Your favorite Photoshop reference

[don_hill]

Hi all,</p>

I've recently responded to a post pretty much blasting the process of purchasing canned actions for post-

production work in Photoshop. That being said, what is your lastest favorite book or reference of

contemporary Photoshop techniques?</p>I teach a course at the local community college, and I

desperately need to

update my course manual. The nearest large bookstore is about an hour drive, and Amazon just doesn't

give the detail that I need to make an informed decision about a new text. The course is an introductory

course in digital photography, but I would also like it to have enough information to use in an

intermediate course offering. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<a href="http://www.donhillstudio.com">Don</a>

[j dery]

Keep in mind I am the PS novice whose post you referenced above. I have purchased a few PS books over the past couple years and the most helpful to mw by far is Scott Kelby's The Photoshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographers. I teach at a community college as well (human anatomy, not photography) and one of the biggest challenges for me is remembering that students come to CCs from all different backgrounds and with very different knowledge bases. I am guessing that might be the case for you as well. The reason I mention this observation in regards to this post is that Kelby's book is very clear and has color screen prints so that even a novice like myself can follow along. Not sure if the content would correspond to your cirriculum, but I have enjoyed it.

 

By the way, thank you for your response to my post and the polite but critical way in which you presented your "blasting" of the process. Frankly, I agree with you, just have the itch to try them sooner than I can learn more about PS.

 

Kind Regards,

Jen

[jon jacobson]

my vote is for the Kelby book too.

 

But seriously ... go to a central/downtown branch of your library. 006 in the dewey decimal system. Even if it's a book on CS (v. 8), it's still packed with tons of valuable information, no matter what your learning curve is.

[don_hill]

I only wish our local library was up to date for a good perusal. However, it has wonderful

books on darkroom techniques and platinum printing.

[roger_bacon]

Two of my favorite sources for PS tips are online. 1st is wacom.com (btw, I don't work for Wacom but if you are still using a mouse for Photoshop, you are working too hard. Get a tablet). Go to the "tips" section of their website and you will find tons of great tutorials.

 

2nd is popphoto.com. I subscribe to the mag and every issue has PS tips and tricks. I've learned some really cool stuff from their articles and I believe they are all archived on the website.

 

RLB