Classroom In A Book...

Editorial Reviews

By Amazon.com

Each installment in the Classroom in a Book series features consistently well written and conceived lessons used in Adobe's official training and certification program. These books guarantee solid instruction, taking readers step by step through professional-level projects. Another fine tutorial-style book from the Adobe staff, this volume covers the latest version of Photoshop.

Since the book assumes no prior knowledge, it will benefit beginners the most. Topics covered include the work environment, tools and palettes, working with selections, layers, masks, channels, retouching, effects, color management, and creating images for print or the Web.

If you are already comfortable with version 5.5, Photoshop 6.0's many new features make this edition worthwhile. New topics include the context-sensitive options bar, layer sets and layer styles, weighted optimization (which allows you to specify varying qualities of JPEG compression in a slice or image), image and text warping, and the new support for vector-based art.

It would have been a nice touch if new features had been flagged in the text; however, readers can consult the Adobe Web site to see what's new and then find appropriate lessons in the book using the thorough index.

All lesson project files and fonts are on the companion CD-ROM. Each lesson begins by outlining what will be learned and how long the project should take, and ends with review questions and answers. The color section shows finished artwork for each project and some useful reference pages: a toolbox overview (with color illustrations of what each tool does), pages with layer and blending mode samples, a set of images helpful in deciding color management settings, and two pages of variations in optimized GIFs).

You'll also learn how to create slices both in Photoshop and ImageReady and rollovers and animations in ImageReady. And there's a lesson that covers the commonly used practice of designing Web pages using Photoshop, Acrobat (to share comments with clients and coworkers), and GoLive. --Angelynn Grant

Topics covered: Tutorial-based instruction in Adobe Photoshop 6.0, using projects from the companion CD, including:

• Getting to know the work environment, tools, and palettes
• Working with selections, layers, masks, and channels
• Painting, editing, and photo retouching
• Working with pen tools, vector shapes, and clipping paths
• Colorizing and applying filters
• Color management
• Preparing art for print or Web
• Creating slices in both Photoshop and ImageReady
• Creating rollovers and animations in ImageReady
• Using Photoshop, Adobe Acrobat, and Adobe GoLive in designing Web pages

If you're the kind of person who'd rather read the telephone directory than a software manual, Adobe Photoshop 6.0 Classroom in a Book could be just what you need to get a grip on the latest version of the world's best image-editing software.

Seventeen project-based lessons take you through every aspect of Photoshop. The book starts with the basics--the revamped interface, selection tools, and working with layers--and then moves on to more involved projects like retouching, using the new vector shape and clipping path features, advanced layer management, and special effects. Each lesson begins with a clear introduction and finishes with a brief review section, which is a good way of assessing how much you've learned and whether you need to go over anything again.

Anyone who is, or wants to be, a Photoshop pro must eventually tackle color management, and two lessons are devoted to this difficult subject. "Setting Up Your Monitor for Color Management" examines the principles of color management and shows you how to calibrate and create an ICC color profile for your monitor using the Adobe Gamma control panel.

"Producing and Printing Consistent Color" deals with proofing images on a CMYK PostScript printer and creating color separations for commercial printing. There's also a chapter devoted to spot-color printing. The remainder of the book deals with producing Web graphics using ImageReady 3.0.

"...this is probably one of the most effective courses there is for beginners and intermediate users." --Ken McMahon, Amazon.co.uk