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Among my friends, I am the Photoshop go-to person.  I’ve been using the program for a very long time and feel extremely fortunate that I can generally get design work done using the program without thinking about what tools I need to use to get that work done.  Even so, learning the program was a long time in the making, and the learning never ends. In fact, I will never, ever fully understand that program because it’s an ever-evolving bottomless pit of possibilities which I feel compelled to at least try to understand or otherwise become antiquated in a nano-second.

In that effort to stay on top of the changes, I was a beta tester for Photoshop CS5 (yes, it is now permissible to say so).  It has some impressive new features that I’m still experimenting with (did I mention the learning is never ending?).  One of the best instructors I’ve had in helping me learn is Deke McClelland.  While I’ve taken various classes with him over the past decade through Photoshop World, I was also aware of him years prior because he wrote a book on Canvas, one of the first programs I used to design with.  In other words, that boy has been around for a long time, and his knowledge and ability to share his knowledge in written form and through the classroom has helped me tremendously over the years.

Many people email me asking for Photoshop book recommendations, and there are several I like.  However, Deke’s one-on-one series is particularly good, especially for those needing a good foundation on which to quickly build on.  It’s why I’m happy to share that  his one-on-one series has a new title: Adobe Photoshop CS5 one-on-one published by Deke Press/O’Reilly.  If you haven’t read an earlier Photoshop book in this series, this is an excellent one to start with.  Not for the faint of heart, this is a heavy book, both in physical weight and depth of information. It is  full color printed on 460 glossy pages.  It is not inexpensive, retailing at $49.99 – and that’s without a DVD ($32 on Amazon, click the book link).  But if you’ve been toying with the idea of taking a Photoshop class, or if you upgraded to CS5 are feeling a bit overwhelmed, this book is worth every penny and then some.  If you take the time to sit down and go through it chapter by chapter, set up as lesson by lesson, you can learn a great deal from an incredibly knowledgeable teacher (plus you can develop your biceps with it).  With the book, you also have online access to images and videos to accompany each chapter.

I love when people buy my book and tell me how much it has helped them.  But if you have that book (hint, hint) and want to go beyond the basics of Photoshop, consider this book.  And if you’re about to write me asking for a Photoshop book recommendation, here it is.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 25th, 2010 at 12:45 am and is filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.