Photoshop 6 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide)

The strength of all QuickStart Guides is their abundance of black-and-white screen shots laid out in one column on the page, coupled with the step-by-step instructions and concise explanations that appear on the adjacent column. These are not tutorials that simulate a classroom experience by taking one project through many stages (although sample images are shown). Rather, this book is more like a fix-it manual--you have a problem in your own work, you look up the appropriate keywords in the index, and then you apply the steps to work out a solution.

As would be expected, the book takes you through all the many parts of Photoshop, from pixel basics like resolution to selections, layers, history, masks, paths, type, filters, actions, and preparing images for print or Web. Also covered is using ImageReady to optimize images for the Web and make slices, rollovers, and animations. Features that are new to ImageReady 3.0 are also highlighted with a "6.0!" icon, making it easy to find just those topics that will be of interest to readers already comfortable in version 5.5. There's also a lengthy list of keyboard shortcuts for both platforms, followed by an impressively detailed index. --Angelynn Grant

Product Description
A beginner to intermediate level visual guide to learning Photoshop 6 for Windows and Macintosh. Works like a reference book, with guide tabs on each page, making the text easy to flip through. Takes a visual approach, using screen shots to show how to do tasks, and avoiding long-winded explanations. Softcover.

However, if you own Photoshop 6, and have some familiarity with the program, and some idea of what you want your image to look like--this is the book for you. It tells you how to make Photoshop do what you want. Its functions are clearly explained, and you don't have to read the whole thing to be able to execute one function flawlessly.

I was relieved that this book does not "effect a breezy style" like the Dummies books and most of the computer books out there. You will see one or two "kute as a button" self-references by the authors (on the order of "we tried this function and were awed by it"). Nowadays, that is about as restrained as you get.You will never know about the authors' adorable moppets, how they truely feel about lattes, or that their cell phones eat batteries. You don't care. You want to learn how to use Photoshop, not babysit by proxy some self absorbed yup-geek. Hooray for being relieved of the authors' neurosis so you can get down to business. That is what you are paying for, and that is what you will get.

Also, you are relieved of the all but useless "Bonus CD" that comes with most computer books, which greatly reduces its price and annoyance quotient. I am sure you have long ceased to be impressed with the "Bonus CD" chocked full of: demo programs that blow up after 10 days, shareware that ends up costing you ... if you want it (which you weren't counting on when you bought the book), and crippled mini programs that do one thing well once and just end up taking space on your hard drive in perpetutity.

If you are a poor lost soul who flaps and flaps and just can't figure out a big image manipulation program, this is not the book for you--and Photoshop 6 is not the program for you. If you are a curious and dedicated user of Photoshop, and you want to get the best out of this huge and grand software, do buy this book and it will be of great help to you. If you lost your manual, this is the best substitute.


Good for explorers - bad reviews unwarranted   July 3, 2001
23 out of 24 found this review helpful

I agree with the "Gypsybells" review below -- this is a good book. Photoshop is an EXTREMELY difficult and complex program to learn, and it's kind of impossible to learn it without exploring. For any one way you want something to look (say, add an outer glow to items on a layer), there are umpteen million ways you could go about doing it. That's what makes Photoshop such a diverse and awesomely powerful application.

Using Photoshop successfully requires knowing in the first place how you want your project to look -- i.e. you have to start out with some sense of visual design. This book is NOT a text about graphic design or aesthetics. I think that's what's frustrating to so many reviewers below who don't have a graphic design background. The book won't give you ideas about how to design something. It WILL show you how to do some basic neat stuff with Photoshop's functions. You'll come out of the book with a sense of accomplishment, because you'll know how to do a few neat things, and the BASIC tools to which this book introduces you will encourage you to explore further. Which is really what you have to do. There's just no other way. It is the nature of graphic design programs -- you have to try things out, because each project will be entirely different.

I enjoy the Visual Quickstart series because it includes a lot of screen shots of how things should look, and they are usually straightforward in their wording. They don't have a lot of "side" material (commentary, "fluff"), so you can barrel right through the book and get down to business.

This should not be your only Photoshop book, because it doesn't go into deep detail about Photoshop's functions. But it's definitely a valuable resource if you're just starting Photoshop and want to know what the heck this program is all about.


Don't Start Here   April 4, 2001
Scott Coykendall (Henniker, NH United States)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful

As a technical writer who is new to Photoshop but generally experienced with software documentation, I was very disappointed in this book. As other reviewers have pointed out, this is more of a reference guide than a "QuickStart Guide" (which implies that it is for beginners). There are almost no explanations of how the various features and controls work together, nor why you would want to use one over another. If I was an experienced user looking for information on a specific item, I could hardly do better. As a new user looking for an introduction, I could hardly do worse!


A non-patronizing book   May 15, 2001
Avalon Daughter (I wish I was in Glastonbury)
17 out of 18 found this review helpful

I'm surprised at the feedback I've seen on this book because I truly enjoy the Quickstart series of computer books. They're informative, detailed and the content is easy to find. In fact, their books were used as my textbooks in college and I liked them so much I continue to use them. But I won't say that these books aren't for a specific type of person. I will explain.

If you've ever picked up a Whatever-for-Dummies book, or the Idiot's-Guide-for-something or any kind of Textbooks-for-Morons you either like them or hate them. Why? Because they all seem to be written at the same level meaning they are real beginner books. If you are the type of person who doesn't know how to work a mouse, then I suggest that you stick to Dummy books. The Quickbooks are more geared towards people who like to play with programs to figure them out. They do give brief explanations of the basics, and I mean: "This is a pallet, this is a brush" but they only do it briefly. They are non-patronizing to the people out there who have a knack for figuring programs out.

Quickbooks are also informative. If you need information on a specific topic, such as adjusting contrast, you'll usually find it within seconds through the glossary. Not only that, but there are a number of visual aids to reference and shows step-by-step what you're going to do or use. Sometimes, they even include URLs to pages on the web (but that may be aimed towards different topics other than PhotoShop.)

The details are also worth their while to read. They give plenty of additional tips to use that you might not think of. It will usually be in a side box with a "did you know" kind of title. These have helped in my work plenty of times and given me ideas.

Plus, these books are for Mac or PC which is a plus for me considering sometimes I have to work on one or the other platform and don't always know the keystrokes or commands which can be quite different from each other.

Again, these are reference books. They are not tutorial books for the ultimate beginner. I continue to use these books with my work and enjoy them thoroughly. I recommend these books for people who like to play with programs and need something to look back on and research further.


A Very Poor Guide   June 13, 2001
surferfree (Paris, France)
11 out of 17 found this review helpful

As the reviewer D Helfrich noted above, while the Visual Quickstart Guides are generally very good, this one isn't.

It's worse than useless. After a couple of hours with this book you will regret ever getting involved with Photoshop. Your only hope will be to open the online help.

Photoshop is a great program. But you'll never learn it if you start with this wretched tome. Just my own experience.

Try Photoshop 6 Artistry: Mastering the Digital Image by Barry Haynes, for a visual guide. For theory and tips, Realworld Photoshop 6 (from the same Peachpit press as the VQS series), isn't a bad book. Or for beginners, try Robert Stanley's idiot book.

Anything but this book.