This is a great Photoshop book. I picked it up a couple of years ago at a store and I really liked the content in it because it shows pictures of the final product and it shows you how to get to that point. I guess pictures work better for me. I let a friend borrow my first copy and he never returned it. I had to buy it again! I bought a CS2 book and didn't like the content as much as I did with the Photoshop 7 book.

I bought this book as a Christmas gift. Seems to have gotten good reviews and my sister is a freak about Photoshop.

I am a novice photoshop user but very good with computers and software. I purchased this book in the hopes that I would immediately be trying stuff with photoshop... wrong... The first chapter is all introduction. The first 50+ pages are all discussions on techniques and shortcuts to work more proficiently in photoshop... not actually working on a project. I was expecting more of an interactive tutorial type book and the first chapter of this one was difficult to get through because it really is not interactive.

As the book reads on in chapter 2 (and the remaining chapters), things get much more interactive. The tedious first chapter starts making sense! There is great information in the first chapter and I can see how the author might think it is the key to the book. But for me, it seems this information could have been demonstrated (or illustrated) in a better way. Maybe a reference chart or an appendix?

This is a good book with a lot of great information in it. I would give it 4+ stars if it weren't for that first chapter. I expected to be engaged in the first paragraph with the photoshop program opened on my computer and instead I found myself fiddling with the computer and losing interest in the book after the 5th page. I'm glad I held out fo the other chapters.

This book contains a lot of information and illustrations but could be better organized as it seems to jump from topic to topic. The CD is a bonus as it contains styles and actions that can be used in later Photoshop versions. This book is a very good bargain if you are still using Photoshop 7.

I thought I knew Photoshop - until I bought this book. I bought this book just for the extras; syles, textures, etc. But, ended up learning a lot - such as, how to create & use a texture map for realistic 3D effects; how to use a gradient for a neon sign effect, and tons more. I still, to this day, refer back to this book for reference. If you are wanting to learn more about Photoshop, these are the series of books that you need.

received in condition as described in a timely manner. would purchase from again!

Lots of tips and tricks on how to perfect your photoshop project. This book suits various levels of users: from begninners who just want to touch up their digital photos to users who want to have professional results on their media projects. Lots of how to's and detailed steps to achieve your final goals.

Jack Davis: If you are reading this, please release your next book, CS2!!! My version of Wow 7 is worn out! THis is the book I carry everywhere. If I get stuck or forget a technique, I just open to that page and relearn it in under a minute. Photographs, artwork, webdesign artwork, typography, it's all there with plenty of illustrations. Just one to four pages on each issue, no need to read on and on. It's absolutely the best, (and I have almost every book on Photoshop published) book about Photoshop, regardless of version. But an update is greatly needed!!!

Jack Davis: If you are reading this, please release your next book, CS2!!! My version of Wow 7 is worn out! THis is the book I carry everywhere. If I get stuck or forget a technique, I just open to that page and relearn it in under a minute. Photographs, artwork, webdesign artwork, typography, it's all there with plenty of illustrations. Just one to four pages on each issue, no need to read on and on. It's absolutely the best, (and I have almost every book on Photoshop published) book about Photoshop, regardless of version. But an update is greatly needed!!!

Jack Davis keeps surprising us with great effects and techniques for Photoshop, in this great step-by-step, easy to learn book. This was required in an advanced Photoshop class and it's one book I'm going to KEEP! Awesome!

These people really know their Photoshop. Many reviewers have complained that the book is unsuitable for beginners, but I bought it immediately after buying Photoshop (which I'd never used before)and I've found it to be lucid and easy to follow. Anyone starting out in Photoshop has to be ready to deal with the learning curve-the program does EVERYTHING, so of course it's complicated. This book provides a thorough rundown on all sorts of great techniques, is clear and specific and beautifully illustrated. Highly recommended.

These people really know their Photoshop. Many reviewers have complained that the book is unsuitable for beginners, but I bought it immediately after buying Photoshop (which I'd never used before)and I've found it to be lucid and easy to follow. Anyone starting out in Photoshop has to be ready to deal with the learning curve-the program does EVERYTHING, so of course it's complicated. This book provides a thorough rundown on all sorts of great techniques, is clear and specific and beautifully illustrated. Highly recommended.

While this book appears to be great for advanced users, it is certainly not a beginning photoshop book. After reading the previous reviews, I thought this book had it all. After purchasing it I was disappointed. It does not cover the basics as I had expected. If your looking for an introductory book please look elsewhere. However, I do look forward to using it once my skills have improved.

