The book arrived in excellent condition. It also arrived very quickly. It was exactly what I was looking for.

I've had this book in my library for over a year before I really got into it this week. I wish I had done that much sooner! Unlike many comprehensive books such as Martin Evening's Photoshop for Photographers, you really don't just pick this book up to spruce up your knowledge of some feature like say 'channel masks'. This book is much more of a programmed instruction book that leads you step by step (or tutorial by tutorial) into a rather comprehensive knowledge of Photoshop.

I think this book is best for someone who's played with Photoshop and is now ready to move into a more professional approach to images. If your just starting out something like How to Wow might be a better book. It worked for me and got me familiar with some of the essential techniques.

However, Artistry builds skill in a logical progression getting as detailed as needed to build a solid foundation of understanding about how things work 'under the hood'. It then goes on to give you a structured professional approach to your images through the use of very thorough tutorials. While they have good background sections on some topics like masks, you only really get into the more professional practices as you go through the tutorials. These tutorials are not a bunch of gimmicks or special purpose techniques but they are well structured approaches that will serve you well in everything that you do.

Some discussions such as actions, blending modes, and masks are the best I have read. Their discussion of blending modes, for example, finally helped my understand WHY I'd want to use each mode. Most writers just explain what they do but not why you'd want to use it - generally with the suggestion to scroll through the modes and pick the best one. This is just one example of how this book gives you useful structured knowledge.

I'd suggest the knowledge level provided by this book is intermediate to advanced, and that you'll be best served by it if you've struggled a little already with some of the more advanced Photoshop techniques. This book is at its best for landscape photographers, but certainly very useful for others. For example, they have some very nice sections on compositing. But if you're interested in professional portraits, you'll need to go further than what's here.

The book is very well written, but I have some difficulty undertanding some of the instructions partly because I have a diificult time seeing the changes to the photos in the lessons and am just learning Photoshop. While the book is written for CS2, I am using CS3 and Photoshop CS3. The CD is good and easy to follow with the text and lessons.

This book is excellent, things are explained in very simple terms and his exercises work perfectly and are easy to follow. The book comes with a DVD of high quality images for you to work on. Barry Haynes is a photographer and also conducts workshops at his home at Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada. I first learned about him from his articles in "Photo techniques Magazine" and found his instructions easy to understand. I really prize this book and recommend it to anyone who wants to learn digital workflow using Photoshop.

Last year I finally moved up to CS2 from Elements, about a month before CS3 was released. I got a good discount from Adobe, and decided to commit. Perusing the reviews of many of the CS2 manuals here, I found this one and recognized Barry's name from some articles he had written for Photo Techniques magazine. I decided to buy the book and have not regretted it one bit. The clarity and intelligence of the authors' style is apparent from the beginning. The most important lesson for me was Barry's detailed description of the workflow he uses to take his images from RAW to print. I had the opportunity to attend his workshop last summer and he reviewed much of the material in his book. He is a marvelous teacher, and his co-authors also do a fine job with their specific chapters. I have incorporated Barry's techniques into my own work, and am impressed at the difference it makes in my prints. If you have CS2 and are confused about how to approach enhancing your digital images, this book will help you immensely!

As a commercial photographer, PShop is a daily tool. I have several other PShop texts, but NONE approaches the excellence of this one. Geek talk is non-existent. This is easy-to-understand for anyone, but the advice for photographers is first-rate, and actually works. The CD material is also first class, and you're going to LOVE their Actions and keyboard Shortcuts to speed up your workflow. Get this!

If you were to only buy one book on Photoshop this should be it. This book is clearly written, comprehensive, and well organized.

I am taking an advanced college course in Photoshop and we are using this as our textbook. The writing is clear and the lessons very helpful in perfecting your knowledge of Photoshop CS2. This book allows you to learn at your own rate without spending mega-bucks on a one day workshop. If your are hesitating about this book, don't - GO FOR IT!

I remember the first book I purchased was Photoshop 4 Artistry. That was back in 1996. I was astonished by the book when I started reading at the time. I was the happiest guy on earth. The book simply tells you everything about the software and concepts of photography that is concerned for professional photographers which is my case. It is still the best book about Photoshop in my opinion, especially if you really want to know how to use the pen to create paths, masks, channels, and all the tools to manipulate your photos. I did not need to buy anymore books about Photoshop since I know what to do in my day by day work, but something in the air told me to check this one, The Photoshop Artistry (CS2). I thought, well ten years has passed by let's see what these guys from New Riders would have implemented beyond the prior mentioned book. The digital section alone is worthwhile buying the book, not to mention the rest. The new format of the book is also very interesting. Top notch! The best ever, you are not going to find a better book about Photoshop and photography all together!

I just received this book and I'm quite disappointed. Firstly if you are familiar with Photoshop you may find this book way too basic. Even if you are a beginner there are better and more thorough books to help you master Photoshop. This book doesn't examine topics in depth enough to serve as a good teaching aid.
If you are an advanced user looking to learn something new, this book is not the place to find it. While I'm sure that it has some merit, I personally found it too shallow in its coverage; nether suitable for the beginner nor the experienced user.

bought brand new -- but it looked used when it got here - front cover was torn and the pages were folded together -- the book itself is useful for photoshop

bought brand new -- but it looked used when it got here - front cover was torn and the pages were folded together -- the book itself is useful for photoshop

Having read and studied several books on the use of Photoshop, I found this the most informative and comprehensive. The authors are well informed and experienced in the application of Photoshop to photographic material. If you are a more advanced user as I was when I purchased the book, it is excellent for its approach to developing images to express the creative intent of the photographer. In general, the style is more than adequate to communicate the authors' intent. As the Photoshop CS2 Program is highly sophisticated, it may require that a beginning user learn from an introductory text first. Although, with appropriate effort, this book might be enough.

