Hands down Focal Press continues to print some of the most outstanding to look at and learn from books on the market. Creative Photoshop by Derek Lea is a perfect example of a book that exceeds the expectations I have come to have with their books. It is however, not for the novice user. A novice user may be able to follow the exercises, but I think that it would be difficult for them to apply many of the intermediate to advanced techniques scattered throughout the book. Each lesson has a useful rating system of difficulty to let you know what you are getting into prior to starting a lesson. I found the rating systems had more to do with potential time expenditure rather than difficulty of the actual technique. 

So, here are a few considerations if you are thinking about getting this book:

1. If you are a beginner, you may want to start with a easier text that will help you grasp the fundamentals of Photoshop. This book is very much based on developing advanced technique with skills already in hand. As a beginner I think the exercise structure may prove a bit vexing. There are parts where the exercises have necessary sub-tasks but it is not evident, especially if you are a beginning user when these steps are to be taken.
2. If you have trouble thinking outside of the box, or if you always think out of the box, but are stuck in the box, then this book is for you.
3. If you are an advanced user, there are a lot of great techniques that are easily applicable to real world application. I have come to value this aspect above any other when I look at training manuals and this book satisfies that need very well.

I like this book alot, it is filled with great art and great examples. As an instructional designer though, I must admit that i found the methodology of how some of the steps jumped around from main task to subtask was a bit irritating. However, this is not really consequential if you are an advanced user. I would definately recommend this book to those how have been looking for some of the tricks of the trade. This book excels at training those, and i was very pleased with this aspect.