Photoshop 7 Down & Dirty Tricks

Scott Kelby has a way or writing books for the adverage person, but puts enough interesting information in there for experienced graphic designers. Photoshop 7 Down & Dirty Tricks is the top book of his in my opinion. You could start on any page and pick up something fun and interesting to work on. If you take the time, you even get friendly support from Scott in straight terms. When I read it, I get a sense of ease in being able to figure out how to create really cool tricks in a short amount of time. I could see some people being dissappointed in the book for this. Instead of diving deep into any design concepts or photoshop tools, he focuses right on particular effects. Once you complete the book, if you feel the need to read it from cover to cover, you may feel cheated if you're the kind of person who likes in depth explainations of tools and filters of photoshop. I see this book being best for someone who already has a basic understanding of photoshop and wants to pick up a few really cool tricks here and there. If it's the first time you're working with photoshop, you'll be able to put together some really impressive artwork in no time. I think the extent of your photoshop abilities will be pretty limited in the long run if you choose this book as your source of learning a highly developed graphics application, however. It's comparible to learning a couple songs on guitar, but skipping all the principals that could help you in playing or writing whatever song you want to.

If you have purchased the previous versions of Scott Kelby's Photoshop Down & Dirty Tricks book, I highly recommend getting this new version.In his introduction he does talk about if you need Photoshop 7 to purchase the book or can someone use Photoshop 5 and use the book and he lets the reader know that in previous books, to make certain shapes you needed to go through quite a few steps but with Photoshop 7, it's much easier and less time consuming to do certain tricks which he had in his previous books and also he has added a lot of new tricks using the latest Photoshop version.He also points out the advantages of Photoshop 7 and how the newer features will benefit photographers but he mentions that P6 owners can take advantage of the book.I like to think that I know Photoshop very well but what I love about his book is learning how he does certain tricks so quickly, I seem to do some of those tricks in a more time consuming manner. So, to see his way of doing certain tricks definitely helps. You see, I'm not a manual reader and asmuch as I would like to sit back and learn every new feature of Photoshop 7, I don't have the time and maybe I'm just too hard headed that would rather learn on my own. And if you are like me, then you will definitely love this book.Anyway, for those who are not familiar with his books. You don't have to read it like a usual book, just peruse the pages and if there is a trick you like, you can learn it. He explains step by step how he creates the trick and on each page at it's sides, there are tips for Photoshop 7 users and how to utilize the best image for print or web work.Kelby takes a look at the current Photoshop trends that he sees in magazines within the last year and incorporates it into his book. From metallic effects to 3D effects to advanced shadow techniques and many of the popular effects you see on print and the web from popular fad/tricks such as the tv scan lines, Matrix text, halftone pop dots effect, glassy reflections and somuch more. Kelby's "Down & Dirty Tricks" has never disappointed me and has only been a big positive to adding his techniques to my print and web work but also to learn to do certain techniques quicker.An excellent Photoshop reference book! Check it out!

When I first saw this book I thought it would be a rehash of the Photoshop 6 Down & Dirty Tricks, but it's not. What a pleasant surprise. There are dozens of new and unusual graphic effects you can do, making if more of a playbook than instructional. Total fun. And you learn as you play. Make sure you buy this one.

I never used any verion of Photoshop before and I just got Photoshop 7 so I wanted a book to go with the program. I bought this book and dove right in. I was able to do all the projects step by step and I thought they were very well layed out, hardly leaving out any details. Once in a while I had a bit of trouble probably due to my inexperience with the program. Nevertheless, I brought each project to completion and fell in love with Photoshop while doing it. It's probably still a good idea to have some knowledge first and have a good handbook, but I'm the type that likes to see how cool things are done without all the technical explanations. I highly recommend this book! It's great fun!

This book is a terrific value for Photoshop 7 users. Sure you have the comprehensive and exhaustive Adobe Manual... but the great thing about "Down and Dirty Tricks" is you can dive right and and start using power techniques and simultaneously learn how to use Photoshop using the keyboard shortcuts and strategies of a pro. You'll have fun, and you'll learn to maximize Photoshop by doing things the "right" way, rather than the long way round. Kelby writes in a style that is breezy and humorous but crystal clear.