 SAMS Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Elements 2 in 24 Hours by Carla Rose, SAMS, $24.99
Like all the books in the 24-Hour series, this one will have you up and running with the application in a very short time. Step-by-step instructions take you through the scanning process or importing from a digital camera right through creating and repairing your own digital images. With attention to Elements’ built-in repair recipes and its many filters, you'll be able to create stunning digital images. There's nothing arcane in this sensible companion to what is becoming an enormously popular program. Take the quizzes, do the exercises, and follow the tips and shortcuts and you'll be surprised at how quickly you'll become a proficient Elements user.
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 The Art of Photoshop by Daniel Giordan, SAMS, $49.99.
This is one of the most beautiful and useful Photoshop books ever published. It is a compilation of extraordinary images and details of how they were created. Step-by-step explanations of how the artist achieved the effect will have you scurrying to Photoshop 7 to recreate the effects in your own artwork. For each image the author explains what makes the image interesting, provides information on how a particular Photoshop technology was used to create the image, and includes details about finishing the image, making the book both an artistic and educational experience. Your imagination and creativity could receive no finer gift this holiday.
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 Absolute Beginner’s Guide to Photoshop Elements 2 by Lisa Lee, Que, $29.99.
This is a great book to begin your study of what is becoming the popular alternative to Photoshop. It takes you through all the steps needed to transfer your digital photos into Elements from your scanner of digital camera, edit the images, create panoramic views and even create a slide show of your images for the Web. The best part of the book is the intelligible definitions of terms you'll encounter in the menus and dialog boxes. This is an excellent book for the novice user who doesn't want to be patronized while learning how to get professional results from this sophisticated application.
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 Adobe Acrobat 5 Master Class by Pattie Belle Hastings, Bjorn Akselsen, and Sandee Cohen, Adobe Press, $45 w/CD
Like the other books in the Master Class series, this one is also an interactive tutorial, teaching you how to get the most out of Acrobat when generating PDF (Portable Document Format) documents. You'll learn how to make rollover buttons, add sounds, create animations and program “smart forms.” If you've been using Acrobat to create only cross-platform print documents, then this book will open a whole new world of opportunity for using this workhorse application to create beautifully designed and commercially effective PDF documents.
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