I am working my way through this book, and so far it is well worth the money. I'm sure it does not cover every little thing Elements 7 can do, but it has really helped! Easy to follow, step by step instructions.

As a beginner digital photographer and new to the world of photo software, this book is perfect. It is easy to read and understand, humorous, gives step-by-step solutions to common problems and, most importantly, it is FUN.

It is not an exhaustive desk-top reference for PS Elements, and I'm sure it is not intended to be. As a beginner, the problem I have with photo software is understanding what the applications might be for the myriad features. This book takes a look at common applications and, using a step-by-step approach, walks the reader through frequently used features for organizing and editing photos. It gets you started...it's a terrific learning tool!

It also includes ideas for projects to show your work, such as client presentations, multi-photo layouts, postcards and book pages, to name a few.

Love it, love it, love it!

I waited a long time before buying this book. After seeing how helpful the version 6 book was, the wait was ended. I use it in my business.

i have resorted to this book many, many, many, many, many times, lol. i'd be lost without it. and i chose this one, as opposed to other elements7 books, because to me it is written in a more user friendly way. the other ones that i have checkd out were not layed out as well.

This book has color pictures on every page, which is nice, but the BIG problem with this book is that it is too verbose (i.e. too wordy). For every procedure they talk about they provide about 10 times the verbiage that other books provide to explain things. It's like listening to a blabbermouth on the phone who never gets to the point. If you have unlimited time to waste reading something said in 300 words that could have been concisely said in 30 words then this is the book for you. If you value your time, chose one of the other books on this subject.

As in the other books written by Scott Kelby, this book is well written and easy to follow.

This book is the ultimate how to book for elements 7. It is very detailed with excellent step by step directions. It covers everything you need to know on how to manipulate your pictures

The Photoshop Elements 7 Book for Digital Photographers This book does an excellent job of explaining the methods for improving or changing photographic images. However, I was looking for a quick guide to adjusting my photos. For example, if I wanted to enlarge one flower in a bouquet, I would be able to go to the index and find something similar to: "Enlarge one item in photo." I think my expectations were unrealistic.

This book is best for those who have time to work on perfecting his or her work.

Very well done and a bit of humour added to keep it alive,
G2

There are books that exhaustively list every feature, and give no useful information on them ("If you want to dodge, use the Dodge tool to dodge.") These books also tend to cheerlead for the product, telling you how great every feature is. As Syndrome might say, though, "if every feature is special, then none are."

This is NOT that kind of book.

Instead, the authors list a bunch of things you might want to do, then tell you the best ways to do it. They'll even tell you if the default tools are lame (see dodging again), and give you better ways to accomplish your task. Rather than using the features of the product as a starting point, they use a list of problems you'll want to solve as the starting point. In some cases, they're problems you won't even know you have until you see the cool fix they present.

The writing is clear, entertaining without being too precious, and the examples are excellent. Worth every penny.

I am fairly new to photo shop elements but I have read some on the basic's. This book goes beyond that and shows you simply how to do so many different things with elements. It was simple to follow and I learned quite a bit more than the basic books taught. I refer to it all the time to do creative things. I strongly recommend the book.

This is one nice book. I am a novice to Elements 7 and it was been a tremendous help.

Highly recommend it. In fact, a fellow teacher knew I had bought Elements and brought me a book to borrow, he couldn't remember the name of the book, but said it was a great book. When he pulled it out of his briefcase, it was this book.

Small world, huh.

The author's book "Digital Photography Vol 1" was great for the beginner, so I expected more from this book. It's OK, but the book does not adequately explain many of features of Elements 7 in simple terms. If you are an advanced user, it is probably a good guide.

Mr. Kelby is clear and plain-spoken, something I love, and after only one week and many digital photos, I love this book.

I had worked with imaging software a little, and then three years ago bought Elements 4 and just happened to pick Scott Kelby's book for Elements 4.

I knew Elements was a pretty powerful program, but just basically bought Mr. Kelby's Elements 4 book out of sheer good luck.

Three years and thousands of photos later, I upgraded to Elements 7 and also to Mr. Kelby's Elements 7 book.

I have spent the past week using Elements 7's expanded RAW features (when compared to my older Elements 4) and this book rocks more than the earlier version.

I understand that some who are brand new to image manipulation might feel let down a bit, because this book assumes a very basic level of expertise.

