Creative Thinking in Photoshop

Unlike loads of other Photoshop books, Steuer's book teaches you how to use Photoshop like a creative tool. It's not full of recipes for effects that you have to memorize. Instead it teaches you how to explore and create your own style, technique and imagery. You don't have to know much about Photoshop to get going and she teaches you how to experiment and improvise quickly and easily. Her wonderful examples show how Photoshop can be a personal, painterly and deeply artistic tool in the hands of an artist. The "Techniques at a Glance" chapter was great to help me indentify projects that concentrate on specific tools and techniques I want to explore more, such as how to improvise with color. At the end of every chapter she offers more project suggestions as well.This is a great book for artists and photographers who want to get to know Photoshop by learning it as an artistic tool, not a piece of software. This book is also ideal for teachers who want project ideas that will inspire their students to delve in deeper and see Photoshop from a unique artist's perspective.It is a fountain of inspiration!

This is a wonderful book for any artist working in hard media (oils, acrylics, watercolors, etc.) who wonders how Photoshop might supplement their creative process. Likewise, those working in Photoshop will see possibilities for expanding into hard media. Steuer presents the material in a highly accessible manner. She does not overwhelm one with all the features of Photoshop, but concentrates on those of greatest relevance to the artist. You learn how to scan in a problematic painting and scale and move around the various elements to achieve a better composition. You can then use this as a reference, or in some instances you may switch to this digital image and refine it into your completed work. Likewise, you learn how to adjust the hues and brightness, how to add one image into another, even how to use filters to transform your artwork into something else entirely, which you then refine into a very different artwork. The possibilities are endless, and Steuer does an excellent job of presenting examples of each and showing how to experiment further. As an oil painter myself, this book has been a revelation, and I thank Sharon Steuer for having written it.

I really like this book because of its emphasis on process, exploration and IDEAS. Too many instructional books I've used in the past (for CAD mainly, I'm a just-learning PhotoShop novice) seem to focus on mechanics and a dreary explanation of commands. Sharon Steuer's book is distinctly different - it gets right into showing the kinds of images & compositions that are possible to achieve with Photoshop, and then gives you examples via the artist's own explorations, hits & misses, of how to go about building images (and of course, which tools/commands will achieve the effects you are looking for). The examples are varied & interesting, and often mix digital tools with painting, printmaking, photography - fascinating stuff! It's really opened my eyes - and given me so many ideas - about working in Photoshop. I highly recommend this book!

Thank You Sharon Steuer!! In the past I have read books about Photoshop and I finally found one that makes sense. It really changes the way I use Photoshop. If you're going to buy ONE book about Photoshop I suggest this one. You will be very happy you did, trust me. If you teach Photoshop this is something your students NEED!

I have taught hundreds of hours of Photoshop classes. This book is a terrific way to learn the program. Instead of memorizing: go to this menu, click this icon, move this here, Ms. Steuer shows how to "think" in Photoshop. How to look at the program the same way an artist would look at a blank canvas.In just ten minutes leafing through the book I was inspired to try several different projects. Not because I memorized a new command, but because I was looking at the program in a whole new way.Chapter 8, on collaborating, is well worth the entire cost of the book. Watching Ms. Steuer and her photographer friend work together is an amazing experience. Just that chapter alone will change how you approach Photoshop.It's a great way to learn Photoshop.