Give a man a fish...

This book is very good overall, but your level of satisfaction will depend on what you want to get from a book on Photoshop and whether or not you can cope with the `humour'.<br /><br />Lets get the `humour' out of the way first: <br /><br />Yes, it is tiresome, unfunny, over done and above all arrogant. BUT, that does not make this a one-star book in my opinion, for the simple fact that the `humour' is relatively easy to avoid. Follow these simple steps:<br /><br />- Don't read the `Acknowledgements' section - you risk being sick all over your brand new book<br />- Don't read the `Unexpected Q&A' section - it contains only one useful piece of information, which I'll share: the photos used throughout the book can be downloaded from the companion website www.scottkelbybooks.com/cs3book <br />- Don't read the prefaces to each chapter - they contain no useful information at all<br /><br />Follow the above steps, and you'll have avoided MOST of the `humour'. You'll just have to learn to cope with the `witty asides' which crop up every now and again throughout the main body of the text - but they're easy to gloss over. <br /><br />More importantly, the content of the book:<br /><br />The book adopts a step by step approach to each technique, which allows you to attain great results very quickly, using some quite advanced processes. The book assumes no prior knowledge of Photoshop, so you can jump in at any point, follow the step-by-step instructions and get results; if you need to use a tool, the book will show you where it is pictorially and also give you the keyboard shortcut - you don't need to understand any of the fundamental principles of what each tool is for - just follow the instructions. <br /><br />The book is logically laid out in terms of workflow, starting with Adobe Bridge (which it spends too much time on), moving onto processing RAW images, resizing and cropping, colour management and printing, then onto corrections, retouching and special effects. It all makes sense, but as I said, if you want to jump straight in to the `Hollywood Highlights' chapter on portraits in the middle of the book, then you can. <br /><br />What this book does not do is give you much, if any, information on the fundamental principles behind what you're doing; in short, it doesn't tell you `why'. It simply says"You want to skin soften this portrait? - okay, open this, press this, press that, move that, press that, slide that, do that, press that, save." This is fine, and the book doesn't pretend to be anything else, but it's a very specific thing, and for me even though it's enjoyable, I'm left wanting more.<br /><br />This book is great for getting results, and it certainly provides a sense of satisfaction (where other more technical books fail). As I said at the beginning, it really depends what you want, but for most people, I'd suggest that this is not the Only Photoshop Book You'll Ever Need.<br /><br />This is excellent, but it's still very much giving you a fish. If you want to really learn to fish, you're going to need something else as well, which is worth bearing in mind as these books are expensive.

Excellent for getting familiar with th VBA"basics"!

This book is fantastic for those who know nothing, or next to nothing about VBA programming in Excel, and want to learn the"basics" (no pun intended!).<br />You can read this book from cover to cover, practising examples on the way , and learning something every chapter. The author also makes reference to an accomanying website where you can download some of the programs to see them in action.<br />Furthermore, the book is written in very good humour, and you can have a laugh at the same time!<br />It is however very much a beginner's book, and does not go into great depth with VBA - if you purchase the book with that in mind then you really are on to a winner!

Good book for a Beginning and Experienced Photographer

I am always weary of instruction manuals etc. I much rather go out with my new camera, take photo's and learn from my own mistakes with photograhy.<br /><br />I found this book extremely useful. He wrote the book extremely well. <br /><br />It is good for both beginners and experience photographers, that you were not 'idiots' nor being 'thick'.<br /><br />

Quickest way to become a decent Mac programmer

The best part is that it's full of really useful Cocoa-specific programming patterns/best practices. You can tell that author of this book has experience with Cocoa since it even wasn't called Cocoa yet :)<br /><br />Book has been written for Panther (10.3), but in Tiger (10.4) everything works exactly as described (all is still up-to date, I haven't found a single deprecated method in this book).<br /><br />It has useful examples that are very close to the real-world applications and it teaches how to write a proper, well-behaved Mac applications with drag'n'drop, localization, per-user settings, ubiquitous undo, AppleScript, etc.<br />

