Computers Books

I have used these books since Access 97. Absolutely invaluable to learn how to do anything you want. Don't expect it to cover what's in help, they go where help doesn't.

Is there going to be a 2007 version?

This book has everything you will need to creat Access based applications. A ton of great advice and clean coding. The index is very useful and well written.

I purchased this 2 book set in hopes of advancing my knowledge of Access and VBA. I could not find any useful information on functions such as DateAdd, DatePart, Nz, DLookup, DSum, DCount, etc. These are major parts of Access and are very useful once you learn them, but the Developers Handbook does not even cover these functions and how to use them. Or if it does, you can't find out where by searching the index. I've yet to find any information I'm looking for in these books.

It has already been said, Simply the best! I'm finding more and more Web sites/threaded discussions using or pointing to the code found in the Access Developer's Handbook and VBA Developer's Handbook.

The ShellBrowse functions alone to be extremely helpful.

Thanks to Ken, Paul, and Mike

I am a software developer and have been in business since 1982. I have never gotten more bank for my buck than with these books. I didn't think Access was worth a flip for program development until I bought these books. I have since developed a vertical market package for the seafood industry that sells itself by demo. Thanks Ken, Paul and Mike.

As you'll read in other reviews this book does a great job of laying the foundation on how to implement XP as a development process using user stories, iterations, and other concepts used in XP.

Where the book goes a little overboard is with some drawn out stories and examples that could be cut down. In reality I think this book could almost have 1/3 less long and been a 5 star book.

Mike does a great job explaining user stories and agile principles. Very readable and even enjoyable. This book concerns itself mainly with the 'ideal' situation: brand new product development, and does not focus on other nuances such as improvements to existing products, customer-reported defects, validated environments. That's not a criticism, as this book isn't supposed to be the unabridged encyclopedia of user stories, but I plan to read some of Mike's other books... where, hopefully, he will cover such topics

Writing usable requirements in Agile spaces. Yet another well crafted message suggesting how to modify the method of eliciting requirements into something that makes sense from the perspective of the customer. Use the customer's language! Mike makes it simple, uses simple examples, and offers a clear path of application should one choose to traverse. The use of user stories moves the focus of customer relationships from filling out documentation .. to creating and managing a relationship and expectations through customer accessible language.

This book has some good stuff in it, especially the INVEST criteria for a good Story. But as far as practical application, Mike's other book, Agile Estimating and Planning, is better.

If you are a business or requirements analyst or a Product Owner, get this one. If you are a ScrumMaster, get both.

I work for a consulting company that trains in both agile methods as well as more antiquated lean UP. I was looking for "the" book on user stories. If I wanted to recommend "the" book for use cases, it was "Writing Effective Use Cases" by Alistair Cockburn.

I received this book on Tuesday and had finished reading it by Thursday. It is very well laid out, the chapters are the right length, it has excellent recommendations and it is simply well written.

I'm teaching a class on Agile Requirements Exploration on the 1/22/07 and it will be this book I recommend for further study. It's all someone needs to understand the essence of user stories.

I learned quite a bit reading this book and if you're looking for "the" book on user stories, look no further.

This man makes a promise of a written format that can be followed. The writtng is NOT CLEAR and leaves much to the readers imagination of to what exactly the format should be. There is no CD so that you can see how the step by step process works. He names his files but does not show the real differences between how he is set up and how you can set up to fit your needs. I waisted my money. He claims in the book there is support which at best is terrible.

The worst book I have ever bought on coding. If I were you try another writter.

This is a good book. It teaches many useful techniques and how lots of "how to" ideas. However, the faux site that is created isn't goal oriented which left me feeling like the book was just a collection of random things to do. It seemed disorganized at times when you would or wouldn't create another page from scratch vs. revamping one you had already made. It was not always clear why you would be better to take one approach vs. the other. Setting up the localhost environment was somewhat confusing, though not too bad.

