Desktop Books

I loved this book and found it to be extremely useful...If you use FrontPage 97, get the 2nd edition of this book called FrontPage 97 Unleashed, which is also written by William Stanek

No other FrontPage book compares. Clearly Stanek knows everything there is to know about Web publishing and design with FrontPage AND he's not afraid to share it with the world.

Great examples!

Great insights!

Great organization!

Sams marketing team is asleep at the wheel on this one. This book should be packaged with the FrontPage software and there should be in store promotions everywhere! William, find a new publisher. Sams is doing you a disservice.

Microsoft's FrontPage 1.1 is great, but I NEVER would have learned how to get the most out of the software without this book. If you use FrontPage 1.1, I highly recommend this book. If you use FrontPage 97, get the second edition. Either way you won't be disappointed. This book answered every question I had and opened a whole new world of possibilities. William, your book truly made the difference

Best coverage of FrontPage 1.1, which I still use. If you use FrontPage97, the second edition of this book covers it in great detail.

Some examples of documents are in color and others are in black and white. They all look good--professional. I think I can do that too, with the help of this book. Lots of good advice, tips and tricks. Good book!

This book is very easy to use, informative and has lots of good examples. It enables you to get the most out of Publisher 2000. There are many tips and tricks located throughout the book. Easy to read and comprehend.

The book has a lot of examples that showed me different ways to do my newsletter and other designs. I can never think of ideas for making the text and pictures look good together. Plus, the author uses a conversational tone in her writing...it's like she's sitting next to me and telling me what to do. Good book.

I like this book because the author offers a lot of tips and advice about using Publisher and about making documents look good.

The book 'more math into Latex' is a good tool which helps somebody without experience in Latex to start using it as soon as possible and reach an adequate level for simple enough articles very fast. I would not be able to judge this book for difficult Latex applications.

I am a LaTeX programmer and instructor. This weekend, I finally had time to read Part I of this book, Short Course, and paged through the other parts.

What a pleasure! Grätzer has an amazing talent to say exactly what is important, without putting in extras that will distract a reader.

You'd think that by this time I'd know enough LaTeX to, at least, get through the Short Course without learning anything new; but instead I ran into trick after trick that I didn't know. I use Beamer but I didn't know FoilTeX, the presentation package used in the Short Course. It's a great idea to let tell users very early on how to make a presentation from their papers, and then leave Beamer for full treatment later.

I very much like Appendix A, holding the reader's hand as LaTeX is installed. Then the three "productivity tools" are introduced, explaining how to use these tools on both platforms, and leaving the rest of the user interface for later, leisurely exploration, making it really quick for users to start using LaTeX.

Very early in the introduction, Grätzer talks about "the three layers" (TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages) and, from the beginning, use all three seamlessly. This is a radical new idea. It will substantially reduce the learning curve -- my students will appreciate it. The wonderful foreword by Rainer Schöpf (one of the two lead programmers of AMS-LaTeX) makes the role of the AMS packages clear in the historical development of modern LaTeX.

I really like the way you got to "Lines too wide" so early in the Short Course, explaining to the user the cause of the problem and solutions. Why do most books postpone this?

I better not go on and on. Just wanted to write these few lines about my enjoyment as I read this wonderful material.

I was a graduate student in math and faced the daunting task of typing my thesis. It was bad enough that I was inexperienced in writing math, but I was also a novice in LaTeX.

I tried two well-known books. In one, there is a Part I, Basics. This is for me, I thought. Unfortunately, it is 200 pages long and does not cover such elementary topics as the "cases" structure. For that, I had to go to page 288. The other book had "cases" hidden on page 238, under the title "Matrix like environments". Not very helpful.

What a relief it was when I came across this book. It helped me set up LaTeX on my Dell notebook (why do other books assume that you already have a LaTeX installation?). Then I downloaded the sample files as instructed and read the really easy 60 page Part I (Short Course). I worked through the text and examples in less than a day. Then I started writing my thesis.

In my spare time, I gave the rest of the book a cursory reading. Occasionally, I need to go beyond what is covered in the Short Course. For instance, as an analyst, I need complicated integrals not covered in Part I. (They are easy to find: in Part II, in the chapter on typing math.) And when the time came to give a presentation on my thesis, I went beyond the Short Course's section on presentations to Chapter 14, and I used Beamer!

