Adobe Photoshop 7: One-Click Wow! [With CDROM]

by Jack Davis

Book Overview

Jack is back with the update to his best-selling, award-winning Photoshop Wow! Book! Readers have hailed previous versions of Jack Davis?s landmark book as the "most useful Photoshop book ever"... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0321125312
• ISBN13: 9780321125316
• Release Date: January 2002
• Publisher: Peachpit Press
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 9.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Must Have Book for Serious Photoshop 7 Users

When I started reading this book, I was very discouraged as in the introduction the writers often use terms such as alpha channel, a mask, or a vector before they've explained them. Boy am I glad I read further where everything is not only explained, but illustrated!From the very first pages this book is special in that it's organized with the user in mind. The contents are organized into areas of user-need: Fundamentals of Photoshop, Color in Photoshop, Retouching & Enhancing Photos, Combining Images, Using Filters, Painting, Type, Shapes, Paths & PostScript, Special Effects for Type & Graphics, The Web & Motion Graphics. For example, I don't do print output but do do a lot of web stuff and want to learn the painting, so I can skip to the painting section.Actually I'm somewhere in between a beginner and a knowledgeable user, so I'm going to start with the Fundamentals.The five pages detailing What's new In Photoshop 7 are worth the price of the book. They give a synopsis of features with reference to the detailed section. This makes it easy for you to quickly see version 7 solves a frustration from earlier versions. The enclosed CD contains tool presets for image fixing such as red eye, production shortcuts and custom backgrounds and buttons. The CD has some awesome additions on it for brushes,lighting styles, etc.Each Chapter has an index of tips which lets you quickly scan to see if what you need to do is explained in this chapter.If you're new to Photoshop, you might skip to the Fundamentals section as what precedes it assumes you understand alpha channels, masks, etc.In the Fundamentals section, detailed descriptions of recordable actions and use of the history palette will improve your productivity. The distinctions in ways to select items are explained and can save some frustrating hours of trial and error.The order of items in chapter 1 did not seem logical to me. Almost at the end of the chapter was the topic Input with a description of ways to input graphics. Meanwhile, there had been extensive and very useful discussions on how to select parts of an image, make an alpha channel and some on using masks.The authors alternate between very complex descriptions such as the extract filter and concise tables with shortcuts. Experienced users will appreciate the complex descriptions, but as a novice, prepare to spend time to master them. I don't do printed output, just web stuff, so I was very tempted to skip chapter 2 about color. However, the section on Color Adjustment Options including Blend Modes was useful and pointed me to more detailed instructions in other chapters.The chapter on Retouching Photos is worth the price of the book. Want to clean up old slides ? Blur the background like using a short focal point? take away wrinkles? These are shown step by step with examples! I had no idea you could retouch with history, but it's explained quite well.Ever want to extract an image with edges like wisps of hair?

Great book that makes you want to try out what you just read

Of course, this book expects you to know at least the basics of Photoshop. But thank god it does, so it's not yet another newbie book that teaches you what a layer is (not intending to sound disparaging). For those interested in digital photography, web design or just wanting to live out their "digital creativity" the book is a must.I guess the best praise for a book like this is that it makes you immediately want to try out the things you just learned.

You're gonna love this book and the effects it allows.

It took me a while to get around to loading this program onto Photoshop 7 but after doing so I can't figure why I waited so long. It's easy to use and so-o-o forgiving. I particularly like being able to reset the copy and retain the total effect. Some of the effects are much better and more useful than others, but once you get past the fun of playing with the process it will save you hours in creative time and make your work more unique. A great investment.

Jack and Linnea Have Done All the Work For You

The greatest value of One Click WOW is the CD which includes:* 60 custom brush presets*  300 styles for photos, type, and graphics,* 150 styles for buttons,* 50 styles for ImageReady rollovers complete with JavaScript code,* 40 gradient presets,* over 150 seamless pattern textures,* 60 actions,* 60 art media tool presets,* tutorial and sample filesOne Click WOW works on the Layer Styles in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. So you just install and you're ready to go. You really don't have to read anything, but I suggest reading the part where it explains resolution (all theirs are done at 225 ppi) and how to get the best results, how to scale their presets, etc.The book contains what seems like a zillion (technical term) sample images of the various styles, presets, patterns and brushes, gradient effects, photo effects... vignettes, frames, borders, tints, color effects, textures, patterns, grains and even various darkroom effectsYou can set some text or create a simple grayscale image, then click on one of their presets, and voila! You instantly have results that might have taken hours.They also give you presets to change the look of photos, like adding film grain, and, near the back, Jack includes a little tutorial on his amazing technique to turn your photos into paintings (using the brush presets on the CD).

A low-cost, awesome tool for graphic designers!

I have been using Adobe Photoshop 7 on MAC OS X for several months now and the upgrade has been wonderful. The actions, styles and patterns have been really great for the work I have done so far BUT there were plug-ins that I used on previous versions of Photoshop that I miss such as Extensis PhotoFrame and pretty much once you use 7, you don't want to use the previous versions of Photoshop especially in Classic Mode. Well, on many projects, especially building advertisements, I'm always craving for something that can run on the latest Photoshop. Also, to save me time in making the ads. That's why there are downloadable actions that help speed that time up BUT unfortunately, I don't have the time to jump around websites and look for certain actions, styles, gradients, etc. If I need to create a marble background, a plastic, glass icon, etc. I would have to do it manually and it does take time.With "Photoshop 7 One-Click Wow!", this book/CD has eliminated that extra time in creating backgrounds, gradients or special effects. Also, you would save a lot of money compared to software plug-ins that would cost you close to a hundred bucks, you're saving a lot of money with this book/CD. The CD comes with over 800 one click makeovers for brushes, tool presets, patterns, gradients, actions and rollovers.Sure, for some purists, it's fun to challenge oneself to seeing how quickly you can do an effect but if you are a designer who has to deal with many deadlines and multiple projects, you need to eliminate as much time from creating these effects, so you can get some good night's sleep (sleep, what sleep?) or that extra hour to go to lunch or dinner. Pretty much install the WOW! Folders to the corresponding Photoshop folders and append them and it's all one click which you can adjust frame sizes and more. Jack Davis & Linnea Dayton have provided us with an awesome tool for designers. Beginner or advanced, this is definitely worth checking out!