Photoshop CS Bible ebook

Wonderful exhaustive reference to Photoshop techniques, suffering only from lack of decent images to follow what the author is trying to tell you. The grayscale images on recycled paper convey far too little information for the amount of text covered. The color plates help some, but trying to locate them, in two far-apart locations yet, makes any connection between text and outcome all that more tedious.

Frankly, notwithstanding the disingenuous reasoning of why NOT to provide quality color images (whether on CD or online), it would have been cheaper in the end to include a CD with the book and dispense with the color plates altogether. The lack of see-for-yourself images is particularly troublesome in the promising section on layer blending modes. Deke keeps on talking and talking, but after a while you give up with a bad headache because even the original layer arrangement isn't all that clear. Too bad, really - this would have been one of the most outstanding parts of the book.

The Bible becomes even more confusing when you learn that there's a professional version with exactly the same title (librarians just love that!) -- sort of like an Old and a New Testament. Unfortunately, now that I own both versions, there are indeed some differences (mostly omissions) between the two. Even so, there are huge sections that are almost verbatim repetitions of the Old Testament, other than for the high-quality paper and the on-page color images (yet even here the section on layer blends remains unfulfilling for lack of a CD to learn how the author got there). Worse, the tantalizing in-depth treatment of Adobe's Camera RAW plugin doesn't show up till near the end and, truthfully, isn't that greatly changed from the original (even the tea kettle illustration remains unchanged, other than for the color).

In all truth, McClellands "All-in-One" text that includes a CD and video strips may be not as complete as the Bibles, but you'll learn a lot more, and retain it much better.

All told: the Bible(s) remains the definitive Photoshop reference work, presented in readable style with a nice touch of gentle humor. As it stands, this is a great resource for intermediate to advanced users, and a great buy pound-for-pound, well worth the top five stars. Substituting a CD for the color plates would turn this already bright star into one heck of a super-Nova.

I am more than a bit late in reviewing this book. Photoshop CS is at least three versions old now, but I have not upgraded my software. Instead I decided to upgrade my knowledge! Wow! I have found much in this book to make me feel like I have a new version of the software. True, some of it is simple that I never before used, but it is new to me! You will hardly believe that in 5 years, I did not learn how to use the band aid tool! It is great. I hate to tell you what my work around was, but the band aid is MUCH better. I have learned a lot about the transform function and pen tool too and am still working on both of those. My only real complaint is the author's frequent attempts at humor. I like getting to know him, but most of the attempts are poor. I like the book and recommend it.

Honestly, I was somewhat disappointed with McClelland's Photoshop CS Bible. In the Preface he mentions another version titled "Photoshop CS Bible, Professional Edition" which I don't think really exists. If it did maybe I would have been less disappointed. I have been using various versions of Photoshop for over 6 years and have bought many Photoshop how-to books for most of the versions. I hadn't gotten around to getting a book for Photoshop CS until now. What I was looking for was a very detailed book getting into the changes made for version CS and especially getting into the details of the automated and batch functions.

Unfortunately this book barely touched on the specific new areas of Photoshop that I wanted to learn about, despite having over 1000 pages! I also noticed that there are only about 16 actual color pages in the whole book. For those just learning how to use Photoshop, this lack of color examples could be a real drawback.

Not my favorite Photoshop book.

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I love Mr. Deke Mcclelland,s works. I appreciate getting this book at such a great price, and believe me it is worth it.
Thank you Deke for your labor of love.

If you can't find the answer in this book, chances are you'll have to find another way around the problem! This is a great reference book.

This book covers every item available in PhotoShop. I use it as a reference frequently and I am proficient at PhotoShop. Well worth the money spent.