Photoshop 6 WOW!

by Joyce J Evans

If you have ever owned a WOW! book you already know how great they are. I almost forget that there are people who many not have even purchased one. I wait anxiously for each new release, and this one was certainly not a disappointment. Whether you are a designer, photographer, illustrator or just for fun Photoshop user, you'll find tons of real world tips and techniques along with step-by step examples.

On the back cover of the book it claims the learning level is for beginner to advanced. I'd have to disagree with this part. This book is more suited to someone who is at least comfortable using Photoshop. There are some basics included but it's not a , "learn Photoshop" book. I'd say it's more a, "push Photoshop to new heights" book. The bulk of the content is more intermediate to advanced.

According to the authors the aim of the Photoshop 6 WOW! book is, "To provide the kind of inspirational examples and practical "nuts-and-bolts" info that will help you maximize the program performance and your own creativity and productivity with it." I'd have to say their aim is great! This book certainly does this and even more.

The layout of this full color book is gorgeous! I love a good quality paper and color (ok, so I have a book fetish...I admit it). The teaching style and layout of the book is as follows:

1. Basics—such as scanning, color, layer styles, selections, masks and more.

2. Tips—which are easily identified by the yellow background. The tips are more advanced tips which relate to a more basic technique but they stand on their own. You can skim the book for just the tips and walk away with a wealth of understanding.

3. Technique—or recipes with enough step-by-step instructions so you can carry out the technique in Photoshop. The before and after PSD files are included on the CD-ROM.

4. Galleries—inspirational pieces of work. But it's more, the captions are a half page or so giving you a brief run down of what the designer did to achieve the results.

5. Catalogs—contain illustrations of different variations of certain techniques. The steps of the variation or a sample file showing the steps is included.

6. CD-ROM—this is a value packed addition to the book. It is literally jam packed with goodies (more later).

7. PDF Study Guide—shows an educator how to use the Photoshop 6 WOW! book in a teaching environment.

8. Experiment—you are encouraged to experiment with the various projects to expand your skills.

Here is a quick overview of what you can expect to find in this book. I have only listed a few of the topics for each chapter.

1. Fundamentals of Photoshop—covers things such as working smart, resolution, resampling and more.

2. Color in Photoshop—teaches duotones, spot color, channel mixing and more.

3. Retouching and Enhancing Photos—includes color adjustment, repairing images, keeping the grain in images and much more.

4. Combining Images—teaches masking techniques, extracting and panoramas.

5. Using Filters and Liquify—teaches a logo with 3D transform, combining light, and filter demos to name a few.

6. Painting—shows how to paint with gradients and using Art History.

7. Type, Shapes, Paths and PostScript—covers warped text, silhouetting images, organic graphics and more.

8. Special Effects for Type and Grahics—teaches layer styles, chrome, carving, glass, textures and more.

9. The Web is Motion Graphics—includes tweening, cel animations, animating with masks, animating with actions and rollovers.

What's on the CD-ROM

Before and after PSD image files (over 200!)
Over 300 preset layer styles
50 automated rollover styles
Actions and dozens of custom presets for patterns, gradients, shapes, brushes and contours.
Photoshop 6.0.1 Updater
Sample issues of Design Tools Monthly
MonacoEZcolor demo
Photowebber 1 (automatically makes a PSP file into a Web page)
Tips for using a Wacom tablet
If you can only afford one intermediate book on Photoshop, it has to be Photoshop 6 WOW! It packs a lot of punch for the price.

The Photoshop 6 Wow! Book
by Linnea Dayton, Jack Davis
Peachpit Press
ISBN: 0201722080
480 pages