CS4 Classroom in a Book -- a Must Have
589741
CS4 Classroom in a Book is a great book. The book provides training to do the accompanying lessons that help the reader grasp the concepts by doing. In other words, learning by doing. The book demonstrates tool basics, the how and when to use each tool--in simple and easy steps and in understandable language. I recommend beginner and intermediate Photoshop users get the book, but be prepared to sit in front of your computer for hours of fun!
4150571
Laid out well enough for OOP. Wonderful real-world examples.
2551826
If you are planing on purchasing only one book this year for guidance on CS5 & LR3, make this book your choice! Starting out with one of the BEST basic technical sections I've read in any book, and I have literally dozens of books on digital photography/editing, through to the integration of Lightroom with Photoshop, Steve leads the reader with the recognizable skill of a polished instructor. Moreover, the book's pages are icon (Ps, acr, Br, and Lr) tabbed allowing for rapid location of information pertaining to the area of immediate interest. The information is easy to understand, flows smoothly, and is fully complemented with hundreds of illustrations and screen shots with full explanations of how, when, and why you would employ the features being discussed. Unlike many tomes currently in vogue, this is not a cookbook designed to show you how you would get a specific photo to look a certain way, but rather a guide that will provide you with the knowledge needed to work on any image to improve it. In the process, Steve fully describes his workflow approach to creating the final output with a minimum of effort. Without a doubt, this is one of the very best books ever published for working with digital images.
3981705
"Adobe Photoshop CS 3: One on One," is a lavishly-produced book providing an introduction to the main features and tools of Photoshop CS 3.  It is part of a series of "One-on-One" books published by Deke Press/O'Reilly and is geared towards the beginner-intermediate user and is designed to mimic hands-on instruction from computer graphics master, Deke McClelland, and it is as close to a personal set of lessons from an accomplished professional as can be imagined.  Each tutorial sets out step by step instructions and explanations using simple comparison images, program screenshots, and clearly-expressed text. The text is enhanced by a companion DVD correlated with the step-by-step process of the tutorials.

  A dozen lessons cover the major elements of Photoshop, from manipulating luminosity, making color corrections, selections, masking, layered compositions, text and shapes, and more. The book contains hundreds of full color photographs and screenshots.  Every step of each tutorial is expressed in clear, concise prose, punctuated with professional insights and the author's mostly self-deprecating humor. McClelland is candid in his assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the Photoshop tools used in the tutorials.

 The tutorials are complemented by "Pearls of Wisdom" spread throughout which are topical tips on how professionals like McClelland use Photoshop tools in the real world. There are sidebar "Extra Credits" providing bits of advanced instruction, or reference to Web sources were extra material can be found.  Many of the tutorials include separate, but related, sections emphasizing concepts and theory like color channels and the math and logic behind various Photoshop tools. There are simple "tests" at the end of each chapter designed to help reinforce the lessons in the tutorials for the introductory user.

 The author acknowledges that Photoshop is a complicated program, difficult to learn, and can be intimidating, nevertheless, he does a fine job motivating the reader to continue through the instruction (even though a particular process may have up to 23 steps to complete!) I think this book is a standout among the many Photoshop guides available.  Certainly, it's production values equal or exceed those of any competitor.
1961880
Murach's C# 2008 book is an excellent resource for getting up to speed with Microsoft's VISUAL STUDIO development environment.  At this point, I have read about 1/3 of the book.

An excellent feature of this book is its use of two adjoining pages for concept presentation.  Instructions and explanations are presented on left-hand pages while sample code or screen displays are shown on right-hand pages.  This makes it very easy to follow and comprehend material.

The book also has a companion website where sample code is avaiable for downloading.  This facilitates both understanding of presented materials and experimentation with your own ideas.

This book is geared to VISUAL STUDIO C# 2008 and I believe you need the latest software.  If you are using VISUAL STUDIO C# 2005, then you may want to consider purchasing an older edition with that name.

