Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks
by Scott Kelby
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Book Summary Information
Author: Scott KelbyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-05-15
ISBN: 0321563174
Number of pages: 360
Publisher: Peachpit Press
Accessories:
- Adobe Photoshop CS4: Mastering Camera Raw DVD
- Scott Kelby's Digital Photography Boxed Set, Volumes 1, 2, and 3
- The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers
Book Reviews of Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks
Book Review: Scott Kelby's typical arrogance, minus his usual quality.
Summary: 1 Stars
I will start by saying I'm not a fan of Scott personally. Having met him on a number of occasions, I find him arrogant and borderline abusive. However, I have read all his books (including every last one of the Down and Dirty Tricks series), because he generally has the quality and skill level necessary to back up his arrogance.
Sadly, this is not the case in Down and Dirty Tricks CS4. I generally recommend this series as the best starting point for anyone looking to get advanced in Photoshop. His books are usually filled with insight and instructions on immediately useful techniques presented in a way that makes you go 'Oh wow, I learned something!' This book though... I don't know where it came from, or where to begin. I'll do my best to enumerate.
1) Overall lack of quality.
The techniques in this book are extremely amateurish and executed with a skill I'd expect from someone fresh out of community college. You can see defects all over his examples, and it almost seems like he doesn't care about the topic at all. The best way I can describe his exercises here is to call them thoroughly uninspiring, and the phrase '1995' immediately comes to mind.
2) Arrogance, without the backup.
I thought I'd find it refreshing if he ever wrote a paragraph that didn't include a PC bashing line. However, his entire introduction entitled "9 things you'll wish you knew..." proved how wrong I was. He makes some self-deprecating remarks with a little buffing related to the opinion I (as well as many others in the industry) held of his previous works in the same series. Unfortunately, by the end of the book, if you read this section it will seem more like a summary of the work and an excuse to produce overly wordy content that lacks any real soul, and doesn't convey any more real information than his previous editions.
3) The intro images
He also points out in the aforementioned '9 things' passage that the introductory images have never had anything to do with the chapter. However, in the case of 7-CS2 DNDT, they at least followed a similar theme. The interlude images in it are non-sequitur to the point of being a distraction, and a few of them are so poorly done I'm shocked he attached his name to them.
4) Vague directions
This kind of ties into point #2, his directions are a complete departure from his previous books. The other books were concise, heuristic examples of how you do the technique, and made it easy to follow along. Good luck finding anything in this book that doesn't require 4 pages worth of reading and a lot of parsing.
This version of the book saddens me, and I hope his next shows better quality, as for the first time I feel cheated to have paid $50 for one of his books. This edition pales in comparison to all his previous work.
Summary of Photoshop CS4 Down & Dirty Tricks
UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE HOTTEST TRICKS, AND MOST REQUESTED PHOTOSHOP EFFECTS IN ONE AMAZING BOOK!Scott Kelby, co-host of Photoshop User TV and the world?s #1 bestselling Photoshop author, is back to unlock the secrets of an amazing new collection of the latest eye-popping, jaw-dropping, Photoshop special effects?the same kind that made Scott?s previous editions of this book one of the top selling Photoshop books in history.
You?ll learn some of the most closely guarded Photoshop CS4 special effects?the same ones you see on TV, in magazines, and on the Web. Using Scott?s simple step-by-step method, with hundreds of full-color images, you?ll see exactly how it?s all done. The book is written so clearly, and it is so easy to follow, you?ll immediately be able to create all of these effects yourself. You?ll learn:
? The latest photographic special effects
? How to fake studio shots (you?ll be amazed at how it?s done)
? The latest cutting-edge type effects
? The most popular effects used by big movie studios
? The most-requested advertising effects
? Commercial effects that clients go crazy over!
? The most asked-for current Web effects
? Amazing 3D effects using Photoshop Extended
? Plus loads of effects that look hard, but are easy once you know the secrets
And not only that, but the whole book is packed with creative ideas, layouts, and design techniques that will help you unleash your own creativity. It?s all here, in the only Photoshop book of its kind. You're gonna love it!
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