Book review: Photoshop CS Classroom in a Book

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Posted By
sammybee
May 2, 2004
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352
Replies
10
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Closed
Hi All-

I’m still a newbie to Photoshop CS and was wondering if Photoshop CS Classroom in a Book would be a good one to learn the basics of the program. Any comments on this book would be great. Any suggestions to other book would be great as well.

Thanks in advance.

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Don_McCahill
May 2, 2004
I haven’t read the CS version of the book, but if past experience is any indication, it will largely be the version 7 book reprinted, with some new parts to deal with new features in the program.

I found the books thorough, if not a bit of a boring read. They do take you through pretty much all of the basics of the program in a series of hands-on examples.

I find the series worthwhile (for a beginner … it’ll bore an experienced user to tears).
LM
Lori_M
May 2, 2004
I think the book is great – I use it for a reference when I can’t figure out how to do something. Another great book is Photoshop CS Down and Dirty Tricks by Scott Kelby. The Killer Tips books are good too.
PC
Philo_Calhoun
May 2, 2004
The Classroom in a Book series is very good for Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and Framemaker. It is fair for Encore and Premiere Pro and not very good for After Effects. Real World Photoshop is a good next book after the PS CIB.
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Phosphor
May 2, 2004
The Classroom in a Book series are good, but a little dry for my tastes.

Deke McClelland’s "Photoshop Bible" is a comprehensive, encyclopedic volume, and he is a witty, easy-to-read writer. Go to your local bookstore and page through it for 10 or 15 minutes. You’ll see what I’m talking about.

Highly recommended.
H
hallinan
May 2, 2004
Deke McClelland has a new one, "Adobe Photoshop CS one-on-one." Comes with a two-hour video tutorial CD.
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sammybee
May 4, 2004
Thanks to you all for your recommendations. As boring as the "Classroom in a Book" I believe this will get me started in using and understanding how and when to use all the tools. I need to get a good handle on the basics of the tools. And, understand the basics of layering and duplicating layers.

Then, I’d like to do the fancy stuff that Scott Kelbey does. Those tips and tricks are awesome but I don’t understand why he does the things he does. I’m sure would be able to reproduce his steps…but I’d like to know what I’m doing.

Again, thanks.
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sammybee
May 13, 2004
Thanks all. I’m glad there are a ton of Photoshop books out there with varying writing styles and approaches to learning about the application. But, at the same time, it’s overwhelming. And that’s why I asked. Again, thanks all for your time and suggestions.
Z
Zeb
May 13, 2004
Does anyone know how Adobe Photoshop CS one-on-one fits in with Deke’s Photoshop X Bible: Professional Edition and regular Bible books. Are they much use to a long time Photoshop user?
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Phosphor
May 13, 2004
Only you can decide that, Zeb.

Hit up your local bookstore and have a nice long skim-through to see if anything jumps out at you.

I find good 3rd-party books an invaluable resource for when I have to remind myself of techniques that had started to fade from memory because I hadn’t used them for awhile.
Z
Zeb
May 13, 2004
I did that today Phos, not sure if the one-to-one book is available here yet. I’d decided to get the pro edition until I saw the 1-2-1 book for sale online. There must have been two dozen different Photoshop books to choose from. Some of them (not Deke’s) seemed to take pages to explain one effect. The video tutorials appeal though.

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