Average Rating: 
Rating: - A Slick, Rapid Venture Into Photoshop 7
A Slick, Rapid Venture Into Photoshop 7I give this book four stars because it is well thought out, efficient in its execution, clear in its verbiage and clean of misprints and mistakes. I've read Classroom in a Book for earlier Photoshop generics and I can say that Adobe has honed their teaching format down to a lean and mean science. Does the Classroom In A Book teach you everything you need to know about Photoshop 7? No. Does CIAB go into great detail on the subjects it does cover? No. Is CIAB warm and fuzzy? No. I went through the book with a fine-tooth-comb so to speak and here are some of my findings and thoughts. As a long time user of Photoshop on the PC I have started to collect some opinions on this software masterpiece, so be forewarned. Right off the bat I want to irritate all the webmasters out there in Photoshop land. I have absolutely no use whatsoever for ImageReady! I may be the exception; I don't know. However, the book is constantly encumbered with the need to announce whether the next lesson is related to ImageReady or not; and in what ways. I buy Photoshop for Photoshop and nothing else. As far as I'm concerned take ImageReady out of the package and increase the bells and whistles in Photoshop. And while you're at it get that magnetic lasso and feed it to the Battle Robots; it gives me a headache. There, I said it and I'm glad. Next a comment about the on-line Help. It appears to be quite useful and in-depth. For the most part it is of no use to me, since I never allow my business machines to come anywhere near the internet. The book contains excerpts from the on-line Help and they are quite informative. A trick I came upon helped me with each lesson. At the end of every lesson there is a question and answer section. It is concise and to the point. These review questions often bring out points that I had just 'read across' and did not identify properly. Try it, you'll like it. CIAB covers the new Photoshop feature called 'File Browser' comprehensively. Once I played with it I was in thumbnail heaven. This is a two thumbnails up feature in the new Photoshop. Although it was designed for the photographers who use this product, I want you to know that all of you will love it. Some more complaints and compliments about the book are:
- It is inconsistent about mentioning keyboard shortcuts. Some tools, like the pen tool, are mentioned.
- It takes you on a very limited journey through the subject of photo retouching
- The subject of selections and using them is concisely introduced. Forget about learning any nuances.
- The Layers chapter was good as far as it went. Clear, concise steps led me right along. Even Layer Sets were touched upon. An excerpt from On-Line Help explained nicely the background layer and how it is handled.
- You learn to use the extraction tool.
- You learn to use another wonderful tool called the 'Healing Brush'. The icon for which is a Band-Aid; go figure. I would have used a little medical 'caduceus' icon myself.
- You learn all about the new Photoshop Pattern Maker. Great tool I might add.
- The lessons on working in ImageReady were of no interest to me. You're on your own here. If you are new to Photoshop you better get this book and about 5 more. I'm a third party book user from way back. If you want 'warm-and-fuzzy' when you're learning from a book, you will not find it here. Try some of the New Rider books, they have always helped me. This book will get you moving around inside of Photoshop 7. Try it, you'll like it. Paul Simone
Rating: - Adobe Photoshop 7 in a book
There are a long list of these "classrooms in a book" things. I don't think this is the best source for Photoshop 7, but it was required by a class I took. I really think the best book of this nature is The Photoshop Bible (did 7 come out yet?). I think their examples of what they have you work through are more practical AND thorough. They are also just more complete in general.
Rating:  - Adobe Has a 5 star version of this product
Adobe makes materials available online to educators that turn this into a 5 star product. Specifically, it has the whole classroom in a book offered in FULL COLOR ONLINE in PDF format that you read on Acrobat Reader 5. There is nothing like being able to look at this material on my 21" screen on my computer monitor in full and complete color and then simply drop down to my taskbar, click on my photoshop button and go there to do what adobe has just given me as an instruction. If you are disciplined, this is an incredibly effective way to learn Photoshop. There is no awkard handling of a physical book to get in your way either. Of course, you need the CD-ROM that goes with the book because that has all the images on it that you need to do the lessons. So what Adobe needs to do is somehow bundle together the CD-ROM, the book and the online PDF version and sell all 3 to the consumer in one bundle. Perhaps one solution would be to produce the physical book in a more economical way as the student will be using it to primarily review text after a long session on the computer monitor. Or perhaps it should sell the PDF and the CD-ROM together and skip the book altogether. If you buy the product as is, it is not 5 stars. It is 4 stars because of the serious problem of all the lessons being shown to you in black and white. Adobe, the leader in image software, does have the perfect learning product for you with Photoshop 7 Classroom in a Book if it only repackages its materials for the consumer. I recommend that you contact Adobe online and ask that it make the PDF version available too. If enough people do so, I think this product will eventually be rebundled.
| 
