I began using Photoshop around version 5 and I think I know it pretty well. But Photoshop is wide and deep. To get the most out of it after you install Photoshop, it's wise to spend some time with the manual or a good book. The learning experience will take some time: days, weeks, months. Martin Evening's book will make the journey easier. He is a top notch photographer who has for years rubbed shoulders with Adobe's developers of Photoshop.

The book has fourteen chapters and the designer of the book was nice enough to color code the chapters across the top of the pages so you can see the colors when the book is closed. It makes it easy to find the section you are working on this week. The book also comes with a CD which purports to have the book in html format with links to other sources, extra material and exercises in PDF format, and provide access to video tutorials. The CD that came with my book doesn't work however. I have contacted the publisher to see if I can exchange the one I have for one that works. As disappointing as a having a bad CD with its wealth of material unavailable to me, the book itself is anything but disappointing.

It is well illustrated. One feature I especially like is that when those special keys "control/command" that are labeled one thing on the Mac and another on PCs are identified by a color coded icon in the text as are the keys for "shift" and "option." It reduces the type clutter and makes the text much easier to read.