I will definitely use it frequently. Good information, good book, good deal.

This book is written very clearly and is really easy to follow. I've learned a lot of other really useful stuff than just the PHP content, things that I now realise I should have been taught by the official Dreamweaver 8 book, but weren't. The PHP content for which I bought this book is fantastic - much better than another generic PHP/MySQL I have read, as this is tailored to the Dreamweaver 8 environment which takes a lot of the guessing out of the equation. This book is written by and for people who use Dreamweaver 8 in a practical situation. I'm still less than half way through my book and already feel like I've learned much more than I expected. Highly recommended. I'll be checking out Mr Powers' other books when I finish this one. Thanks David Powers, you're a genius!

This is a very good book for learning PHP, and surprisingly, most of the examples work right out of the book as he's written them, which seems rare for a programming book these days. The projects that he has you complete are highly relevant to what you'd actually be doing with PHP, and that makes it even better.

The only trouble I had with this book was that he sure packed a lot of information into each chapter, and he didn't use the sidebars as much as I would have hoped. It's easy enough to follow along with the examples the first time, but if you want to go back again and figure out how he programmed a small detail, you'll never find it unless you reread the whole chapter again. All it would have taken was a few little bullets here and there in the margins to point out some of the off-topic stuff that was going on in the examples, and the book would be much more functional as a reference. As it stands, I probably will have to get a whole new book for that purpose.

Also, the support on this book is phenomenal. I missed a small detail in Chapter 6 that caused my script to fail, and when I posted on the book's message board, I had a reply from the author in less than a day. That's a really cool added bonus.

I am a frontpage user that has set up static pages in a web site. I needed to move from static pages to dynamic pages using a database. I couldn't use PHP with FrontPage so I switched to Dreamweaver and needed a book that covered both dynamic pages and Dreamwaver. This book walked me through setting up the environment to have Dreamweaver work with Apache, PHP, MySQL and phpMyAdmin. I am completely non-technical so these areas were beyond my comfort zone but the book walked me through it very successfully. It then took me through CSS styles, setting up an online feedback form, setting up my first database and tying it into Dreamweaver. It also showed how to insert, delete and maintain records in order to keep the database up to date. This was an excellent book for a non-techie as it didn't take any knowledge for granted.

This book gives refreshing new ideas to use on photos. It is great for beginners and intermediate users. Goes through all the steps of how to get the effects you see on the page. The accompanying CD provides the pictures for you to follow along. Many worthwhile and useful effects to enhance photos. A book worth investing in.

I have been in photography for 35 years, but I would have to classify myself as an "advanced beginner" with Adobe Photoshop. Most of what I have learned, that has been really valuable to me, has been from the NAPP website,...you do have to join, but the information and training videos are well worth the membership fee. I do own a lot of Photoshop books because I wanted to learn as much as I could about it. It is such a powerful program, that it will do just about anything that you can imagine in your mind. "How to Wow" is absolutely THE BEST of all of the Photoshop books that I own. You do have to know your way around Photoshop at least a little, but this is a really good book to anyone that has learned the basic functions of any of the Photoshop programs. I am going to buy three more of these for Christmas gifts. I really do love this book, and you won't regret buying it.

I picked this book up when I was first starting into digital photography hoping to gain a few tidbits of knowledge to help enhance my photos. What I found instead was a treasure trove of step-by-step, easy to follow procedures for doing everyday tasks, like color balance adjustments, to more indepth tasks, like filling in a receeding hairline and photo restoration. Jack Davis approaches the subject with years of experience from teaching workshops and presents each chapter in layman's terms, foregoing technical jargon so many of us find ourselves mired in. Included with the book is a CD of presets for things such as texturing and frames. The presets alone make this book worth the price of admission but people of all skill groups will find the information collected useful and extremely easy to follow.