This book is an excellent college text and I strongly recommend it for that purpose.
3262481
Speaking as an Adobe Certified Photoshop Instructor, I think the Photoshop CS5 book is terrific. If you don't understand workspaces, selections and layers, you will not get very far in Photoshop. This book does an excellent job of teaching the basics, and then allows you to continue on to learn masking, working with type, compositing and more. Sure, there are some areas that could use a little more explanation, but that's why we choose to use them in our online Photoshop classes. When you combine this book (or any of the Classroom in a Book titles) with an experienced instructor, there are simply no better materials out there. I've been using the series since I started teaching Photoshop version 3, and my students have always loved the exercises and given very high ratings to the books. So far, Adobe Photoshop CS5 Classroom in a Book has been very well received by our students at Rocky Mountain Training.
2845354
When the second edition of PS WOW! came out I simply couldn't wait to drool all over the amazing work inside, and spent hours honing my skills late into the night. I wore out my early editions from heavy usage. Now the long awaited WOW! CS3/CS4 Book is everything we as designers (and students, teachers, computer geeks and people drawn to shiny objects) have come to expect. From the beginning of the book to the end there are many tricks, step-by-step demonstrations, and great explanations of both difficult and easy concepts.

The predecessor to this volume has been used heavily in classrooms all over the world and in several languages, and this one should see just as much use as it's simply the premiere book in its class. Dayton and Gillespie have carefully sorted through each exercise as well as writing a lot of new material to make sure the updates of Adobe's developers have all been perfectly covered.

The WOW! book doesn't just tell you how to make Layers; it gives you multitudes of ways to leverage them. It doesn't simply talk about type; it provides tricks and tips used by the best designers in the world to get the most out of the powerful tools PS offers. Channels, Brushes, Groups, 3D, Styles, Actions, Video and far more things than any one Photoshop user ever will get into are covered in great detail. Chances are that if it's a trick that's not here you'll have trouble getting your hands in greater detail anywhere.

For those who are concerned about the lack of CS5 materials in the book, and it's a valid concern, nothing in the book is now outdated other than some of the screen shots of the tool palette. Everything that is in CS3/4 is also in CS5, so the material is completely relevant. The most interesting new items for most users are some selection and editing tools, and some of the more artistic users will get excited about some of the artistic brushwork that is now possible. Those are all well explained within the application itself, and while they are kind of neat the lack of those few items shouldn't make anyone feel less inclined towards this edition.

After all... there's -nothing- else like The Photoshop CS3/CS4 WOW! Book in existence.

-------------

And for the three-star and one-star reviewers, one of whom merely noted CS5 was out but didn't actually look at this book before his "review," I don't think I could be convinced to disagree with your assessment more than I already do. Perhaps I'm not understanding your concern, but the WOW! series has never been strictly for beginners, it has hundreds of pages of meticulous step-by-step instruction and nothing about CS5 makes this book incorrect about a single method. I just don't get your reviews at all - they're like you put the review on the wrong book's page!
35892
This book is written in a Course Reference Text style with clearly worked examples, chapter summaries and exercises (with code and solutions to exercises on line), explaining and reinforcing code usage.  I can recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn or re-acquaint themselves with C.  The clear code explanations enable the author to include some clever coding techniques, e.g. the conditional operator ?: with the examples providing a useful basis for your own coding efforts.  Coding examples in the book are not specific to Windows or Unix/Linux/Mac, though a Windows example is included to show how to escape the "\" character in file path strings.  Examples are well chosen with alternative approaches (e.g. pointer and non-pointer solutions) provided to solve a given programming challenge as new material is covered.  Larger example programs are fleshed out as you work through the chapter illustrating the code development process.  Some of the programs become quite sophisticated, such as a full Othello game.

