Photo Shop CS2

HELP! Just purchased CS2, have never used photoshop, and need advice

on which expensive 'how to' book to buy. I assume they're all good,

but don't know for sure.

Hi Dave,

 

 

Don't assume they're all good. :) Read the customer opinions at Amazon; they could save you from wasting your hard-earned money.

 

Many people like the Adobe Classroom In A book series when they're just starting out. It takes you through the basics in an unintimidating way. Eventually you'll want something a little more substantive to learn the more advanced techniques, so you could look at The Photoshop Bible series, The Photoshop Wow books, Katrin Eismann's books, and the Real World Adobe series. I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting, this is just off the top of my head. Your best bet would be to spend a couple of hours in your local bookstore and look through the various offerings there; you'll be able to get an idea as to which books suit your learning style. There aren't a huge amount of books available on CS2 yet, more will be published in the coming months, so you might want to start off with something simple for now and invest in the heavier tomes later. :)

 

There's also a plethora of information and useful sites available on the web. Do a search here and you're sure to come across several dozen posts on the subject.

 

And before you buy, make sure you compare prices at a search engine like Addall. http://www.addall.com/

 

Have fun.

Adobe Photoshop For Photographers by Martin Evening was recommended to me. I've read really good reviews of it too. You might want to check that out - I think the CS2 edition came out this month.

I've really found Adobe Photoshop For Photographers by Martin Evening useful as well. It's the one I'd suggest.

I like "Real World Photoshop". I have used the book for photoshop 7 extensively. There is a Real World Photoshop CS but I am not certain that there is a dedicated "Real World Photoshop CS2".

I recommend "the Photoshop CS2 book for digital photographers" by Scott Kelby. He is the man on all things Photoshop and President of the NAPP. It has great step by step instructions as well as frame shots to help you understand exactly what he is doing.

I suggest the Classroom in a Book if you have never used the software before. I learned the

basics back with PS 4 using this book. You may also want to visit a local Super Chain

Bookstore and browse the different titles and read a chapter or two of each. This way you can

pick the title that suites you as an individual. Just a bit of adivce with PS.... It is way deeper

than you could ever imagine.

Photoshop is a huge program with a very steep learning curve. If you have never used PS before, then you should begin with a basic beginner's book.

 

I strongly recommend Deke McClelland, as the best author for you to begin with. Check out his "Photoshop CS 2 One on One" book. He presents PS in a better way than the "Adobe Classroom in a Book" style (which has a reputation of being written by Adobe bureaucrats). If you have the money, you could also buy his Total Training DVDs, which will quickly get you up to speed.

 

You can then progress to some of the other books mentioned here. Martin Evening is another very good PS author, but his book is probably more of an intermediate text. He does not show you step by step how to do things, but his approach is more along the lines of "this is the way I use Photoshop". Katrin Eismann's retouching book is also excellent, and a great way to learn about adjustment layers and other important features of PS. Another good intermediate text is Blatner and Fraser's "Real World" series.

I agree with all the above.

 

The top books I've seen recommended (the first two of which I have):

 

Photoshop Restoration and Retouching, by Katrin Eissmann

- a great intro to all things Photoshop, and while she doesn't have a CS2 book, she has a full 32-page chapter on CS that you can download from her website

 

http://www.digitalretouch.org/

 

Real World Photoshop CS2, by Blatner and Fraser - the big bible of PS. Has everything you need to know, and possibly too much. I cut mine in thirds just to make it easy on my wrists when reading. Also, know that a lot of it is for pre-press work - which is kind of frustrating when you want to know how to set up your prints for inkjets and Fuji Frontiers instead of newspapers and books.

 

Photoshop CS2 One on One, by Deke McClelland - he's the guy on the tutorial CD that came with CS

 

Martin Evening's book mentioned above - I'm looking to get this one because I liked his style in what I've read of his articles

 

Photoshop CS2 Artistry, by Barry Haynes - for landscapes and the like

 

Check out:

 

http://www.atncentral.com/Books.htm

 

http://www.bythom.com/Bookrecs.htm

 

You can also find articles from some of these books posted here:

 

http://www.peachpit.com/articles/index.asp?st=42184

 

Good luck, and enjoy it - you'll bash your head against the wall trying to understand parts of it, but then the clouds will clear and you'll be rapping out keyboard shortcuts and applying masks and blending modes.