Photoshop 7 Savvy [Paperback]

The only thing that kept me from giving this book 5 stars is the fact that it did not explore much into advanced filtering techniques. There are so many interesting effects you can create using the filtering tools and this book hardly covered any of them. Other than that this book is great.

Features.
Easy to read and understand without talking down to the reader.
Useful lessons, in a sensible format.
Removes the mystique from a complicated program.
Gives good examples of problems likely to be encountered by the average user, and the means to correct them.
Includes instructions on the use of ImageReady.
I felt that a little more time could have been spent on explaining the use of curves and levels, with more examples. These are the major image preparation tools for photographers and graphics manipulators, although what is here is well explained. These two elements of Photoshop alone, could probably have books written about them.

Bottom Line.
This is more than just a useful book on the use of Photoshop 7. This book is one that can be used for any edition of Photoshop. Some of the commands may differ, but the new features of version 7 are highlighted as you go. The rest is a good book on using Photoshop, and why things work the way they do. The book contains a CDrom with tutorials that relate to examples and instructions, and some free and demo programs to enhance your work.

Book Description.
A paperback book of 600 pages broken into 5 sections.
1. Photoshop Core contains most of what you need to know to use Photoshop of any release.
2. Part 2 deals with colour and how it works.
3. Part 3 is more advanced, and teaches about the retouching and manipulating of images.
4. Part 4 is devoted to the Web, and how you can use Photoshop with digital video.
5. Appendices, which contains tool descriptions, file formats and most importantly, blending modes, how they work and what they mean.

To use Photoshop you really need to understand the way that the different commands affect the image that is being worked on. This book does a good job of explaining these things. If you know what is supposed to happen when a command is applied, and why you would use that command instead of another, you are much more empowered than just following a rote learning system.

Every program has it's own jargon, and a lot of the graphics programs, because they come from a print based background, use terms that can confuse the beginner. If you don't believe me, try explaining a clipping group to someone with no knowledge of this type of program.

The descriptions of how to repair old and torn images is very good, and most useful for professional and hobbyist alike. Photoshop 7 has a healing brush which is like a glorified clone tool to make this job easier, but other versions can use the same principles.

Not too much time has been spent in detailed use of all the filters, except for the most useful ones, and the others are explained in an easily unserstood way. Filters can be used to excess very easily, but once again, if you know what is likely to happen when a filter is applied, you can use them sensibly, and this book takes time to put that point across..

There is quite a large section on image preparation for the Web, and there are good tips on how to reduce file size without sacrificing quality. Also, a lot of time has been devoted to print needs as well, and the differences between the two fields.

There are descriptions of the different file formats and when and how to use them, along with descriptions of some of the more obscure settings that appear when saving or exporting files. Normally you just accept the defaults, but with understanding comes more control.

Type gets it's own section, and it is a very detailed one. This is all good and useful typography information, as the new version of Photoshop offers more flexible use of text, which is treated as vectors and not rasterised as before. For earlier versions, do your text in another program and then import it as an image file, but there is some sensible help here.

Layers are covered mainly by use of a hands on excercise, which is probably the best approach for those unfamiliar with this incredibly powerful aspect of all graphics programs. They are not too difficult to understand, but are best explained in a practical way.

The index section at the back of the book is large and detailed and a really useful resource. This consists of, A. Tool Tips, B. File Formats, C. Blending Modes, D. Keyboard Shortcuts. Maybe this section will get overlooked, but resist the temptation to skip it. Having read the rest of the book, this section is a useful quick reference on tools and what they do.

It is no secret that I like the Sybex Savvy series, just from reading two of them, but I think that the formula that is being used is a good one, and I guess that progress in the field of written information must change as we think differently about what was useful a few years ago, and what is applicable in the more sophisticated world of programs that we now have.