Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: I got this program for Christmas and went straight out to get the Dummies book! I'm just starting out but have learned a lot already about making my snapshots look better. I recommend this book highly.

Rating:
Summary: Best yet
Review: I've had all three versions of Photoshop Elements, and I always get this book to go with the new version. As usual the authors have done an excellent job of updating the book covering all the new features. If you want an inexpensive friendly book about Photoshop Elements 3, this it it.

Rating:
Summary: Good Introduction
Review: Photoshop is one of those software packages that can be used at many levels. There are many books that take Photoshop to the "guru" level.

This is, of course, a For Dummies book. It starts at the very beginning and gets you started. You'll learn how to get started and to get your digital photographs organized, repaired, and shared for print, e-mail and the web.

The part I liked best is the way it shows the results of different Photoshop tools on the same picture. This made a lot more sense to me than just the names, which I suspect has some historical meaning to the pros.

It's a For Dummies book. It is well written, well illustrated and not so dreadfully dull as most computer book.


Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: The book is a total disappointment and shouldn't even be sold by Amazon. It is vague, rambles, doesn't have good examples or instructions. I'm judging it by comparing it with "Photoshop for Dummies" by a different author which is nicely done. I've never seen a worse book in the ...for Dummies series. I wish I could get my money back.

Rating:
Summary: Photoshop Elements 3 for Dummies
Review: This book goes into great detail explaining the features of all the photo editing tools available in Elements 3. It starts out simple but quickly advances with page after page of procedures and commands that cover the program from every angle. It is well written and indexed and provides a lot of useful information but is a bit comprehensive and technical. Although it thoroughly covers all aspects of photo editing, it is not a step-by-step how to book but rather a good reference book.
Although I prefer books written specifically for the Mac user, this book does a good job of identifying features that pertain only to Windows or only to Macintosh through the use of separate icons in the margins. This book also uses an icon for identifying new features in Elements 3, an icon for explaining technical stuff, an icon for providing tips obtained through experience, and an icon for pinpointing particularly important points you should remember. It is written with a good sense of humor but is densely packed into 397 pages that are void of color except for 16 pages of examples placed in the middle.
I read this book from cover to cover while on a trip and away from my computer and I found it hard to grasp the many concepts without being able to follow along on the computer. The examples used are not what you would expect to see on your monitor and they are not in color. Since most of us novice get our photos from a digital camera, in color, it would have been helpful to get step by step instructions on how to correct and improve these photos. Since this book is for dummies, I guess I need to find one for dumber dummies.