Updated for the latest version of Photoshop, Photoshop 7 Down & Dirty Tricks is packed cover to cover with step-by-step tutorials on the coolest Photoshop 7 effects. The book is not another rehash of masking, pixels, and file formats or resolution--it's nothing but the cool stuff that will make your client's (or boss's) jaw drop.
Scott Kelby is both funny and generous. His wry sense of humor doesn't get in the way of the hundreds of nifty techniques in this new collection of Down & Dirty Tricks. In fact, when you first flip quickly through the book, gobbling up all the creative ideas and timesaving tips, his sly jokes only add to the I've-just-hit-the-lottery feeling.
Whatever you're looking for--type that looks distressed, made of gel, or carved in stone; shadows in perspective or in motion; text that wraps around a globe; a glinting starburst on the edge of an object; a logo artificially placed at the bottom of a pool; or a starry sky created in an instant--just about every trick is here. And most are done in 10 steps or less. Also, each page has a Quick Tip sidebar (there're over 200 of them) that are worth the price of the book alone, with everything from getting better results from your eyedropper tool (click on Options and change the Point Sample to "3 by 3 average") to the quickest way to change units of measurement (the secret is in the Info palette).
The book has been updated since the previous edition with mostly new illustrations, many new and better ways to perform the same tricks, and a few completely new ones. Project files and images can be downloaded from the book's companion Web site at downanddirtytricks.com. Although aimed at experienced Photoshop users, the text is detailed enough for readers of all levels. For example, steps like "make a copy of that layer by dragging it to the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette" or "press the letter m to switch to the Rectangular Marquee tool" are repeated in full whenever a trick calls for them. This not only helps beginners, it allows all readers to hop around the book and be able to carry out any trick in any order. Yet another reason this book could've been titled Speedy Down & Dirty Tricks. --Angelynn Grant
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
The title should be changed to Down Dirty Old Tricks:
All the tutorials in this book are old and available on the web. The only good thing is that it covers a lot photoshop shortcuts for both MAC and Win users.
For a graphic designer, not a photographer:
This is an excellent book for an advertiser or graphic designer. There are TONS of text effects and tricks that would be vital to creating ad copy or web graphics. As a photographer, I found very little that was relevant to my line of work. So it's a great book for a lot of people, just not for photographers.
Photoshop 7 Down & Dirty Tricks:
Again, another Photoshop 7 book by Scott Kelby, my favorite expert. Like all his other books, this one is informational and easy to follow. It has effects that are ones you will use when making photoshop art as well as information to improve ordinary photographs. Photoshop is such an amazing program that keeps surprising me with effects I have not discovered. This book is another that teaches us some things that the program includes. I recomend this book to anyone who loves Photoshop and wants to learn more... more info
my review:
I bought this book a year ago. I did manage to successfully complete certain tasks but in my opinion, he uses too many shortcuts. Obviously this book wouldn't be for a beginner. His sense of humor is dry and wasn't needed. This book would have been slightly better if a CD were included as well as a place to download the images he used so that we may practice on them.
