Review: Adobe Photoshop CS4: The Professional Portfolio

THIS BOOK IS THE GREATEST!!!

Against The Clock also has DreamWeaver CS4, InDesign CS4, Illustrator CS4 and Flash CS4.  Illustrator and DreamWeaver were floating around last month's meeting and I wish I had grabbed both of them, but I guess one at a time is good enough.

I am a beginning photoshop user but I am very impressed with this book. It is extremely easy to use and very user-friendly, much unlike Photoshop itself. It is very easy to use right away to do the type of project you would like to do or might experience as a professional in the market.

I am used to only working with Photo Impact Pro 10 or Photoshop Elements in a limited capacity, so needless to say, I am a complete noob to Photoshop. I tried to use it on a subpar computer, so I had to buy a new laptop that I could at least run the trial of Photoshop CS4 Extended on.  This book aided my rookie mentality in dealing with Photoshop CS4 and surpassed my expectations in an actual assistant that was easy to understand and easy to use.

The book is set up by Projects that a professional using Photoshop might encounter in the workplace such as making a movie poster (advertisement), a map, a book cover, a menu, a catalog, advertising samples, house design and photo gallery web page.  The book includes  real world workflow and a section before each project that includes the Goals, meeting and project objectives as if you have actually met with the client to find out their wants and how you can fulfill them.

A CD is included that has all the files needed to work through the projects. It is a relief to not have to develop the content that is used and for you to be able to learn with their resource files.  This allows beginners (like myself) to learn Photoshop instead of worring about creating content in the way the book describes. The book also has these great PHOTOSHOP FOUNDATIONS blue boxes throughout the projects to give additional helpful information. This information is not absolutely necessary for the projects, but it provides a better understanding of Photoshop for beginners and vets alike, but most importantly, the people who need it.

I used this book with a relative ease and produced some great looking projects.

I have no complaints about this book. It is one of the easiest and most straight forward books that I have ever used. I would say that this book is a definite investment for any level designer and should be part of your arsenal.

Reviewer: Rekkai Steed