I really do like this book. I must say that what it does cover, it covers in great detail. It is a must have if you want to have a working understanding of all of Photoshop's features. While short on special effects and a bit too reliant on the proprietary styles and actions provided, my understanding of how to work with colour has been expanded 3 fold. The only complaint is that the first few chapters are a bit scattered and if you are not used to Photoshop, its not hard to get a little lost. They layout is also a bit busy (like the CNN Headlines channel) and can be a bit of an overload at times, but with all the content he covers, I don't really see a workaround for that. On the positive side you can be sure that you're not going to miss much. Around the second chapter, things start to follow a more definite path and the mass of information accumulated in chapter one starts to take shape. Overall, I am very happy with the book and it makes an excellent addition to my Photoshop library.

For those of you are looking for a helpful book on Photoshop that you can read from cover-to-cover, this is NOT the book for you.

The book was very poorly written with no real structure to the lessons at hand. This book does a very poor job of explaining the techniques and tips it so eloquently portrays with all of the color images provided in the book.

The book comes across as if it was written by a "techie" and is full of fragmented statements, half thoughts and harsh breaks between concepts. You may have to read certain sections a number of times before you can understand what the author is attempting to convey to the reader, and even then it may not make much sense.

It should not be a battle to read an instructional book, but in this case, you may want to put on your armor.

I admit to buying this book because of the glossy graphics but I got in way over my head. This book is a bit too advanced for someone just getting started with Photoshop.
I have used some of the techniques and instructions offered but it has been tedious.
I will not give up on this book, however, because after many readings and trial and error, I am making some progress. (...)The CD could include some better photos to work with but "c'est la vie."

When I started reading this book, I was very discouraged as in the introduction the writers often use terms such as alpha channel, a mask, or a vector before they've explained them. Boy am I glad I read further where everything is not only explained, but illustrated!
From the very first pages this book is special in that it's organized with the user in mind. The contents are organized into areas of user-need: Fundamentals of Photoshop, Color in Photoshop, Retouching & Enhancing Photos, Combining Images, Using Filters, Painting, Type, Shapes, Paths & PostScript, Special Effects for Type & Graphics, The Web & Motion Graphics. For example, I don't do print output but do do a lot of web stuff and want to learn the painting, so I can skip to the painting section.
Actually I'm somewhere in between a beginner and a knowledgeable user, so I'm going to start with the Fundamentals.

The five pages detailing What's new In Photoshop 7 are worth the price of the book. They give a synopsis of features with reference to the detailed section. This makes it easy for you to quickly see version 7 solves a frustration from earlier versions.
The enclosed CD contains tool presets for image fixing such as red eye, production shortcuts and custom backgrounds and buttons. The CD has some awesome additions on it for brushes,lighting styles, etc.

Each Chapter has an index of tips which lets you quickly scan to see if what you need to do is explained in this chapter.

If you're new to Photoshop, you might skip to the Fundamentals section as what precedes it assumes you understand alpha channels, masks, etc.
In the Fundamentals section, detailed descriptions of recordable actions and use of the history palette will improve your productivity. The distinctions in ways to select items are explained and can save some frustrating hours of trial and error.

The order of items in chapter 1 did not seem logical to me. Almost at the end of the chapter was the topic Input with a description of ways to input graphics. Meanwhile, there had been extensive and very useful discussions on how to select parts of an image, make an alpha channel and some on using masks.
The authors alternate between very complex descriptions such as the extract filter and concise tables with shortcuts. Experienced users will appreciate the complex descriptions, but as a novice, prepare to spend time to master them.
I don't do printed output, just web stuff, so I was very tempted to skip chapter 2 about color. However, the section on Color Adjustment Options including Blend Modes was useful and pointed me to more detailed instructions in other chapters.

The chapter on Retouching Photos is worth the price of the book. Want to clean up old slides ? Blur the background like using a short focal point? take away wrinkles? These are shown step by step with examples! I had no idea you could retouch with history, but it's explained quite well.