If you really read the book carefully, you'll find that there are at least a dozen techniques that you will want to refer to in future projects. I set tabs on sections of the book (via post-it notes) on about 15 technigues/effects/etc.
Well organized and with easy-to-follow instructions, it certainly is one of the very best books you'll find on Photoshop.

This book is too easy for an intermediate user, but a bit too advanced for a beginner. For a digital photographer with no Photoshop experience, Scott Kelby's The Photogrshop CS2 Book for Digital Photographer would be an alternative choice.

I've used about six Photoshop book. It's a decent book, but not a must have book. As an intermediate Photoshop user, I didn't pick up any new technique from this book. Therefore, I have exchanged this book for Linnea Dayton's Photoshop CS/CS2 Wow

I was skeptical at first, but I followed the advice in this book, and BOY HAS IT MADE A DIFFERENCE!

I picked up this book when it first came out, as I was already a fan of The Practice of System and Network Administration.

It's been three years, and I'm no longer frazzled. Users no longer call me angrily wondering why I forgot to do such-and-such. I (hardly ever) forget to renew service agreements and run regular maintenance.

I cannot recommend this book enough, especially if you feel like there aren't enough hours in the day, if you work late, if you feel like your users are beating down your door.

Another thing about the system described in the book is its reliance on a paper-based organizer. I had tried and failed several times to use electronic methods. I'm a sysadmin! I should be able to use computers for everything! Being given a sort of permission to use paper for what it is good for helped me out a lot.

Tom Limoncelli is a well-known system administrator, author and orator. He speaks at conferences around the globe on issues ranging from firewall security to time management. He has also published papers at conferences such as the Usenix LISA on a wide variety of topics including innovative firewall techniques, coordinating massive network changes, models for improving customer support, and the security issues related to firing your system administrator.

I like the book "Time Management for System Administrators" because it is written BY system administrator FOR system administrators.

The book covers not only the general time management principles, but also valuable advices for system administrators: how to make use of automation, how to cope with multiple customers, bosses and tasks, and so on.

In addition to this book, I can recommend the other great titles that I liked much: "Never Check E-Mail In the Morning" by Julie Morgenstern, "Getting Things Done" by David Allen and "Time Drive" by Gleb Arkhangelsky.

As a DBA, I found this book extremely useful. It's easy to read and has practical advice that works. I was a bit demotivated at work and this book helped me spring back into action.

Some of his quotes I try to remember daily; one of my favorites is "perfection is a real time waster" because it's so true!

Making to-do lists and setting goals is an integral part of time management and this book shows you how to do it properly. A+!

Finally someone noticed all the small differences in System Administrators lifes that require a different approach to time management.

Plus, a sense of humour and accurate advices.

Time Management for System Administrators is a book not only aimed at system administrators but also other task and interrupt driven employees early in their career. It presents a core concept of use to anyone struggling with a "never ending TODO list of doom" both for business and personal tasks. Some of the information is of a very basic nature such as "do short tasks and important tasks first". Part of this, however, could be Thomas Limoncelli's writing style which is detailed almost to a fault. It is, however, a very easy book to read and I found myself going through quite a few pages in one sitting.

On the negative side the analogies the author uses to try and explain time management in computer terms get a bit thick at times in the first few chapters but soon they run out and are no longer in the way of the points being made. Two other somewhat awkward chapters are the Stress Management and Automation chapters. Is it worth the time to write (or read) a chapter to basically tell us to occasionally take a vacation and to get a massage? It seems like filler to pad out the book. Similarly, the important take-away point of the automation chapter is to, well, automate things! However the chapter contains an overly specific set of shell programming tricks the author has learned over the years. These are of course presented as examples of how to automate, but the amount of time spent on details and anecdotes makes this chapter also feels like pad. The time spent in these chapters could have been better spent on the core points of the book.

