Desktop Publishing Books

Learned more from this book than NYI photography lessons wonderful job.....I have purchased more from this author and they are as good as this one!

Busch's book was too chatty by far to suit my tastes and expectations. For example, I would have taken my editor's red pen to filler like this: "There were lots of photographs of the Hindenberg as it started its descent in Lakehurst, New Jersey on May 6, 1937, and quite a few of the charred rubble on the ground afterwards, but none of them made the cover of a Led Zeppelin album." If you like this kind of commentary in a book on photographic techniques, then Busch'e book will delight you.

But if you're looking for basic information such as the aperture and shutter speed settings for the many sample photos in the book, forget it, you won't find them here. As well, the coverage is lean, spotty and uneven in key areas. Take lenses for example. There are small sections on lenses for architectural, macro, and scenic photography but nothing on portrait photography. Moreover, the section on portraits is dominated by a lengthy discussion on lighting.

I was very disappointed.

Actually, I found the friendly, conversational style in this book both disarming and fun to read. Too many digital photography books are dry and bland, and not spiced up with enough anecdotes and real world examples. Author Busch does a great job of bringing digital photography to life with this book!

I enjoyed the large chapter devoted exclusively to portrait photography, especially since it included complete lighting diagrams for the most widely-used styles of lighting. The diagrams helped me set up lights in my own home "studio" to duplicate the author's techniques exactly.

I've been disappointed in the past by digital photography books that show you how to get the looks you want in Photoshop after the shot was taken. This one skips image editing and concentrates on how to get a great picture with your camera! What a concept!

I purchased this author's "Digital Photography for Dummies Desk Reference" some time back and found it to be very good. His "Mastering Digital Photography" was also available then, but I wasn't ready for it. Now I've learned quite a bit and am ready to learn more, and I was lucky enough to find this upgraded version on the shelves. It has the latest information about using the features of the newest digital cameras, including digital SLRs like my Canon Digital Rebel XT.

The author goes into quite a bit of depth on a wide selection of interesting topics. There are separate chapters on Action Photography, Portraits, Close-Up Photography, Travel Photography, Landscape and Nature Photography, and Architecture. Each of these includes "pro" tips on getting the best pictures.

It's full of beautiful photographs that illustrate each point. This is the best general digital photography book on the shelves, and believe me, I looked at them all before buying this one.

I think this book is a good choice for beginners of digital photography.

Outstanding contant the best of it's type. Easy to read and follow. A major contribution.

More for the advanced beginner, I have learned a lot about blending modes from this but I learned my Scott Kelby basics first.

This is not a book for beginners. Shows blending techniques and effects in a very focused way. Should only be considered by those who are indeed interested in these fields.

I guess it depends on how you learn. This book has recipes for various looks using Photoshop's Blending Modes. The examples generally include several different kinds of photos. The result is that you get to see what happens to photos of things, people, landscapes, etc. using the same or similar recipes. The author also tells you when he did things a little differently for one or two kinds of photos, and why.

I've seen a lot of this stuff before, but found that I learned a lot from how this book is laid out. It should also make it a lot easier to find, and use, a specific technique for a specific problem.

Because I am a digital scrapbooker, I might find all of this a lot more useful than some other people who use Photoshop. I'm not only manipulating photos when I scrapbook, I am also making and manipulating digital papers and elements. These techniques would be extremely useful for scrapbooking.

Of all the wonderful Photoshop books by the O'Reilly Studio, this one rocks solid and gave me things about Blending Modes I never knew were possible. I am still playing around with all the possibilities. They have great internet access to images that go with the 'recipes', and a terrific index with examples of all the different combinations they offer so if you need a type of effect, all you have to do is go to the visual index and pick what you are looking for and there it will be. All have the same single image, so it is easy to find the effect you want. I highly reccommend this book to any level Photoshop lover who likes to get artistic with their photos.

Muy bueno tiene par de trucos y guias para trabajar fotos textos y efectos interesantes.

If you are wanting to make the most out of your life, willing to challenge yourself and change your thinking about life, then, this book is a must read. Ramtha doesn't hold back. He gives his all and lets you know that you can learn to do the same. This book is mind opening, reassuring and a breath of fresh, clean air. Ramthe sets an example for humanity and provides the path. He makes it clear that it is our choice where we put our attention. If humanity focuses and evolves toward Ramtha's example, we have nothing to worry about.

