Kelby's books

[SueW]

Do any of you have both of the Kelby books, Elements for Digital Photographers and Down & Dirty Tricks? Is the content different in both?

Thanks to all who answer - this forum is the best!

Sue W

[willpresley]

I have both and they do not duplicate -- the down and dirty book has all sorts of techniques you can do in PSE.

[DanielleL]

Hi Sue,

I have both and yes they are different. IMO - DigiPhoto is to help you do some nice fixes to your pics in easy steps - color correction, removing noise, adding copyright, shrpening, retouching, montages, removing spots/wrinkles, dodge/burn, etc with some special effects as well. D&D is just what you might think - way cool stuff like 3D, puzzle pieces, advertising effects, shadow effects to people and text, adding people from one pic to another, etc. and a few of video tuts on this site came from this book - like the film strip and border breakout.


Danielle

[GaryK]

Hi Sue

I have both as well, and agree with Will.
Down and Dirty is more quick tricks and techniques, kind of along the lines of the tutorials on this site.
While Digital Photographers is more geared towards making your photos better ..in Elements.
Both have tons of examples and ideas and things to try..just a different perspective.

[shnupita]

I just bought them from Amazon...

Waiting for them to arrive.

DO NOT BUY THE USED BOOKS.. they seem cheaper but the shipping&handling is charged for every book. When you buy everything new from Amazon, you only pay 1 shipping!

[Jodi Frye]

...I do believe it's because when they are used they generally come from various individuals even tho you are buying through Amazon...unless of course the individual happens to have the two used books you want at a lower price..not likely.

[SueW]

Thanks everybody - on to Amazon to order both!

Sue W

[Kelli]

I have only had PSE for a few months now-have read anything and everything I can about it. I think by far, the Kelby books are my favorites though. I just love his writing style and sense of humor. What everyone else said about the two books being different is true. The Book for Digital Photographers is pretty basic photo editing and it walks you through it step by step. Just what I needed as a beginner. I wondered too about the Down and Dirty tricks and finally bought it the other day-love it too! Goes a step further with techniques I wouldn't have tried on my own, but he makes it so easy to follow.

[MikeH]

I have a third book by Scott Kelby... Photoshop Classic Effects. It's very similiar to Down & Dirty Tricks but because it's written for Photoshop CS it has features that you get once you've installed Grant's Tools or Elements Extras. An excellent book but definetly for the intermediate to advanced PSE3 user.

Mike

[Wendy]

I think that all his books are brilliant ..

... each one contains new things and I have learned many different things from each of the books :)


Wendy

[fgrule]

I have the Elements for Digital Photographers by Kelby and it is very good.It is a cookbook style that tells you how to do various techniques(but not WHY,nor is it like a manual).
I'd recommend another book:Photoshop Elements 3 The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage.It is what it says:a manual for PSE3.

[Wendy]

I'll second that one ... Barbara's book is excellent :)


Wendy

[Bubnzdy]

I am new to PSE#3 and do better with hard copy help.
Of all the books mentioned on this forum, which would you recommend for a beginner,Kelby PSE3 Book for Digital Photographers or B. Brundage PSE:The Missing Manual? Which should I start with? Do you recommend getting both? Why? Thanks!

[Wendy]

Hi Bubnzdy ....

... and welcome to the forum :)

I really would suggest both ... the books are very different so I'm sure that you would find both to be very useful.

Wendy

[Bubnzdy]

Thanks Wendy for your reply. Do you recommend starting with one book over the other?

[Wendy]

Hi there ...

I'm not really sure which order I would go for as it really does depend on individual taste ... what I would suggest is that if you have a chance to visit a book store then sit down with both and browse through them.

I'm a great believer in looking though a book before I buy ... :)


Wendy

[fgrule]

One book has techniques(tutorial style),where there is very little explanation of what you are doing(Kelby).For example:how to get rid of a blemish or wrinkles.Or different sharpening methods.It is cook-book style:do a,b,c and you get "d".But it's easy to use.
The Brundage book is truly a manual on how to use PSE3:its goes into things like layers,tools,resizing,saving,etc.They are totally different concepts and both are excellent.

[Bubnzdy]

So, if I understand this correctly, the Brundage book is a good resource book to have on hand and the Kelby book would get me into using the program with an intro into what some of the things that can be done with it?

[fgrule]

When you use the Kelby book and wonder what you are actually doing to achieve a result,you will probably find the answer in the "Manual".Kelby will say something like:step 1,open a photo.Step 2-Make a copy of the background layer.Go to Adjust lighting under the Enhance menu and choose level,etc,etc.
In Brundages' book,you can find out what a background layer is and methods where you would normally use it.
Many of Kelby's techniques have been taken from PS gurus and can be quite involved.But,since he gives it step by step,you just do what he says.You could leave it at that,but,for me,I want to know more "why".

[Bubnzdy]

Thanks fgrule-
So the Brundage book is not a book which one would "work" their way through and the Kelby book is.

[fgrule]

I'd get both.

[lizawilll]

Most interesting discussion. As a teacher I can tell you that it truly is a different strokes for different folks situation. Someone can tell you that two and two are four and that's it, but others will need to have two blocks and two blocks which they pile into a stack before the lightbulb goes off. We all learn different ways, and the joy of it is that we have a lot of options to choose from with which to learn. Some of us are using a little bit of this and a little bit of that. I'm personally on my third time through Jay Arraich's tutorials. Each time something more begins to make sense. Had a ball trying to do an alpha channel on the Challenge 138 picture - just isolating the shells. Not sure what I'll do with them, but it was an interesting exercise.

Liz

[bwolford]

Off topic, but isn't alpha channel a PSCS2 concept and note a PSE concept or is there still more I haven't learned?

Brice

[Wendy]

Brice ...

Yes Alpha Channels is a Photoshop term but in Elements you can do your selection then Select>Save Selection :)


Wendy