General Books - Page 3

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book: The Complete Guide for Photographers

Martin Evening

Amazon Price: $29.99 List Price: $49.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Adobe Press Amazon Marketplace: 49 new & used starting at $24.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 21 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

While Adobe Photoshop has long been their choice for editing digital photographs, many photographers want a more focused tool. That’s where Adobe Photoshop Lightroom comes in. Designed from the ground up with digital photographers in mind, Photoshop Lightroom offers powerful editing features in a streamlined interface that lets photographers import, sort, and organize images. This completely updated and expanded bestseller, The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book, was also written with photographers in mind. Author Martin Evening describes features in Photoshop Lightroom 2 in detail from a photographer’s perspective. As an established commercial and fashion photographer, Martin knows first-hand what photographers need for an efficient workflow. He has also been working with Lightroom from the beginning, monitoring the product’s development and providing feedback on the public beta. As a result, Martin knows the software inside and out, from image selection to image editing to image management.

The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 Book contains 624 pages of comprehensive and detailed coverage of all aspects of Lightroom. In this book you’ll learn how to:

• Work efficiently with images shot in the raw or JPEG format
• Import photographs with ease and sort them according to your workflow
• Create and manage a personal image library
• Apply tonal adjustments to multiple images quickly
• Integrate Photoshop Lightroom with Adobe Photoshop
• Export images for print or Web as digital contact sheets or personal
portfolios

The book structure has been organized to match a typical Lightroom workflow. The introductory chapter provides an overview of all the main Lightroom features, showing how Lightroom 2 was used on a studio photo shoot that was specially shot to illustrate the book. The following chapters cover all the essentials, such as importing photos, working with the Library module, and managing the catalog database. The biggest section of the book is devoted to working with the Develop module and provides some unique insights into working with new features such as the localized adjustment tools. There is also a whole chapter devoted to image sharpening and another on integrating Lightroom and Photoshop, where you will learn how to devise the best workflow methods for working between these two programs. This is followed by a chapter on printing and a presentation chapter on the Slideshow and Web modules. Lastly, there are two appendix chapters. One offers a complete overview of the Lightroom 2 preference settings, while the other provides some in-depth explanations and background reading on how the Lightroom program works.

The book is richly illustrated, mostly using the author’s own photographs, and one of the nice features of this book is the way enlarged panel views are used throughout, making it easier for readers to follow the settings used in the various step-by-step examples. There are also lots of tips that will help you take your Lightroom techniques to an advanced level.

If you are looking for the most comprehensive coverage of Lightroom, written by an author who is closely involved with the development of the program, this is the book to get.

About the Author
Martin Evening is a London-based advertising and fashion photographer and noted expert in both photography and digital imaging. In addition to being a bestselling author, Martin is sought after for speaking and lecturing. He also works with the Photoshop and Lightroom engineering teams, consulting on new feature development and alpha and beta testing. He is one of the founding members of PixelGenius, a software design company producing automated production and creative plug-ins for Photoshop.

Google SketchUp For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Aidan Chopra

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 62 new & used starting at $8.47

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 28 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

REVIEW FOR GOOGLE SKETCH UP FOR DUMMIES 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 1 people found this review helpful.

THIS BOOK WAS EASY TO READ AND UNDERSTAND. THE AUTHOR WAS TOTALY HONEST, HE TALKED ABOUT THE STUFF HE KNEW, SPREAD OUT THE PRINCIPLES IN EASY TO UNDERSTAND CHUNKS, IF THE AUTHOR DID NOT KNOW SOMETHING, HE SAID SO, GAVE REFERENCES TO FIND OUT FOR ONES SELF.

IMHO, A PERFECT BOOK TO START WITH, '10', I NOW HAVE A PRETTY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF GOOGLE SKETCH UP.

BECAUSE OF THIS BOOK, I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT SKETCH UP.

I HONESTLY CAN'T THINK OF ANY NEGATIVES,
easy to read,
proper cartoons
good quality paper
no jesus stuff
good basic primer on the subject
price seems fair
great tips and tricks
good sense of 'oops' and how to fix them
the type was little bigger, made for less straining to read
the book was bound well, did not split any pages, I carried this book everywhere,

might want to include an interactive dvd, show something, then let the reader copy the action

also, might consider a coupon for a discount on the pro 6, I would take avantage of this offer

Jack g

Editorial Review:

• Considerably easier to use than other 3D software, Google SketchUp has found a niche in architecture, landscaping, real estate development, furniture building, and other design professions
• The fun and friendly approach assumes no previous 3D modeling experience and explains the basic concepts involved in 3D modeling
• Shows readers how to build a 3D model, print it, share it, export it to another professional design package, export it to Google Earth, and create a 3D animated tour
• Helps readers harness the power of Google SketchUp so that they can populate Google Earth with 3D buildings, monuments, and other sculptures

iPhoto '08: The Missing Manual

David Pogue, Derrick Story

Amazon Price: $23.09 List Price: $34.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Pogue Press Amazon Marketplace: 42 new & used starting at $20.61

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Subjects -> Computers & Internet -> Apple -> iPhoto

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 15 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Apple has taken iPhoto 08 to a whole new level. Now, in addition to handling upwards of 250,000 images, the program lets you easily categorize and navigate through those photos with a feature called "Events." Plus, new editing tools let you copy and paste adjustments between photos. Books and calendars have been improved, too, as has the program's ability to publish pictures on the Web. Apple makes it all sound easy: drag this, click that, and you're done. But you can still get lost, especially if you're a newcomer. iPhoto '08: The Missing Manual explains how to take advantage of all these powerful tools and new features without confusion or frustration. Bestselling authors David Pogue and Derrick Story give you a witty, objective, and clear-cut explanation of how things work, with plenty of undocumented tips and tricks for mastering the new iPhoto. Four sections help you import, organize, edit, share, and even take your photos: Digital Photography: The Missing Manual offers a course in picture-taking and digital cameras -- how to buy and use your digital camera, how to compose brilliant photos in various situations (sports, portraits, nighttime shots, even kid photography), and how to get the most out of batteries and memory cards. iPhoto Basics covers the fundamentals of getting your photos into iPhoto, organizing and filing them, searching and editing them. Meet Your Public teaches you all about slideshows, making or ordering prints, creating books, calendars and greeting cards, and sharing photos on web sites or by email. iPhoto Stunts explains how to turn photos into screen savers or desktop pictures, using plug-ins, managing Photo Libraries, and even getting photos to and fromcamera phones and Palm organizers. You also learn how to build a personal web site built with iWeb, and much more in this comprehensive guide. It's the top-selling iPhoto book for good reason.

Essential ActionScript 3.0 (Essential) (Essential)

Colin Moock

Amazon Price: $34.64 List Price: $54.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Adobe Dev Library Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $24.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 58 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

ActionScript 3.0 is a huge upgrade to Flash's programming language. The enhancements to ActionScript's performance, feature set, ease of use, cleanliness, and sophistication are considerable. Essential ActionScript 3.0 focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, along with the Flash Player API. Essential ActionScript has become the #1 resource for the Flash and ActionScript development community, and the reason is the author, Colin Moock. Many people even refer to it simply as "The Colin Moock book." And for good reason: No one is better at turning ActionScript inside out, learning its nuances and capabilities, and then explaining everything in such an accessible way. Colin Moock is not just a talented programmer and technologist; he's also a gifted teacher. Essential ActionScript 3.0 is a radically overhauled update to Essential ActionScript 2.0. True to its roots, the book once again focuses on the core language and object-oriented programming, but also adds a deep look at the centerpiece of Flash Player's new API: display programming. Enjoy hundreds of brand new pages covering exciting new language features, such as the DOM-based event architecture, E4X, and namespaces--all brimming with real-world sample code. The ActionScript 3.0 revolution is here, and Essential ActionScript 3.0's steady hand is waiting to guide you through it.

The Principles of Beautiful Web Design

Jason Beaird

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: SitePoint Amazon Marketplace: 44 new & used starting at $23.38

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 56 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Tired of making web sites that work absolutely perfectly but just don't look nice?

If so, then The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is for you. A simple, easy-to-follow guide, illustrated with plenty of full-color examples, this book will lead you through the process of creating great designs from start to finish. Good design principles are not rocket science, and using the information contained in this book will help you create stunning web sites.

Understand the design process, from discovery to implementation

Understand what makes "good design"

Developing pleasing layouts using grids, the rule of thirds, balance and symmetry

Use color effectively, develop color schemes and create a palette

Use textures, lines, points, shapes, volumes and depth

Learn how good typography can make ordinary designs look great

Effective imagery: choosing, editing and placing images

And much more

Throughout the book, you'll follow an example design, from concept to completion, learning along the way. The book's full-color layout and large format (8" x 10") make The Principles Of Beautiful Wed Design a pleasure to read.