If you are brand-new to working with images on your computer, you might buy Elements 7, this Elements 7 version of Mr. Kelby's book, and also an absolute beginners book too. You will soon move from the absolute beginner book to Mr. Kelby's and I promise you'll be glad you bought it.

This is THE book for Elements as far as I'm concerned.

I am a new user to the photoshop element, I looked up the instructions in the book on various topics and find the instructions confusing, have yet to complete any task I'd attempted. So I joined abobe's free basic membership, which come with some online tutorials and find those are much easier to follow.

I have not had this book for very long but it appears to be very thorough and contains MANY beautiful photos to illustrate each step provided. It also shows a photo of what your work screen will look like at each step and where to find each "button".....very helpful! I look forward to a lot more time spent with this very useful, visually appealing book.

Before reading your book, I was very limited in my knowledge of Photo enhancement. After a trip to Alaska and over 1000 photos to work with I used your book like a bible. I am very satisfied with the results....Thank You

Picked up the book because you know what, you can't remember everything (at least I can't,hehe)and the thing is you can always go back to the chapter concerning the function you want to perform. Practice makes perfect and this book is a great aid in acheving that goal. Kelby and Kloskowski are very good at explaining things in down to earth terms... with a little humor thrown in to loosen things up. My 2 cents for what it's worth. Hopes this helps.

This is a very good book. As long as you are familiar with the photoshop program you should have no problems understanding the instructions...

Worth the money everytime Scott puts one out. I have bought several of his books and they are great.
This one I'd recommend for the beginner or the advanced beginner with Elements 7.0

This book is another excellent book on Photoshop Elements by Scott Kelby. It contains excellent tips on how to use the product. One thing though. I upgraded from release 5 and sold my copy of this book that covered release 5. I didn't realize that the information on how to use the software does not necessarily get repeated in updated versions of the book.

For me this book is excellent and exactly what I was looking for. I needed a book written from a photographers perspective on how to get the most out of Elements 7.0 to create more professional looking pictures in an easy reference style format. This book delivers just that enabling you to look up things like 'soft focus' effect or adding 'fill light'and be able to go straight to that section and perform the technique without having to read the entire book cover to cover.

There are many good books covering various aspects of Elements 7.0 depending upon what you are wanting. Many however, cover how do use it for the web, or make albums and gift cards. Thats great if that is what you want, I suggest something like 'The Missing Manual' series, however, if you are a photographer but cannot afford the full Adobe CS4 program but want to get similar or the same results using Elements then this book is definately for you. Although you do not have to read cover to cover to perform a task, the easy and often humorous style of writing encourages you to do so.

A book for the serious photographer.

Should be read before using Elements 7.

Very informative.

This book is packed with great info and amazing time-saving tips and tricks that I use for my professional photography business. Easy to follow - you will lose if you don't buy this book! Great for professionals and the novice.

I've had this book almost a month and use it nearly everyday. Prior to purchasing this book I could re-size, crop, and sharpen. Now I'm fixing white Balance, changing backgrounds, giving eyes sparkle, and more!
It's written in a way I get. With clear step-by-step instructions with a picture for each action. I like the Table of Contents a lot. One can open this book and begin anywhere! Finding a technique is easy because the Table of Contents is laid out in a format to find things by the things you want to do. Example: You want to take out spots or blemishes? Simply look in the Table of Contents under "Take Me Away".
I gave it 4 stars b/c there is an expectation that you know where things are in Photoshop Element's Editor. Trying to follow along in Photoshop with the book in hand I spent a bit of time the first few days looking for a few places where you click to make the action appear in Photoshop's Editor. I would have given it 5 stars had this information been included in the book. Some of us using PSe7 have no prior experience with Photoshop Elements. There is an assumption that you have.

Overall I have to say I love this book. I've recommended it to all my friends, and others like me who have recently started using PSe7.

I took an intermediate class first and now use the book for reference to help me. I also bought Photoshop Elements 7 by Jeff Carlson to use. I am just getting started with the program and need to work with it more, but the books have been very helpful to me to work around through it.

Love the book. Have read elements 3.0 also, thought it was time for an update. Great format, enables reader to go to the chapter needed instead of reading the entire book.

