Macworld Photoshop 6 Bible (With CD-ROM)

Rating:
Summary: very good
Review: Although I am an experienced user, I have learned a lot from this book. It is very thorough and detailed yet easy and even fun to read. Thanks to McClelland's co-operation with Adobe, it contains inside information that I never spotted anywhere else (this is the 5th Photoshop book I've read), but also constructive criticism towards the Photoshop team.

My only complaint is that some of his examples are (although very extensive) not very practical: I learned the effects of the Exclusion blending mode, but no useful purposes.

But still - along with the very specialised 'Photoshop Channel Chops' - this is the best Photoshop book I know of.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great, reference work
Review: I've owned previous editions of this book, and really my greatest disappointment was that much of this book was the same. It is still a great reference guide (much like the Illustrator Bible for version 9), but it suffers from a bit of author protelization regarding various likes and dislikes. Still, this is probably the best "official reference guide" out there on Photoshop 6.0.

Rating:
Summary: My Advice is Simple....
Review: If you're new to Photoshop and don't have access to an earlier version, get this book. It covers a lot of ground, is easy to follow and the author knows his stuff for the most part. To know the basics of this book is to know the basics of Photoshop and to be able to use the program well.

If, on the other hand, you have access to an earlier version of this book (or a used copy) I cannot stress enough that about 85% of it is a complete re-hash of earlier editions. It's really kind of shameless the way the publisher markets this book as "new work" with each successive release of Photoshop. All they're really doing is adding perhaps a dozen or so new pages to cover new tools and features, and updating the errata from previous editions.

An example: all the illustrations and sample images used in the book are the SAME ONES used in versions 3, 4, 5, and 5.5 of the book. This is really pitiful in my view. At least grace us with some fresh image content each time!!

Deke, do your readers a favor and either: update the sample images and demonstrations every time with new content (and keep on charging the same price), or simply publish a much smaller "Revision Edition" as each new edition of Photoshop comes out, and charge HALF as much.

To buy this book over and over every year is a total waste of money....

Rating:
Summary: A comprehensive bible for all graphic designer
Review: This is the most fantastic book about image editing I ever have. A comprehensive bible for all graphic designers. A++ Over All.