to reach that point, without ever giving you practical reason for why you're doing it. It does a very poor job of showing the different menu choices and what those menu choices accomplish. For example, very little was done with filters and showing how they work and what they accomplish.
The DVD/CD that comes with the book is virtually worthless. It just takes you through a series of button pushing sequences to get a final result, the exact same sequences the book walks you through. Totally redundant and without purpose.
Although in the end I learned a few things, overall, this book was a disappointment to me. I would not reccomend it to anyone that wants to learn photoshop from ground zero or has a remedial knowledge of it like I had.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great book/poor DVD
Comment: All in all I have to say that the information in this book is pretty good. It has a reasonable and understandable flow and is very easy to follow. I like that there is one chapter just dedicated to what is new in CS3 and also there is a chapter that is easy to follow that describes what Adobe Bridge is all about. I am loving Bridge!
The three star rating is because I am EXTREMELY frustrated with the included lesson files on disk. I was going along great, enjoying the usefulness of files included, then when I was told to save them, they don't save. Possibly this is a glitch on my disk or not. But at any rate, all of my files are "read only" (yes I copied them onto my hard drive, I'm not trying to save on the DVD) and I cannot properly execute the tutorials without saving the files progress as I go along.
The book seems to be excellent. I am having a lot of trouble with the included DVD,
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good tuts for noobs
Comment: Not a beginner with this stuff. But not primarily a photoshop user.
This book has some good tutorials. The dvd is a bonus. Definitely a great place to start for a beginner...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Includes training videos too
Comment: I can't imagine another software program that has inspired more third party books than Adobe Photoshop. Which book should you buy? With all the competition, you want the best value for your money. This book is one of a few that I have recently seen which comes with a DVD. The book is in full color and divided into lessons. The DVD contains the files you need to follow the lessons step by step. There are also 13 video tutorials on the disc and a bunch of other resources you can use to learn more than what is in the book.
As you may know, you pay quite a lot to purchase training videos, so getting 13 tutorials with a book is a pretty good deal. You get the best of both worlds--training videos and printed lessons you can follow at your own pace. The videos that come on the DVD included can be viewed with Adobe's free Flash Player. Since most web browsers have the Flash plug-in installed, I was able to drag and drop each video into my open web page to view it. Flash videos are quite clear and easy to look at. They are also very small in size compared to QuickTime and other formats but you wouldn't know it to look at it.
In this book, the lessons try to teach you how Photoshop works by using particular projects. One project teaches you all about using Layers and another is all about making selections. With Photoshop, some of the lessons require many steps. I don't always remember all the steps later. I have come to the conclusion that when I see certain effects that I would use a lot, those are the ones I try to learn most intensely. Like many of us, I have a digital camera and take a lot of pictures. Pictures of people can usually be improved upon whether it is just blurring the background to focus more on the person or adjusting the color so the skin looks more natural. It is also fun to occasionally do something crazy--like adding a duck to a picture of hundreds of penguins (one of the lessons in this book).
The pages are nice glossy paper in full color, making it a pleasure to look at.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction to Photoshop
Comment: Dynamic Learning Photoshop CS3 is a good Introduction to Photoshop CS3 for people that are starting to use Photoshop. If you are middle to an advanced level user you might find the book too basic. The book covers new features of Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. It provides information for graphics professionals and photographers so it does have some what of spilt personality but I did not find that a problem because I do photography and web design.
I am making the transition from Abode Photoshop Elements to the Photoshop CS3 Extended so some of the features are new to me. I found the book to be at the right level for someone who is new to Photoshop.
The book gives you three different ways to learn with each chapter in the book. You can read the book, you can read the book and follow the projects that come on the DVD, or you can watch the Adobe Flash videos on the DVD. I found reading the book hard to follow without being in front of the computer and following the project steps. The video does give you enough detail to do the project but the chapter videos are fast paced compared to Training video from Lynda.com, Studio Works, or Total Training. The nice thing is you can look back at the instructions in the book without having to re-watch the video. A nice feature is you can copy the video to your hard drive so you do not have to carry are around the DVD or with Lynda.com online training you have to have an internet connection. I like in the video because there are certain items that are hard to describe on paper which make it so much easy to explain visually. One of the items that is a lot easier to understand by video is the vanishing point filter. The author shows how to put a picture on a white product box.
The book also gives some small demos on how the Photoshop works with other Adobe software such as Adobe Illustrator and shows you how Photoshop work together.
I find when I launch the Flash video for each chapter it does not seem to go anywhere. It takes time to load the video so be patient. When I picked up the book to review it did not realize how extensive the video tutorial was. The book seems expensive at $44.99 because of the size of the book for that price but if you realize how much effort the author has but into the video on the DVD the book is a good value. You get a book, project files, and videos for that price. I think O'Reailly the books publisher should emphasize the how extensive the videos are on the front cover of the book.
I found the book a good learning tool as long as you what a book that covers information for graphic professionals and photographers. As some one that is use to Adobe Photoshop Elements and moving to the full version of Photoshop I found the book helpful for me to understand Photoshop CS3.
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