This is complete How-to book for elements 7. You pick the procedure that you want to accomplish and the section on the topic gives you clear step by step set of directions to complete the procedure. Simple and straight forward. I keep at my side every time I sit down to work with the program.

This book assumes that you are already familiar with the basic use of PSE tools and functions. If you are not already familiar with the PSE tools, this book may be confusing. This book provides a "recipe-format" for using the PSE 7 tools and functions to fix problems in digital photos. The book's format provides step-by-step instructions, including specific/recommended settings for the various tools, of how to fix common (and not so-common) problems in digital photos. Each recipe includes an overview/explanation of the fix as well as very helpful screen shots. It also discusses topics beyond fixing photos, i.e., the organizer and how to present your photos to a client. I found it to be a very, very helpful book. The only "negative" comment I have is that I also have the same book by the same author for PSE 3 and the PSE 3 book contains some things that are not in the PSE 7 book. Glad I have both versions.

I never buy manuals. I always am a teach-myself type of person. but, since I decided to spend the money on PSE7, I wanted to get everything I could out of it. So, I sampled a few books, and ended up buying this one.

And I am SO glad I did! I bought this for my kindle, and easy jump around (via the table of contents) to whatever I need to read up on. It is very step-by-step, detailed and user-friendly.

It covers almost everything, and the writers are very up front about what is NOT in the book. - READ the FAQ! I don't need a chapter on layers, it's such a simple concept, that I dont' miss it. But the chapters on organization are amazingly thorough and I've already learned and applied a lot of it.

I recommend this book for anyone with a basic understanding of Photoshop who needs to really get the most out of their program.

i buy all my books from amazon, like always, this book arrived on time and in excellent condition. Was a great purchase. When i make purchases from amazon, i dont have to worry about anything, just wait for the mail and enjoy. Good job as always, and thanks again.

I am VERY new to Photoshop. In fact, I opened the program for the very first time with this book in front of me. I had a specific picture I wanted to brighten the sky on. I found the instructions BUT they were not at all complete. I got as far as highlighting the sky, and then I had no idea how to actually set the function. There was no instructions on simple things like that. And looking through, the verbage really is for more advanced users. Being that I am not highly experienced with my DSLR and not at all experienced with Photoshop, this was not the book for me. So if you need more detailed instructions like I do, go with Adobe Classroom in a Book instead of this one.

This books tells you how to edit photos as opposed to just how to use the different elements of Photoshop Elements 7...I have a different book that I use for that. It's step-by-step approach is very easy to follow and leads you through progressively more sophisticated editing techniques. For the editing that I do to photos this is my primary reference. I am very satisfied with the book.

Another great book by Scott Kelby. I keep it next to my computer at all times! Plus besides being a great instructor, he is funny too!

Information covers new features for Elements 7 but also includes some new techniques that cam be used with earlier versions.

As with his other books for photographers, Kelby's wisecracking, refreshing writing style doesn't get in the way of his solid guidance as he helps you learn Photoshop Elements 7.
The book could be better organized for use as a reference source, and the index is not bad at all. But you may have to do some digging to find the fixes you need for your photos.The Photoshop Elements 7 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

This is the latest of several Scott Kelby books that I have purchased. Scott shows you step by step how to use the tools in Photoshop Elements 7, along with suggested settings that he uses every day. His instructions are clear with plenty of examples. His web site provides copies of the photographs in the book so you can follow along with hands on practice. I also purchased Scott's book for Photoshop Lightroom 2. I find both books Extremely helpful.

If you use Elements 7 this book is awsome. I am a first time user of Adobe Elements and this book makes life so much easier. I used the program for a month before the book was available and could only navigate the simple tools of the program. Now if I get stumped I just pull out this book and it will get you going in the right direction.

I bought "The Missing Manual" by Barbara Brundage after I first got Elements 7. I has been helpful but hard to understand. Yesterday I just received Scott Kelby's "The Photoshop Elements 7" manual and I LOVE it! Colored pictures, easy to understand directions from start til end. I truly recommend this book over Barbara's manual because of it's simplicity and photos. I suggest everyone have it in their library if they have photoshop elements 7! Scott Kelby is an excellent author! I have some of his Digital Photography books and look forward to #3 coming out in August!

This is an excellent book, very helpful. It may be slightly advanced for someone just starting to learn Elements. I found the instructions concise and easy to follow. Well done!

