Adobe Photoshop CS4 Classroom in a Book

I usually have trouble finding books that satisfy me when it comes to learning from them. I found this not to be the case with Classroom in a Book. I found it to be just what I was needing to say the least. This book takes you from no Knowledge to quite a bit of knowledge in no time. It has very good lesson files which are located on a disk to be used while you go through this book. I have learned so much thanks to the way the book is designed. If you are like me and need to actually do the work to be able to retain what it is you are trying to learn than this is the book for you. I wish all books, designed to teach, were as well thought out as this one is. Thank You so much Adobe. When you think about it,It just makes sense to use a learning book that has been created by the author of the software itself. You will not be dissapointed in what I consider to be a great tool in and of itself, ( Adobe Photoshop CS4 - Classroom in a Book). One of the GREATS!!!!!

I was able to complete most of the exercises in this book. The directions sometimes were different than on my mac. In the margins, there is additional info, and that cleared up many things. I liked how the book teaches us to use Adobe Bridge to organize photos! Very handy! I love all the things this book teaches you! I used it for a college class. There are lesson files with images to to the exercises on the computer. All you need it a CD ROM player. There are extra credit exercises and quizzes in this book. There is some photo retouching, though Photoshop does much more. Some 3D is in a later chapter. I do not believe I can do this as I am on a Mac.

This product isn't so much a tutorial on what things are and how they work, but a step by step project book. While each project so far has been short and simple, there really isn't much explanation of WHAT I'm doing. Its possible that understanding will come with time, but so far it is all click this, point here, click that and you're done! So its good if you just need to dive in and get over using a new program. Its not so good if you have questions about why this over that.

theres nothing in this book that i dont already know...and if i forget something, this would be a good quick reference book. i could honestly deal without having this book and be happy with it... and i thought it would be a book about stuff i already knew... its just sitting on my desk... its alright

This book arrived in outstanding condition. As for the content, it was worth the money. It takes the beginner through the basics of CS4 step-by-step using the supplied CD with lessons. Learning from this book, I am able to use CS4 and even some of the advanced features of the software. This publication was exactly what I was hoping for. I highly recommend this book if you need to start learning CS4. As with anything, the more time you put into learning CS4 using the lessons, the more you will benefit. If you are looking for a "quick-down-and-dirty-method" using shortcuts to learn CS4, then this is not the book for you.

This book unlocked the secrets of Photoshop for me. Photoshop may be wonderful, but it's not intuitive. Even after taking an adult education photoshop class I still didn't understand how to use the program. A few hours with this book and I now get it!! The book is written very clearly and explains things very well. I love the way it is laid out and I know I will refer to it over and over again. I recommend this book very highly to anyone who wants to learn how to use Photoshop!

The book arrived earlier than expected and was in perfect condition. I'm using it for a class, and it's been very easy to understand and interesting! I received it before I received the software, and even though it helps to follow along with Photoshop open on your PC, it was easy to grasp just by reading also. Good price too. I'm using the book Adobe Photoshop CS4 Classroom in a Book with Adobe Photoshop CS5 software. I'm into the first 100 pages, and so far there have only been very few minor differences between the CS5 software I'm using, and the processes described with the CS4 book.

After learning bits and pieces about how to use Photoshop - particularly to fix photos - this was the book that finally helped me learn a lot of the really-valuable, but less obvious, features (layers, masks, the pen tool, etc.) which let me use Photoshop more creatively. However, one big warning about buying used copies of this book: without the CD or other access to the lesson files, this book would only be good for lighting fires; all of the value content is in doing the lessons, and you can't do them without the files.

Brilliant

I've had a copy of Photoshop since CS3 first came out but shied away from it thinking I didn't really need it as it was part of the Web Premium Suite and I favoured Fireworks. Having stepped my toe into Photoshop with The Digital Classroom CS4 Design Premium book, I was hooked so I dug this book off the bookshelf and delved in. It is written clearly, precisely and leads you through each of the examples really well. It is well paced and although not meant to be read from front to back, it does build up progressively and sows some neat functions which I'd never seen nor knew about! Needless to say I am hooked and about to start the How to Cheat in Photoshop and look forward to developing my skills rapidly. The only downside I found was it'd tell you to select blend mode blah and set x to this, y to that etc but didn't always say why nor explain the options but I guess that comes with time and playing around. Overall a great intro with some nice tutorials.

Very practical to have around.

What a fantastic book. I have recently completed a college course in advanced digital image manipulation techniques and learned loads about the power of Photoshop, albeit via CS2. That said, this book complements that course and for any beginner who yearns to become savvy in Photoshop, then this is the one to buy. No, not advanced, but it covers all the basic techniques and gives a worthwhile understanding of Photoshop CS4. Although the "Classroom in a book" series are not cheap to buy, I also bought "Photoshop Lightroom CS2 Classroom in a book" and was similarly impressed (see my review). Why pay an enormous amount of money for Adobe software and then skimp on learning how to get the best out of it? A learners book and worth every penny.

I am three quarters of the way through this book and totally loving the learning experience. I highly recommend this book to Photoshop CS4 users who have had a play with the software and feel that they are just scraping the surface of something vast. The hints and tips that you pick up are so useful that you will be going back to it again and again. After each chapter there are review questions to see if you have taken it all in. I knew nothing about "Camera Raw" before I read this book and realise now that it is a very important part of digital photography and image manipulation. The "projects" in each chapter are easy and fun to do and there are some web resources throughout the book that are worth checking out. I have three Photoshop CS4 manuals and this is definitely the best one. My reason for not giving it 5 stars is because I would like to use Photoshop for web content design and there is not very much detail for that with this book although it does give you the wherewithall I would like more examples.