Books for CS2

[amyb]

What books would you recommend for learning CS2?

[MidnightChardonnay]

Hi Amy

There are lots of books out there and if you can get to see some of them in a local bookstore then have a browse to see which offers a style you feel comfortable with.

Having said that "Photoshop CS2 Classroom in a Book" by Adobe Press and "Photoshop CS2 One on One" by Deke McClelland are two which I own and can recommend. Both of them will give you a good grounding in the basics of CS2 and they come with CDs or access to web sites so that you can use the images in the examples.

As I have progressed with CS2 I have found that books which concentrate on a specific area of Photoshop have been very useful. Examples of these are "Masking and Compositing" and "Restoration and Retouching", both by Katrin Eismann. Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop CS2 Channels Book" is, as far as I'm concerned, a must have.

I hope that this helps you, Amy, and that you find books which will enable you to master this fantastic piece of software.

[dmrdm]

Agree with David, go to a bookstore and browse. See what trips your trigger. There are books on photography and different interests of all kinds. There are so many things you can do with Photoshop, it just depends on what you want to do. (Then go home and order them off of Amazon.com or B & N for less and get free shipping). I've got the PS Channels Book David mentioned and have Kartin Eismanns, PS Restoration & Retouching. Have been hoping Katrin comes out with a new version of Masking and Compositing as I really like her stuff. Actually I wish she would come out more books.. I'm a Kelby fan and also have The PS CS 2 Book for Digital Photographers and David Cross, Photoshop Finishing Touches. Love the Photoshop Guys! A few others I have are: Photoshop Artistry (good, but like Kartin's better), Photoshop CS 2 Classroom in a Book and couple of the OReilly Books-PS Photo Effects Cookbook and PS Blending Modes Cookbook (actually these books are fun and packed with a lot) . I have How To Cheat in Photoshop, but I don't care for that one very much at all.

There are tons out there....stop by a book store...grab a stack of different ones, find a chair and see which ones look like they contain the things you want to learn. Good luck.

[Wendy]

Hi Amy ...

Oh that is my view too ... the best way of knowing which books work for you is to try to browse through some.

Scott Kelby is my all time favourite ... simply because I love his laid back style and it suits me.

Katrin Eismann ... great for retouching

Bert Monroy ... the books are old but the techniques are just the same today

.. and I have an old copy of the Photoshop Bible ... that is a good reference book :)

Wendy

[troush]

I always hit the Library. Usually, there is inter-library loan, so if your local city/county doesn't have it, they'll get it from somewhere else. I did that with a few, and then bought what I liked.

-Trish

[Wendy]

Oh thats a good idea Trish :)

Wendy

[photoshopsusieq]

I do what Trish does... Fortunately we have a great public library system. There's even a bookstore that sells donated books really cheap. I check the computer section at least once a week for anything Photoshop related.

Trust me... it hasn't stopped me from buying lots of books but I like to "try it before I buy it".

[troush]

Exactly, Susan. It helps tremendously. You may find you don't like a certain author's style, or it covers stuff you already know more that what you don't know.

-Trish

[amyb]

Thanks for the input! I do have a Scott Kelby book for Elements but I think I'm just overwhelmed with CS2 that I'm not even sure where to start! I will definitely be going to the library - that's a great idea - and then I can choose from there what to buy!

[Wendy]

Hi Amy ...

Don't forget that we will all help :)

... one thing that I would suggest is putting Elements away until you have learned CS2. Its much more difficult to learn if you are using both at the same time ...

Wendy

[cutekits]

That's exactly what I had to do Wendy. I deleted Elements from my computer because I found myself going back to it instead of sticking with CS2. Now I LOVE CS2.
Good Luck

[Priss]

That's exactly what I had to do Wendy. I deleted Elements from my computer because I found myself going back to it instead of sticking with CS2. Now I LOVE CS2.
Good Luck

You ROCK! Laura--good for you!

[MidnightChardonnay]

That's exactly what I had to do Wendy. I deleted Elements from my computer because I found myself going back to it instead of sticking with CS2. Now I LOVE CS2.
Good Luck

Hi Laura

I keep Elements 5 on my PC, even though I rarely use it, because it does have a few neat tricks that CS2 doesn't have. For example, if I have a photo which is slightly crooked - and I take a lot of them :rolleyes: - then Elements will straighten it and crop the resulting white space around the crop all in one go. Try doing that in CS2 :)

[cutekits]

You ROCK! Laura--good for you!

Well your the one that taught me girl. Hugs to you.

[cutekits]

You ROCK! Laura--good for you!


Hi Laura

I keep Elements 5 on my PC, even though I rarely use it, because it does have a few neat tricks that CS2 doesn't have. For example, if I have a photo which is slightly crooked - and I take a lot of them :rolleyes: - then Elements will straighten it and crop the resulting white space around the crop all in one go. Try doing that in CS2 :)

I would love that in PSCS2, what a great trick. hehehe :)

[dmrdm]

You get over the uneasyness of not knowing CS pretty quick. I was scared the first couple of weeks just because of all of the hype you hear about it, but got over that quick and never looked back. I figure the only way I'd learn it was to use it. I actually had Elements and PSP 9 at the time - using PSP 9 as my primary.

(none of our local librarys have any current PS books, so envey those that do- although, I refer back to my books frequently)
Have FUN!

[Wendy]

Hi ...

To straighten crooked images using Photoshop just get the meansure tool and use it to make a straight line in the image ..

Then do Image>Rotate Canvas>Arbitrary ... and there you go :)

Wendy

[akersk]

The "Teach Yourself Visually" series for Photoshop are my favorite.
Kathy

[Wendy]

Hi Kathy ...

... and welcome :)

Have you been using Photoshop for long ... and do post some of your images in te Gallery so that we can see them ...

Wendy