When I first picked up Photoshop CS for Nonlinear Editors – Second Edition by Richard Harrington, I thought the book was something different than what it actually was. From first flip through, it seemed that it would be about the use of various Photoshop techniques, but in reality, it is also much more. Contrary to my first impression, this book is based around using Photoshop for editing video, though there is little indication of this on the cover. In itty bitty text in the bottom left corner, there's a small "Digital Video Expert Series" icon, though one could just as easily assume it's in reference to the included instructional DVD, and not the book's actual content. Not until I got home and sat down for some quality time with the book did I discover its true nature. Though I'm not a video person, most of the book's content can thankfully also be translated to the regular use of Photoshop, aside from the video aspect.

Despite the initial deception, this book certainly has its virtues, and they are strong. To begin with, the book itself is aesthetically pleasing. Every page seems to have, if not a full-color spread, than at least a splash of color to keep the reader's eye engaged. It does not seem that any corners were cut when it came to printing expense. Though the book is image extensive, it is not lacking in content. For about every effect or technique that it walks you through, there are not only before and after pictures to give you an idea of what to expect, but also screenshots of various steps in these processes. A benefit to this book is that, because of the images, there is a lot that can be learned by sitting with it on the couch, and not constantly parked in front of the computer.

When you finally feel like sitting down and trying these things out for yourself, the accompanying DVD contains walk-through tutorials and files to play with. If you do not already have Photoshop installed on your computer, fear not – the DVD also has a 30-day trial version. My only real criticism to the DVD is that everything is accessible through a rather large Flash file. Even with a duo-core processor and a gigabyte of RAM, the file took about a minute to load up all the way. Once it opens, though, it's attractive, easy to navigate, and even comes with its own full soundtrack jukebox, which is actually quite decent for what it is. I just wouldn't recommend it for computers that are more than a couple years old.

Photoshop CS for Nonlinear Editors – Second Edition describes itself as having a user level from Novice to Expert, and I find that description pretty accurate. The early chapters go through some introductory information to the program, from a video editing perspective. At an intermediate level, there was still a decent amount of useful information. One thing I enjoyed about this book was its language. I would describe it as being much more conversational than technical, putting complicated advice into almost layman's terms. I would not recommend that this book be your only companion when opening Photoshop for the first time, though. It contains crucial introductory material, but it will not be very useful unless you have some prior graphic art knowledge. As an intermediate Photoshop user, I feel as though this book were designed specifically for my skill level. I had no difficulty following the book or its examples. I knew how to do a lot of the techniques already, but it helped me to do them better. I feel that even advanced users would have things to take from reading this book. On another positive note, if I ever do decide to cross the barrier into video editing, I'll have an excellent head start.