Product Description

* New! Zip through the learning curve in a snap with the free DVD! * Hundreds of new Photo Objects, companion project files, QuickTime movie tutorials, sample plugins, and more.

* Don't miss the website www.howtocheatinphotoshop.com where the author answers your reader questions directly!

When you're short on time with crunching deadlines, but there's no way you can sacrifice quality, this book/DVD comes to the rescue. Nobody knows more about how to work fast under pressure and still produce top-notch photographic images than hands-on graphic artist and journalist, Steve Caplin.

Steve cuts through the grind with on-the-job, do-it-now skills, techniques, and shortcuts guaranteed to show you how to work faster, smarter, and better to produce the best work of your life. With a lifetime of practical experience in photo-montage Steve is the go-to person for professional designers, graphic artists, illustrators, photographic retouchers, and students of design media and illustration who want to create photorealistic effects using Photoshop.

Updated for Photoshop CS3, this must-have resource is also backwards compatible - relevant to any version of Photoshop.

'How to Cheat in Photoshop CS3' helps you "cheat in" (or take advantage of) Photoshop in two important ways. You learn how to make images look like photographs, when they're not so that you can create photographic work without a studio. And you find useful shortcuts to work more efficiently, economically, and with quick solutions to achieve the same superb results that come from long, complex operations that take forever.

Whether you're working for print or the web, dip into this book and extract the info you need - fast. Icons mark where Photoshop files or movie tutorials are available for you to open immediately to try for yourself. Stuck? Visit the Reader Forum on the web and question the author directly (and expect other readers to weigh in, too!) at www.howtocheatinphotoshop.com.

Crammed with gems that other books simply don't cover, this book/DVD excels in practical tips to turn the ordinary into the awe-inspiring, quickly. Don't miss how to create new artwork from scratch from starting points that aren't always obvious.

This fully updated new edition shows you how to get the most out of Photoshop CS3, including the Quick Selection and Cloning tools, and more. Yet it's backwards compatible with previous releases of Photoshop. The book's step-by-step tutorials alongside the DVD packed with hundreds of images, project files, and live tutorials show you how to:

* Create convincing smoke effects and make effective explosions - the simple way
* Take years off someone's appearance
* Turn a photograph of someone looking straight into the camera into a different perspective with the entire head (not just the eyes)
* Modify a statue so it looks like a living person or paint hair directly on any surface
* Produce the perfect cutout in the shortest time with Photoshop CS3's new Quick Selection tool... and more

A host of timesaving techniques and insider secrets teach you to work faster and more adeptly moving from the problem to the solution to get fantastic results!

Steve Caplin is a graphic artist, author and journalist.

* Extensive new material to show you how to take your Photoshop skills even further
* DVD includes all the brand new images from the book, 300 high resolution AbleStock images plus over 2 hours of QuickTime movies of the projects
* Benefit from a professional illustrator's timesaving tips and tricks!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4528 in Books
• Published on: 2007-05-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 416 pages

Review
"Brilliant illustrations, step-by-step instructions and packed full of tricks from one of the finest masters of them all" TOM ANG, WIDELY EXHIBITED PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER TEACHER, EDITOR & AUTHOR"

Review
"A fun project-led workbook for anyone who wants to get to know Photoshop more intimately. Covering all the techniques you'll ever need, it's packed with inspirational projects to try - from combining body parts, to making introduced light sources, shadows, textures and reflections look realistic. With this handy guide, the digital world really is your plaything." - Photography Monthly (Aug 2007)

Previous edition reviews:

"The tutorials are concise, well presented, [and] show the reader what is possible with a select few of the tools, those which serve as the quickest and most practical in any given situation.. The only title which focuses on getting things done in the shortest amount of time as well as producing photo-realistic results."
David Asch, UK based freelance digital artist and photographer specialising in photo-montage and image effects.

". refreshingly candid and easy-going approach to teaching Photoshop techniques. It is enjoyable and informative. It's greatest strength is its approachable, friendly writing style combined with obvious expertise.. more personal and direct than any other Photoshop book I've read."
Keith Martin, UK based freelance graphic designer, Technical Editor for MacUser magazine.


"...this book is fascinating and Steve is unquestionably the master in his field." - Amateur Photographer

"Brilliant illustrations, step-by-step instructions and packed full of tricks from one of the finest masters of them all." Tom Ang

"An invaluable guide to creating impressive montages from your digital photographs. Composed primarily of step-by-steps, this tome is packed with useful shortcuts and time saving tips." - What Digital Camera

"A must-have for all Photoshoppers" - www.total-image-nation.co.uk

"Covering all the major techniques, author Steve Caplin takes you on an intriguing and insightful journey through the realms of the digital montage." - Advanced Photoshop

"Its 376 pages, plus CD, are crammed with colourful instruction on making your dull, unexciting snaps look altogether different...It should be required reading for anyone using Adobe's image tweaking tool in a semi-pro environment." - MacUser

"You'll find plenty of fun in the author's offbeat lessons and examples which explore the program's hidden powers. What makes CHEAT so unique are the gems that other volumes simply don't cover. The juiciest bits that real artists hunger for are here. So dig in, dig deep, and Shop yourself mad." www.dingbatmag.com

What Digital Camera (Review of Previous Edition)
"An invaluable guide to creating impressive montages from your
digital photographs. Composed primarily of step-by-steps, this tome is
packed with useful shortcuts and time saving tips."

Customer Reviews

NOT REALLY FOR BEGINNERS!!
THIS IS CLEARLY NOT A BOOK FOR BEGINNERS,HOWEVER IF YOUR ALREADY HAVE A SOLID UNDERSTANDING OF PHOTOSHOP CS THEN I WOULD RECOMMEND THIS BOOK,IT WILL ALMOST CERTAINLY ENLARGE YOUR CREATIVE ABILITY.ITS FILLED WITH IDEAS.

One of the best Photoshop books I've ever read
This book is right up there, in terms of quality, with the legendary New Riders book, Photoshop Channel Chops. From cover-to-cover, the tutorials are extremely simple to follow and there are some genuinely impressive results to be had. I think the book is pitched slightly more towards intermediate users, but if you're new to Photoshop please don't let that comment put you off. I consider myself an advanced user of Photoshop having used the application since the late nineties, and I have found plenty of head-turning stuff in this book. Well worth every single penny.

Good book for techniques that are often overlooked
I bought this book in late 2007( as a newbie to PS) and it laid dormant for several months. Now I have got into it and I would have to say its a very good book, well structured with good techniques that are all chaptered appropriately and progressively, also the accompanying CD is very effective and helpful. Now if you want a beginners book that explains all the tools and holds your hands through the tasks this book may disappoint. However, if you want a book that teaches you good techniques in a way that encourages your understanding and creativity then this is the book for you. Also the how to cheat bit, is a bit misleading and is more appropriate to other books that hold your hand through every part of the task, This books guides you, eg use this tool and this effect, but the tasks require you to think and problem solve, which actually makes you understand the software and is more rewarding, as opposed to the parrot understanding that you can develop with other books.