The book commences with an outline chapter of how a C program is produced, the components of a C program and the design, implementation and testing process.  Chapter 2 goes in to detail on the different C variable types, how they use memory and how the compiler handles conversions between variable types.  The different options available in C to make decisions are covered in Chapter 3, which feeds into the different loop constructs in Chapter 4.  Arrays are introduced in Chapter 5, which naturally extends into how strings and text are managed in Chapter 6.  This naturally segues into pointer usage in Chapter 7, and how this can be used as an alternate (and often better way) of manipulating arrays. Pointer usage is appropriately given a large amount of coverage in the book, with the pointer chapter comprising 10 percent of the book and subsequent chapters building on the foundations of this chapter.  Chapter 8 looks at the importance of structuring your program using functions, how variable scope assists with compartmentalising your program development and maintenance, how to pass and return data and how pointers can assist with this process, with Chapter 9 going into greater depth on functions.  Input from the keyboard and output to the screen and printer are covered in chapter 10, which introduces input and output streams and character formatting.  Formatted and binary file reading, writing and updating is provided in chapter 12 (about 10% of the book).  Data structures are covered well in chapter 11, showing the power of using pointers to structure members.  How to share memory between variables is covered as is how to define your own data types.  Those with a specific interest in embedded programming, where storage is tight and techniques to change and access bits in an I/O register will be disappointed with the brief coverage of bit-fields.  The book is rounded out with a final chapter on the supporting features you should be looking for in your C programming IDE, with preprocessor macros, directives, conditional compilation and debugging methods covered along with a brief foray into date and time library functions.

There are four Appendices followed by a 33 page index.
A. Computer Arithmetic - binary and hexadecimal numbers, negative binary numbers, Big and Little Endian Systems and Floating Point numbers
B. ASCII Character Code Definitions - but no mention of unicode, despite unicode formatting being covered in the text.
C. Reserved Words in C - the power of C is ably demonstrated by the fact that so much can be done with just 37 reserved words!
D. Input and Output Format Specifications (this is a useful reference supporting the many worked examples provided in several chapters)

My only complaint is that here are more errors in this book (albeit minor) than I'd expect in a Fourth Edition.  Book errata is available on line and the author did respond to some errors I submitted.
756315
I've been using Dreamweaver for professional web sites and front-end web development since version 4.1 (before Adobe acquired Macromedia).  Having used various iterations of the software including v8, CS3 and now CS5, I was a little skeptical about getting a "for Dummies" book.  After all, i use the software almost daily and have made the transition to CS5 painlessly.  However, after spending time with this book, it's clear there's a lot I've missed.

This book is well organized and easy to read.  I'm no "dummy" and this is a great resource for those of us just getting into CS5 and for those who are using DW for the first time. The "I am so glad I have this book" moment came when a client asked me to take over their website and make it XHTML compliant.  After looking at the code, I realized their last designer used HTML markup for everything and didn't use CSS at all.  My challenge was to find an efficient way to convert the pages from HTML to XHTML.  At the end of Book IV, Chapter 4 is information about a Command that does just that.  Whew! Had I not had this book, I'd be using find/replace for days.

Having an 800 page book by my side is great for discovering useful DW features that save me time and my clients' money. For example, I read in Book II "Mastering the Basics" that there's a Paste Special command that allows me to strip out text from sources like Word.  Again, another time-saving feature I would not have discovered on my own.  Additionally, learning about DW's preview for mobile devices is going to become critical for me as clients insist their pages look good on smart phones.

I've seen some of Sue Jenkins' video training and enjoy her teaching style immensely.  Having her name on the cover was reassuring and her personality and teaching style come through perfectly in print.  Sue is as professional a designer as she is an excellent teacher.  There aren't many people that are career professionals and patient teachers.  Her co-author, Richard Wagner, has a different style and handles the job of explaining the technical and programming-focused chapters of this book to non-programmers very well.  While he may not be as friendly as Sue, he is just as effective and he definitely knows his stuff.  I have an upcoming project where I will benefit directly from his lessons in Books VII and VIII.  I can spend a little less on a dedicated programmer by setting up a couple databases and coding some interactive forms to handle the data myself.  Was it worth the cost of the book and the time reading it?  Absolutely.
3237511
I had never used any form of Photoshop before I purchased CS4 during 11/2008.  I bought a couple of very good books but found that both Photoshop and the books were a little too hard to get started with.  This book provided the introduction that I needed.