Everybody was impressed.

Now I am Jim Whitby Ph.D. Thank you George for the help.

If you are a beginner, this is the your book.

What new can I write about a book that is in its fourth edition, and has served the LaTeX community for almost two decades?

There is a new chapter on presentations and an appendix on installing LaTeX on a PC and on a Mac, so you get help from the get go. Also, for the first time, this book merges TeX, LaTeX, and the AMS packages into one, smoothing the learning curve for beginner and advanced user alike.

If you are new to this book, I should start by pointing out that you get two for the price of one. A sixty page Short Course gets you ready to type your first article in an afternoon or two. The plentiful sample files help you get started fast.

The rest of the book presents a detailed survey of LaTeX: how to type text and math, document structure, presentations, customization, and long documents.

Gratzer teaches by example: each new concept is introduced with examples and sample documents, so you learn by doing.

Multiline math formulas is the most difficult topic of LaTeX. This is the only LaTeX book that dedicates 40 pages to this topic, trying to make it accessible with a Visual Guide and a verbal guide of how these multiline structures can be classified and understood.

Gratzer teaches by distilling the most important information you need. For instance, Beamer, the presentation class he presents, has hundreds of commands and its documentation runs to hundreds of pages. The Beamer chapter selects twenty commands, so you should be on your way writing your first presentation in hours not weeks.

This book has served me well when I started, and it is my constant companion, placed next to my computer when I type LaTeX.

the book excellently discusses PS 4 from a pro's perspective. it delves on photography. however, i was disappointed when i saw tht it barely touched on effects. photos and color and all that, yes. hi-tech stuff, no.

This book teaches photographers which of Photoshops many features are most useful for their specific photographic needs. The lessons are clear and concise, and a CD is included which has all the files the authors created and use in the text.

If you know Ansel Adams' Zone System you'll feel comfortable here since they use this as a framework in some of the lessons.

After working through the entire book I feel my knowledge of Photoshop has increased several fold.

There are a lot of Photoshop books out there, but few are oriented toward the serious photographer who uses this program. P4A is written especially for photographers, and it is a good tutorial book. Highly recommended.

As a tech editor for New Riders Press, I receive many computer books to use as reference for my assignments. I thought _Photoshop 4 Artistry_ was by far the best of all the Photoshop books I reviewed, and I am now using it as the required text for an advanced digital imaging class that I teach at Ryerson Polytechnic University in Toronto, Canada.

Dear Mr. Ken Milburn! Forgive me for my bad English. I'd like to express you my delight and gratitude for your book "Photoshop 4.The professional Guide to creating Advanced Special Effects". In the city, where I live (Tashkent, Uzbekistan) no courses or teachers by Photoshop. I began to study this program independently leaning on available books (Deke McClelland, Adele and Seth Greenberg). This books instilled in to me despondent concerning my abilities and I decided that I simply dunce and never again open this program. But your book instilled hope for me. And I didn't mistaken. Language your book is available and laconic. Exercises which you offer simply splendid!!! Special thanks for acquaintance with demo versions and filters. You give me a possibility to feel myself a professional even on one minutes, though I common amateur. Thanks a lot for your excellent work! Good luck! Respectfully yours, Julia Kalendareva proton@proton.silk.glas.apc.org October 31,1998

I bought this book without much knowledge of Photoshop, within one month I have been able to design and even sell logo's to customers. If you use Photoshop 4.0...you must have this book!!!

While I have years of experience with DTP, I only recently took up Photoshop. Frankly, it isn't what _I_ would call intuitive!

Last week I had to do an info-graphic to accompany an article I had written. I needed to cut an image out of its background, soften the edges, and add a realistic shadow. Oh yeah, I needed three different images, too.

After a half hour of unsuccessful fiddling around I remembered this book. I found the right section, and it told me what to do in clear, quick prose. AND...it worked!

Ken Milburn and Mary Jane Mara have done a great job on this book, and a great service to the community. I can tell by the stuff I don't understand yet, that there are tips that willl appeal to more experienced users, too.

Bottom line? If you use Photoshop, you need this book.