What is the most valuable information in this book? The core technique is what the author calls The Cycle System. This is a way to manage your TODO list so at the end of each day every item assigned to that day has been addressed, if not necessarily completed. It's a very useful technique for learning to plan, to ensure you follow through with completing tasks and to improve your sense of accomplishment that you are managing your workload. Interestingly the author has always used a paper-based TODO list and calendar, so each technique of The Cycle System is explained both for paper and digital (PDA) methods. The Cycle System can help by providing a framework for managing tasks other than continuing to add them to an ever growing list, however it still requires a lot of discipline to properly schedule tasks in the future to avoid them all piling up on the task list for the current day. After several weeks of using the system it is certainly a workable method as long as you are honest with yourself on the amount of real work you can accomplish in a single day and you dedicate a good bit of time on a regular basis to future planning and scheduling of tasks that aren't high priority or due immediately. Unfortunately, the author doesn't go into a lot of detail on techniques to handle the issue of building up a backlog of low priority tasks other than to suggest daily, weekly and monthly planning times to reprioritize and reschedule tasks. The issues of email management, interruptions, unexpected tasks, request tracking software and even life goals are addressed. This portion of the book is where the true value lies and it provides a good amount of information.

If you currently have no structured task management system this is a great resource to start with. You'll certainly come away with a wealth of information on getting a system in place to start to manage things. If you forget to complete tasks or tell someone you'll do something only to forget it when the next person you run into starts you on a new problem, then this book will be very useful to you in how to manage interruptions and always follow through. If you are fresh out of school and you're in an IT job where tasks are starting to pile up, this book will be of even more benefit to you with its stories and broad IT specific topics. As such I would recommend this book to anyone in a task and interruption oriented job as a basic primer on how you should be expected to manage yourself. If you are in a computer job, so much the better, but regardless of your line of work you can still learn a great deal.

Ranked at four stars due to the issues discussed above, but still very highly recommended!

I read the book from cover to cover. I have all of Leo Laporte's books, listen to his podcast This Week in Tech (TWiT), and watch his cable TV show.

Poor Leo's 2002 Computer Almaqnac is a must read, there is so much information. Just the little things make a big difference. This book has taught me alot, and I still pick it up and thumb through it and find something new. I cannot wait for the 2003 edition, as I have heard it will be bigger, and better. Leo keep up the GREAT work, think geek!

Finally a book on computers that everyone can understand and appreciate. This is my favorite reference book. It has tons of tips and tricks that will keep you informed on all subjects dealing with computers and the internet. Leo Laporte is brilliant and his common sense tips are invalubale. Thanks Leo for making it easy and fun to learn computers.

I bought this book solely based on the fact that Leo wrote it. Leo has got to be the coolest geek in the world. I like this book because the structure is unique. Each day of the calendar year Leo gives a new tidbit of information so you can start your day with something new for the whole year. Keep in mind this book is mainly for beginning computer users. Most advanced users will not get much out of this book. I liked it though because it's Leo and he's funny and writes like he runs his shows. I did learn a thing or two as well. Definitely a must have for the Leo fan and the beginning to intermediate computer enthusiast.

This is a must have for anyone who works with technology - by choice or by force. You'll actually have fun while learning new things, tips and tricks, shortcuts, etc. The one-a-day format keeps the concepts from overwhelming even novice users. Keep this one by your computer, you'll want to try out the tips right away. And if you're tempted, go on and read ahead - we won't tell! ;-)