The very best book for beginners

Being new to Photoshop CS3, having just converted from many years use of Paint Shop Pro, I made the mistake of starting with Martin Evening's book (- although excellent, it is not for beginners). This Classroom in a Book certainly meets the needs of a beginner and is a real pleasure to work through. I would recommend it, without reservation, to anyone starting out on Photoshop CS3.<br /><br />Two brief comments on the earlier 3-star review. First, although I am not in a position to know what it is like moving up to CS3 from CS2, a better solution might be Ben Willmore's"CS3 Up to Speed", which I have also bought from Amazon UK, as it is"... focused exclusively on the new features in Photoshop CS3". Secondly, although I did have a terrible experience with Adobe's"GoLive Classroom in a Book" about 5 years ago, where there were several errors per page, this CS3 book has relatively few errors - at a rough count, only about one per 10 pages and none too serious to downrate the 5 stars I am giving for an otherwise top rate book.

A good introduction to improving your presentations.

For those that are unfamiliar with Garr Reynolds' Presentation Zen blog, and even for those that do, but want to know what sets presenters like Steve Jobs, Guy Kawasaki and Seth Godin apart from the rest, it serves as a great starting point. Presentation Zen is neither about possesing high technical or creative skills, but just about conveying ideas in a simple and easy to digest format. By moving away from information filled slides to ones that support your underlying message, you can lead your viewers to a higher state of understanding.<br /><br />I didn't give this book a full 5-stars as I personally felt a lot of the imagery used was a bit cliched and didn't really"stimulate" me in the way I thought was intended but there are a lot of example slides which are great and show you exactly in which direction you need to be going. It is very focused on the actual"slideshow" part of presenting and doesn't really go into the art of actually communicating your ideas regardless of your slides and visuals. For the actually communication of ideas and information I highly recommend Dan Roam's"Back of the Napkin" as a companion book to this.

Get inside the photographer's mind...

... and what a photographer! Joe McNally has a well-deserved reputation as a photographer and is only slightly less well known as a teacher. But for those of us on this side of the pond, attending one of his workshops is, let's face it, financially daunting. No matter. You can buy this book instead!<br /><br />Here is much photographic wisdom in book form - and (unusually, given the subject matter) a book that can make you laugh out loud and yet teach you at the same time. OK, so some of the shots are ones you'd never get to take yourself as an amateur (hanging out of a helicopter over the Hollywood sign with Michelle Yeoh takes some beating, and as for getting to meet Kermit in the flesh...). But then for others you *can* try and emulate, even if you don't have all of the kit that Joe has available to him. And even if you can't, well, then, as the publisher's own blurb says, this book would look equally good on your coffee table.

A"Must Have"

I wouldn't recommend it to a raw beginner as it does jump in pretty quickly, but I've got a (very) basic grounding on CSS and found it excellent.<br />The chapters are sensibly organised, the text is easy to read (for font, style and grammar), there's a humour through it to keep it light, and it even suggests that you might want to skip some bits because they're not essential. The tutorials add to the same 'tutorial site' throughout the whole book, so as you work through the chapters there's continuity in the tutorials and you can really see the effects of what you've learned at the end of each chapter.<br />This book has got the info I need, and has the feel of being written by a programmer who's read many a manual in his time and has now written the book we've all been looking for, in the format we want.<br />I've since purchased 3 other books from the missing manual series and would recommend all of them.

from fog to crystal

no pretentious use of jargon<br />clear and precise clarifications of OO as well as of patterns.

very helpful!

Helpful information on cataloguing which I haven't seen in many other books, and backing up, storage etc. Some great photos *****

Absolutely Superb

I would normally write more for a review, but for this book I really don't need to. It is superbly well written and easy to follow without being dumbed down to the point where you feel like an idiot (as is often the case with programming books). The case studies are well thought out and presented neatly and always within a very relevant context to scripts that you might actually be able to make use of in the future.<br /><br />It is both an excellent cover to cover read, as well as a reference book for when you're in the middle of coding.<br /><br />Highly highly recommended, worth every penny. (especially since its now half price on amazon compared to what I paid for it, you really have nothing to lose!)

