Review: Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One

by Web Teacher
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★★★★★ Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One by Deke McClelland is from Deke Press | O’Reilly (2008). This is a full-color book with excellent illustrations for every step of instruction. In addition, there are 4 hours of video lessons from lynda.com with Deke McClelland. Deke McClelland is one of the better known authors about Photoshop for good reason. He’s earned a reputation for being good by, well, being good. Whether you’re an old hand at Photoshop who wants to keep up with the changes for CS4, or you’re a beginning who wants to understand what Photoshop is capable of doing, this book can help you.

There are 12 chapters, or lessons. Here’s a summary (in my terms, not the book’s):

  1. basic software orientation and use
  2. highlights, midtones, shadows
  3. color balance
  4. selections
  5. cropping and straightening
  6. painting and editing
  7. masks
  8. filters
  9. layers
  10. text and shapes
  11. styles
  12. printing and output

Material not covered here, ostensibly because McClelland covers it so thoroughly elsewhere, are actions and Save for Web, among others. Elsewhere is lynda.com. The book gives you a URL for a seven day free trial at lynda.com if you want to check out some of those other resources.

You work through the book by reading, watching the videos, and doing the hands-on exercises. Three ways to learn and absorb every technique in the book can only be helpful to learners. Teachers will be happy to know that each lesson ends with a multiple choice quiz.

Summary: Clear and effective learning materials for new CS4 features and general Photoshop techniques.

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