Adobe Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks

I'm a jack-of-all-trades, master of a few, and simply don't have enough time to learn all my apps in-depth. I usually have a project, and have to dive into an application to the point I can get my work done, then move on. This book has been magic for me. Example - I learned how to create chrome text, so it was easy to create other chrome objects for our company web site. Same with other metal effects. Our site looks fantastic! It let me get on with my project, even though I didn't completely understand why some of the effects did what they did. But, then I put some effort in those areas, and nailed it.Everyone thinks I'm a Photoshop guru (I'm not). But it fast-forwarded me to the point I could get my projects done. Some day I'll read one of those 1200 page monsters - right after I master Flash, Visual Studio, C#, Python, SQL Server, Illustrator and InDesign. That's after I finish installing our new Linux server and write our new MRP package.It's NOT a tutorial - it's a cookbook. Rather than teaching you everything Photoshop can do, you flip through the book and find something that "WOWs" you. Follow the steps and it's on your screen. Cool. Very very cool.If you are busy and need something that helps you get your work done, get this. It jumpstarted me.

Adobe is used to having a lot of books written on its products. They tend to be the most complex of any program on the market, but it is because they are so powerful. If you have got the Photoshop bug and can't make pretty changes to your pictures or projects, this is a good book to start with!!!Yes it will not teach you a lot of the "Why???" of Photoshop, that can take some years to learn anyway. A lot of Photoshop books come it two groups, those that know Photoshop and those who don't. Most of those that are for the expert expect you to know your Gaussian Blur from your Unsharp Mask and what kind of effect it will have on your picture. Photoshop "cookbooks" as some have called them teach by example, this author's "recipe's" are easy to follow and will give hints in the margins to learn more indepth or customize. Again you might be mimicing the author, but sometimes that is all you need to feel good about your investment in Photoshop. This book was a complete rewrite from the Photoshop 7 book, I own both because both have a lot to offer that was different enough to almost consider them volumes 1 & 2. Also if you are just needing digital photographry help, I would check out Scott Kelby's books on just digital photographry.

Don't listen to Don from Florida. No book can include fonts - THAT'S ILLEGAL! More importantly, Don has missed the point. Scott Kelby's book is demonstating techniques that can be applied to ANY font, not just the fonts used in the book. I'm not sure how he missed that, but I was able to take the techniques shown in the book and make MY fonts look very cool. If I was only able to use a technique on one specific font, that would make for a pretty lame technique. That's not the way this book works.The Down & Dirty Tricks book gave me lots of great ideas that I can adapt and make my own. I've only begun to scratch the surface with this book and it's already been well worth the money!Highly recommended!!!!!!!

This is now the second book for photoshop by Scott Kelby that I have bought... a lot of great tricks on how to maximize photoshop. However, when I gave the book to a couple of friends who were just beginning, they had a lot of trouble following it. I would not recommend it if you are starting out, but if you are a little experienced in photoshop, I HAVEN'T FOUND A BETTER TIPS BOOK OUT THERE!!!BTW, I still only use PS 7.0, and have been able to use just about everything in this book.

I have been of fan of Scott Kelby's work for soemtime. I didn't pick up the last version of this book because severl of the techniques had been previously covered in past editions. This one's entirely new with tons of great ideas.Scott's passion and enthusiasm for Photoshop make this a highly enjoyable read. the skills covered are sure to please your clients as well. I bought this book the day it came out and I suggest you pick it up fast!