Comments about oreilly Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual:

To say that there are a number of Photoshop help books on the market has got to be one of the great understatements of all time. So, what makes you want to pick up "Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual"? There are a few reasons: 1) Being part of the O'Reilly Missing Manual Series. Past personal history with these titles have been good. 2) The author. Having seen Lesa speak personally, she probably has forgotten more about Photoshop than I know, and 3) The Goldilocks theory of book size. There are PS books that are much bigger (and actually can hurt to lift after a while) or smaller (and don't really cover enough).

Weighing in at 750 pages (not counting the index) PS CS4: TMM (sounds like a Star Trek series) is broken down into 5 areas: Basics, Editing, Artistic, Printing/Web Output, and PS Power, making it very easy to find what you are looking for.

Now, normally in a PS book or manual, trying to read the copy makes my eyes start to glaze over and start to drift, but that is not the case with this book. Her writing has an easy humorous style about it, keeping you reading. Add to that plenty of COLOR photos to guide you, and this is one book that will have a prominent place on the bookshelf until it gets worn out and replaced with an exact duplicate

Comments about oreilly Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual:

Book: Photoshop CS4, The Missing Manual by Lesa Snider King
Publisher : O'Reilly
ISBN : 978-0-596-52296-4
No. of Pages: 776
Price : [$] (35% off for MUGs)
Level : Intermediate/Advanced
Date : November 2009
Reviewer : Maria O. Arguello 
Rating : 5 out of 5 applesThe O'Reilly Missing Manual Series are near and dear to my heart. My private library holds a significant number and they are my first resource when I need a quick answer to a question. Lesa Snider King's, Photoshop CS4, The Missing Manual (for Macs and Windows)  is one of my favorites.The tome composed of 776 pages is coherent, informative, and full of useful content. It is sufficient  for all who feel one book is enough. The numerous color graphics pop and are one of its many strengths. I used to hate the black and white illustrations that were once upon time popular for books about improving images. Duh?! Thank you O'Reilly. The index is well done and very valuable and useful. Lesa's writing style is clear and amusing. Her sense of humor comes through making this book an easy read. Her uncomplicated explanations for very complex topics are remarkable. The reader will chuckle.The author's experience and expertise with Photoshop is an asset which dazzles in her narrative. The organization of the subject matter flows in a logical and straightforward manner.When I read the section about Super Slimmers, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Ralph Lauren Photoshop fiasco. The photo was widely distributed and discussed over the Internet as an example for overdoing Photoshop. If you missed it, you weren't on planet earth. Check it out at . David Pogue, the creator of The Missing Manual series, wrote in the Foreword, "Thanks to Photoshop, photography is no longer a reliable record of reality." How true is that.This is the book that should have been in the box with Photoshop CS4. Buy it.©2009 Maria O. Arguello is  a reviewer for the Macintosh user group community and the vendor liaison of the Macintosh Users Group of South New Jersey (MUGSNJ) . To see more reviews go to [@] Maria is also a member of MLMUG, NCMUG, PMUG, MUGSNJ, PPUG,  and SJAUG. She is the Apple User Group Regional Liaison for the Northeast United States (CT, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ, NY, RI, VT). 

Comments about oreilly Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual:

I am a novice to Photoshop and I became aware of a feature called Curves. Not really knowing what curves does, I bought 2 Adobe books that just briefly touched on the subject. The Missing Manual totally explained the feature and provided me with a better understanding of said feature. This is an excellent book it has so much information and so well written. Easy to read and I highly recommend the Missing Manual to Novices like myself. Thanks!

Comments about oreilly Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual:

Photoshop CS4 - The Missing Manual by Lisa Snider King.

The Missing Manual series is always a good investment in your time and money. This specific title covers every aspect of Photoshop and gives beginners a good intro and even provides great productivity tips for experienced users who are wanting to get up to speed with Photoshop CS4.

I read another review on the NAPP site and on this one that said this book reminded them of the original Photoshop Bible series by Deke McClelland. I wholeheartedly agree with this statement. The nice thing about Lesa's book is that she doesn't drive us nuts with a crazy sense of humor like Deke did. Yeah Lesa. I should say I really like Deke too. Lesa's Photoshop CS4 Missing Manual is a great replacement book to the bible series.