From the introduction by editor Amy Goldwasser, Red: The Next Generation of American Writers provides countless insights about today's adolescent women, through the eyes of 58 essayists from around the U.S.
Goldwasser, a long-time editor and free-lance writer, culled the collection from more than 800 entries she received after sending out an e-mail to a group of friends, asking them to put her in touch with teen-age girls who might be interested in contributing to a collection of essays. She edited very little and found the essays fell into eight, natural categories: body image (the vast majority of essays fell into this category), family, school, friendships, crushes and sex, extracurricular, media and pop culture and a chapter she subtitled "Battle Cries."
"As opposed to a collection held together by adult writers on a single theme," Goldwasser writes, "the essays in Red have, really, only one thing in common. It's their heart."
Indeed, these girls open their hearts wide, pouring out love and anger and frustration and attitude in a riotous, ever-widening stream of consciousness. Some voices seem polished and thoughtful, others carve words from raw emotion. They discuss subjects as intimate as a sexual relationship, as excruciating as suicide attempts and eating disorders, as touching as a tribute to a lost friend and as hysterically funny as the kind of incomprehensible behavior that comes with having a crush.
Three of the essays come from Michigan girls, including twins Hannah and Sarah Morris, who confront not only their similarities, but their differences. Though biologically identical, they seem quite different in outlook and voice; according to Sarah, they look different as well. She worries about her sister's weight and the toll she believes it will take in the future. Hannah focuses more attention on their family relationships and what it means to be a twin. What they share in sisterhood, however, far outshines any differences.
These glimpses into the hearts of young women show us not only how today's generation differs in its dependence on technology and its powerful impact on relationships and education, but also how much these young women share with previous generations. We all fell in love with boy-out-of-reach, we all came to terms with our first bras, we all loved/hated our mothers.
And in Red, we now have a platform upon which to share these memories, these bits and pieces of the female collective.

I pre-ordered Red and cracked it open the day it arrived. Keep in mind, I don't have kids but have plenty of friends and family that do. The book is poignant and telling. It's a great way to 'dial in' to what teen girls have on their minds. That's why I bought several copies for my girlfriends and sisters-in-law with soon-to-be teen girls. One of my friends reported she might share the book with both her daughter AND son. And not just because of how teens are thinking - but for the writing styles; to encourage them to write more and express themselves.

Buy it, share it. You'll love it.

...especially 14-year-old Kelly Otterness. As a college-level writing teacher I was very impressed at the fresh, unsentimental way this writer expressed her feelings of loss over her dead horse. There was no cuteness at all, no cliches, no girliness, only a mature mind trying to accept her own grief. A heartbreaker. Well done!

I bought the Red book by Amy Goldwasser for my Daughter who is 27 and she liked it allot. I read some of it before giving it to her and liked it too. I also liked the idea of it, to promote teenage girls writing.
It is a great present from parents to daughters.
Tamar A. Weaver

Refreshing and scary, the essays take me into the minds of teen-age girls. I plan to send "Red" to a 52 year old friend raising a pre-teen daughter, with the recommendation they read it together. They need all the help they can get to navigate the coming years.

Ben is that rare teacher who makes his subject clear for anyone, beginner or advanced user. He will not remain on my shelf, but in my travel bag and by the computer. This book will be well used and look it. Don't hesitate. Push the buy now button. You will not regret it. I am not related and have no financial interest in the book!!!!!!! Join the enlightened!!!!

This book is very good. Ben Willmore is an expert of expert. Buy it and it will not make you disappoited.

I'm a photoshop user since version 5, but with the latest developments I feld a little bit lost between all the possible features. Ben shows you how to use them and to develop your own style. It's more then telling how it works, but also how it can work for you. Now I can adjust and create my pictures even better. The book is easy to read, for the novice and even for an expert designer. Lot of tips, tricks and humor makes this book the best add-on for this product.

All of Ben's Studio Techniques books are a must read! There is no better Photoshop book out there! If you only buy one Photoshop book, this is the one to get!

Ben Willmore makes learning easy and appeals to the full range of learners. Great website support and lots of examples to help a person learn what they want. Dive in on any chapter and you will find out what you want to know and walk away with a better understanding of Photoshop as well. I would highly reccommend this book to all but the very newest to Photoshop, for it is jam-packed with knowledge that a lot of books promise but do not deliver.

this book is culled from sources across the internet, almost all of the information is freely available somewhere. in most cases the author has not even bothered to change the filenames or unique file extensions. the book itself is barely an index of the cd-rom, with the first paragraph of a file serving as a description. there is some (un)original writing done by the author himself, comprising a miniscule amount of the actual text. if you would like to learn what these files are actually about, you would be much better served by going to the sites they were taken from

This book is trash. This is just a printed version of textfiles.com that gives you all of the "lost" files for free. This is just a horrible book that takes advantage of people not using google first to find free information.