Ever want to extract an image with edges like wisps of hair? Chapter 4 gives 35 tips from feathering to changing the axis. And here they explain vector masks and layer makes and how to make them. Vector mask was called layer clipping path in version 6. Want to keep type editable but show a photo or graphic inside it? This chapter tell you how. It also explains moving non-linked layers in a set, and how to drag a linked layer without dragging all linked layers. Blending images and type can help you create GREAT looking type! Need to blend point and shoot photos into a panorama? Or make type appear to surround an object? The answers are in chapter 4.
Chapter 5 is all about using Filters. There are 40 tips for this chapter.
One of the most helpful discussions is the difference between the 3 sharp commands and unsharp mask. The details of when to change the radius or threshold settings in Unsharp mask is priceless, as is the explanation of why you should use Unsharp Mask last, and use it twice!
This chapter tells the difference between lighting commands... ambient, vs omni direction, using light sources, and how to save a lighting scheme. The liquify commands are not only explained, but illustrated! Did you know there's a reconstruct command which to return the liquified portion to its frozen state?
Another great section was the application of a Logo using the 3D Transform functions.
Do you know when to drag a layer style from one layer to another, and when to copy and paste instead? This chapter tells you..
Although there was a section on 16 bit manipulation, I have no need for it, and didn't review it.
Chapter 6 is on Painting and has 26 tips. The Wow Presets on the CD are great for this! They show the difference you'll get using the mouse versus a drawing tablet with their presets. Here are the steps to achieve the look of felt tip markers, how to use the eraser in airbrush, paint brush , pencil or block mode. The difference between Magic Eraser and background eraser for transparency answered one of my frustrations and why sometimes I can't paint. Tools that clone include the history bush and the art history brush where the authors explain the difference between style, area and tolerance. (the Wow patterns for Art History lessons use texture settings from fine tuned scans of real media).
Want to fill noncontiguous areas? reposition a gradient? do wet painting in Plein Air style... the answers are here!
The example of how to turn a photo or image into a painting, or an impressionist painting are awesome.
Chapter 7 Type Shapes , Paths & EPS has 43 tips including the fact that shapes require 2 phases... so when you can't edit that shape, it's because you're in the wrong phase.
They even tell you when to use other programs for type effects; what you must do before you can to tilt or distort individual characters in text. Making a sub path with the pen, the freeform pen or the magnetic pen is outlined as well as kerning using the option and arrow keys. There's a great set of illustrations showing the results of using Photoshop filters. Why you should use layer style, and what the layer style quirks are if you have to change file sizes.
Chapter 8 goes into Special effects for Type & Graphics with 19 tips. It discusses what you can do with a color overlay, and talks about the disadvantages of global light. How to use textures & backgrounds, how to create seamless tile patterns, etc. are covered in depth.

Chapter 9 The Web and Motion Graphics tells you how to plan web graphics, optimize them, and animate them. The CD contains a lot of pre made buttons for your web site.

I bought this book to see for myself what this Wow hype was all about. It turned out the Wow comes from two sources: from the CD which contains dozens of presets, and from working through the examples which came from commercial projects done by the author and other artists. Comparing the two, the Wow presets were icing on the cake. The really valuable stuff sits on the pages. The format of the book distracted me at first. Color images and text of various sizes packed almost every page to the brim. No wonder a few reviewers complain not knowing where to start. When I figured out how they laid it out, I began to appreciate what Davis has to offer: professional advice backed by commercial examples. And already, I picked up a habit on how to be flexible: work on adjustment layers.

This book reads as if it were written by John Nash from "A Beautiful Mind" on a bad day.
Often disjointed and poorly organized. The writer seems to jot down random ideas as they come to him.
It is full of nice pictures and comes with a work-along cd.
There are interesting, useful lessons to be found here for the intermediate user but the structure is such that you will find yourself flipping quickly around the book instead of reading cover to cover.

Good writing combined with straight forward information is a hallmark of this series of books.However my continued observation is that this needs to be printed in a larger format
to make it an easier read.Just being crammed full of relavant information and good instruction isn't enough, I put off reading this book because it was somewhat difficult to get through with the smaller typeface used.Photos in examples used could be larger as well, though many examples are included on the CD-Rom that comes with the book I can only give this book 4 stars.
Change the type size, insert larger photos and it is a 5 star book.

Photoshop, if you haven't noticed, is about as complicated a product as it gets. It sometimes seems like they designed it to be impossible learn (Option-click on the line between these two layers! Option click on that little triangle!). But once you master a technique it goes from maddening to delightful (and then to maddening again as you hit the next hurdle).

I first bought the Wow 5/5.5 book a couple of years ago and recently invested in the v7 book. This reference is always nearby, ready to boost me over the next hurdle. I have surprised my graphic designer friends by showing them stuff they didn't know which I got from this book.

It's evidently a labor of love by its authors. There is an extraordinary amount of work involved in explaining the product so well and packing in so many examples (which some reviewers see as a flaw?).

I don't normally gush so much but I want everybody to know about this great reference -- one of the most useful computer books I've owned. A simplistic book on a complex topic won't get you very far; this sophisticated book will carry you for years.

I consider myself to be an intermediate PS user but I wanted to take my skills to the Pro level and I thought this book would do it. Boy was I wrong!

Just because you are an expert in PS doesn't mean you know how to write a tutorial based book about it. This book is so badly written I feel like I know LESS than before I started! There is no order in this book. The tutorials are not laid out in an organizes step-by-step manner. Each page is crammed with so much text the reader doesn't know where to start.

This book has some amazing pictures of what can be accomplish in PS but unfortunately the reader is left wondering how the heck do I create that? Save your money and search for better tutorials online instead.

