Rating: 
Summary: Steve, please write MORE books in a hurry!!
Review: I'm so pleased with Steve Caplins ability to illuminate the path through complex software issues that I'm desperately hoping he chooses to write books on CAD, you know, great programs like WiseImage Pro 5.2 which is a terrific program (Like Illustrator aspired to be but wasn't) but is much more (in my opinion I) difficult to learn (than Adobe) and the WiseImage help files are complex (in my opinion II) and stuffy (in my opinion III). Keep writing Steve, and give us some crutches to get through CAD programs too! Thanks :>
Rating:
Summary: A Great Photoshop Toolkit
Review: One of the best books written on Photoshop to date. I have read many books on Photoshop in the past, and I could never find one piece of material that put together all of the things that I was looking for until I bought this book.It is definitely not a "How-to-use" Photoshop book, which there are numerous to chose from, but an outstanding guide to the techniques used to make great photo montages. These techniques are applicable whether you are actually in the business or just like to explore the depth of Photoshop as a hobby. I consider myself an intermediate user of Photoshop, and I can honestly say that there were many things that I didn't even know that Photoshop could do until I read this book. The examples are detailed enough to easily follow if you know your way around the program. All of the photo files are included with the attached CD along with Quicktime movies of some of the projects. In addition, Steve Caplin provides some of his own insights about Photoshop and the photo montage business between chapters. I agree wholeheartedly on using the Wacom Graphire tablets. They are wonderful and come with some nice software. Overall a great book. I am always going back to reference it.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Photoshop Toolkit
Review: One of the best books written on Photoshop to date. I have read many books on Photoshop in the past, and I could never find one piece of material that put together all of the things that I was looking for until I bought this book. It is definitely not a "How-to-use" Photoshop book, which there are numerous to chose from, but an outstanding guide to the techniques used to make great photo montages. These techniques are applicable whether you are actually in the business or just like to explore the depth of Photoshop as a hobby. I consider myself an intermediate user of Photoshop, and I can honestly say that there were many things that I didn't even know that Photoshop could do until I read this book. The examples are detailed enough to easily follow if you know your way around the program. All of the photo files are included with the attached CD along with Quicktime movies of some of the projects. In addition, Steve Caplin provides some of his own insights about Photoshop and the photo montage business between chapters. I agree wholeheartedly on using the Wacom Graphire tablets. They are wonderful and come with some nice software. Overall a great book. I am always going back to reference it.
Rating:
Summary: Finding the correct edition on Amazon
Review: Searching for "Cheat", "Photoshop" or any combination here on Amazon will lead to the old, first edition of the book. I've asked Amazon repeatedly to change this but they seem reluctant to help. If you're looking for the second edition, it is available here - you need to search for the ISBN number, 0-240-51953-1. Hope this helps! Steve
Rating: 
Summary: Buy an up-to-date edition
Review: The edition on sale by Amazon is not the current edition. If you own, or intend to buy, Photoshop CS, buy the current edition, ISBN 0240519531. Or, like me, you'll waste time and money buying and returning the wrong edition, then buying the new one somewhere else. Hope this helps.
Rating:
Summary: Add real depth to your existing Photoshop skills!
Review: This book came into my hands at the right time. I have been developing my Photoshop skills for a few years now following the teachings of some of the best users in the business: Kelby, Eismann, Bauer, McClelland, O'Quinn, Ward, Smith, Hamlin, Balay, Monroy, and others. Now add Steve Caplin for writing a book that teaches photorealistic skills and montage techniques that are truly amazing and totally useful. This is not a beginners book, however. You need a good base in Photoshop to follow many of his techniques. There is an accompanying CD with the images he uses in his book. This was helpful to me to be able to follow along with his well written tutorials. Mr. Caplin is also accessible through his website to help get you past a problem. He lives in England, so be aware of time zones. His website is fun to visit, too! With this in mind, buy the book and add real depth and artistic skills to your expanding base of Photoshop techniques that will truly amaze your clients and help build your business! Thank you Steve Caplin!
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Summary: Great Photorealism Book!
Review: This book is very well done. The work examples are very good.., not the amaturish examples found in many other books. Almost every page has full color pictures on it, not just a few pages in the middle. This book is not for beginners at Photoshop. You would be very frustrated. You need to have a good grasp of the tools in Photoshop before you are ready for this one. More advanced users will really appreciate it though. The author, Steve Caplin is a professional Illustrator for MacUser magazine. His book examples are oriented towards creating photos for magazine ads. I really like this book. I also recommend looking at Photoshop 7 Studio by Bert Monroy for a good photorealism book. This one is better though.
Rating:
Summary: Why you should buy this book
Review: This is my 24th PS book. I've been through all the page by page manuals from the CIAB books through the Real World types, the Magic Series, WOW Series, etc. I'm at that stage where Photrealism is a challenge I would like to conquer. I have both books by the photorealistic guru Bert Monroy, and they are both excellent. Steve Caplin's book "How to Cheat in Photoshop" is a joy and can proudly sit right next to Berts books. While Mr. Monroy's books go into step by step detail, Steve Caplins book shows the shortcuts that become invaluable time savers when working in this type of medium. And there are serious plusses here. Beside the standard CD with images to use to work through the lessons, some of the more complicated lessons have video instruction that make what he is trying to convey much easier to follow. But my favorite thing about this book is that it is set up as a reference book. If you need to "match the head to the body", there is a heading and a two page "how to". Sections include: Selecting, Hiding and Showing, Composing the Scene, Light and Shade, Heads and Bodies, Shiny Surfaces, Metal, Wood and Stone, Paper and Fabric, The Third Dimension and Hyper Realism. But again, this book is set up like a reference book. It's not really intended to be started on page one and worked through. It's like Scott Kelby's great "Down and Dirty" books. So who should buy this book? If you are not into Photorealism, stay away. And although the lessions are well written and some even have video instruction, I am not sure if I would recommend this book to PS novices. The book is definitely written with the assumption that you have a certain level of knowledge of PS. But I really am enjoying this book. I can't remember thinking a book was this cool since I read Photoshop Channel Chops! This book is going to get used a lot.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a book about the fun part of Photoshop
Review: This is the first book about image compositing in Photoshop. The author, a master picture mixer, reveals how he uses a small set of Photoshop functions to collage all kinds of source material into realistic-looking composites simply, quickly, and reliably.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent! From start to finish!
Review: What a FANTASTIC book this is! I actually have the newer version of this book that was just released for Photoshop CS this month, but since I cannot find it here at Amazon I thought I would add the review to this older version....simply because it is such an excellent book! I HIGHLY recommend it to everyone else....middle to highly skilled PS users.....perhaps even beginners...they might struggle a bit in the beginning but it is a valuable book to have in the library that you can refer to. I am an advanced PS user but find this book invaluable for referring to for quick tips and ideas and quick methods for doing things that one might normally do habitually in a much more complicated & roundabout way. GREAT for inspiration too!! And there are so many things I have learnt about...new methods....new ideas....THANKS FOR A REALLY GREAT BOOK, STEVE!!
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