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Posted on 19/12/10 7:34:48 PM |
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mark williams
* Posts: 4 Reply |
What is the use of this book?
OK I purchased this book with a view to learning how to use photoshop. However this book leaves me frustrated, as when you try some of the tasks in the tutorials it leaves out important steps for a new user. These steps are important for a new user as without them you need to look elsewhere to find out this information. So the what is the point of the book? If you can use photoshop then why do you need this book, however if you cant use photoshop, this book is no use to you either as it would teach you very little other than leaving you frustrated. Learning the authors proffered methods would be unappealing to me if I was a proficient user. Never had this problem with solidworks or autocad so i know its not me. |
Posted on 20/12/10 06:10:11 AM |
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Bob
Expert Expressionist Posts: 130 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Welcome to the forum, Mark. How to cheat in Photoshop is not a beginner's guide to learning Photoshop. The subtitle of the book is "The art of creating realistic photomontages". And, that is what this book is all about. Photomontages are not something that every Photoshop user wlll do. Some Photoshop users can go through an entire career without ever needing or wanting to make a photomontage. But, if you are creative and have at least a basic understanding of Photoshop and want to learn how to make realistic photomontages, this book will show you how along with techniques to do it quickly and efficiently. That is the use of this book. |
Posted on 20/12/10 08:08:18 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7068 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Mark, This book does assume you have a reasonable working knowledge of Photoshop. Why? Because if I'd written it for complete beginners, at least half the book would be taken up with stuff most readers already know. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of books for beginners in Photoshop. This book is for people who already know how to use the basic tools: it's there to teach more advanced and, to my mind, more interesting techniques. There's much more to Photoshop than simply learning how to use the tools. However, I appreciate your frustration. What if you want to know something that isn't covered in the book? Well, that's what I started the Reader Forum. It's here to answer your questions, and to help you with any areas where you don't feel proficient. Explain where you're getting stuck, and we'll help you through. Steve |
Posted on 20/12/10 10:29:43 AM |
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mark williams
* Posts: 4 Reply |
What is the use of this book?
Looks as if I will be needing to invest in anther book then thats another 20 pounds spent. Its Amazons fault, But thanks for your replies, it's not that i think the book is rotten as it's not in fact my frustration are born from the fact that i cant do these great projects easily without fiddling about some. imagine your a kid and you have been given a lego set of a cool robot but then on opening the box you find every shiny part in front of you other than the most important part the instruction that will allow you to achieve a suitable outcome. So is there a book that will teach me these basics quickly, so I can get on with this book with less frustrations. Because this book with wings is not allowing me to fly at the moment. Ps why does it seem to be a rule of thumb, that the greater the complication we have the less instruction we get. |
Posted on 20/12/10 11:01:38 AM |
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laddition
femme fatale Posts: 585 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Mark, Tout dépend de ce que tu veux faire, mon pote. Parce que jusqu'à présent, il n'y a pas mieux que ce bouquin. J'ai cherché, et je n'ai réellement p)as trouvé mieux. Et tout ce que je sais à présent, c'est à Steve et à ses livres que je le dois. Alors oui, faut réfléchir un peu, il faut faire des essais, il faut y mettre de la peine. Mais si tu veux arriver un jour à maitriser le monstre qu'est Photoshop, la case Grand Maitre Jedi Caplin est obligatoire. Si tu débutes, il faut te dire que ça ne vient pas tout seul. Et que si tu débutes, dans quelque matière que ce soit, il faut commencer par le début. Et pas par les jouets pour grands. Il y a des centaines de tutos pour débutants sur le net. Quand tu les auras fait, tu auras un autre regard sur ce bouquin, qui n'est rien de moins qu'une bible. Et sans lui, je ne pense pas que j'aurai autant progressé.... Alors avant de te mettre à hurler avec les loups, je te demande de bien vouloir te donner les compétences préalables. Et ta dépense prendra tout son sens à ce moment là. J'aime pas qu'on critique Steve. Rien que le Friday Challenge, c'est énorme. Une leçon toute les semaines..... Voilà.... Je te souhaite d'apprendre un peu, et de revenir content et joyeux. Et un joyeux Noel!  _________________ Mais je me connais, je lâcherais pas l'affaire.... Je vais piquer de grève comme on pique une colère... Plus têtue que tous les vieil homme et la mer... Pour que continue le combat ordinaire! |