I too am new to Photoshop and am finding this book a struggle.
Also, I have no real reason to learn these skills. But I am hooked! I have only owned Type Effects for 72 hours and have already put in at least 30 hours of work on it.

True, this book does not include all the basics, but there are many other resources for those. I feel like I am struggling with a foreign language, with Type Effects on my right and my "basics" manual on my left.

But what I have learned in only 3 days! A boring "learn to" book alone would not have given me the motivation to stay up all night and forget meals while mastering new skills.

You don't need to be a professional graphics designer to appreciate this book. I have never considered myself to be the least bit artistic and am immensely enjoying being able to produce works of art with Adobe. This book is helping me to quickly master Photoshop.

As to another reviewer's complaint that the author does not provide enough details; a lot of the infomation he requires is available with the samples included on the cd. He can even "borrow" from the layers if he wants to cheat a bit! (Boy, was I delighted to discover this)

This book may be a challenge for a beginner, but I am learning quickly from it and expect to be an expert by the time I reach the final chapter.

Effects is a wonderful book. It is attractive, well written and offers something for everyone.

I have to go against the grain here. Other reviewers seem to like this book, but I don't think it's that great. I am an intermediate level Photoshop user and I feel that for what is essentially a "cook book" that some of the steps are missing or vague. Instructions like "adjust to get the desired effect" mean nothing. If I see an example of the effect I like in the book I want to know EXACTLY how to do it and not be left to guess. It is not what I consider a step-by-step book and some of the instructions tell you to do something and assume you know what to do. If you are a beginner, stay away from this book. If you are an intermediate user you may have some luck, but I'd look at other Photoshop type effets books.

If you don't have time for the "War and Peace" version of some of the other typography books on Photoshop, get this one! The pictures are excellent and the book is organized in a logical layout.

Get in, see what you want, get out...then DO IT! A Perfect way to organize a book for us visual folks.

I recieved the book I ordered quickly and in good condition.

I ordered this book as an introduction to both Photoshop Elements and digital scrapbooking. It's just excellent. However, it's for Photoshop Elements version 3.0. I have version 4.0, so the half of the book which serves as a Photoshop Elements "how-to" did me no good. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to return it. It's a pity because this is an excellent little book.

I purchased this book to learn about Digital Scrapbooking not how to use PSE whatever..I was so disappointed in the book's content that I wish I could return it. If you know how to use PSE this book is almost worthless for scrapbooking. Although the title makes the book sound like a primer for digital scrapbooking nothing about the subject even kicks in until page 84 which is three quarters of the way through the book. Like i said DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY !!

I did not find this book to be very helpful. One turn off is that the actual layouts in the book are very primitive - not at all as nice as the stuff you see in scrapbook mags or on sites like two peas in a bucket or the digital scrapbook place.

There is very little actual instruction on *how* to do the scrapbooking.

I purchased this book thinking it would be a good primer for learning digital scrapbooking. Sadly, there are only 4 pages in the book devoted to setting up a scrapbook page & various techniques. Those 4 pages are good but not worth the purchase price. The focus of the book really is on photography and photo-editing and a lot less on scrapbooking.

This book is like all other books in the "Teach Yourself Visually" series. If your computer skills are limited, it is a great tool to learn the basics of Front Page. However, once you are done with it, you are done with it. It is essentially useless as a reference, and since you are now beyond the basics, it is now little more than a space holder.
Using sets of colorful and clear diagrams, you are walked through each step in the process of inserting a particular feature into your page. The chapters are:

*) Getting started
*) FrontPage basics
*) Work with web pages
*) Edit text
*) Format web pages
*) Add images
*) Customize images
*) Create links
*) Create tables
*) Work with navigational structure
*) Create frames
*) Create forms
*) Add web page effects
*) Manage web pages
*) Publish web pages

In summary, if you are unable to learn how to use the fundamental features of FrontPage from this book, then you probably can't learn it.

I got this book when I decided to start my own website. I knew nothing about web design or Frontpage. This book helped me create, not only a thorough and informative site, but one that is visually stimulating and easy to work with. If you get only one book to help you with simple web site design, get this book!

