Photoshop for Photographers Book Advice

[buntonn]

Hi to all this is my first post in this forum. I have just bought the Canon 300D (Rebel) and have Photoshop CS. I only know the very basic in photoshop and want to learn more so I can use it to work on digital photos I take. I went to a book shop today and there were two books to choose from:

The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photography by Scott Kelby

and

Adobe Photoshop CS for Photographers by Martin Evening


After looking over both for a while I got the later of the two, have I made the right choice?

Thanks

Nick

[Scottes]

I'd say that you got the better of the two for a beginner, but might not have made the best choice. The Kelby book is great, but in my opinion definitely not for beginner's. The Evening book is also not for beginners, but it's not as deep as the Kelby book.

You may find yourself scratching your head quite a bit, as these books expect you to know something about PS. Most answers can be found in the PS Help file - but sometimes it's tough to find the answers because PS is complex and not everyone uses the same method and/or terminology. If you find yourself scratching your head lot then buy either a big PS books for reference, or a simple PS book that will allow you to come up to speed quickly.

[ejwebb]

What about the Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements 2.0 by David Lynch? I was going to pick it up tonight - I would consider myself more of an intermediate user than beginner - I have used Paint Shop Pro for years and it has most of the same features as PS.

[htbyron]

What about the Hidden Powers of Photoshop Elements 2.0 by David Lynch? I was going to pick it up tonight - I would consider myself more of an intermediate user than beginner - I have used Paint Shop Pro for years and it has most of the same features as PS.

As an intermediate user, you might be OK with this book, but you might need an additional reference -- to my mind it is fairly advanced and assumes quite a bit of knowledge about how different things (eg, adjustment layers) work in PSE2. I had to buy a beginner's book to get me up to speed, as I really want to learn some of the concepts in the hidden power book.

(Obviously, the Hidden Power book is no good for PS CS users, such as Nick. But for those of us who got Elements bundled with the camera, and who are not willing to spring for the full package, it seems to have a lot of useful information and techniques that should bridge the gap somewhat.)

[buntonn]

Thanks to all for your replies, very helpfull. What would you suggest as a reference for a beginner to Photoshop CS?

The Photoshop One on One looked quite good but I don't know if this is advanced?

Thanks

Nick

[Scottes]

I actually lean towards recommending a fairly basic book. Photoshop for Dummies or Visual Photoshop or some other very basic book which appeals to you. It's just to get you started quickly. Once you get some speed then dive into the Evening book. You'll be missing stuff but at least you'll have an idea of what people are talking about so you should be able to find it in the Help file at that point.

Ideally speaking, IMHO, Photoshop requires 3 books - a very basic book to get up to speed quickly - once read you'll probably never touch it again. A specific book on Digital Photography since that's your interest. And one of those massive 1200-page everything books to use for reference or times when you really wish you knew something about abc or xyz.

But I'm biased - I love books - and that's well over $100 worth of books. So you might get by with the local library for a basic book, you could skip the "everything" book but instead rely on the Web and the Help file, and then finally you buy a specific photography book which you'll use quite often for some time.

[PhotosGuy]

I'm using a good general PS book in a class I teach. It's "Adobe Photoshop CS in a Book", ISBN # 0-321-19375-X. Comes with a CD of lesson pics & works well with PC or MAC. Under $30 on the net including shipping.

[buntonn]

Thanks again for your input on this subject. Scootes I love books too and will probably take your advice as this is what I have done with most of my programming languages a quick intro, a hard core book and a huge (doorstop) reference.

On Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com there are mixed reviews for most of the beginners guides, so I think another trip to the bookshop is in order to have a look through half a dozen and get the one which I like the layout of.

Thanks for your time everyone.

Nick

[chris.bailey]

Scott Kelby's book is more likely to be a lasting reference as you get up to speed, its the one PS book that has remained by the side of my monitor long after all the others are gathering dust on the bookshelf.

[MrEWorm]

Is this a first SLR? If it is, you may want a book on photography. The books that you are mentioning are for processing digital images (I personnaly recommend the Kelby book) but you may be more interested, at this point, in something about how to compose, how to use camera features, or lens recommendations.

[buntonn]

No I have owned a Nikon F301 for many years but haven't used it that many times, so consider myself a basic ammature. I have the "A Short Course in Digital Photography with Canon Rebel" to read at home after I have finished the Digital SRL masterclass book by Andy Rouse which I must say is a great book. So with these two I should have enough knowledge to get by with the Canon 300D, also I have a close friend who is a very experienced SLR photographer and has also been using digital for a while, so I can always pick his brains :D

It's the photoshop part I want to learn so I can edit my pictures and also some which I am taking for website development.

I hope this makes it clear where I am now and what I am trying to achieve.

Nick

[Scottes]

Scott Kelby's book is more likely to be a lasting reference as you get up to speed, its the one PS book that has remained by the side of my monitor long after all the others are gathering dust on the bookshelf.

Yep, Kelby's "Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers" is one of the three that stays by my monitor. The other two are "Adobe Photoshop CS Killer Tips" also by Kelby and "Real World Adobe Photoshop CS" by Blatner and Fraser. I highly recommend all three.