Adobe Photoshop CS4 Digital Classroom is like having a personal instructor guiding readers through each lesson, while they work at their own pace. This book includes 13 self-paced lessons that let readers discover essential skills and explore new features and capabilities of Adobe Photoshop. Every lesson is presented in full color with step-by-step instructions. Learning is reinforced with video tutorials and lesson files on a companion DVD that were developed by the same team of Adobe Certified Instructors and Flash experts who have created many of the official training titles for Adobe Systems. Each video tutorial is approximately five minutes long and demonstrates and explains the concepts and features covered in the lesson. Coverage includes information on Adobe Bridge, Camera RAW, masks and layers, painting and retouching, and selections and layers. Jam-packed with information, this book and DVD takes users from the basics through intermediate level topics and helps readers find the information they need in a clear, approachable manner.

Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

This book (for Windows and Mac) breaks new ground by doing something for digital photographers that’s never been done before—it cuts through the bull and shows you exactly “how to do it.” It’s not a bunch of theory; it doesn’t challenge you to come up with your own settings or figure things out on your own. Instead, it does something that virtually no other Elements book has ever done—it tells you flat-out which settings to use, when to use them, and why. If you’re looking for one of those “tell-me-everything-about-the-Unsharp-Maskfilter” books, this isn’t it. You can grab any other Elements book on the shelf, because they all do that. Instead, this book gives you the inside tips and tricks of the trade for organizing, correcting, editing, sharpening, retouching, and presenting your photos like a pro. You’ll be absolutely amazed at how easy and effective these techniques are—once you know the secrets.

You’ll learn:

• The real secrets of how the pros retouch portraits
• How to color correct any photo without breaking a sweat (you’ll be amazed at how they do it!)
• How to use Camera Raw for processing not only RAW photos, but JPEGs and TIFFs, too! (And you’ll learn why so many pros like it best— because it’s faster and easier)
• The sharpening techniques the pros really use (there’s an entire chapter just on this!)
• How to deal with common digital camera image problems, including removing noise and avoiding halos
• The most requested photographic special effects,  and much more!

The Book’s Secret Weapon
Although Elements 8 offers some digital photography features that Photoshop CS4 doesn’t offer, there are plenty of features that Photoshop CS4 has that Elements 8 still doesn’t have (things like paths, Channel Mixer, etc.). But in this book, you’ll learn some slick workarounds, cheats, and some fairly ingenious ways to replicate many of those Photoshop features from right within Elements. Plus, since this book is designed for photographers, it doesn’t waste your time talking about how to frame a shot, setting your exposure, etc., and there’s no talk about which camera or printer to buy. It’s all Elements, step-by-step, cover-to-cover, in the only book of its kind!

The Photoshop Elements 8 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

Martin Evening’s Adobe Photoshop for Photographers titles have become classic reference sources for photographers at all skill levels. Whether you are an accomplished user or just starting out, the Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers book contains a wealth of practical advice, hints and tips to help you achieve professional-looking results.
Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers begins with an overview of the Photoshop interface and the fundamentals of how to use Photoshop, followed by how to configure and optimize your computer’s performance to run the program and then it dives straight into the essentials of Camera Raw image editing. The Sharpening chapter shows how to use the Camera Raw controls to obtain optimum capture sharpening and noise reduction and the Essentials chapter outlines how to work with all the basic image adjustment tools that are in the program, some of which have been there since the very beginning.
Practical workshops show you how to master the essential techniques, such as color correction, retouching techniques, toning a black and white image, creating composite images and so on. Each technique is described in step-by-step detail, showing exactly which command to use, whether you are working with a Mac or PC computer.
The accompanying DVD contains a Photoshop for Photographers Help Guide. This is supplied in a web browser format that you can either run from the DVD or copy to your computer hard disk for off-line viewing. The Help Guide contains a complete guide to all the tools and panels in Photoshop as well as other items in the program. It is like having an off-line manual with which to learn more about what each Photoshop tool and palette does. The guide also provides 120 minutes of movie tutorials on Photoshop CS4. If you are just beginning to work with digital images or are looking for new ideas, the best techniques and ways to improve the quality of your work, this is the book for you!