Great book, especially for someone new to Elements. Read the book, then download the pics and practice each technique using the book's instructions. Explanations are clear - steps are "cookbook" - techniques are very useful. You'll learn a ton and have a great reference book when you are done. Well worth the $. (And, I like the author's humor as well.)

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK. I AM A NOVICE AND HAD NO PROBLEM FOLLOWING THE BOOK. IT IS WRITTEN SO THE AVERAGE PERSON CAN UNDERSTAND AND FOLLOW ALL EXPLANATIONS. IF YOU NEED HELP EXPLAINING VARIOUS TECHNIQUES ABOUT ELEMENTS 7 I RECCOMMEND THIS BOOK.

This book contains mostly tips and tricks for those who already know 95% of what there is to be known about using Photoshop Elements 7. There is very little attempt to explain the basics. Furthermore, there is virtually no difference in the books's printed "before" and "after" pictures used for illustration.

I was so dissapointed with this book that I returned it very soon after receiving it from Amazon and reviewing it. It made me appreciate Amazon's great return policy if nothing else.

Great book for beginners. Very helpful, makes Elements 7 easy to learn. Glad I bought this book. You don't have to read the book cover to cover all at once. You can move around the chapters of this book according to what function you are trying to perform. I recommend this book for anyone trying to learn Elements 7.

A really good book for digital camera work! Very well written and covers nearly all subjects well. This is a must book if you are using PE7! Very well done!

Info is very good but the printing of the color graphis is just not very easy to read.

Scott Kelby is my favorite photography author. His co-author, Matt Kloskowski, is also a very talented Photoshop professional. Boy, they really know how to write a clear, concise Photoshop Elements user manual for people that are new to the photo software-editing world. I hesitated for my first year with a camera in purchasing any type of editing software due to the fact that it was very intimidating. I'm not an expert with a PC or a camera and thought that the editing tricks and processes would be difficult and confusing. No more. Just skimming through this book answered a lot of questions I had and given me ideas on how to improve my existing photos. Color accent, cloning/erasing objects, layers, shadow effects and a slew of other tips are included in no nonsense, easy to follow advice in this book. I love it. I will post some of my touch-up photos on this book web page as well as my camera's product page. I can't wait! Buy this book. You won't regret it. It will add layers and layers to your photography collection, pardon the pun!

Clearly, the authors of this book are experts in Photoshop Elements. This book will teach you tricks and techniques you would probably never be able to learn on your own. In addition they give "cookbook" line by line instructions which even a complete novice can follow.
For the most part, the book is organized in a task-oriented manner which is convenient when you have a specific modification you want to make to your photo, i.e. modify colors, restore old faded photos, merge pictures and a thousand other ways to improve your pictures. The authors obviously know their subject well and are enthusiastic about passing on this information.
The task oriented approach does have some disadvantages though. The book does not have chapters meant simply to explain each button, tool, etc in the program, rather you learn about the tools as you use them for a specific task. This is ok, but makes the book difficult to just sit down and read cover to cover in order to learn how to use the program. Rather it works best when you look up a topic one by one when you have a specific task you want to try. This probably works well for most people, but if you buy the book planning on just reading it from start to finish you may be overwhelmed. It would have been nice to have a chapter or two introducing different tools and concepts.
My biggest complaint is the way they handle the layers tool. The authors state that every other book on elements goes through the basics of using layers, so they are going to skip this. Instead, layers are used frequently to achieve many techniques, with step by step cookbook instructions. Since I have not read a previous book (other than a previous edition of this book which takes the same approach), I don't understand the layers toolbar and just copy their step by step instructions (which give amazing results!). Nevertheless, in my opinion, a chapter explaining layers would help me understand layers better-- then I might be able to perform these tasks by myself rather than just memorizing the steps.
I can't comment on whether this book is a good update if you already own their immediate previous edition as I upgraded from a previous edition for Elements 3. The upgrade is clearly worth it to me as there is substantial new information compared with the version for Elements 3.
In summary, this book has an amazing amount of information presented in a step by step fashion easy to reproduce at home. It will teach you both simple and complex techniques to do amazing things with your pictures. I give it 4 stars because it is short at times on explaining concepts, particularly layers, requiring me to keep the book open and follow each step rather than being able to leave the book behind and apply the concepts I learned.