This book is the best because it isn't merely a book about Photoshop, It is a book that TEACHES you how to use this program in a clear articulate way. Some chapters are designed to be read, others are tutorials that take you through the process step by step.

In the dark ages of digital photography I used an early addition of this book to guide me through the labyrinthine intricacies of Photoshop 5.5. I thought I had found the holy grail of Photoshop wisdom. It was clearly written, incisive, and with more than enough detail to guide my learning for years to come. If you are anything like me, you can never know too much about Photoshop, and so I read just about every Photoshop book out there. My conclusion: it doesn't get any better than this. But with successive iterations of the book (it is now in its eighth edition) it has gotten better. In fact, I think it is the single best book to use if you want to master Adobe's Photoshop regardless of your skill level.

My high opinion of this book is based on several factors. First, it is easily understood. It has none of that tendency to try to dazzle you with extraneous and impenetrable wisdom that some authors like to trot out, nor does it indulge in superfluous humor that gets very stale on rereading. The quality of the writing is excellent, engaging the reader with the personal thoughts of the authors. At the same time, it is as complete as you might expect from an omnibus approach to Photoshop. Second, the organization of the book lends itself to learners at several levels by suggesting readings appropriate to the level of the student. It has separate learning tracks for beginners, intermediate users, and advanced users. The authors categorize the chapters as "read", "do" and "lecture" making it suitable as a textbook in a formal setting as well as self-paced tutorial. Third, the inclusion image files together with step-by-step instructions allow the reader to reinforce the ideas presented by the authors while at the same time exploring his or her own approaches. And finally, the accompanying DVD includes a host of useful actions, brushes and extras.

I like the approach that the authors take. Their handling of raw file conversions makes practical and intuitive sense to me. They prefer to turn automatic adjustments off and to postpone a lot of editing to Photoshop. For example, they recommend turning sharpening off. The only quibble I have is that the authors like to use the contrast curves in raw. My preference would be to set contrast drop-down to linear and to defer contrast tweaking to Photoshop. Their discussions of ACR's color noise reduction and luminance noise reduction are top-notch.

If the book concentrated on technical details only, it would be an excellent text. But the book also nurtures the elusive quality of artistry by encouraging experimentation and what amounts to a master class with the artist/photographer elevating this book to a level I have not seen in a general text.

In short: if there is only one Photoshop book you want to buy, look no more. It doesn't get any better than this.

I first learned photoshop from an earlier edition of this book. Throughout its many editions it's remained among the very best. At a time when Photoshop is becoming more and more daunting to learn and keep-up-with, and when many of the books therefore present a more simplistic, or at least restrictive, approach to the subject, and where hype is beginning to dominate the field, it's a pleasure to find this solid, authorative treatise continuing to shine. It's not an easy read--one of these one page per thought books--but it's got an awful lot of great information in it.

This book, and its predecessors for each iteration of Photoshop, are amongst the finest of the many instructional manuals on the software. This is because the book is not only comprehensive, but provides highly effective tutorials. These tutorials start with an image on the accompanying CD and lead the reader to modify that image step by step to a final image. Because of my admiration, I was shocked to read in the introduction that this was to be the last in the series. We will have to find our way through future Photoshop versions through other means.

This book covers almost everything a photographer would need to know about Photoshop CS2. (There are a few exclusions. A few editions ago the authors dropped reference to Image Ready, the software that comes bundled with Photoshop; I still keep an old volume around to consult when I want to make slices and buttons.) There's even a chapter on how to use the book that will let advanced users select just the chapters they need.

The book tells how to use all the Photoshop tools needed by a photographer, placing emphasis on the creation of a master image from which various forms of outputs, like web images and prints, can later be derived. The coverage of masks, blending modes, compositing images and Adobe Camera Raw are all excellent. Perhaps because I remember the chemical darkroom of my youth, my favorite chapter still remains "Digital Imaging and the Zone System" wherein the authors demonstrate that Photoshop is a legacy of the work of Ansel Adams.

It's important to realize that this is not an easy, quick read. Doing the exercises will take time, and nothing can be so frustrating as not getting the effect the authors suggested would occur, only to find on reexamination that you had misread or misinterpreted an instruction previously given. But you will learn to use Photoshop more effectively than any other book could teach you.

The authors are not afraid to express opinions. For example, their ringing endorsement of Epson printers is astonishing in this day and age when so many people try to curry favor with as many people as possible.

The accompanying CD includes a set of actions that can be loaded into Photoshop to automate the process. While I always resisted using these keys, I found that they include many of the actions that I created myself to help me along.

When photographers ask me for just one book on how to use Photoshop in all its aspects, I have always recommended this book. It saddens me to think that I may not be able to do that much longer.

I have been using Photoshop since 1992, so I knew it fairly well before I bought this book, but my experience was mainly in graphical design. I am now focusing on photography. I have read a lot of confusing and conflicting advice on how to use Photoshop to get the most out of your photos and have an efficient "workflow", so I wanted a book to clear things up for me. I bought this based on several published recommendations. I have worked my way about 2/3rd through it and I have found it to be excellent in all respects. It's not a book for someone who wants a quick once-over, but if you want to really become an expert with Photoshop for photography, this book is great. It is detailed but interesting and very well written, with clear and detailed walk-throughs. It would make an excellent course text and contains guidance thereto. I love it.