Well... finally! A Photoshop F/X book that concerns itself with the practical solutions needed by professional photographers, not just a mind-numbing ephemeral array of useless tricks and gimmickry. Obviously Milburn paid his dues as an advertising photographer thereby earning an understanding of the real-life challenges imposed by agencies and commercial clients

This book is a great tool, I have learn a lot from it. Is well written and explained.

As an advanced Photoshop user, I found this book to be VERY descriptive and easy to understand. Compared to other Phothoshop books that I have seen (that are about 3 times as thick, twice as heavy, and costs twice as much at least), this book provides the same information but in a straight-forward manner. There's no long, boring explanations; instead, it gets right to the point and shows you how to achieve the desired effect. It's at such a great price too . If you are a beginner, you should definitely get this book.

I am an Architect , and I found this book the finest there is to learn the Photoshop , it is excellent for begginers and advanced users , and really takes you a step by step .

This was hands-down the best Photoshop book I've ever read. It helped me build the skills that have now landed me a job at a large graphic design firm. Thanks, Steve!

I work in the field of marketing and have dabbled with Photoshop for a while. I now find myself using it more and more since getting this book. I like that the book breaks things down and makes the program easy for the user to understand yet isnt't so simplistic an avid user would get bored. One of my favorite features of the book is the center section; here there are color photos of color swatches, different blending techniques, layering effects, etc. I refer to this section often, rather than choosing each effect on the menu bar and undoing until I find what I'm looking for. This book has a permanent spot within arms reach of my computer.

Wendy Willard provides an excellent resource for beginners and experienced Photoshop users. There are so many ways to accomplish the same task, and Wendy provides the most efficient, easiest to understand set of steps for accomplishing all sorts of tasks. Her informal writing style makes it easy to stay focused and grasp concepts after one read. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn or brush up on Photoshop skills.

Wendy makes learning Photoshop fun and easy, teaching her readers the most practical and useful aspects of Photoshop by featuring examples of real-world uses. With this book, users can mix-and-master Photoshop skills at their own pace by applying the book's easy to understand tips and techniques to everyday project tasks. The book teaches Photoshop's capabilities through easy to follow step-by-step techniques that are specifically designed to create effects that readily transfer to other uses of design and photo image editing. The book is packed with intuitive 'Quick Tips' (my favorite part), helpful 'Notes' and invaluable high-end techniques that quickly result in top-quality, professional images. The best part about this book is that it overlooks nobody. Both professional and amateur web designers, photographers and print designers will appreciate the attention Wendy brings to their specific and often unique industry requirements, helping to streamline their tasks, improve their quality of work and enhance their Photoshop experience.

This is more than your standard "tips and tricks" book. It gives much more comprehensive coverage of how to use Photoshop for some very specific purposes, from general page layout and design to slicing and optimizing images for the Web. Willard is something of an expert on Web design; I've used her other books on Web design and HTML, but in this book she gives as much focus and coverage to using Photoshop for print design as well as the Web. It's a great all-around resource. The writing is also clear and focused, as I've come to expect from her other books, and she is meticulous about the details. She is a real pro. I'd highly recommend this book for any level of user.

I started reading Lynda Weinman's books way back when she did a book on creating graphics for the web. I don't recall the title, but it was a book on optimizing images, and it was made way back in around '99.

What I guess I'm saying is that Lynda is an authority, she knows what she's doing, and just as importantly, knows how to actually convey her knowledge in an understandable, interactive way. Hands On Training is kinda like those DeVry ads you've seen for so many years during Perry Mason episodes. It's about learning by doing. I mean, how are you going to learn how create layer masks with gradients and textures that are linked and include shapes and are feathered with paths and........if you're reading a book with one paragraph after another, and very few numbered steps. Are you really going to remember that shortcut key for the magic wand from reading a manual written in paragraph form, with one pictured example every 3 pages?

And, to sidetrack, do you really want to learn how to make 3-D warped multicolored lettering to be used in a Word newsletter?

I say no. And so does Lynda, I'm sure. And so, I'd guess, does DeVry. I've used Photoshop for 12 years and I'd say I'm an intermediate. Maybe in 20 years I'll know what Lynda and her fine associates know.

This is by far the best and most informative and detailed book of its kind. It covers every aspect of "everything you ever wanted to know about" rollovers and rollover animated menus! It does not leave you 'missing something' or saying: 'yes, but it really doesn't cover...' - It covers everything! The accompanying CD is excellent!