Story manages to provide a highly abridged and simplified guide to PS CS4 because he is the one author who isn't afraid to make choices for you.  He freely admits that his Companion isn't meant to cover every feature of PS, just a bare minimum of the most essential ones.  And instead of telling you about the 50 different ways to accomplish some task, Story just tells you what he does.  The result is that you quickly begin to use PS in a useful manner.

I've since moved on to other sources.  In particular, I highly recommend the video tutorials that come with&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Photoshop-CS4-Essential-Skills-Photography-Essential-Skills/dp/0240521242/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Photoshop CS4: Essential Skills (Photography Essential Skills)</a>.  Those tutorials fit very well into my learning style.  But a newbie will need something simpler to get started.  This book is an excellent choice for that purpose.
698843
If you  want to know more about how to use technology in the classroom this is the book for you. This book  give so many great ideas. You can start at the beginning or just jump into any chapter. It is easy to read and use.  This is one book you will reference a million times as a teacher. A must!!
4425475
I can't tell you  how much I love the Classroom in a Book series. I taught myself Photoshop 7 using their book and the process was so eye-opening and easy that I bought a book for each of the Adobe products I own. Even though I had basic knowledge of editing in all the programs, these books helped me figure out the answers to all the questions I'd forgot I had. Ever be working on something and see a button or option and go "What's that do?" Not only will these books tell you, it'll make you use it for one of the projects so that you not only know what it does, you'll understand why it's used.

It doesn't even feel like "learning" because instead of there being a bunch of paragraphs about what the tools are it simply tells you to use them. The book is just a set of projects that it provides all the files for on an included CD. Then you sit down, choose a project (doesn't have to be in order they're listed in the book), and follow the step by step instructions on how to get from a set of files to a finished product. The actual learning just happens as you follow the instructions and see how using each tool helps you finish the project.
3863549
Best book I have bought yet for learning Photoshop, form the basics to more complicated procedures.  The included DVD is a big plus also.  Richard Harrington has a way of presenting his topic in a very understandable manner in both the book and DVD.  I believe CS4 users would also find this book very helpful.  Highly recommended.
3042160
I have read several Photoshop books written by Mr. Kelby, and learned quite a few shortcuts to producing great work.  His CS3 book for Digital Photographers is just like having Scott by your side telling you how to take your image from good to great!!  The information on using Adobe Bridge to organize images and using Camera Raw to process them is so helpful that I have added this book to the list of suggested reading materials for my students.  I teach Photoshop Basic and Digital Imaging/Photoshop at the local college.  I feel that this basic information will be invaluable to both returning and new students.
339136
Adobe Illustrator CS Classroom in a Book (like the other books in the series) is extremely thorough, providing repeated opportunities to try the features of the software.  After finishing the lessons, it's a great resource to have nearby.

The 19 lessons provide step-by-step instructions and screenshots for both Mac and Windows environments, so you don't have to worry about which version of Illustrator you are using.  Each lesson also ends with Review Questions (with answers) to help you sum up the main points of each lesson.  The attached CD-ROM provides partially finished files to use in the lessons and examples of the finished product, so you can tell if you completed the lesson successfully.

Finally, don't expect to master all of the functions by time you finish the book.  You will learn quite a bit, but simply following the steps in the book once will not provide you mastery of this powerful piece of software.  Still, I highly recommend this book to anyone who is serious about learning how to use Illustrator.
3215608
Have a highlighter and sticky tabs ready! You'll need them to mark all the ideas, tips, suggestions, and shortcuts in this book. If you're just starting out with Chromebooks, as I was, you'll turn to this book again and again. John Sowash is an experienced teacher who is constantly educating himself on edtech, and he has gathered all his intel on Chromebooks in this book. Easy to read in one sitting and logically organized, The Chromebook Classroom will be your go-to reference for implementing and using Chromebooks in your classroom.
4306430
This is the only complete training book for Adobe CS6 I have found to date. I have been searching for months, and Amazon was kind enough to email me. It is better than buying all the yet to be published CS6 books for all the programs in the Creative Suite 6. I have all the Adobe CS5 books already. This book will update you on all the new features for CS6 Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Etc. A complete training package with DVD.