Books for Support

[sharkman]

Hi Everyone,
Still being new to Elements 3 I have been browsing the bookstore for support and how to books to enhance my knowledge base. Does anyone have any recommendations for step by step books. Also, is there a source that would provide guidance or suggestions on what values to set for different editing procedures. I find this to be a challenging area, such as channels in RAW, filtering, ect.
Thanks,
Wayne

[Wendy]

Hi Wayne,

My personal choice would be any of the books by Scott Kelby ... he has a nice laid back style which I find really suits me. Lots of info in them but put in a very readable and informative way, I have learn a lot from them.

Another good way to learn is the online lessons ... they are well worth doing.

Hope this helps :)


Wendy

[Pauline]

Wayne, you are going to get a lot of varying opinions on this one, but I just finished PSE One-on-One with Deke McClelland and I highly recommend it. It comes with a cd movie at the beginning of each chapter so you not only see what you will be learning but then you go on to the book and work through lessons. Scott Kelby's book PSE# for Digital Photographers would be a good companion. (I have both, and many more!) :lol:

[richs]

Wayne,

I'll second Paulines' two selections. I have both also. You can't go wrong.

Also, if you order from Amazon.com and your order is over $25 you are eligible for free shipping.

[MikeH]

Wayne,

The books I would recommend are "PSE3 for Digital Photographers" and
"Down & Dirty Tricks" both by Scott Kelby. These have step by step instructions and settings for filters etc.. For finding your way round PSE3 you won't beat "The Missing Manual" by Barbara Brundage.

Mike

[ThomasT]

I reccomend what Mike said I have a few of Scotts books and they are the most helpful!

Thomas

[CarolLHB]

Hi Wayne,
Ditto what Wendy and Mike said-I love the Kelby books. I find them very easy to follow and very funny and enjoyable to work with. I also strongly agree about the online course-it was such a huge help to me. And talk about getting more bang for your buck! It was about the best $20 I ever spent!

I also recommend a peice of advice from Wendy that turned out to be some of the best advice I've had-just go to the bookstore, pull up a footstool and look at all the books on Elements-something will appeal to your personal learning style. I've sat for one or two hours at a time at Barnes and Noble!

Have fun :D

[Pauline]

It's nice to have some kind of recommended list with you though. Unfortunately unless you have access to a large book store the smaller ones (at least around here) carry very little. I've had to order plenty of books site unseen from Amazon,ca, because they just weren't available in Chapters (which is our largest book store-one hour drive away!)

[CarolLHB]

Very true, Pauline...sometimes I forget that not everyone lives in the same town as Mr. Barnes and Mr. Noble! :oops:

[Pauline]

No Barnes and Noble in Ontario. Chapters is pretty big and their photoshop collection has grown since I first looked back in March, but I'm looking for Painter books and they only had 1 (which I already had.). Not much help when you are going to fork out $45 + for something you can't even see. And if the books are new, you don't have any reviews out yet (from someone other than the author or publisher.)

[JennB]

Carol, I did the same thing you did...but I sat around in Borders! :D

Wayne, I definitely recommend the Scott Kelby books on PSE3, especially the "Down & Dirty Tricks" one. You could also buy back issues of the newsletter and get great step by step tips from there. :) Hope this helps!

[virgo1]

I've seen the same titles at Barns & Ignoble and Borders which are both spendy. Amazon and Peachpit Press are better deals. Borders has the book "Down and Dirty Tricks", but not the DVD.

Have we forgotten any books? I thought "Photoshop Elements 3: Up to Speed" came out recently.

Eva

[sharkman]

Thanks everyone for the comments are recommendations, I will check out books at the stores and go online to find better pricing.
Wayne

[CarolLHB]

Yes-I did forget one! A lot of folks have recommended "Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 Classroom in a Book" as a good resource for beginners. I checked it out-very good explanation of concepts. If you combine that with Kelby's PSE3 for Digital Photographers and/or Down and Dirty Tricks, you'll get good PSE concepts and a bunch of neat things to try.

Then of course you'll have to add to the thread about what you've acquired since joining PET! :lol:

This hobby could involve getting a second job... :wink:

[Wendy]

Hi there ...

... sitting in a bookstore and browsing is, to me, one of the most important parts of buying books. After all how do you know if the book is right for you unless you look at it ... now thats the theory BUT once I get in there I could stay for hours :) :)


Wendy

[druhl]

Hi Wayne

Both PSE3 for Digital Photographers and Down & Dirty Tricks (Scott Kelby) have been mentioned. I've learned a lot from them. I especially like Down & Dirty Tricks. On many occassions I've looked at a photo wondering what I can do to enhance it. D&DT lets me flip pages looking for ideas. All the techniques are described step by step and are easy to understand and execute.

I highly recommend the online lessons if you haven't done them yet. They're full of great techniques but more importantly they really helped me prioritize work flow.

I start vacation next week and am planning on going to 'school' with Photoshop Elements Classroom in a Book.

Donn