Photoshop Effects Magic [With CDROM]

I have just about every book New Riders has ever put out regarding photoshop, and once again, they have a winner. All of the tutorials are easy to follow and easy to do. As with most of their work, my biggest complaint is, MORE! Another book please! Also, I am always one to play with "easy to do" features. Most of the cd's that come with the books have a nice assortment of actions, but now we need to add some cool, easy to apply styles! I would say it is a book worth buying.

This is one book that you should have in your library no matter what your area of specialty is. Each chapter is an individual project and there are valuable tips for everyone. From the graphic designer to the airbrush artist to the photographer.Although this book assumes that you have some basic working knowledge of Photoshop, I would also like to add that the best way to learn such a powerful software is actually by using it. And Photoshop 6 Effects Magic provides a guide that will definitely shorten your learning curve. It doesn't explain what a particular Photoshop feature/function is. Rather, it explains in clear steps how to achieve a particular task eg how to colourise a monochrome. And this is one of the strengths of the book. You don't read pages and pages of what a particular Photoshop feature does. It gets straight to the point - results.

The things that can be done in Photoshop are spectacular. It is a program like no other. Now Photoshop 6 has jumped into warp drive leaving all other programs behind. So how does the average budding digital artist keep up with all of this?May I suggest a good start would be to buy a few books and settle in for the trip of your life. New Riders has just come out with a book of magic; at least in regards to using Photoshop 6. The authors have pulled a few rabbits out of their hats and were nice enough to show us how it is done.The new book, "Photoshop 6 Effects Magic", is for intermediate to advanced users and that is exactly what it means. If you're new to Photoshop you can buy this book and drool over it, but you'll need a beginner book first. It will definitely get your juices flowing and inspire you to learn Photoshop quickly. Ten top Photoshop professionals combined their talents into a smoothly flowing educational and visual delight. I know I sound like a pitch man for this book but I just liked it very much. No hype, just facts, this is a really good learning tool. From Airbrush techniques to creating vignettes and unusual edges for photographs- from colorizing to creating all manner of clouds- from painting with light to liquefying faces; it's all here and a whole lot more. Add a little magic to your Photoshop bag of tricks; don't hesitate to buy this magical book.

Let me start by saying I loved this book. If I had to say something negative, the cover is odd, but beyond that, the book is perfection and well worth buying! This book is set up as a series of projects or lessons. Each one provides pictures of what the final version is and how it will look as you progress. An expert in the field authors each project or lesson. All of the directions are clear and easy to follow. If you are at a intermediate to advanced level, you will love this book. I have listed below the 35 major categories for the lessons with the number of lessons in each category appearing in parentheses:Airbrushing (1), Art History Brush (1), Blending Modes (4), Borders (2), Channels (5), Clipping Groups (1), Colorizing (3), Compositing (3), Custom Brushes (1), Custom Colors (1), Filters (4), Gradients (4), History Brush (2), Layer Effects (2), Layer Masks (9), Layer Modes (1), Levels (2), Lighting Effects (5), Liquify Tool (1), Masking (2), Painting (3), Paths (1), Patterns (4), Perspective & Depth (2), Posterizing (2), Quick Mask Mode (1), Restoration (1), Retouching (3), Selections (2), Sepia Tones (1), Shape Tool (1), Texturing (5), Tiling (2), Type (3) and Warp Text (1).

I was really impressed with this book, not only is it a Who's who of great photoshop instructors but it actually has valuable projects. I've seen big names before and often they give you projects that tease and not really valuable.The projects in this book are quite impressive and are more advanced than normal. If you are looking for a beginners book then please don't buy this one, it means it when it says intermediate to advanced. But if you want to expand your Photoshop skills with techniques such as recreating a full studio environment with shadows and reflections, neon painting using blending modes (I've never seen anyone teach it like this before). There are shadows, reflections, clouds (great clouds, not the simple ones using just a filter), some restoration and algorithmic painting as well. This just touches the surface.The layout is easy to follow and the steps are complete and not vaque. The full color layout throughout makes each project feel special. Ok, I admit I have a book fetish and I appreciate good quality paper, nice layout and color, it just seems to put me in the right frame of mind to do the project. After all, the book wouldn't do me any good if I didn't feel motivated enough to pick it up and actually use it .This one is a fantastic value for the money and I would highly recommend it to any aspiring "intermeiate to advanced" user.