Adobe Photoshop Elements [With CD-ROM]

When Adobe introduced Photoshop Elements it had a low-end program for newcomers to digital photography. It based the cut-down Elements program on its expensive and complex main Photoshop program. However, when you buy Elements you are actually installing quite a lot of the main program (even though no menu commands exist to use new features), and people have been finding ways to exploit the advanced features of Photoshop that Adobe thought would be too complex for Elements users. Several web sites and two books supply software to advance the capabilities of Elements. One book lets you use some of the professional-level features of the main program, and the other provides some wild effects. That book is the One-Click Wow book I'm reviewing here (the other one is Richard Lynch's The Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements). Years ago I wrote a book on Photoshop version 3, and even without enhancements Photoshop Elements 3 is close to being equal to it. The effects in One-Click Wow can be done in several steps in the Main Photoshop program, and in fact that's how they're produced. Unfortunately the effects are of the "take it or leave it" variety - there's no way of altering them - but luckily Jack Davis has produced effects that will appeal to most people. Because this is a "cheat" and not an officialy approved set of program extensions, you have to manually copy the extensions from the CD to your hard drive. If Elements is running you need to reboot, and then you'll find them listed in the menus for Layer Effects and other places. One set of extensions work on photographs, and as well as those allowing you to change the appearance of the whole photograph there are other effects that let you add frames or edges. There's a whole series of effects that allows you to change a photograph so that it looks like a painting. The major set of effects works on graphics and type. They'll change your designs and words to look like chrome or many kinds of natural materials, as well as plenty that look like neon signs. In fact there are several hundred effects, as well as extra brushes and patterns. It's easiest to see this product not so much as a book, but more like a software add-on with an instruction manual that gives examples of almost every effect - in full color. There's even a multi-page tutorial in using the effects which should explain all you need to know about how to use them. Davis has been producing the Photoshop Wow books of effects since the beginning of the main program, so the effects here will make a major difference to your pictures. What I've also noticed is the way Davis crops his pictures which is a tutorial in itself - he crops very tightly and you can see the improvement. So if you can see a copy of this book before you buy it, take a look because what you see is what you're going to get. For most people it's a no-brainer buy, especially since even if you had the main Photoshop program you'd have to do numerous activities on your pi

I have had Photoshop Elements 2 for over a year, but until I got this book and CD ROM I had no idea just how creative I could be with the program. There were a lot of effects that I tried to apply to my art but did not quite get the results I desired. This book has helped me unleash my "creative genius". As graphic design student, I have found it to be the best investment I have made besides my computer components. You will find the book helpful, as well, to view the layer styles before applying them to your art. I had found at first that I spent a great deal of time applying and deleting styles and effects before finding the right one, and then I read the book (duh!). I found full-color samples of all the different presets contained on the disk scattered throughout the chapters. It is a small book, but it is very content-rich. I had used Photoshop 7 in the graphic design lab at school , but I could not afford to buy it. This book and PSE 2 together cost less than $100, and I have no problem duplicating lessons and completing projects at home that are supposed to be done using PS 7.

In just a matter of minutes, you will be doing the unbelieveable with your photos. It's quick, simple and easy to use! Book is very self explanitory and the CD that comes with the book is packed full of various layer styles that will turn your boring, everyday snapshots into works of art!. The CD alone is worth the price by itself. For those who haven't yet purchased Adobe Elements, there is a trial version on the CD also, so you can check out the potential of "Elements" before spending the money.! The authors flat did their homework on this one!! I can't see anyone regretting the purchase of this software package, especially those who are new to Adobe. Although being designed for Adobe Elements, this software will also work with the full version of photoshop also. Just follow the instructions! But it is a MUST have for "Elements" users.

This CD and reference are excellent. What can I add to Fred Showkers review, except to add my voice :-) This is a quick way to produce very professional looking effects. No tacky designs here and anyone can do it. The book does however break down how some of the effects were made so you can make your own if you so desire. It also teaches you how to edit the effects if you want to.The CD is usable for any level of user of Photoshop Elements or even in Photoshop. It's worth far more than the asking price.

Don't tell a soul what Jack and Linnea have done! With only 58 pages, hopefully most Photoshop and Photoshop Elements users will skip this book and move on to one of the more expensive and extensively promoted Adobe books. But between you and me, what's on the CD totally eliminates the need for those books. This one doesn't swamp you with a lot of text and redundancy -- it can't. What it does do is give you pre-configured "Layer Styles" to instantly produce stunning results the others hope to teach you with a few hundred or thousand words. For instance: you can buy one of those "Killer Tips" books to try and figure out how to do the trendy plastic "Gel" effect, or agonize over the Mac Design tutorial page after page, feeling more like road kill than a killer tips -- or, unwrap "One Click WOW" the second it arrives -- forget about reading -- pop in the CD, instal, open a new file, load "Plastic" styles and select #16 and presto -- big, beautiful Gel type! And you did it faster than it took you to read this review! Or Chrome or mud, or rust, or neon, or brick or glass or diamonds or brass or ice or crystal or ... well, you get the picture. I knocked out a header for a user group web site -- nailed the new Clear button look -- and it took all of ten seconds flat. There are more than 300 excellent effects, each of which is fully modifiable and expandable to literally unlimited combinations. It sounds too good to be true -- but it really works. . Use these Layer Styles as they are, or modify to your desires. Elements users will LOVE the recipes... but don't stop there: vignettes, frames, borders, tints, textures, patterns, grains and darkroom effects are a click away eliminating the need to read a single word of someone else's idea of cool. For years Jack and Linnea have WOWed us with their classic WOW books... but this one? Well, this one just takes the cake.But, you really shouldn't tell any one. You're gonna want to keep this one all to yourself.April Editor's Choice in the Design & Publishing Center and Design-Bookshelf.com