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Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for Photographers ReviewDISCLAIMER: In exchange for this review I received a copy of this book for free.
Make no mistake, Philip Andrews' Adobe Photoship Elements 8 For Photographers is a book for photographers. The book has a short digital photography basics section at the beginning, but it is by-and-large written for people who already have a good grasp on photography. There's no explanation of shutter-speed, f-stop, and ISO. This isn't one of the "_____ For Dummies" books, it's a book for people who already know a thing or two. This is purely about Adobe Elements 8.
And it should be. Focal Press and Andrews are trying to write a comprehensive guide to Photoshop Elements. It's well-written, easy to follow, and starts with the programs most basic functions and ends with some truly advanced, in-depth image manipulation.
I suppose at this point it would be useful for me to write a bit about where I'm coming from in relation to photography and Photoshop. I use photography and Photoshop as a tool in my design work. I do a lot of retouching, stylising, photo-correction and image-merging. For awhile I've been interested in learning more about Elements and how much it can do. So, with that in mind, I picked up Andrews's book in exchange for this review and got to learning.
The book is split into three major sections: An introduction to Elements, the tools available in the program, and an "Elements in Action" at the end.
The introduction section covers all of the basics of the program like importing, cropping, a helpful section on scanning, and some basic manipulation (like auto-contrast and red-eye removal). It goes through Elements on a very basic level. It's explained well and has instructions for Mac and Windows.
The tools section is where things start to get good. It begins with a pretty substantial chapter on organisation, which is great. It's crucial to learn the best workflow method and organizational system of a program to use it effectively. The great thing about digital photography is that it's easy to take hundreds of pictures, but having those pictures available and easy to sift through is just as important. Everything from your photos to your tools should be at your fingertips. The book does a good job of explaining how to get your pictures and your albums in top shape using Elements' Smart-Album feature and Adobe Bridge. For anyone planning on amassing a buttload of pictures, this might be the most important section of the book.
The book then moves on to the meat of Photoshop Elements. This is why you spent your money on Elements in the first place. You want to learn how to fix photos that look too dark, aren't framed quite right, or have the wrong color temperature. Maybe you want to make your photos look old-fashioned. Maybe you want to make all of the reds in your photo really pop. Or maybe you want to go crazy with it and make rave posters or photoshop celebrity heads onto naked people's bodies. The possibilities are endless, and this book covers a lot of them.
The book covers way too much ground to mention everything covered here, but it gets into layers, masks, filters, photo-merging, and pretty much anything else you can think of. There are a couple things that I thought were really helpful. They aren't flashy or anything, but they're good to know.
The first is a section on non-detrimental size changes. Sometimes, it seems like nothing is ever the right size. Some element is always too big or too small, so it's important to know how to re-size images without losing information. Unfortunately, the section is buried at the end of "Advanced Techniques," when I think it should go closer to the front-end of the book.
Another useful bit of information is Andrews's "10 Commandments for Good Filter Usage." It's a nice bit of editorialising in a book that's pretty hands-off when it comes to what you should and shouldn't do aesthetically. Some early photoshoppers get crazy with the filters, and their photos suffer as a result, so it's nice to see Andrews try to reign in that urge a bit. Also, the printing section is pretty good. Bad prints can not only ruin good pictures, but also become a substantial waste of money. Andrews' run-through is good for printing at home, but he doesn't go into large-format printing at all, which should have been included in a book with this much depth.
There are a couple minor problems that I have with the book. There are source images that Andrews uses throughout the book, but they are only available to download online. I would have liked an included CD or DVD. At $50, it isn't a cheap book and it would be nice to have all the source material in one package.
Another issue I have with the book is that it could use a glossary. There are hundreds of terms that are Photoshop specific, a glossary would save some backtracking. Another small problem I have with the book is that the keyboard shortcuts should also have been written in shorthand instead of written out in the text. He writes out "Hold the Control button then hit the S button" to save instead of something like "CTRL+S." I would prefer the shorthand in perentheses after writing it out, because it's easier to scan the page and see what the shortcuts are instead of having to re-read the paragraphs for the shortcuts. After all, learning keyboard shortcuts makes for more efficient photoshopping.
Photoshop Elements 8 For Photographers is a great book for learning the program. Honestly, the book really opened my eyes to what Photoshop Elements 8 is capable of and both the program and the book far exceeded my expectations. Good job.
Adobe Photoshop Elements 8 for Photographers OverviewIf you're new to Elements and need a complete overview of each feature and function, you'll find exactly what you're looking for here: step-by-step instructions covering every aspect of Elements, accompanied by helpful screenshots and colorful images. If you're a more experienced user, you'll find Philip's signature advanced tips and techniques invaluable as you stretch the power of Elements beyond what you previously thought possible. From basic techniques such as importing files and performing simple image edits to more complex projects such as creating scrapbooks, making panoramas, and working with raw files, it's all covered in this comprehensive guide from one of the industry's premier Elements experts, and always in the context of creating great photographs first and foremost.
Be sure to visit the accompanying websites www.photoshopelements.net and pse-4-photographers.photoshop.com for additional Elements 8 tutorials, tips, example galleries, offers and advice.
*A supplemental website features over an hour of video tutorials for additional training and practice
*An example gallery site, pse-4-photographers.photoshop.com, showcasing the synchronization links between Photoshop Elements and Photoshop.com
*Written by an official Adobe Ambassador and expert author whose tips and tricks are featured in the Adobe Inspirational Browser in both Photoshop Elements 7 and 8
*Contains step-by-step instructions and resources (via the book's website) for completing an entire project - a multi-page Photo Book -so you can work through the whole process from start to finish, and apply the skills you learn to other creative photographic projects
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