Rating: 
Summary: Not as helpful as other books in the series
Review: I think the book may have tried to cover too much material, which turned it into a more of a manual, rather than a beginner's guide.As a new user of Photoshop Elements, I would like to see more practical examples of how to use the software, such as retouching photos. The book gets too involved in describing each of the features, which would be more helpful for an advanced user. The book could use more color photos, like before and after photos that visibly show the effects of the software tools. There are some color plates inserted in the middle of the book, but the text does not cross-reference them. One figure in the text is captioned "The black-and-white channels combine to make a full-color image." I am looking at a black and white photo wondering "Where's the color?" Half hour later I saw the color image is a color plate section, but there was no reference to it in the caption or chapter text. The author often describes how to use a tool, only to follow with 'don't recommend it for this purpose', 'there's another way'. Don't waste time in a beginner book, if the tool is not that great or doesn't produce the expected results. Or maybe the product just isn't that great. The author did get a bit goofy with the jokes.
Rating: 
Summary: I learned a lot.
Review: I thought this book was a good introduction to the program. It gave a lot of background information about digital pictures, and also some practical, hands on techniques for making your photos look better. I recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: Russ Walkowich MyMac.com Book Review
Review: Let's be honest... sitting down and reading any how-to book on any software application program can at times be dry, to say the least. Thankfully Deke McClelland and Galen Fott have taken PSE 2 and approached it with a sense of humor that makes reading their Dummies book quite enjoyable. The authors have taken PSE 2 and broken the learning route into five different parts. Part 1: Element-ary School; Part II: Be Prepared; Part III: Realer Than Life; Part IV: The Inspiration/Perspiration Equation and Part V: The Part of Tens. The book starts by explaining the basic setup of PSE 2 and then continues on to explain the painting and image editing tools that make up PSE 2. As you continue through the book, you are taken through the steps of starting up PSE 2 and familiarization with the layout and dealing with dialog boxes, palettes and tools. Then the fun starts as they begin to get you involved with cropping, rotating, understanding color theory, color management and grayscale. Both authors continue to walk the reader through all the aspects of PSE 2, dealing with each tool, layers, color replacement and variations, retouching images, and the use of painting tools. You are also taken to the land of TYPE and the use of the tools, editing and layers. Once you've worked your way through all of the basic aspects of PSE 2, you are brought to the point of learning the automated features that are contained in the program. The Effects palette, batch processing, attaching a file to email, creating a PDF slideshow, picture packages and Photomerge are some of the topics covered. They end the book by covering 10 important PSE 2 shortcuts for use by the reader. The authors have even included a full color section so that the readers can see what you can achieve in PSE 2. Overall, with the tips, hints, points to remember, step by step process, the cheat sheet, combined with the humor that is included free, Photoshop Elements 2 for Dummies is a good buy for the beginner or for someone who wants to sharpen their skills. MacMice Rating: 4 out of 5
Russ Walkowich
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book.
Review: Okay maybe it's just me but I liked the jokes in this book! But anyway I learned how to use Adobe Elements very well from this book, and I started out not knowing the first thing about photography. Now the program helps my pictures look great, and this book is responsible.
Rating: 
Summary: Not So Great
Review: This book has some good basics in it, but they are not well illustrated or explained . Much time is spent showing how you can alter images with odd colors or other relatively useless things. The practical information here could have been said in one-quarter the pages. Most of us want to use this ap to make our basic pictures better and to retouch old family photos. You have to dig pretty hard to find that information. The jokes and smart remarks are not very funny, and you get tired of wading through them to find what you are after. After 20 pages of this, you want the authors to just get to the point.
Rating:
Summary: Not So Great
Review: This book has some good basics in it, but they are not well illustrated or explained . Much time is spent showing how you can alter images with odd colors or other relatively useless things. The practical information here could have been said in one-quarter the pages. Most of us want to use this ap to make our basic pictures better and to retouch old family photos. You have to dig pretty hard to find that information. The jokes and smart remarks are not very funny, and you get tired of wading through them to find what you are after. After 20 pages of this, you want the authors to just get to the point.
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