Product Description

The totally revised update to the classic bestseller (over 40K of the current edition in print), providing everything a Windows user needs to know to learn and become expert with the latest release of Adobe Photoshop. Author and premier Photoshop guru Deke McClelland once again delivers the most comprehensive, informative, and entertaining coverage of Photoshop you'll find anywhere ñ complete with all the insider secrets and tips you need for state-of-the-art graphic design. Includes a CD-ROM packed with utilities, plug-ins, sample images, an artist gallery, video interviews, and more.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #802002 in Books
• Published on: 2000-11-15
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 936 pages

Amazon.com Review
If reading through nearly 1,000 pages of Photoshop tools, tricks, tips, and errata is your idea of a good time, Photoshop 6 for Windows Bible is the book to get. Packed with everything a new user needs to know about the leading image-editing application, this book has much to offer and only a few drawbacks.

Five main sections run the gamut from an introduction to the application and interface to basic and sophisticated painting, masking, layering, and text techniques. One of the most important sections is saved for last: "Color for Print and the Web." Color management and calibration for different output systems is never easy, but understanding how and why color is handled in Photoshop, and for different systems, will go a long way toward helping you become a real master.

A favorite feature, and one seen far too little, is a complete version of the book in PDF format on the accompanying CD-ROM. It has no color images, and items in the index and table of contents are not clickable, but it makes for far easier searching when you're looking for a specific command or phrase. The CD-ROM also contains four bonus chapters, third-party plug-in demos, 48 high-resolution stock photos, and a large, full-color gallery of artwork from 16 Photoshop artists.

The book itself is clearly written and cleanly formatted, but even though there are plenty of screen shots, none of them appears in color. This is disappointing, in light of the fact that the book is all about a color image-editing application. The 32-page color gallery and the wealth of color images on the CD-ROM make up for this somewhat, however.

If you've never bought a Photoshop book and you've just moved up to Photoshop 6, this book makes a handy reference and source of inspiration. Packed with more information than most Photoshop users will probably need, Photoshop 6 for Windows Bible makes an excellent Photoshop companion. --Mike Caputo

Review
You're probably thinking that if someone has the gall to call his book a Bible, it had better be pretty good. If you're not thinking that, it's probably because you've already experienced the Photoshop Bible and you know it's good. —Los Angeles Times

From the Publisher
You're probably thinking that if someone has the gall to call his book a Bible, it had better be pretty good. If you're not thinking that, it's probably because you've already experienced the Photoshop Bible and you know it's good. —Los Angeles Times

Customer Reviews

Good Book, But Not Perfect
Let me start by saying that I never buy one of these books to read it. Let's face it, any of this stuff is pretty dry. I use them for reference. Even though I do professional photography and spend a lot of time in Photoshop, I don't know it all. That would be a tall order.

I do feel though that Deke does a good job of fully explaining many of the most usefull tools in PS6. The more obscure ones, I'm not sure that any book covers to any great extent. One has to get inside this program and look around. No book on PS6 is going to hold your hand through the whole thing. One area in this book that gets a lot of attention because it can be confusing is unsharp mask. There's a lot of detail here on how to use it. It's really the only sharpening tool you'll ever need if it's used correctly. Another area that can be difficult is selections....lots of detail here, too.

A nice thing about this book in my opinion is Deke McClelland's writing style. He does try to liven it up a bit. Not always sucessfully, but it keeps it a bit more interesting.

My bottom line to this book is that I believe it's worth the investment. If you're applying Photoshop solely to Photography, I think that "Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers" by Martin Evening may be the better way to go.

The PS 6 Bible is a fat disappointment
I prefer to use software books as references. Many of the "Bible" books are really useful this way. But in order for that to be so, the book has to have a decent index. This "Bible" fails miserably on that count. An example: I tried to look up "Acrobat" to see if I could save a file in the PDF format from Photoshop. Adobe Acrobat files are a standard in the publishing industry these days. There is actually a page and a half in the Bible on saving as a PDF, but there is no entry for "Acrobat" or "Adobe Acrobat" in the skimpy index. The last "Photoshop Bible" that I bought was for PS 3. A lot has changed in the program since then. Versions 5, 5.5, and 6 of PS have all been major revisions, but there is relatively little new material in the PS 6 Bible compared to the PS 3 Bible. Save your money.

The good and the bad
"Bible" is a bit of a misnomer. A better description would be "everything detail you would ever want to know about Photoshop".

The book is incredibly detailed. Each and every menu option are described and cross referenced, no stone left unturned. And yet it is readable (if you can lift it). Adobe has come a long way in making their manuals and help files much much better. That said, if you are looking to become a basic or mid level Photoshop user, this may not be the book for you. If you want to know the pros and cons to using a fade on a custom brush with your pressure sensative tablet (you get the picture)... then this book is required to at least have at hand.

I have dabbled with photoshop for many many years, but never really did use more than 10% of the program functions. So I've bought and checkout many books out of the library so I can improve my reults and save time. I scanned this book cover to cover (well almost) - and probably READ about 1/2 of it. While there was SOME very valuable content, the book was mostly a recap for me.

My biggest complaint is that the book spends precious little space on explaining TECHNIQUE. It is more about explaining functions in complete detail. It would have been better if the few techniques and exercises in the book were somehow highlighted or set apart from the text. There are much better sources for that info anyway.