Top Reference Book

I totally recommend this book to anyone interested in .Net development. <br />If you are a newcomer to the world of .Net development you probably won't find a better reference book to lead you through the many features of the platform. And if you are a seasoned .Net developer looking for an update on the new features of C# 2008 and the new platform, look no further, because this big book has got it all, from core programming constructs to the new LINQ APIs, lambda expressions, WCF, WPF (XAML) and without forgetting web progamming and Asp.net.<br /><br />It goes beyond many other books by delving into CIL programming and exploring to a quite good level OOP with .Net and C#. And then there are five free chapters available online (since the book is already 1300+ pages without them) on remoting, pre-WCF web services and more about win forms development.<br /><br />Buy it!! You won't regret having this item handy on your work desk.

Groundswell - A must for businesses looking to exploit social media

For many businesses who have still yet to venture into the world of social media."Groundswell" is a must read. The book cites a number of case studies which illustrate how companies are gaining insights, increasing revenues, lowering costs and engaging their customers within today's Web 2.0 world.<br /><br />Forrester analysts, Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff have produced the most up-to-book on the subject and present their findings in a clear and easy to understand format. Both demonstrate their expertise as analysts and writers and provide numerous data examples throughout the book.<br /><br />What is a Groundswell?<br /><br />Charlene and Josh define the Groundswell as:<br />"...a social trend in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions".<br /><br />The authors discuss why it important to participate in the"Groundswell" and why the"Groundswell" is happening now. The book begins with an overview into what"social media" actually is, and discusses many of the successes and the pitfalls that a company can go through during its journey. The book then offers steps that a business should follow to implement a successful social media strategy.<br /><br />The book essentially examines how such tools threaten institutional power, and how individuals can use them to empower themselves and their businesses.<br /><br />Many businesses foolishly believe that participating in social media is as simple as creating a blog, or being active in Facebook. Groundswell does a great job at explaining that creating a successful social media strategy is probably one of the most difficult things that a business can do and takes time and commitment<br /><br />Hopefully by reading this book the business person will be well on their way to mastering the new dynamics of social media.<br /><br />Truly, a well presented and written book that is a must read for anyone who wants to learn and utilise Internet marketing, as it exists today and will exist tomorrow.<br /><br />So much so, I would say this is the most important book to be released since The Cluetrain Manifesto and Naked Conversations.<br /><br />Buy it!

As good as the Game!

If you finding it hard to solve any puzzles in the game, struggling to unlock secret areas/ characters and having trouble finding every item this book is for you.<br />The book takes you through every level in the game, helping to solve puzzles and find every artifact/ parcel.<br />It also gives useful skill stats for every character and infomation on how to reach 100% completion of the game. <br />It is well written and neatly presented. In other words it is a good buy.

A simple system for the real world

I like to think I'm of reasonable intelligence, and fairly computer literate, yet whenever I play with pictures in photoshop I have to laboriously follow the intructions from a book every time. <br /><br />The 7-point system is different. Firstly, you download the same pictures that Scott Kelby has used in the book. You then carry out the same steps in the same order to produce the same results. You do this 21 times in all. By the end of the process, you pretty much get the hang of the main image tweaking procedures that your average digital snapper will need to use.<br /><br />It doesn't stop there however. On each exercise, Scott also talks you through another technique which can be easily done within Photoshop, so you get exposed to much more of what the programme offers.<br /><br />In a nutshell then, you are provided with a system to follow which will improve your pictures, you are given a flavour of what else the program can actually do, and you practice, practice, practice these steps.<br /><br />About half way through, I was already loading up my own pictures and using the same techniqes on them, and getting good results. Yes, you still need an eye for what you are trying to achieve, but then any amateur photographer already has an eye for"that shot" and knows what they want to see.<br /><br />If you are already an advanced user, this probably isn't the book for you, but if, like me, you are an aspiring amateur, this book will improve your skills and knowledge.

Natural connection

Steven D'Souza has brought natural simplicity to an important topic, affecting all aspects of life. This is both a thoughtful and light hearted read - very useful whatever your current approach to networking.<br />