Adobe® Photoshop 7.0 Classroom in a Book
by Adobe Creative Team

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Book Reviews of Adobe® Photoshop 7.0 Classroom in a Book

Book Review: A Slick, Rapid Venture Into Photoshop 7
Summary: 4 Stars

I give this book four stars because it is well thought out, efficient in its execution, clear in its verbiage and clean of misprints and mistakes. I've read Classroom in a Book for earlier Photoshop generics and I can say that Adobe has honed their teaching format down to a lean and mean science.

Does the Classroom In A Book teach you everything you need to know about Photoshop 7? No. Does CIAB go into great detail on the subjects it does cover? No. Is CIAB warm and fuzzy? No.

I went through the book with a fine-tooth-comb so to speak and here are some of my findings and thoughts. As a long time user of Photoshop on the PC I have started to collect some opinions on this software masterpiece, so be forewarned.

Right off the bat I want to irritate all the webmasters out there in Photoshop land. I have absolutely no use whatsoever for ImageReady! I may be the exception; I don't know. However, the book is constantly encumbered with the need to announce whether the next lesson is related to ImageReady or not; and in what ways. I buy Photoshop for Photoshop and nothing else. As far as I'm concerned take ImageReady out of the package and increase the bells and whistles in Photoshop. And while you're at it get that magnetic lasso and feed it to the Battle Robots; it gives me a headache. There, I said it and I'm glad.

Next a comment about the on-line Help. It appears to be quite useful and in-depth. For the most part it is of no use to me, since I never allow my business machines to come anywhere near the internet. The book contains excerpts from the on-line Help and they are quite informative.

A trick I came upon helped me with each lesson. At the end of every lesson there is a question and answer section. It is concise and to the point. These review questions often bring out points that I had just `read across' and did not identify properly. Try it, you'll like it.

CIAB covers the new Photoshop feature called `File Browser' comprehensively. Once I played with it I was in thumbnail heaven. This is a two thumbnails up feature in the new Photoshop. Although it was designed for the photographers who use this product, I want you to know that all of you will love it.

Some more complaints and compliments about the book are:
- It is inconsistent about mentioning keyboard shortcuts. Some tools, like the pen tool, are mentioned.
- It takes you on a very limited journey through the subject of photo retouching
- The subject of selections and using them is concisely introduced. Forget about learning any nuances.
- The Layers chapter was good as far as it went. Clear, concise steps led me right along. Even Layer Sets were touched upon. An excerpt from On-Line Help explained nicely the background layer and how it is handled.
- You learn to use the extraction tool.
- You learn to use another wonderful tool called the `Healing Brush'. The icon for which is a Band-Aid; go figure. I would have used a little medical `caduceus' icon myself.
- You learn all about the new Photoshop Pattern Maker. Great tool I might add.
- The lessons on working in ImageReady were of no interest to me. You're on your own here.

If you are new to Photoshop you better get this book and about 5 more. I'm a third party book user from way back. If you want `warm-and-fuzzy' when you're learning from a book, you will not find it here. Try some of the New Rider books, they have always helped me. This book will get you moving around inside of Photoshop 7. Try it, you'll like it. Paul Simone

Summary of Adobe® Photoshop 7.0 Classroom in a Book

When it comes to digital imaging software, Adobe Photoshop has long set the standard. Thus, when a new version of the popular program appears, designers tend to stand up and take notice--hen get down to the serious business of learning about it! And for that, there's no better place to turn than the book from the people behind the product: Adobe Press' Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Classroom in a Book.

Using the same style of self-paced instruction employed in the best-selling previous edition, this comprehensive set of Photoshop lessons provides everything you need to dive into the world of print, Web, and graphic design with Photoshop 7. Completely revised to cover all of Photoshop 7's new features (including the new Healing Brush, color correction commands, and file management tools), the book starts with an introductory tour of the software and then progresses on through 16 lessons, covering everything from Photoshop's interface to more complex topics like color management, Web graphics, and photo retouching. You'll find step-by-step instructions for a variety of projects (from beginning to advanced) and review questions at the end of each chapter to reinforce what you've learned. Easy-to-use project files on the accompanying CD-ROM complete the package.

Chapters cover the fundamentals: the work environment and help resources; making selections (with the wand, lasso, and marquee tools); using layers and masks; working with the pen tool and other vector graphics techniques; retouching and color correcting; selected effects like hand coloring; color-management issues; and creating images for print or the Web. Areas new to version 7 include working with the File Browser, using the new paint engine to create custom brushes and patterns, and working with the healing brush and cloning stamp.

All lesson project files and fonts are on the companion CD-ROM. Each lesson begins by outlining what will be learned and how long the project should take, and ends with review Q&A. The color section not only shows finished artwork for several projects, but also includes some useful reference pages: a toolbox overview (with color illustrations of what each tool does), a layer blending mode sampler, and a set of images helpful in color management.

In addition to the above topics, the book also shows how to create slices and optimize images in both Photoshop and ImageReady, make rollovers and animations in ImageReady, and use droplets for batch processing. You may not become a power user after these tutorials, but you'll certainly have a firm working knowledge of Photoshop upon which to build expert skills. --Angelynn Grant

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