Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0735710376, Paperback)

Barry Haynes, Apple pioneer and photographer with over a decade of experience working with digital images, has been using Photoshop since it was created. His work and experience shows in this latest addition to the Photoshop Artistry series. The writing is clear and thorough. Each section covers some aspect of Photoshop in detail, whether it's explaining formats like TIFF and PDF, gleaning information from histograms, or using levels and curves for color correction. Within the explanations are exercises set in bold type (with project files on the CD-ROM), giving the text the one-two punch of "learn" and "do."

The first section goes over tools and functionality; section two shows color correction and how to create a "master digital image"; and section three covers a myriad of color, layer, and selection techniques using chapter-length hands-on projects, including one that covers restoring old photographs. Screen shots are plentiful, as are sample photos and other graphics, and the captions are a skimmer's delight--readers can learn a lot without even reading the full text.

Those who own previous editions will want to know what's new in this book. In addition to rewriting examples found in Photoshop 5 & 5.5 Artistry to reflect all the new features of Photoshop 6, the author has added new techniques he's learned from printing and selling his own art since the last book. There are several new examples that cover Photoshop 6's new color-management and color-calibration features. Also, this latest book has been reorganized so that it can be used as a classroom textbook. The CD-ROM has an improved version of the author's ArtistKeys--automated sequences, assigned to function keys, that save time by doing common tasks like opening or closing palettes and converting file formats.

The book works well for Photoshop-experienced professional designers and photographers, but would also be a good choice for a beginner. If you come to Photoshop by way of Photoshop 6 Artistry, you'll surely be a nimble expert by the end of the book. --Angelynn Grant