Simple, to the point, and very user friendly. This book has great, step-by-step screen shots, clear graphics, & simple explanations. Avoids long winded explanations. Instead of just telling you it SHOWS you. Great for visual learners for myself. Give you all the basics of building and publishing a web page. Best for beginner to intermediate users. The amount of time you'll save by having this book as a reference is well worth the purchase price. Highly recommended.

I learned how to design a basic website strictly by coding HTML by hand, rather then using Front Page, or any of the other WYSIWYG editors out there. Once I had a basic understanding of what HTML is doing behind the scenes, I thought it was time to find an easier way to code and design web pages, so I decided to start using Front Page.

As other reviewers have noted, the book does not go into deep detail and much of it is very basic in its design. I found it was just perfect for what I was looking for though. I had the basic HTML foundation and wanted to know how to set up frames quickly and easily or how to layout an entire website using the setup wizards in Front Page. This book allowed me to skip around to exactly what I wanted to find and learn how to do it quickly and generally with very little problems. The examples are laid out nicely and are pretty straight forward and easy to understand and follow along with.

I can't say how good of a text it is for a person with no knowledge of HTML or any type of web design experience to use. It was just perfect for me to get a basic understanding of a new tool to use. If I have any complaint, it is at times too basic and it would have been nice to go at least a little bit into examining the things that can be done with Front Page extensions.

I bought this based on the rating and the reviews. I wish I hadn't. While it is not a bad book, it is so basic that anyone who has ventured into beginning web page development will not benefit from this.

There are large sections on how to use the program's dictionary, or how to cut and paste words, how to use the mouse, how to change the font, etc, etc.

The whole concept is a bit of an oxymoron. It takes a very simple "Dummies"-like approach but instructs primarily via pictures rather than text. However, by the time someone gets to where they actually want to have a web page, are savvy enough to know that their ISP allots them web space, or even knows what an "ISP" is, and knows that Frontpage is a web development tool, they don't need to be taken step by step through how to add a column to a table. Sheesh!

If you just turned on your computer for the very first time yesterday, and you want to learn the basics of web page authoring today before you take on SQL database managment tomorrow, then by all means buy this book. But if you have average computer skills and you have basic word processing familiarity but you just don't find Frontpage intuitive and want to know how to use the program, buy something else.

This book was interesting and imformative, if you have 100million dollars to dedicate to a project. Contrite alliteration and pathetic ogies lead to an uninspiring read. It would benifit from practical imformation and instructions

Dear Sir. Congratulations for the magnify book 3DSMAX FX, I am already acquiring to 2th version for MAX 2-5. With the help of this book ( 1th versionm )I created a video where I could try all the special effects used in the modern movies, electronic scale models, virtual sceneries and human characters in virtual Landscapes. In beginning it was a game, later The project it grew and after three months of hard work, and a lot of nights without sleeping, The Hollywood FX is ready. The success among the friends is being very big and appeared a need of the showing this job for the other people, it is not an unpublished work, more it will be an incentive for those that dream in doing a film and doesn't have many resources. Well, as my objective it was to test the Special Effects and to gather them everybody in a small history, I took advantage of some examples of the book, as well as the adaptation of some scenes, because I didn't have enough money to finance the time of production as well as the creation of the models. This work doesn't have trade ends and yes Educational and Artistic aplications, therefore I would not like of The showing this work without your previous authorization, as well as also if it was possible you to help me disclose it , or to indicate me the way. Of course all the credits will be given . As I do to send a copy of the film for its evaluation, please specify the where, media type etc. Knowing that can count you, I'll be waiting a answer Thanks very much Allan Bispo León Denis Produções

address: estrada dos Bandeirantes 449 - Jacarepagua - RJ Brazil ZIP CODE: 22.710 - 570 fone/fax: 021 - 342.6456 E_Mail gap@ccard.com.br for Allan Bispo

This book is definately a book that will give you a spark of imagination. It will also tell you how to put on the screen. This book is a major asset to my Graphics collection and definately worth the money. Buy it and you won't be dissapointed!!

This book was very good at pin-pointing very useful special effects, from underwater effects to space. Laid out very logically, this book easily steps you through what had to be hundreds of trial and error hours experimenting and tweaking. It generalizes in all the right places. Thanks go to the Author for reaching back to the rest of us and making it fun.

