Wow! Check Out That Book

Wow! Check Out That Book - Again

Bruce Von Stiers

Back in May of 1998 I wrote a review on The Photoshop 4 Wow! Book. The authors, Linnea Dayton and Jack Davis, have brought out a new version of the book. This book is called The Photoshop 5/5.5 Wow! Book. It was copyrighted in 1999 and published by Peachpit Press.

If you have a copy of the Wow! 4 book, then I'd stay away from this one. There are only a few new things in it (mostly for 5.5's web capabilities). But if you haven't bought the earlier book, a big treat is in store.

The Photoshop 5/5.5 Wow! Book has nine chapters of tips and tricks about Adobe Photoshop 5 and 5.5. Chapter 5 covers using filters. You can sharpen an image or blur it. You can add light to simulate some type of light hitting an object. Chapter 6 covers the various painting elements available in Photoshop.

Learn about the History Brush and how to use it "hand paint" a photo. There is the rubber stamp or Clone tool that lets you select an area in the image and repeat it.

Chapter 8 deals with Special Effects. There is a sample of Coloring and embossing. The book also shows how to create both chrome and a carved image.

Chapter 9 is called Photoshop And The Web. This chapter covers a lot of the new elements that Adobe Systems incorporated into Photoshop. These elements allow for better graphics for web pages. It also goes through maintenance tasks like choosing a graphic format for the web graphic.

The first chapter goes through Photoshop basics and how to get the best out of the product.

The Photoshop 5/5.5 Wow! Book comes with a CD-ROM disc that is full of useful things. There are demos of programs like After Effects and Extensis. There are also sample images from Photodisc, Artbeat and Imageclub. There are some good utility programs that are included.

This book is indeed a treat for those who haven't got the Photoshop 4 Wow! Book. It has all sorts of things that you'd never thought about using Photoshop for.

The Photoshop 5/5.5 Wow! Book lists for $49.99. You can get it at your local bookstore or directly from Peachpit Press. You can find them on the Web at www.peachpit.com.

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