Editorial Reviews

"The Principles of Beautiful Web Design is a good book to kick start your graphic-design journey. The biggest benefit that I got from this book is the knowledge to learn from great designs as opposed to just admiring them in a state of awe." - Slashdot.org

"Jason is a great writer, and the book is quite easy to read. It's put together wonderfully, including many full color screenshots and other forms of imagery that make the book a pleasure to read. I'd definitely recommend the book to anyone in Web design." - MondayByNoon

"Jason Beaird covers web design in a way that non-designers can understand. He walks you through all of the aspects of design development from initial meeting to finished product. If you are just getting into web development, this is a must read." - Blogcritics.org

"This is a thoroughly practical guide to web design that is very well written: good technical depth in easy-to-understand language with excellent illustrations and graphics that support the text. For many users it will be the only web-design text they will need. For those who want to further advance their skills and knowledge it will provide a sound foundation." - PC Update

"His "Don't just tell, show!" style makes this book accessible to everyone... It strikes a carefully thought-out balance between describing principles and illustrating them. It is clear and well structured, with practical examples in every chapter." - Mitch Wheat

Photoshop Elements 6 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computer/Tech))

Barbara Obermeier, Ted Padova

Amazon Price: $16.49 List Price: $24.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: For Dummies Amazon Marketplace: 48 new & used starting at $12.00

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Want to get more fun from your photos?   To edit and enhance your pictures, fix flaws, and create greeting cards or cool photo projects to share? What about turning out some really professional prints with simply stunning color? Photoshop Elements can handle it, and Photoshop Elements 6 For Dummies gets you up and running on Elements in a hurry.

Photoshop Elements 6 is a reasonably priced, full-featured, powerful image-editing program for Windows (Adobe stopped supporting Elements for Mac with version 4.) This colorful guide helps you make the most of all its coolest features. You'll quickly get familiar with the work area and all the tools; be able to find, organize, and manage your images; correct common mistakes; and explore fun ways to share your photos. You’ll discover how to:

• Acquire images from your camera or scanner
• Organize your files and photos you so can quickly find what you’re looking for
• Crop and straighten pictures, fix exposure, and clean up dust and scratches
• Create sharp and colorful images for printing
• Correct color, contrast, and clarity
• Combine multiple images into creative collages
• Use filters to create different effects
• Turn your photos into slide shows, movie files, or Web-hosted images

Elements has something for everyone, from beginning dabblers to serious photo hobbyists to professionals. With plenty of full-color illustrations that show what you can achieve, this friendly guide will help you use Elements to make the most of your digital photos.

Final Cut Express 4 Editing Workshop

Tom Wolsky

Amazon Price: $24.39 List Price: $36.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Focal Press Amazon Marketplace: 27 new & used starting at $23.76

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Go beyond the mechanics of Final Cut Express 4--learn how to edit with it! More than a button-pushing manual--this workshop give you firsthand experience with the art and technique of editing. You develop a working knowledge with nineteen tutorials that cover each and every essential, including:
* setting up your system and understanding the interface
* ingesting and organizing your material including drive-based and disc-based camera data
* slicing, dicing, and organizing clips
* editing to build and trim a sequence of shots
* adding transitions
* using sound to refine your edit
* titling with FCE and Photoshop
* animating images to create engaging scenes
* adding special effects filters
* compositing to enhance your projects
* outputting your material
The companion DVD contains project media, demo software, and free plug-ins for your use.

* Nineteen tutorial lessons give you firsthand experience with the art and technique of editing
* Covers every essential activity from system set-up to outputting your material
* The companion DVD contains project media files, demo software and plug-ins

Canon EOS Rebel XSi/450D Digital Field Guide

Charlotte K. Lowrie

Amazon Price: $13.59 List Price: $19.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Wiley Amazon Marketplace: 50 new & used starting at $10.68

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 6 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Less helpful than owner's manual 2 out of 5 stars.
14 of 22 people found this review helpful.

I bought this book based on the reviews of the author's "field guide" on the XTi, which were quite positive, with only a few critics. Usually, that's enough to steer me away if there's another choice, but I thought since there were so many positive reviews, the book must be pretty good. I was very disappointed, however, and I agree with the analysis of those critics of the XTi book.

If you're looking for a version of the owner's manual that's larger and in full color, you might be happy with this "field guide", but if you're looking for something to help you take advantage of what the XSi can do (i.e. tips and techniques), you'll be disappointed too. It was actually less helpful to me than the owner's manual was. For example, I'm new to SLRs (as most of the audience for this book should be), and I didn't know very much about the 4 metering modes that this camera offers. Both the owner's manual and this book describe what they do, but only the owner's manual gives a recommendation (spot metering and center-weighted average are labeled "for advanced users"). Perhaps Lowrie wouldn't agree with that, but at least it's something besides the nuts & bolts.

I can't imagine how Lowrie went about taking up so much space without saying something valuable, or even subjective, about this camera. Perhaps it was all the "full color photos". I also can't imagine ever bringing this "field guide" into "the field". I'd much sooner stick the owner's guide in my back pocket. I found Lowrie's blog much more informative and useful than this book.

