Photoshop 6 for Windows and Macintosh: Visual QuickStart Guide

Very good resource for learning the ins- & -outs of Photoshop. Nothing in the book was a "serious waste of time", which I find in a lot of books. You'll pick-up a great deal, but still there's even more to learn. Displacement maps & all those other tidbits are left out, but thats why Colin Smith, Kelby, Monroe, & other gurus, come out with the books they do. As for those other reviewers who says its not for beginners, thats nonsense. If you not sitting in front of Photoshop practicing then perhaps the newly aqquainted will get lost.One last note, Photoshop 7 is out now, I've toyed with it and used it, and this book for 6 is still just as good. In 7, theres a filebrowser, a cool new brush engine, and some [crummy]new tools in the toolbox that you'll never use.:)

I know Photoshop, but I wanted to KNOW Photoshop (for I only knew text effects). I wanted to know the filters, how they work, and the works. Now I know all this stuff. For a low price, this is as good as it gets.

Anyone eager to find his way around in Photoshop should start with this book.It is concise, straigtforward and goes well beyond just a quickstart. I just couldn't believe what I got for that price.Anybody writting a book at such a level should learn from Elaine and Peter, cause this is the most important phase of learning.

This book is not for the newbie. It does not teach you how to make effects that wow the masses. 17 year old boys will not be able to make flames scorch rubber duckies just by picking up this book, and you will not be able to sleep walk through all of the functions that Photoshop 6 can give you merely by purchasing this volume.However, if you own Photoshop 6, and have some familiarity with the program, and some idea of what you want your image to look like--this is the book for you. It tells you how to make Photoshop do what you want. Its functions are clearly explained, and you don't have to read the whole thing to be able to execute one function flawlessly.I was relieved that this book does not "effect a breezy style" like the Dummies books and most of the computer books out there. You will see one or two "kute as a button" self-references by the authors (on the order of "we tried this function and were awed by it"). Nowadays, that is about as restrained as you get.You will never know about the authors' adorable moppets, how they truely feel about lattes, or that their cell phones eat batteries. You don't care. You want to learn how to use Photoshop, not babysit by proxy some self absorbed yup-geek. Hooray for being relieved of the authors' neurosis so you can get down to business. That is what you are paying for, and that is what you will get.Also, you are relieved of the all but useless "Bonus CD" that comes with most computer books, which greatly reduces its price and annoyance quotient. I am sure you have long ceased to be impressed with the "Bonus CD" chocked full of: demo programs that blow up after 10 days, shareware that ends up costing you ... if you want it (which you weren't counting on when you bought the book), and crippled mini programs that do one thing well once and just end up taking space on your hard drive in perpetutity.If you are a poor lost soul who flaps and flaps and just can't figure out a big image manipulation program, this is not the book for you--and Photoshop 6 is not the program for you. If you are a curious and dedicated user of Photoshop, and you want to get the best out of this huge and grand software, do buy this book and it will be of great help to you. If you lost your manual, this is the best substitute.

I have been studying web design for the past year, and have utilized various books and resources during my training. I have found all of the visual quickstart guides to be far superior to any other means for gaining a thorough understanding of programs capabilities. Readers will benefit from an incredibly rapid pace of understanding the utilization of their software. In addition, these manuals are priced as an incredible value in contrast to other teaching aids.