Posted on 20/12/10 11:34:43 AM |
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tooquilos
Wizard of Oz Posts: 2918 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Hi Mark Steve's book was the first book I bought on Photoshop. Prior to that my only exposure to PS was a 3 day course which covered the absolute basics..and prior to that I didn't even know Photoshop existed. That was 4.5 years ago. My thoughts, at that time, were very similar to yours..I found it overwhelming and at times frustrating and confusing because there was so much I wanted to do but didn't know how to. So much to learn and understand - I didn't think it was humanly possible to do so. As there are many ways of achieving the same objective in PS. Each week I found my knowledge base increased through the Friday Challenges and through Steve's comments each week. Any questions I had -the members of the forum would answer. As time went on I developed a strong understanding and confidence on how PS worked and its amazing capacity to achieve just about anything with an image. So if you have the time and patience, persevere a bit longer...the results are certainly worth it. Anna  _________________ Dorothy: Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore |
Posted on 20/12/10 11:46:59 AM |
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laddition
femme fatale Posts: 585 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Anna, je ne trouve pas le bouton "j'aime", il est ou??? _________________ Mais je me connais, je lâcherais pas l'affaire.... Je vais piquer de grève comme on pique une colère... Plus têtue que tous les vieil homme et la mer... Pour que continue le combat ordinaire! |
Posted on 20/12/10 1:32:14 PM |
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Jota120
Ingenious Inventor Posts: 2615 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Well said Laddition and Anna. Mark, PS is not easy when you open the box. I could not be bothered for 12 months, but then I had a project, only PS could solve it, so had to go for it....... Its a big tool space and gets bigger with each version, but you can use just a few parts and get great results. Maybe better that way for clear understanding and results. Once you get the hang of it (takes some of your time and patience), it goes faster and faster, I'm not joking, you don't think about it with all your all favourite methods. As Anna and Laddition say there is more than one way to get a solution. I do it my way, which may cross some paths  with others, but enjoy understanding other ways.
In my opinion, Steve's books are not meant to be prescriptive, but if you follow each of his very well described projects you will have a fine result. If you have any problems, post The Forum. ........ .....More than this, they give you channels for your creativity. You can not teach creativity, as far as I know, but can be inspired by others here on FC/HTCIPS and by seeing their images. If would go back maybe a couple of years to now, if I might say, I see everyone gets better, and also many great new members with great works that share and inspire us. At least we enjoy it! The creativity amazes me and the technique can be very high, we all have different levels on those. That's fine. As I say I always enjoy all entries, apart from the odd one. |
Posted on 20/12/10 1:52:22 PM |
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GKB
Magical Montagist Posts: 4057 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Hi Mark, Everything that Steve, l’addition and Anna says is true about Photoshop and the How To Cheat book; if your French isn’t up to translating l’addition’s comment just copy and paste into Babelfish. Anna, in particular, has turned in some excellent work since starting out over 4 years ago. She has developed a good mastery of the animation side of Photoshop. The same applies to everyone on this site – even Steve; we all started out knowing very little. There are a few books available that will introduce you to the basics of Photoshop but it is a steep learning curve. It is, however, a very pleasant learning curve. One book that you might consider is the ‘Photoshop Bible’. I have a rather elderly version of it but it covers all the basic tools. Learning Photoshop is a little like learning carpentry. You are taught what a plane, a saw and a chisel look like and what they do. But it’s only when you are given a piece of wood and you start to use those tools to make something that you find out just when, how and where to use each tool. Thomas Chippendale started out exactly the same way and his furniture is now most sought after. Where the ‘How to Cheat’ book and website comes in is that it gives you that piece of wood every Friday morning. That is your project for the week and all you have to do is submit your version of the image for a critique. Either setting yourself a project or having someone set it for you is the best way of learning and the How to Cheat books do just that. The nice thing about this site is that there are lots of people prepared to help when you get stuck. Nobody judges your work but we will offer ideas and thoughts on how to progress and improve. We are not in competition against each other here but we are in competition against ourselves when we ask 'how could I have done this better?' Stick with us for a while and you’ll soon be up there with the best. Gordon _________________ Why is there only one word for ‘Thesaurus’? |