I think this book is equivalent to somebody filling up a bottle with tap water and selling it for 20 dollars as pure water found in the most secret places.

The widespread availability of computers and access to telephone and Internet technologies has contributed to the sharp rise in the number of people going online over the years. Unfortunately, many of these people found their way online through less-than-honest means, and once online, they would set out to perform a great deal of mischief and damage to various computers and computer information systems.

Hack Attacks Encyclopedia edited by John Chirillo serves as the ultimate source for collected information on the history of hacking, cracking, and phreaking. The book features nearly 2,000 text and HTML document extracts that includes news articles, online postings, and other snippets of insightful information. Some of the accounts are startling. Readers will quickly pick up just how clever some hackers, crackers, and phreakers really are. The following snippet exemplifies available talent in Northern America:

"Silver Spy has everything going for him - comfortable surroundings, a father who is an engineer. He ranks in the top 3 percent of his high-school class. His SAT scores for college admission totaled 1,400 of a possible 1,600. He wants to attend Stanford or the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But in the eyes of the phone companies he is a thief, and in the eyes of the law he's a criminal. Such is the portrait of this 17-year-old computer "hacker" and "phone phreaker" who lives about 20 miles outside Boston. He spoke with U.S. News & World report on the condition that neither his real name nor home town be revealed."

The Hack Attack Encyclopedia is broken up into major sections by decade - the 70's, the 80's, the 90's, the Millennium, and a special historical synopsis. From beginning to end, readers will be able to follow the history of mischievous behavior. It will be an eye-opening experience for anyone to follow the advancements made in communications technologies and how they can be easily circumvented and otherwise compromised to carryout further activities. Although some of the technologies disclosed in the book are outdated and have been replaced, readers will still gain helpful insight of the mindset of hackers, crackers, and phreakers operating today. They are a force to be taken very seriously.

An extensive 217-page glossary of terms will enlighten readers about the slang talk used in the hacking, cracking, and phreaking communities. As a special bonus, the CD accompanying the book features full-length editions of the article and snippet extracts included in the book, hundreds of computing and Internet exploits, and a sampling of useful utility programs.

Hacking, cracking, phreaking, and virus infection still poses problems for many people today. This book will open the eyes of many people - including business people, IT managers, and law enforcement officials. It will serve as an excellent starting point for taking necessary corrective action to prevent further mischief and harm caused to personal and company computer systems. I can't wait to see an updated edition. Highly recommended reading.

this book is culled from sources across the internet, almost all of the information is freely available somewhere. in most cases the author has not even bothered to change the filenames or unique file extensions. the book itself is barely an index of the cd-rom, with the first paragraph of a file serving as a description. there is some (un)original writing done by the author himself, comprising a miniscule amount of the actual text. if you would like to learn what these files are actually about, you would be much better served by going to the sites they were taken from

The book looks damned impressive from the outside; it's 960 pages! Surely, this must be the most complete discussion of the hacking and phreaking subculture ever published! The cover, a sunset-colored affair with barbed wire and neat lettering, tells you it'll have a more up-to-date sensibility. Everything said this would be my next purchase.

My heart sank as I read through the book.

The vast, vast, VAST (over two-thirds) majority of the book consists of the first paragraph of BBS textfiles, with a line telling you the filename included on the CD that comes with the book. In some cases, Chirillo deigns to visit upon you a single-line description, but many don't even have that. So now, imagine this: page after page of filenames, then descriptions, then the first paragraph, of files located on a CD that's in the back of a book. What a horrible waste! There's a computer "glossary" in the back which looks suspiciously like similar documents available on the web, although I can't be sure. Also, there are a few tiny chapters giving general descriptions of the hacker and phreaking subculture. If you were to remove the filenames and descriptions and paragraphs, I doubt this book could get past 100 pages, if that.

