( 2 reviews )
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( 4 of 4 found this review helpful ) Posted: May 27 2006
Let me start by saying this is a pretty good book, setup with easy to follow instructions and two full disks of images and files to work with. I give it 2 stars based on the fact that the title is misleading. This is nowhere near what I expected for an advanced book. Using layer masks, creating gradients, adding a pillow emboss and scaling images are just a few of the lessons taught. It does get a little more advanced towards the end, but (especially for the price) I don't think this lives up to the title. It's much better for the beginning Photoshop user, looking to improve. I'll be returning this book. In this skill category, there are plenty of good books, covering the same material at a much lower price point. For instance, check out Steve Caplin's "How to Cheat at Photoshop".
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( 2 of 3 found this review helpful ) Posted: Apr 6 2006
This book has to be one of the most comprehensive Photoshop CS2 books on the market in this price range. I am a design student and recently became an owner of this book, and have found a lot of new interesting concepts in layout. The book does start out on the easier side of things, such as layer masking and pasting into, that should have been in the first book and not the advanced techniques book. The index is also fairly vague so you may have to do a lot of reading before finding something that is right for you. However, when you do find something you want to try, the step by step tutorials are a breeze. The only problem I have here is that the book can seem a little condescending, but effective nonetheless. The book layout is, unsurprisingly, clean and easy to understand, and those of us in the design field have much respect for this author. The book pulls together well, especially for the competitively miniature price tag.