My favorite tutorial books for software are the Hands On Training and the Classroom In A Book series. And, if forced to choose one series or the other, I'd choose H O T.

Authors Lynda Weinman and Jan Kabili have done a great job.

Although I remain a devotee of CIB methods, my library will include the HOT books for all complex software.

Discussion of animated GIFs, automation and integrating with other programs, such as GoLive, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, Acrobat and QuickTime [Chapters 13, 14 and 16] are of especial importance.

This book is a must for users of Adobe's ImageReady and Photoshop.

The most comprehensive tutorial you're likely to find covering PhotoShop's "little web sister", leave it to Lynda.com to come up with THE ImageReady book. Don't let the title mislead you, especially if you're already a long-time P-Shop veteran. The information contained in these pages, accompanied by outstanding tutorials and full color illustrations, is NOT a rehash of stuff you already know; it is a means of making the transition from traditional publishing to creating full-blown web pages with minimal compromise.

Even seasoned users of Adobe's cornerstone image editing tool may find some new and useful tips in streamlining graphics production - I certainly did. Instructor Jan Kabili makes the journey such a pleasure (not to mention a productive use of time), one could actually become converted to working in lo-res art! As in other titles by this publisher, the exercises are straighforward, economical and plentiful - the reader is presented with a great deal of material in relatively short order, yet in a way that is not at all difficult to retain practical information.

Granted, Adobe ImageReady is not a web management tool ..... that's Macromedia Dreamweaver's job, and though it may not integrate with that program as closely as, say, Fireworks, it contains no shortage of tools for fully preparing, creating, optimizing and animating raster images for web use. This entry in the highly-praised Hands-On-Training series is as good an introduction as you'll find on making full use of ImageReady in a short time, and a genuinely enjoyable one at that.

Acquire, read, and get thyself web-ready.

Plenty of Photoshop CS3 books on the market update information to this latest Photoshop release, but few offer an extensive desk reference packing in the latest tools and techniques of the latest program with easy details on how to do everything from simple adjustments such as specifying size to using layering and blending modes for advanced compositions and refinement. From full color screen shots and color examples of modified photos to techniques and strategies, Photoshop CS3 All-in-One Desk Reference for Dummies is one of the most extensive coverages on the market - and a perfect pick for any who find detailed Photoshop coverages confusing.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

If you are like me -- an intelligent (I hope) experienced computer person who has never used Photoshop but wants to learn how to do useful work (not just play around) -- this book is for you. For example, you can actually look in the index and find what you are looking for.

This is a great resource at a fraction of the price of the book from adobe. Highly recommended!

I liked "Photoshop CS3 for Dummies" as a good overview text - then I use this "Photoshop CS3 All-in-one Reference for Dummies" as a detailed text on most of the heavy features of Photoshop. I was pretty good with Photoshop CS and all the versions of the program before - but I am learning a GREAT deal from this tome on the more sophisticated features.

I recommend this book to anyone with working knowledge of Photoshop. The textures are not only fun to create but you can learn things along the way. The CD is full of third party demo's which are dissapointing... throw the CD away, but you'll want to keep the book handy.

I have used this book quite a bit over the last week. I need to use textures in my line of work and the techniques this book has given me will make my life that much easier. Not only do you get some great "tricks" for creating such textures as wood, wicker, rock and water, you also benefit by learning how versatile Photoshop is! The only negative about this book is that the CD-ROM supplied does not work on a PC based system.

This book is very good, to my knowledge this is the only book that teaches usefull textures and many realistic effects such as wood, rock, metal, leather, coblestone, bricks and many more. If you want to be able to make textures by hand without cheesy plugins, this will start you out and almost perfect your skills.

I've read many websites that explain how to make textures but so far (and after 3yrs of dabbleing with Photoshop books and sites) this is still the BEST book how to make surreal textures. Each step is laid out with a picture for each step. It tells you exactly how to do the step too. After it shows you how to make the texture, it then gives 2 or 3 examples on how to make alterations to create differnt types of the same texture. Just some of the textures it shows how to make are water, bricks, wood, stone, pearl, sand, cement, and like 20 others.