* Learn Photoshop the Martin Evening way! Get up to speed fast with the essential information you need to create superb images in Photoshop CS4.
* Accompnying DVD includes the images you need to follow along as you read, with QuickTime movie tutorials for hands-on learning
* Contains over 750 professional, color images

Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor’s Guide to the Creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

Product Description
Photoshop Elements combines an easy-to-use set of features and enhancements with image editing power in an affordable program. The newest version—Photoshop Elements 8—features more online integration with products like the new Flash-based Web galleries.

Packed with beyond-the-basic techniques that show you how to take your Photoshop Elements skills to the next level, this invaluable book reveals ground-breaking ideas and innovative tips and tricks for taking digital images from basic know-how to creative wow!

• Provides adventurous Photoshop Elements users with a visual reference on how to use the bells and whistles found in the latest version of the software, Photoshop Elements 8
• Distinguishes itself as not your ordinary how-to guide by revealing the best features of Photoshop Elements 8
• Offers easy-to-follow, full color step-by-step instructions and detailed imagery throughout

Take your image editing skills to new heights with the featured Photoshop Elements 8 tips and tricks.

Photoshop Elements 8 Tips for Getting Started
Amazon-exclusive content from author Rob Sheppard

1. Work the photo, not the program. It is easy to get overwhelmed by the software and forget what is really important — your photograph! Do what you need for the photograph, not what you think you should do in the program.

2. Save the originals. Whenever you open a photo into Photoshop Elements, immediately do a “Save As” to create a new image file for you to work on. This allows you to preserve the original file so that it cannot be affected directly and you will always have it if you run into problems with your work later.

3. Always back up your photos. Big external hard drives are very inexpensive now. Copy your digital photos from their folders on your computer to an external drive so that you have at least one complete copy of all of your images for back up. There is a saying in the industry, “It isn’t ‘if’ your hard drive will fail, but when.” Be prepared for that “when” by backing up your photos. Many hard drives now come with automated backup software that can help.

4. Right-click your mouse for more information. Photoshop Elements is filled with extremely helpful context-sensitive menus. They are only accessible when you right-click on a part of the interface. Right-click on the photo and you get a menu related to the tool you are using. Right-click in the layer panel and you get an entirely different menu. If you are working with a Mac, get and use a right-click mouse.

5. Remember the “undo” command. Use Control + Z for Windows and Command + Z for the Mac. This is very freeing because it means you cannot hurt your photo as you work. If anything doesn’t look right, just undo it.

6. Consider using RAW files. RAW files offer you more flexibility in processing your photos and can be processed with Photoshop Elements, in its Camera Raw software. RAW is not arbitrarily better than JPEG but can give you better results if you are willing to work with it and use its flexibility in processing.

7. Learn layers. Layers seem intimidating to many photographers, yet once you start using them, you will find all sorts of ways to use them in order to make your image processing faster, better and more flexible.

8. Never worry about knowing everything in Photoshop Elements. Learn and use what is most appropriate to your photography. After all, Ansel Adams could only make his prints bigger or smaller, lighter or darker, more or less contrasty, as well as lighter/darker or more/less contrasty in small areas, and that was about it. Yet look at what he accomplished with these “limited” controls.

9. Practice makes perfect. The way to get better with Photoshop Elements and to work faster and more efficiently with your images is to spend some time with Elements. You have to put in the time in order to save time later. Playing around with lots of photos, seeing what all the controls do, failing as well as succeeding, will all help you become a better photo processor with Elements.

10. Feel free to experiment. If you aren’t sure how a control works, or even if you should use it at all, just try it. As long as you do not save your work over the image file, you cannot hurt your photo. If you experiment and it doesn’t work, simply undo the changes or go to the Undo History panel to back up in your adjustments.

Photoshop Elements 8: Top 100 Simplified Tips and Tricks (Top 100 Simplified Tips & Tricks)