Book Review - The Photoshop CS4 Companion for Photographers by Derrick Story

This is a great little book for the price. It's got everything in it that you would expect; download, processing and printing. It's all there. What you'll discover is that after reading the book, you'll find it easier to just leave by your keyboard. It's small enough that it doesn't get in the way.

This is by no means a complete Photoshop book. It is targeted for a specific task and it's priced that way too. Far too often Photoshop books are crammed with everything and weigh in at a few pounds. For many that's a necessity, but that's not what this book is about. In fact, if you're a shooter that is mobile and processes on site, you'll probably end up throwing this book in your bag as a quick reference.

Book Review - Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-On-One by Deke McClelland

Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-On-One by Deke McClelland has been revised for CS4 and is an amazing training resource for the new user and still contains info that the experienced user will benefit from.

Written for the new user, it starts with the basics of the PS CS4 user interface and using Adobe Bridge to access your photo files. He moves on to the basics of colour correction before getting into retouching and photo compositioins

"Pearl of Wisdom" are insightful little bits of info found throughout the book, that are like pull out quotes, but are Deke's thoughts about some unique experience that he thinks you should know about to make the project go smoother. He also has similar items called "Further Investigation" which refers you to some online resources to learn more about a specific topic. Kind of like reading the books listed in the footnotes!

The book comes with over 2 hrs of video training that is unique to this book (not extracted from his hundreds of hours of training on lynda.com). It's advised that you watch each video before or after reading the accompanying chapter in the book. The process of Read, Watch, and Do, is one of the most effective ways of learning Photoshop and is unique to Deke's one-on-one series.

This book is complete in that Deke chooses to teach you everything you need to know to get the basics done in Photoshop and do them well. However, features found in Photoshop Extended like 3D and video functions are NOT explored. The book would be too big to carry around if he did.

I recommend this book for all beginning users. Experienced users would still learn some good tips from this book, as I did.

Book Review - Adobe Indesign CS4 One-On-One by Deke McClelland

Adobe Indesign CS4 One-On-One by Deke McClelland has been revised for CS4 and is a tremendous resource for the new and experienced InDesign user. Written for the new user, it starts with the basics of the ID CS4 user interface and starting your first document. As you progress thru the project based material you are exposed to invaluable tips and tricks that will make you an ID pro in no time.

"Pearl of Wisdom" are insightful little bits of info found throughout the book, that are like pull out quotes, but are Deke's thoughts about some unique experience that he thinks you should know about to make the project go smoother.

The book comes with nearly 4 hrs of video training that is unique to this book (not extracted from his hundreds of hours of training on lynda.com). It's advised that you watch each video before or after reading the accompanying chapter in the book. The process of Read, Watch, and Do, is one of the most effective ways of learning InDesign. As well, Deke's humorous writing style makes you think he's right next to you.

For experienced users, Deke successfully explains complex subjects such as XML tags. As well, even thru the basics chapters, experienced users can pick up productivity tips and hidden features that only Deke can find.

I recommend this book for all users.

Book Review - InDesign Type: Professional Typography with Adobe InDesign CS2

InDesign Type: Professional Typography with Adobe InDesign CS2 (Paperback)
by Nigel French.

This book is so packed with information, don't expect to read it in one sitting. More than likely, you'll read it a few pages at a time. This isn't a book that you read once and toss when a new version of InDesign comes out, this book applies whether you use CS1 thru CS4.

Nigel runs thru everything typographic in InDesign (as the title suggests). Chapter headlines like "Don't Fear the Hyphen" and "Text Wraps: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly", should give you an idea of the kind of fun and educational writing style Nigel has. My favorite fun chapter was the last one called "Type Effects", Nigel presented some great real world production tips that I've referenced a handful of times.