Customer Rating: 
Summary: Photoshop 7 Bible
Comment: Well structure for the professional or novice. You'll find yourself looking trough it every chance you get.
Customer Rating: 
Summary: I love his human side of technology
Comment: I must say, as much as this book takes VERY LONG to get through, because I have to stop, try the stuff out myself and really try to understand it, I find myself motivated by Deke's humor. As much as he contradicts himself after saying that he'll be concise in the beginning but half the time he's talking nonsense (funny nonsense that is), you can't blame him. That's his style after all! I have found myself loving the book because I'm always curios to see what silly thing he's going to say next? I love it how he knows when to be serious about the tools and when to make a good joke about it. My favorite has to be the one about using the healing and cloning tools with a picture of a baby's bottom that heals the dents on his forehead.
Absolutely a good laugh after a painful 1 hour of reading...
Painful...yes because this is intense, and it's not for a beginner user, and relatively dangerous if you havent been using photoshop for at least half a year if you ask me.
Otherwise I say go for it, read this book and learn some really advanced stuff, but beware, it's intense to the point you could get tired of learning...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Use this as a reference book once you already know PS
Comment: This book describes the fine intricacies of all the tools, the filters and the features of Photoshop. Where other books lead you through lessons and tell you to set X tool preference to Y, and you may happily use the Y preference for years without even knowing there is also a Z preference, this book explains all the preferences for all the tools and gives illustrated examples of what the various settings produce.
I wanted to force myself to sit down and read this thing cover to cover to get an in-depth knowledge of everything Photoshop, but after 2 chapters of reading I just couldn't go on in this manner. For me, the best use of this book is as a reference when I have a question about a particular tool or technique. I'll read a few pages to get the particulars, then I put the book back up on the shelf until the next question arises.
This version has lots of nice color plates and paging through it can be inspirational when I'm stuck for a design idea. Especially if I'm burned out on surfing online for ideas.
The one irritating factor about this book is the author's sense of humor interspersed throughout. I understand that he's trying to make a technical subject friendly, approachable and enjoyable, but the humor just comes across as extremely corny. This is a plague I've noticed infecting many of today's authors of software books.
Dear Authors,unless you are absolutely certain that people other than family and close friends consider you funny, please leave the humor out or hire a professional to help. Thank you.
I still give this book highest marks because
1)it is so absolutely thorough
2)the author knows his stuff and can communicate it well (even if there is a bit of dorky humor in it) and
3)since I use it as a reference book, the humor only comes in small, managable chunks.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I'm still a beginner but I love this book
Comment: Those who criticized this book as being a poor choice for beginners were unfair. (Why did they buy the Professional Version anyway?) Teaching those first steps to people who are not too familiar with computers in general is a book in itself. This book is perfect for anyone who has mastered even the most basic steps and wants to move far, far beyond.I was first exposed to Photoshop only a few weeks ago and after about 2 days of learning the basics using a popular beginner's manual found that the "how to" book had taken me as far as it could go. It was just enough to get me addicted but left me with too many questions. I thought that I might have been a bit presumptuous in purchasing the "Professional Version" of the Bible, but as soon as I started reading it quickly discovered that it answered all my questions. I went from page to page saying to myself "oh, so that's how..." and "hey, I was having trouble with this". Amazing! And it is written in language that even a newbie like myself can understand and follow. I am still a beginner but I love this book. I can see myself referring to it for years to come.
Customer Rating:
Summary: it's not the "wanna be" edition
Comment: I am shocked by the handful of bad reviews I've seen here. I am going to suppose the bad reviews are written by people whose idea of using Photoshop means applying enough filters until it looks cool. My friends, it's called the "Professional Edition" for a reason; if you would take the time to read the Preface you would find it clearly explained. Deke McClelland is the best Photoshop instructor, period. This book deserves more than 5 stars!
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