Two Book Recommendations

When I was out shopping recently, I was reminded that January is the month where everybody everywhere is selling the idea of self-help or self-improvement. So I thought I'd join in and recommend some self-help books for Photoshoppers.

(And to add a disclaimer, these recommendations are solely my personal opinion, and not necessarily the recommendations of Lorraine Press as a company! But to give my opinion some clout, I have read many Photoshop books.)

Out of the host of how-to books out there on Adobe Photoshop, there are two that I'd recommend to anyone who already owns the software and is comfortable using it and wants to learn more.

For those who own Photoshop CS5 (either on a PC or Mac), I highly recommend Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC by Martin Evening. It has 768 pages (in the paperback edition) of helpful advice, plus an accompanying DVD that shows how your new skills can be applied. Haven't upgraded to CS5? Don't worry there's help for you procrastinators: the same book except written for CS4 is available, too. This book is most helpful to people who already are used to the basics in Photoshop and are ready for nitty gritty details.

For those who own Photoshop Elements, don't despair! There's a self-improvement book I am recommending for you, too. I particularly enjoyed Scott Kelby's The Photoshop Elements 9 Book for Digital Photographers (also by Matt Kloskowski). The 456 page book is full of "how-to" tips and effective techniques for getting the results you want. Plus, he tells how to work around several features that are in CS5 but not in Elements 9. I believe he calls them "cheats." It's a practical, "here's how you do this effect" book.

Either one of these books can improve a person's Photoshop skills. And after simply reading through these books, I guarantee you will have learned at least one new trick that will stick with you for years. So, in one area at least, your self-improvement goals can be met early in the year with small physical effort and a tiny outlay of cash!

Happy Reading!