I'm very pleased with this book. It's a great introduction to the GIMP, covering all the basics and also exploring some advanced effects you'll appreciate. It's got some great tips on drawing and photograph edition, with clear and simple examples. It's a must have for those who, like me, feel intimidated by the GIMP's unique interface.

If you're a novice at editing photos - the type of person who goes crazy trying to embed AutoCAD drawings or photos in Word documents - then this book is for you. I've been a little bit frustrated trying to find the exact page in this book that will tell me what I want to know, but overall, if you're patient, this book is great. If you haven't used the GIMP before, you should definitely have a text to help you out if you're doing more than cropping or color editing.
If you read through everything before attempting anything, I think this book may be 5 stars, but I haven't read it all.

A lot of folks don't know - or have conveniently forgotten - how daunting any technology can be, whether new or old. (If old technology, one is embarrassed in addition to being afraid: "how could I not have known this?" If new technology, one is embarrassed by falling back on the excuse of being old: "well, I come from the age of typewriters, so how could - or why should - I have known this?" Each is disingenuous.) The GIMP is no exception to those of us raised on the Royal Portable (see how easy it is!). Along comes Akkana Peck and demystifies that little Wilber. She takes me from one teachable moment to another, using the hokey-pokey approach. ("You've got knees... come on... everybody's got knees... just put them together close up tight....") And she mixes in plenty of immediate applications so you get immediate feedback and reward. And she uses clear, penetrable prose - the way real people talk when they're sitting together working through an issue. So, thank you, Akkana Peck. You really democratize technology and invention. (Thanks, von Hippel, for raising that question.)

One last thing. Real professionals, true to their calling, faithful to their foundations, never - *never* - flinch from relearning what they thought and hoped they learned when they were novices. Faith demands humility. One always learns from how a master does what you think you know. There is a difference between education and training. To criticize this book because it is 'not professional enough' merely demonstrates, I'm afraid (and you should be, too), that some of us confuse technology and technique.

David Block

This is a book about GNU Image Manipulation Program, an open source replacement for the expensive Photoshop software. I played with GIMP for a couple of years with some on-line tutorials. I didn't get very far and I was frustrated. With "Beginning Gimp, From Novice to Professional", I'm finding that the power of the software is amazing. It's also not hard to learn. Really! Now I'm doing great work and spending very little time getting it done. If you have done some photo editing, you know that getting great results quickly is a big deal.

The on-line instructions are out of date so forget it. Whether you are creating art with dazzling special effects, touching up vacation photos, adding text, making fliers and advertising copy, or all of the above, read this book. This is obviously a big endorsement of GIMP software too. [...]

This book is a must-have for anyone using GIMP for more than cropping and removing red-eye.

I've been using GIMP for about 3 months. I've been figuring out how to do different actions by trial and error, through web searches, and by reading PhotoShop books and tutorials. I tired of experimenting to understand the details of tools, and bought this book. It is OUTSTANDING. It contains clear explanations of many GIMP functions, and gives details and examples about the settings that control each one. I find the author's instructions very clearly written, well organized and complete.

Ms. Peck's technical skills and knowledge are reflected in her writing - she knows software development and software use, and communicates it well.

So far this book has greatly improved my use of many GIMP features and tools including: Layers, Clone, Selection tools, Selection Editing, Quick Mask, brushes, and paths, to name just a few.

My only criticism is that I have had a few advanced questions that are not covered, but this has been very rare. I'd welcome this book being twice as long - and I'd buy that new edition in a heartbeat. But until this outstanding author writes that book, the current edition is a great resource for learning and using GIMP.