The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

After perusing others claiming to cover the same thing, I can say Kelby's is the stand-out on this topic--my a long way!


Highly informative   September 24, 2005
Graham Phillips (Cambridge, UK)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful

Photoshop elements is a powerful program but can be difficult to master. There's no shortage of books on the subject, and many are quite helpful. This one seems to be one of the best. It manages to cover a lot of ground in detail, and yet does not become too technical. It really is "for photographers" rather than for techies or publishers or others involved in digital imaging. The layout and printing are of high quality, and the binding allows you to lay the book down open at any page (except near the beginning or end). It's useful both for browsing in and for looking up a specific technique (there's a reasonable index). All in all, a five-star recommendation ... except for the painful attempts at humour on every page. I just wish the editor had had the courage to delete all the jokes (they get in the way and aren't funny). But still, you'll learn a lot about Elements and end up with better pictures, so it's worth persevering.


Not the ultimate reference on Macintosh Photoshop   September 3, 2005
4 out of 8 found this review helpful

A very clear and easy to follow book. Although the examples cover the Mac as well as the Windows version of Photoshop Elements, all the screen shots are of the Windows version and the Chapters on the Organiser and Presentation are unique to the Windows version, as these functions are covered by iPhoto on the Mac. A shame given that the author is also Editor in Chief of Mac Design Magazine and the author of the Ultimate Reference on Everything Macintosh.


A real workhorse of a book   April 1, 2005
E. Bowler (UK)
43 out of 43 found this review helpful

This book is written by an American but is so easy to use, you can either follow it from the beginning or dip in and out for editing effects more appropriate for your own projects.

This guy knows what he's doing, he's humorous and very straighforward. The images are available from his website for you to practise on. The instructions are step by step and assume very little knowledge, but they do not patronise.

I bought this along with his Down and Dirty book and also Adobe's Classroom in a book, I don't regret buying all three as they complement each other and give you many different ways of achieving great results. Elements is a very powerful program and I don't think you lose anything by getting this over Photoshop CS if you follow this guy, he's worked out some really good ways of doing the stuff in Elements 3 that previously you could only achieve in the hugely expensive Pro Photoshop packages. Excellent


Clear and easy to follow   February 15, 2005
Roy (Dorset United Kingdom)
34 out of 34 found this review helpful

I recently purchased Elements 3 and this book has been invaluable. It has clear step by step instructions with accompanying colour photographs beside each step.
After 10 minutes I had completed my first tutorial and transformed my photo, so easy to use and explains all the shortcut commands along the way. Ideal for a beginner or amateur digital photographer wishing to enhance their photos. Good service from Amazon. I also purchased Scott Kelby's 'Photoshop Elements 3 Down and Dirty Tricks' at the same time. Saved over 18 buying from Amazon than in a regular high street store. Recommended book for use with Photoshop Elements 3!