This book shows new ways of building 3D effects. It opened my eyes to a hole new way of using MAX that comes to use in all kinds of projects. If you allready know how to use the max, this book gives you a little extra, that other books does not. This is an extra book, that supliment the inside collection greatly.

I am teaching myself InDesign; have no background in this type of software. This book is an excellent "teacher." I highly recommend it.

This book is highly recommended. We are using it as our class room text book. I have version CS3 and still find the book very helpful (However I would probably buy the CS3 edition if I had a choice.) This book dives right in! You are doing magazine lay out with columns, flowing text, and graphics almost immediately. It assumes a basic comfort level with computers from the outset. I had been working with In Design for 3 months before I started working with this book. I find the book takes me far beyond what I was learning on my own. There is nothing like learning through doing exercises, and the exercises are well designed. Enjoy!!

the confusing title "InDesign CS" should be "InDesign CS (version1)" to make clear that it's not for CS2

New software, especially something as daunting as InDesign, can often intimidate a user. 'Classroom in a Book' is amazingly easy to use and answers the vast majority of questions that typically arise when one is struggling to master something as complex as this Adobe program.

I highly recommend this book as a step-by-step means to achieving an amazing degree of competence in formatting documents of any length and complexity.

This is not a comprehensive tutorial to InDesign CS but it is a thorough introduction. The lessons are thoughtfully arranged and build upon each other and do a good job of teaching the basics but the treatment is not thorough and neither is it comprehensive. There is still much to learn. The book is helped by the inclusion of a CD which contains the needed files to complete the exercises.

The big problem is that InDesign CS is such a complex program. It is not going to be taught simply and in short order. This book will familiarize anyone who wants to learn the program but much will be left to learn.

The images are very inspiring. The artist is truly amazing. This is not a "cookbook" like book that will step you through the process of how to create images like Maggie Taylor. If you are looking for that type of book....don't buy. I honestly don't think a book like that is possible anyway. At least not possible in trying to give you a recipe for creating images of this quality.

Imagery like this uses not only technical skill and PhotoShop knowledge, but artistic sensibilities and aesthetics. It would be like buying a Monet in a paint-by-numbers kit and thinking it will help you paint like the Master.


The book is about inspiration, and inspiring you to create amazing ethereal and surreal images like Maggie Taylor. There are some images and text that briefly explain how some of her pieces were created. But all in all, this book is more about inspiration than education. So get another PhotoShop book to learn how to use the program...then buy this book to be inspired as to WHY you want to use it.

It's wonderful when an artist such as Maggie Taylor is, shares her mastery of techniques with us... thankyou for this book!

I give this book three stars for an average rating mostly because the title is a misrepresentation. It is a very nice coffee table type art book with beautiful and thought provoking imagery created (mostly) in photoshop but it is not in any way, shape or form a "photoshop master class"!
While there is some exquisite imagery and artwork within, this book is written with much of the hyperbole of art criticism today i.e. "Isn't this artist wonderful and completely groundbreaking and influential, oh my!". This is not to say Maggie Taylor isn't a talented and provacative artist but I don't feel she is re-creating and re-directing the surrealist movement as we know it as this book might begin to lead one to believe.
The author, Amy Standen, writes much more about Maggie Taylor's life and inspirations than her actual work and even less about her creative process involving photoshop. There is one step-by-step tutorial (which is available as pdf dowload with a little searching on the internet, I had it before I bought the book, actually it's why I bought the book) and even then it assumes much about the knowledge of the reader. There are several in-process works which show images of each in various stages of completion but talks little about the down and dirty photoshop techniques used to create them.
I would have liked to seen much more in the way of tutorials and creative process in the literal sense. It's more than acceptable as an "art" book rather than a "photoshop master class" book but let's call it what it is...

I read this book from cover to cover and enjoyed every line. The book includes a short biography of Maggie Taylors life and how she came to be the great artist that she is today. This book also goes through her creative process and the steps she takes with Photoshop to achieve her photos. This book is inspirational and gives any photoshop artist a kick in the pants to creat their own works of art! AAA+++

I used to appreciate Taylor's work because of those almost inert portraits, until I read that the only thing she does is buying old portraits on ebay or flea markets to scan them and add color and other stuff to create their "surreal" images, so I think today's critics really don't care much and celebrate almost everything even when is not an original work.