This is one of the best PS7 books out. It is detailed, highly technical and is full of breath taking and visually stunning examples.

Extremely well produced you will find the layout organized and well documented. NOT for the beginner. You would benefit from having a working knowledge of the interface and most of the layout functionality, filters and terminology.

Jack Davis and by far one of the finest authorities.

this is by far the wirst book I read ever, its hard to follow, not an easy read and its very confusing... save your mony and run away from it

I've been lookin for a Photoshop book... I decided to purchase this one after reading the previous reviews and a local electronics store had this book on sale. The book's tutorials are superb. For the past 5 years I've used Photoshop and I've never realized some of the great stuff you could do until I picked up this book. There's a section of making "aqua buttons". I found myself saying "I didn't know Photoshop could do this!?" The CD is full of files you can use to try out the tutorials you've just read.

This is an awesome Photoshop 7 book, but it is not really designed for novices. If you are new to Photoshop look elsewhere..but if like me you have a few years into it you will really appreciate the professional skills taught here. Every page is packed with tips/skills/insights! Absolutley fantastic, and you can spend serious time learning from this book and CD. A definite must for the committed Photoshop user, but just don't spread the pages too much as they start to fall out after a while. Oh yes, the print quality is nice with full glossy color on most pages. Get it! (PS: There is a lot of redundancy with the Photoshop 6 WOW book, but to me it's worth buying the new version just for the 7 additions).

Beginning on page 1, and continuing throughout the book, a very strange 2 column format is used. The left column is narrow, smaller in font, and in italics. Color graphics and pictures can and do occur with great frequency in both columns. At first glance this format may seem at least somewhat visually appealing, but don't be fooled. Typically I do not need "directions" or a "road map" for reading a book -- but here is an exception. Nowhere (at least nowhere that I have been able to find) does the author give any hint of a suggested strategy to using for reading this material. What relationship does material in the small left column have with material in the right column? Which should I read first? Just as my confusion became frustration I got to page 9 where I note "5 separate visually distinct elements." At the top I note the now-familiar two columns; this is then interrupted by some type of an example (no caption) spread horizontally across the middle of the page. At the bottom of the page there are again two columns (Although this time they are equal in width, each headed with a gray-shaded mast and a gray mark on the left margin.) In trying to understand the material on this page I see nothing on the preceding or following pages that are helpful to me. Nor does the material at the top seem to relate to what is at the bottom (or in the middle, for that matter).

It occurs to me that this is a wonderful example of graphic design gone wrong. Just because it CAN be done doesn't mean it SHOULD be done. Others have raved about the content of this book. I can't seem to get to the actual content. I can't figure out exactly how or where to begin.

Anyone interested in Photoshop 7 probably has more than a passing interest in overall visual appeal. Unfortunately, Jack fell off the curve somewhere. Simple was -- and still is -- elegant. Context that completely overwhelms content is mind-numbing.

This book is filled with ideas for Photoshop. According to the text, all the actions included with this book are also in the "Adobe Photoshop 7 One-Click WOW" book. But this book expands greatly on the one-click wow book and is a must-have companion book even if you already own one-click wow.

Useful techniques for any style or use of Photoshop. The book is well organized and filled with full color graphics. It's a fun book just to flip through and look at the pictures. Easy to find at a discounted price, I even ran across a half-price copy at ...

I've already read Deke Mc Clelland's Photoshop bible, and was looking for a book that would explain me how to combine different functions in Photoshop, rather than just explaining where you can find a certain filter and how to use it.

Well, this is just the book that offers what I and may'be you needed. Advanced techniques and great inspirational stuff, and all this comes at a reasonable prize because the book is in full colour and on the CD-Rom that comes with it, you'll find all the pictures from the book (pre and after handling). And yes, lots of goodies too: layer styles, brushes, actions, ...

An absolute cracker. In fact, you can read it in bed, and it's calming to look at all these beautifully designed pictures, you can start designing the day after.

Of course, this book expects you to know at least the basics of Photoshop. But thank god it does, so it's not yet another newbie book that teaches you what a layer is (not intending to sound disparaging).

For those interested in digital photography, web design or just wanting to live out their "digital creativity" the book is a must.

I guess the best praise for a book like this is that it makes you immediately want to try out the things you just learned.

So far I am not impressed. Actually, I'm more confused than when I first ordered it. I was hoping that this book would guide me step by step through the cool effects it highlights, but it seems that you already have to know photoshop to understand this book. Admittedly, I haven't really poured over it...it immediately overwhelmed me. There's a CD included that complicates things even more. Not only do I have to figure out Photoshop...but the WOW things as well. Not what I expected at all.