Posted on 21/12/10 10:48:03 PM |
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mark williams
* Posts: 4 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Thank you all for your words of encouragement on this topic. I will look for another book to help me get started. Perhaps someone could write a companion book for this book. It could help people break into this program a little quicker. Merry Christmas all. |
Posted on 23/12/10 9:30:22 PM |
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michael sinclair
Off-Topic Opportunist Posts: 1871 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Hi Mark, Actually, there is a wonderful, wonderful book (which I treasure above all other books) which got me started using Photoshop, and without which I would still probably be floundering: MAX PIXEL'S ADVENTURES IN ADOBE PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS 3 ( with CD) by Steve Caplin Ignore the Elements 3 part of the title, as it deals with the fundamentals so most of it is relevant to Photoshop as well. A lot of trouble and effort was made in making sure that the beginner understood step-by-step how to use the tools and get results. Michael
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Posted on 24/12/10 07:52:30 AM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7068 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Aha! Now there's a blast from the past. You're the first person I've come across who actually bought a copy, Michael. Due to a series of unbelievable cockups on the part of the publisher (the book's CD mistakenly contained the content for a book on Excel, so it was withdrawn, then reissued with a different ISBN number, except they forgot to tell either Amazon or their own online bookstore, so both listed it as out of print) the book sold almost no copies. So I'm delighted that you managed to track one down, and even more so that you found it both useful and entertaining. I put a vast amount of work into compiling that book, as you rightly surmised, and I'm just glad I've finally found someone who appreciates it! Thanks, Michael, you've made my year. Steve |
Posted on 26/12/10 1:20:07 PM |
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Zorin
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
I'm excited about this book, it arrived on Christmas eve, from amazon. While i'm just a beginner in Photoshop, following Steve's tutorials are not too difficult. If you get stuck there's plenty of tutorials on YouTube that will give you the basics. Everyone says to me i have a vivid imagination, (and i do). I just need to get up to scratch on the software. What about Vince Cable last week with that Freddy Kruger hat on. I was expecting to see a montage of him wearing a T shirt with a nuclear explosion on it, while having two young girls in skirts sitting on his lap posing as constituents. Anyhow with lots of practice following Steve's book. I hope to be a serious challenger to you're crown. Thanks Zorin. |
Posted on 04/01/11 1:00:58 PM |
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Xifajk
* Posts: 2 Reply  |
Re: What is the use of this book?
I'd like to say a BIG Thank you to Steve Caplin for this book. I just found a copy of the CS4 Version at the school library and everything is easy to use and understandable. I've tried lots of other books and magazines but they just simple either skip a step or are a wee bit too complex. I found your book simple, stylish, fun and straight to the point Keep up the good work and thanks 
Xifajk |
Posted on 04/01/11 5:33:07 PM |
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Steve Caplin
Administrator Posts: 7068 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
Zorin, Xifajk - thanks for your comments! I look forward to seeing you both taking part in the Friday Challenge! Steve |
Posted on 05/01/11 8:03:12 PM |
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Zorin
* Posts: 6 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
I hope to join in once I've completed the book and all the challenges inside. |
Posted on 05/03/11 11:46:22 AM |
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bat
* Posts: 1 Reply |
Re: What is the use of this book?
I've just bought the CS4 version of the book. It blew my mind when I opened it. A - I didn't think it'd be such a thick book, and B - It's chock full of extremely cool and useful stuff. I may not leave the house for a decade  |