Besides that, the first half of the book is dedicated to interviewing a dozen of taylor's fans -including her husband- who leaves clear statement of how a great artist she is, and the second part features her work with maybe 3 examples of how she did them, in a very superficial way.

If you get this book based on the title, you will be very very disappointed, even more if you really think in what some people call 'art".

George Maestri know's how to make a good tutorial book. He has nice clean pictures and doesn't go beyond what the reader may not know. I bought the first book, which i used constantly, and the new edition builds on the old one and makes it better. Highly recommended for those looking at techniques in computer animation. Its even got facial expressions =)

This book was very useful in teaching myself to make and animate 3D characters. The step-by-step direction are truely useful. The image details don't always match the the written directions and leave a bit to be desired, but it isn't really a hendrince.

Overall, i felt this book was good. If you are looking for a book that tells you which buttons and numbers to type to create a character, this book WONT help. This book is not specific to a type of program (the author wants to make money, not have an outdated book in a year). This can be a good and bad thing. The book does share tequniques for creating characters, but it is mostly helpful in adding real personality to your characters. It gives you tips on creating higher quality animations of your character.

The book focuses on character modelling (from the basics of modelling to the setup of the skeleton system) and takes time to explore the concepts of timing, anticipation.

It is written in a software independent way and adds a lot of pictures. You will need to have a decent understanding of your own software of choice, but that's what manuals are for...

It was my first real course on character modelling and I learned a lot about it. Not for the real pro's but for anyone who likes to get started or get past the intermediate level.

This is such a good book on learning the basics of modeling for animation, rigging, posing, locomotion and even facial animation and dialogue. I read this book to learn character animation and I noticed I keep coming back to it because it is a very good source of fundamentals. the importance of staging, timing, and the principles are covered with useful 3d renderings to match. examples of jump and walk cycles, etc are included. and core facial expression poses are shown also noting which muscles are used. the cd contains some nice clips of animation cycles done.

Although simple in its approach, it's basics is rooted deep from a solid understanding of character animation knowledge. and since it is software independant, it will never go out of date.

As a well-versed member of the "Google Images & Clone Stamp" school of texturing, I know full well that knowing all the technical ins and outs of a program doesn't guarantee good results. A strong grounding in fundamental art principles is needed to make proper use of all the technical bells & whistles.

It can be said that Digital Texturing & Painting is too art-heavy, but it's such a critical aspect of good CG that's either glossed over or omitted in other books. Being able to break down & understand all the many elements of a texture so it can be recreated and controlled is of the utmost importance. And learning how to go beyond photos and start working with the infinitely unique number of real world textures you can find or create adds new levels to your texturing work.

The art-based sections as well as the more technical preparation section are geared toward making you think about every aspect of the work and how best to execute it, rather than creating bland textures that have been done a thousand time before.

Although the specific texturing examples are rather short, the author covers the basics of several texturing methods. NURBS, polygons, using projections, using 3D paint software, tiling textures, using Illustrator, using Photoshop, making & scanning in real world objects or just making things from scratch. And the included CD has the PSD files for you to poke around in a figure out how the maps are put together.

Digital Painting & Texturing has the breadth & depth to be a helpful book for texture artists of all levels.

This book really takes texturing to a new level. You'll never walk around looking at the things the same way you did.

It describes intensely how to dissect and evaluate a surface, with interesting practical methods to re-create it.

Must read for people who seriously wants to learn about texturing.

I loves this book. It has truly taight me how to see texture and how to bring digital painting to life. This book will help you in all areas of art which can be used in real life painting, digital painting, 3D art and more. I f you need help Understanding how to get your art to that realism point then this book is defintly for you 100%.

You can only gain and loose nothing by reading this book-

The book brought up some options that I didn't think of before. and help with some of my class work.

This is a useful book, written by an experienced artist. Most of the book was really about art itself, how to see and notice details in real life the way an artist would. Only the last chapter really got into specifics about painting textures in Photoshop or specific types of maps.

If you want a book where most of it tells you how to think like an artist, then this is for you. If you wanted a book that went into more detail about how to unwrap UVs on a model or specific texture painting techniques, you'd be dissapointed.