Editorial Review:

Your Digital Rebel XSi/450D, with its 12.2 megapixel resolution, 3-inch view screen, and the option for "Live View" shooting, is designed for simplicity without sacrificing creative freedom. This guide is ideal for helping you use that creative control and get great shots anywhere, anytime. If you’re new to dSLRs, it makes the transition easy. If you’re already comfortable with the various modes and settings, the book helps you make the most of every one.

• Set up your camera and learn when to choose automatic, semi-automatic, and manual modes
• Understand the camera's controls, menus, and when to use different metering and autofocus modes
• Explore Canon Picture Styles and custom functions
• Learn to manipulate ISO, exposure, depth of field, and shutter speed
• Create intriguing night and low-light images, capture sports action, portraits, and get tips for better macro photography

Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 (Voices)

Scott Kelby

Amazon Price: $29.99 List Price: $49.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Peachpit Press Amazon Marketplace: 58 new & used starting at $23.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 83 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Scott Kelby, the world's #1 bestselling Photoshop author, and the man who changed the Photoshop and digital photography world with his ground-breaking, award-winning "Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers" unveils a exciting, brand new way of thinking, and working in Adobe Photoshop that will not only change the industry again, but it will change the way we all work in Photoshop forever, so we can finally spend less time fixing our images, and more time finishing them.

You're about to become a Photoshop Shark!
Scott has focused in and really narrowed things down to just exactly which Photoshop tools and techniques we absolutely, positively have to know, and he found that there are just seven major tools, seven major features that we have to master to enhance our images like a pro. But then he took it a step further. Out of those seven major tools, he looked at which parts or sections of those tools do we really need to master, and which parts can we pretty much ignore (in other words, he whittled it down so you're not learning parts of the tools that you're probably never going to need). Then, and perhaps most importantly, he determined exactly when and in which order to apply these seven techniques that make up Scott's amazing "Photoshop Seven Point System."

But the magic of this book, is not just listing the seven tools and showing how they work. It's how they're used together, and how Scott teaches them (and makes it stick), that makes this book so unique.  You're not going to just learn one technique for fixing shadows, and another technique for adjusting color (every Photoshop book pretty much does that, right?). Instead, you're going start off at square one, from scratch, as each chapter is just one photo—one project—one challenging lifeless image (you'll follow along using his the same images), and you're going to unleash these seven tools, in a very specific way, and you're going to do it  again, and again, and again, in order on different photos, in different situations, until they are absolutely second nature. You're finally going to do the FULL fix—from beginning to end—with nothing left out, and once you learn these seven very specific techniques, and apply them in order, there won't be a an image that appears on your screen that you won't be able to enhance, fix, edit, and finish yourself!

Plus, Scott's techniques work across a wide range of photos, and that's exactly what you'll be working on in the book, from landscapes to portraits, to architectural, to nature, from event photography to everything in between—there isn't a photo you won't be able to beat!

This is the book you've been waiting for, the industry's been waiting for, and Scott's "Adobe Photoshop Seven Point System" is so revolutionary that he's officially applied for a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and this new system is only found in this amazing, ground breaking new book. Once you learn these techniques, and start applying them yourself, you'll be the next one to say—"You can't beat 'The System!'

Adobe Illustrator CS3 Classroom in a Book

Adobe Creative Team

Amazon Price: $32.99 List Price: $54.99 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Adobe Press Amazon Marketplace: 93 new & used starting at $20.99

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 24 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

This thorough guide to Adobe Illustrator CS3 is ideal for beginning users who want to master the key features of Adobe's powerful vector drawing software. Using clear, step-by-step lessons, each chapter contains a project that builds upon the reader's growing knowledge of the software, while review questions at the end of each chapter reinforce key concepts and skills. Adobe Illustrator CS3 is jam-packed with new features and enhancements, including Live Color, a new environment that enables users to explore, apply, and save custom color configurations; improved integration with Adobe Flash CS3, which ensures that your vector illustrations import effortlessly to Flash with their anchor point positions, layers, and paths intact; a new Eraser tool, which lets users quickly modify objects or create entirely new shapes; a new Crop Area tool, which lets users set up a workspace so that it's automatically primed for the type of media that will display their design, whether it's print, Web, video, or film; new document profiles, newly improved drawing tools and controls, and much more. Whether you're brand-new to Adobe Illustrator or are looking for a project-based tutorial to familiarize yourself with Illustrator CS3's new features, this book provides you with the key techniques and tips you need to get the most out of this software.


Educational instructor notes—created to help teachers plan, organize, and time their lessons—are available for this book (and for other Classroom in a Book titles) at www.peachpit.com/instructorresources.

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