Photoshop Cs3 Photo Effects Cookbook: 53 Easy-To-Follow Recipes for Digital Photographers, Designers, and Artists

by Tim Shelbourne

Whether you're just getting getting into Photoshop or have been using it for a while, you know that it's a many-faceted application that can be somewhat overwhelming to master. With 53 easy-to-follow recipes, Photoshop CS3 Photo Effects Cookbook shows you how to use Photoshop CS3 to simulate classic camera and darkroom techniques and special effects--without making you first learn Photoshop inside and out.

The book covers:

Using...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0596515049
• ISBN13: 9780596515041
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.4" x 10.0"

Customer Reviews

COOKING WITH PHOTOSHOP CS3!!

Are you an experienced Photoshop user or just a novice? If you are, then this book is for you. Author Tim Shelbourne, has done an outstanding job of writing a book that is an invaluable resource that you'll return to again and again. Shelbourne, begins by taking a look at the host of improvements to the way Photoshop looks and works in Version CS3, like: Smart objects, smart filters, multiple clone sources, refine edges, improved curves, and quick selection tool. Next, the author shows you how to make accurate selections, which is the key to the art of successful image manipulations. Then, he discusses how layers are the bedrock of successful image editing in Photoshop. The authors also focus on how to disable any in-camera sharpening and sharpening images in Photoshop after the event, as this gives you far more control over the final degree of sharpness in the image. He continues by explaining how Photoshop is not a true-vector based program, and because the terminology is rather confusing, you can think of vectors in Photoshop simply as paths--in essence, how the two things are one and the same. Finally, the author shows you how to use Photoshop's Lighting Effects filter. This most excellent book is a real bonus for those times when inspiration runs short or you need to pin down a particular effect. More importantly, this book is organized into different areas, each covering a particular genre of Photoshop recipes.

I am having fun with this book

There are hundreds of third party books for Photoshop, but this is one of the most gorgeous looking I have seen. It is in full color and the Photoshop artwork is inspiring. There are 61 step-by-step projects designed to teach you how to achieve interesting effects from photos. Flipping through the pages makes you just want to start right in and try some. To use the book, you can download the project files from a web link you find inside the book. The download is about 29MBs, but contains most of the original photos needed. The first project I tried out is one where you use a photo of the head of a horse and place it unto a textured wood background and you end up with something that could be a wine label or a poster. I did run into one problem where the wooden background was missing from the project's files. I was able to create one myself and still follow the project. My final product didn't look exactly like the one in the book, but it was darn close. Close enough that I was rather pleased with it. Adobe Photoshop CS2 is covered in this book, so I am not sure how well these projects would all work using an older version which may not have all the features used. I then proceeded to do a project that turns photos into watercolor paintings. I used my own photo, then tried it again on another photo. After a couple of tries, I almost have the steps memorized. Other projects show how to add a starry sky and a full moon to a photo of what looks like London Bridge at night, and adding reflections to objects, turning a figure to stone, or turning a photo into what looks like a painting. I have done a lot of dabbling in Photoshop just trying different effects but this book showed me a lot of tricks I never would have figured out on my own. This is as much fun as eating candy. You might even want to print some of your results out and frame them.

Well worth it

Despite the fact that this book features many of the same cliched effects you've seen in other Photoshop books, I'm giving this book 5 stars. Shelbourne's chapter on graphic art effects (oil painting, pencil sketch and watercolor) alone is worth the price of admission. I lurk regularly at Photoshop-based forums at the DPReview.com and RetouchPro.com, looking for new effects to try on my photos. Shelbourne, in a handful of pages, has given me plenty to savor for quite some time.

Great for consulting

This book is very very good because it shows you all of the photo effects in photoshop and how they will look like and how you can use them, I mean it shows you which kind of photo you can use to have the best of the effect. It is very visual and easy to follow. You can surprise a lot when you start using "correctly" the effects and you also will feel more secure in using them and make great things with you pics. I would say it is good to have this kind of books where you can find visually all of the photo effects.