Equipment and Software Books

Photoshop 7 Learning Studio
Steve Romaniello

Overview.

I really think that this author has a good handle on the teaching of Photoshop as I said in my review of his book, "Photoshop 7 Savvy" which can be found ... I am not going to repeat the book review here, this is about a package that seems to be a new concept.

Do not be fooled into thinking that the CDROM is just a re-hash of the one included with the book. It is a whole new approach. This Learning Studio edition incorporates a brand new way of learning, by way of CDROM, and also includes the 600 page book as a bonus as well.

Sure, it covers the information in the book, but some people have difficulty in reading and relaying that information into a useful process. I found that seeing on screen, what I wanted to do was really beneficial. It turns cold words into colourful, easy to understand images.

The CDROM works well by itself and the inclusion of the book is definitely an added bonus. Of course you could look at it the other way and accept that you get a bonus CDROM with a really useful book.

You can work your way around the index on the CDROM to isolate the area you are interested in and then you are offered even more menus to further pinpoint your search. These menus have even more sections so you don't have to go through the whole lesson again to reach the part you are wanting.

A lot of the lessons have a video presentation as well, so if written English is not your first language, you can learn by listening and watching. You set the pace which governs your learning speed.

The lessons are done using a simulated Photoshop 7 desktop and you will find that there are similarities with the lessons in the book, but somehow, it is easier to grasp concepts which are demonstrated.

This is really well demonstrated when viewing the blend modes, something that is hard to explain in print, and also the shortcuts are easier to learn when shown on a simulated keyboard as you click through them. This CDROM can be running in the background while you work on your images and is then readily available as a help program when needed.

The reference section is really good and you can see at a glance what sort of information you want either as a video presentation or a slide show.

The slide shows all have a voice over which can be turned off, depending on your method of learning. I found that it helps to have the voice on as you follow the instructions.

The CDROM duplicates much of what is in the book, after all, the program is the same, but by following a simulated desktop you get a really good feel for the lessons, contained there, plus, it goes even further. This means that your learning curve is greatly reduced, and when dealing with Photoshop that is a definite advantage.

The Learning Studio is broken up into five sections comprising;

1. Photoshop Core which takes you through Photoshop from it's beginnings and how to set up your monitor and what the tools are, as well as how to use the basic functions.

2. Is all about colour. What it is, how it works with your computer and the differences between CMYK for print, or RGB for net or computer viewing.

3. Relates to the use of Photoshop to correct images use Image Ready to prepare for the web, using filters and also making difficult selections, something that can cause real frustration. The author takes you through some tricky images and because you must participate in the interactive slide show, it gives a better feel for what you are doing.

4.This is the reference section and is really large and easy to use. A row of alphabetical buttons are arranged to make it easy and quick to find just what you need. Once you have found your query, you are offered options on how to perform the steps needed to complete your goal.

5. Is the Hands On section where you get to use the CDROM from the book Photoshop 7 Savvy and go through some of the lessons contained in there. This covers things like painting in Photoshop and also fixing an old and damaged photo. While you can't participate in the simulated lesson, you can have your own image to work on while the short movie is playing.

These movies are all broken into small sections so you get a chance to keep up with the important steps that are being explained. Most of the lessons do require a lot of concentration and the short segments mean that if you need to stop, it is easy to re-start where you left off when you return.

Bottom Line.

It helps that the author is an Adobe Certified Instructor, which means that the knowledge base is very large. If you can't find the answer to problems, or learn from these lessons I would be very surprised.

This is a really good way to learn, and with this suite, you probably don't need extra books. ...

I just got this book today and have gone through the entire thing already! Scott Kelby's humorous approach to the subject lightens up the reading just right. All of the instructions are in plain english (none of that techno stuff!) and the pictures make it a breeze to follow along. Great book!

This nice hardcover official guide from American Megatrends is a must for someone learning very low-level programming or anyone who needs to configure and older computer, like a 286 or 386. Though it's somewhat out-dated, the basics are still the same. 15 chapters include BIOS Software Interrupts, CMOS RAM Map, EISA Overview, Error Messages, etc. & so forth.

Seqdgwick's Quick Photoshop for Research is a well-produced book with one to two page instructions on using Adobe Photoshop in scientific imaging.

The book is not just for scientists! Anyone using Photoshop who is not an expert will benefit from the instructions. The science part is the admonition to be honest with your images - a point that needs to be taken seriously by scientists, photojournalists, and marketeers, but can be skirted by artists.

To get an idea of the breadth of coverage, check out huge number of entries in the table of contents (online) The book is about 100 pages long, so there is a lot to peruse. You do not need to read the book from front to back to get what you need to solve a problem "right now".

The style of the book is much better than the usual computer manual 'style' of "this is how you press the close button to close the dialog". Jerry actually explains what is going on with your images.

All in all, an excellent book for serious Photoshoppers.

The SF language section is very detailed and sometimes tedious, but this information is important because it contains all the tools needed to model and specify every aspect of business software projects. SF is useful for supplying a common group engineering langauage that can be understood without interpretation problems. Also, it proves very useful for group projects in areas such as system integration.

This is a collection of 20 papers that were developed under the auspices of the U.K.'s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Each paper is a report that is associated with a specific project, and each project shares two attributes: (1) legacy system focus, and (2) business process evolution, change or adaptation within the legacy environment.

