Title: Real World Adobe Photoshop 7
Author: David Blatner & Bruce Fraser
Publisher: Peachpit Press http://www.peachpit.com
Publication Date: July 16 , 2002
Pages: 864
ISBN: 0-321-11560-0
Price: $49.99

Real World Adobe Photoshop 7 helps you master the essential day-in and day-out Photoshop techniques. Emphasis is placed on efficiency and getting the best quality possible out of Photoshop. You'll learn about color management, getting great scans, tonal and color correction, prepress and the Web, and working with Photoshop selections and silhouettes. The book is copiously illustrated with completely revised screenshots and loaded with time-saving tips and shortcuts. Written for both PC and Macintosh users.

What I like:

• Filled with revised screenshots;
• Loaded with tips;
• Shows you what works and what doesn't, and when things don't work, shows you how to get around those problems;
• Includes conceptual discussions describing how Photoshop "Thinks" about images, and suggests how you might think about them as well;
• Step-by-step production techniques.

Real World Photoshop 7 is divided into two introductory sections: Foreword and Preface; and 17 chapters. In the first five chapters, the authors attempt to lay the groundwork for the rest of the book. Then they jump into really working with images and explore techniques you'll want to employ with almost every image you work with in Photoshop. Next, they cover the origin and type of images you work with in Photoshop. After that they discuss the nitty-gritty of image manipulation--selecting pixels, pushing them into place, and being efficient with the editing. Lastly they show how to get images out of Photoshop and into the real world.

• Foreword: Photoshop Conquers the World--Describes emphasis of the authors.
• Preface: Photoshop in the Real World--More information on emphasis of the authors and how the book is organized.

Lessons 1 through 17 cover the following:

• Chapter 1: Building a Photoshop System: Putting It All Together--covers hardware; and the power of Photoshop.
• Chapter 2: Essential Photoshop Tips and Tricks: Making Photoshop Fly--looks at upgrading to a new version; Windows; navigation; moving pixels; dialog boxes; tools; palettes; preferences; when things go wrong; easter eggs; and the world of Photoshop.
• Chapter 3: Image Essentials: It's All Zeros and Ones--focuses on words, words, words; bitmapped images; resolution; how much is enough; terms of resolution; resampling; image size dialog box; image mode; bitmaps and file size; and billions and billions of bits.
• Chapter 4: Color Essentials: What Makes a Color--learn about primary colors; the color wheel; how colors affect each other; device-independent color; color relationships at a glance; and working with colors.
• Chapter 5: Color Settings: Configuring Photoshop's Color Engine --discusses controlling color; color management systems explained; color management in Photoshop; Photoshop color management at a glance; the conceptual framework; Photoshop 7 and the monitor; creating a consistent environment; LCD monitors; evaluating your monitor; Mac OS X and profiles; color settings; how white are your whites; printing to desktop printers; choosing a CMYK working space; canned versus custom profiles; dot gain: coping with midtone spread; choosing a gray working space; spot spaces; color management policies; color settings advanced mode; black is black; applying profiles outside color settings; soft-proofing controls; CIE limitations and soft proofing; converting at print time; and isolating variables.
• Chapter 6: Tonal Correction; Stretching and Squeezing the Bits--learn about stretching and squeezing the bits; difference is detail: tonal-correction issues; tonal-correction tools; the histogram; the info palette; the nonlinear advantage; levels and curves; levels; input levels; curves; white points and black points and grays; the math behind the eyedroppers; tonal correction in practice; and tonal magic.
  Chapter 7: Color Correction: Thinking in RGB and CMYK--focuses on changing modes and losing information; RGB versus CMYK; CMYK myths; image correction and targeting; color-correction tools; the color balance command; interpreting RGB and CMYK values; truth in imaging; color correction in practice; are all color casts bad; correcting an old photo CD image; and color is personal.
• Chapter 8: The Digital Darkroom: Photographic Techniques in Photoshop--look at adjustment layer basics; using adjustment layers; history and virtual layers; and darkroom experiments.
• Chapter 9: Sharpening: Getting an Edge on Your Image--learn about unsharp masking; how the unsharp mask filter works; correction versus targeting; working the controls; image detail and sharpening radius; unsharp masking tricks; beyond unsharp masking; and avoiding the crunchies.
• Chapter 10: Spot Colors and Duotones: Special Inks for Special Projects--discusses spot-color channels; multitone images; Photoshop's duotones; adjusting screen colors; setting curves; curves is curves; turning grayscale to color; simulating spot colors in CMYK; saving and outputting; converting from duotone to CMYK mode; and billions of shades of gray.
• Chapter 11: Line Art: Dreaming in Black and White--discusses scanning prescreened art; and perfect forms.
• Chapter 12: Image Capture: Starting out Right--focuses on what makes a good capture (and why you should care); getting a good caput re; scanner resolution; digital camera types; dynamic range and bit depth; software tools; photo CD; and from photons to pixels.
• Chapter 13: Selections: paths, Masks, and channels--discusses masking-tape selections; selection tools; floating selections; selections from channels; quick masks; anti-aliasing and feathering; channels; the select menu; selections and layers; paths; step-by-step silhouettes; and masks, channels and life.
• Chapter 14: Essential Image Techniques: Pushing Pixels into Place--learn about the color of grayscale; retouching; compositing images; vectors versus pixels; text and typography; drop shadows; filters and effects; rescreens; actions; automate; and scripting; and new techniques.
• Chapter 15: Storing Images: Managing Files for Fast Production--discusses save as options; saving and opening images; file formats; file formats for print; TIFF versus EPS; one file or two; clipping paths; Macintosh file types and PC extensions; file formats for multimedia and the web; niche file formats; compressing images; lossy versus lossless; to compress or not to compress; archiving; and from Photoshop to the future.
• Chapter 16: Output Methods: Getting It Printed--focuses on contone versus halftone; halftones; screen settings: what overrides what; the rule of 16; making halftones in Photoshop; contone output; hybrid color screening; hi-fi color; image differences; imaging from Photoshop; imaging from a page-layout program; and getting it out.
• Chapter 17: Multimedia and the Web: Purposing Pixels for the Screen--learn about preparing images; saving your images; more web tools; and the future of publishing.

For running Adobe Photoshop 7.0, you need:

PC:

• Intel Pentium class III or 4 processor;
• Microsoft Windows 98, Windows 98 Special Edition, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 2000 (service pack 2), Windows NT 4.0 (service pack 6a), Windows XP;
• 128 MB of RAM (192 MB recommended);
• 280 MB of available hard disk space;
• Color monitor with 16-bit color video card or higher;
• 800x600 or greater monitor resolution;
• CD-ROM drive.

Mac:

• Power PC processor;
• Mac OS software version 9.1, 9.2 or Mac OS X version 10.1.3;
• 128 MB of RAM (192 MB recommended);
• 320 MB of available hard disk space;
• Color monitor with 16-bit color video card or higher;
• 800x600 or greater monitor resolution;
• CD-ROM drive.