Last updated 10/14/2003

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 H-O-T Hands-On-Training

Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 H-O-T Hands-On-Training
Author: Shane Rebenschied developed with Lynda Weinman Publisher: lynda.com/books Peachpit Press
341 pages with CD ROM .... $29.99

"Learn Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 with hand-on exercises and demo movies."

The first two chapters, 25 pages, introduces you to material and concepts you will practice later in the exercises.

Then the 42 exercises begin with opening and importing images. The exercises are well chosen. They include those that are the most useful like the File Browser Palette which you will learn to appreciate and will use often. They also include some that are more unique like Place which introduces concepts that will be used in later exercises. Place opens and places a PDF, Encapsulated PostScript, or Adobe Illustrator file and places it on an already opened image.

This practice of presenting the most useful with the interesting and unique is followed throughout the book. All explanations and exercises are presented clearly and accurately.

The chapters on Layers and Selecting are worth the price of the book for someone trying to learn Photoshop Elements 2, or Photoshop for that matter, because they clarify these difficult concepts through explanations and exercises that make them simple. In addition to the basics, the Layers chapter clarifies and provides practice in using non-destructive editing with fill and adjustment layers and layer blending modes.

The Selections chapter includes preselection advice, choosing proper selection terms, how to add or subtract from a selection, moving and saving selections, and building an image. All that presented accurately, clearly, simply, and succinctly. A careful selection is demonstrated much later in a movie on compositing after you have learned how to do it through practicing the exercises in this chapter. It would be helpful if the book had a listing of the movies in the contents or if they were referenced in the index.

Other chapters cover painting and colors, shapes and layer styles, type, correcting photos, retouching photos, photo manipulation, elements and the web, and printing. All well done.

In our user group, I select the books that will be of most interest for our library so I get to study them first. If after studying the book, doing the exercises and taking notes, I decide that it is a book I cannot part with, like this one, I buy a copy for myself (using my user group discount of course). If you want a clearerAdobe Photoshop Elements 2 H-O-T Hands-On-Training. Join the nearest Macintosh or other user group if you want a user group discount.

For more information, or to order Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 H-O-T Hands-On-Training goto
http://www.peachpit.com