If you are dealing (struggling) with adapting legacy systems to realities of changing business processes in your organization one or more of the papers are bound to be applicable. The topics of the twenty papers are:

(1) Business Processes, Legacy Systems and a Flexible Future, (2) Modelling the Co-Evolution of Business Processes and IT Systems, Complexity: Partial Support for BPR?, (3) FLEXX: Designing Software for Change through Evolvable Architectures, (4) RIPPLE: Retaining Integrity in Process Products over their Long-Term Evolution, (5) Understanding Change: Using the Patterns Paradigm in the Context of Business Domain Knowledge, (6) Combining Organizational and Technical Change in Finding Solutions to Legacy Systems, (7) Connecting Business Modelling to Requirements Engineering, (8) Interpretivist Modelling for Information System Definition, (9) Enterprise Resource Planning Systems: Impacts and Future Directions, (10) The Implications of Information Technology Infrastructure Capabilities for Business Process Change Success, (11) IT Support for the Very High Value Added Bid Pricing Process, Social Viewpoints on Legacy Systems, (12) Co-Evolution and an Enabling Infrastructure: A Solution to Legacy?, (13) Modelling Legacy Telecommunications: Switching Systems for Interaction Analysis, (14) Reverse Requirements Engineering: The AMBOLS Approach, Reconstruction of Legacy Systems for Evolutionary Change, (15) Handling Legacy IT in Banking by using Object Design Patterns to Separate Business and IT Issues, (16) Legacy System Anti-Patterns and a Pattern-Oriented Migration Response, (17) Assisting Requirements Recovery from Legacy Documents, (18) The Systematic Construction of Information Systems, (19) Its Not Just About Old Software: A Wider View of Legacy Systems, (20) Delivering Business Performance: Opportunities and Challenges for IT.

There is a wealth of knowledge, lessons learned and strategies buried between the covers of this book. Some of the papers are dryly written, but all contain thought-provoking ideas and, in some cases, solutions. This book is suited more for academics, upper technical management and consultants, and to that audience will prove to be a valuable resource.

My job frequently involves troubleshooting modem communications problems, and I've found that the information in Mr. Lewart's book valuble again and again. Not only is the book packed with valuble information, the author's writing style makes it easy to read too.

If you're expected to help people with their modems, The Ultimate Modem Handbook will answer all those questions that you've wondered about modems, but couldn't find the answers to by either reading modem manuals, surfing the Internet, or talking with other techie-people.

Thank You for writing this book Mr. Lewart! I wish that I had discovered your book six months ago.

Only few pages but worth reading for people who sell electric tools. Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp is a company who sells very good products for fire station, police station and military. This brand has a good reputaion in Poland and Europe.

This book is invaluable to me as a beginning digital slr camera user. Well laid out and written. I highly recommend

This is a very good book for novice users of the Canon Digital XTi camera.

I purchased his book on the 30D last year and thought it was ok so I figured I would get this one since I just bought the 40D. It's pretty much the same book as the 30D and he even uses some of the same photos!!! What a huge waste of my money. Not happy.

This camera is being used by one who just leaped from a Canon AE1 to Canon EOS Rebel. It's a new world that enables owner to shoot and publish in digital.

I find this camera very good with enough automatic features for my self classification as a good amateur or low end professional.

Point and shoot to carefully set up close ups and action sports not to mention portraits automatically or with the utmost skill using manual.

I would buy this camera again given the option.

Book is very easy to read and makes learning the capabilities of the camera easy.

If it isn't in this book, you don't need to know it. Current, well organized and specific.

Having been an instrucotr for over 4 years and having taught enough computer repair classes I have found that certain books are better suited for the class than others. This is one book made for the classroom.

What Scott Mueller has done with his already successful book is break it down into a 12 week class. I am not sure how many hours he is spending per week. Some of the chapters are only a few pages long. But with this breakdown you can now set a learning pace based on your needs.

The book covers all major parts of the computer and the associated hardware. Based on the information contained within the book you could use this text to study for the A+ Exam.

One thing I found really usefull in pacing out the material was the student workbook included in the book as well as on the cdrom.

Something new added on the cd is 2 hours of video, which I found informative as well as fairly easy to watch. They cd is supposed to have 6 previous editions of the text included, however I unable to find it, either through the menu or by a manual search of the cd.

Overall, this is another successful venture for Scott. You might be hard pressed to find another book like it on the market today.

I used this book for a hardware course. The book gives detailed coverage on almost all topics, except printers. (The Linux edition has one). Because it does not have troubleshooting section, we also use Bigelow's book (ISBN 0072132728).
The book has some errors that could be avoided. Some examples:
1.On page 407: DRAM has "refresh rate of 15us (microseconds)" [3rd P]. This contradicts with "data to be refreshed (essentially rewritten) every 15ms (milliseconds) or so." [5th P on page 404] (Refresh rate should be 16ms).
2.Page 103: "Th is section..." [2nd P]; page 410: "f*ound" instead of "found" [1st P]; on page 411 the phrase "Cache designs were originally" is repeated; on page 416: "..aA newer.." [last P]; on page 495: "MMMany other..." [1st line]; on page 774: "Some peoplepeople..." [second Para. from bottom].
If used as a reference, the book is excellent. I hope that the next edition is better. (I deduct one star for the errors)

Buy it. You can just open it to any random page and you will find material that can help you with some kind of problem you're having. The hours of footage showing Scott Mueller on the included CD is also incredibly interesting. I would say this book is worth the forty dollars charged here or the sixty at a brick and mortar bookstore. I would highly recommend.

There's a lot of stuff here. But it's very difficult to navigate and not very well organized. One of my co workers loaned me a book called PC Hardware Maintenance and Repair by Michael Graves and I find myself going to it instead. Still, Scott really does know his stuff.