Rating: 

As a member of all 3 of these audiences at one time or another over the past 30 years, I greatly admire and appreciate the task of the author who undertakes the creation of a tutorial that simultaneously addresses the needs of these varied audiences. Deke McClelland does this admirably with Adobe Photoshop CS3 one-on-one, though with less emphasis on the advanced needs of professional photographers. The various file formats that come under the umbrella of digital raw capture, for example, are given only cursory attention.

I am currently using Photoshop in yet another category, that of instructor. I teach the Creative Suite applications to marketing students at the college level as part of a class in creativity. The idea here is that in about 6 weeks they will understand enough about these applications to not necessarily be able to make a living using them, but at least to be able to create basic ads, brochures, and web sites that will satisfy client needs. And, more importantly, they will need to be able to participate as members of creative and content management teams that include photographers and graphic designers. Part of the beauty of McClelland’s book is that it provides enough hands-on instruction to get mostly novice students up and working immediately while also providing an encyclopedia for in-depth expansions into most of the tools necessary for the reader to advance to the professional level in either photography or graphic design.

The text is accompanied by video on a CD. The video instruction effectively follows the step-by-step instruction in the text, which is helpfully presented with color photos and easy-to-follow screen captures, all artfully laid out in this well-organized book. Thankfully, the video is not redundant; rather, the video instruction artfully demonstrates the particular steps explained in the text. Once under way, the reader progresses with ease through the tutorials. Any complicated application of this nature naturally gives pause, especially to the novice, but no one will feel intimidated with Photoshop once under way with this book. With Photoshop, there are usually several ways to achieve desired results, and McClelland, with his easy to read and follow writing style, frequently points out the most expeditious way, to my great appreciation.

The text and tutorials are punctuated with paragraphs entitled Pearls of Wisdom, call out sidebars named Extra Credit, and the sections end with lists of Key Concepts and quiz questions that also serve as chapter summations. These break up the lessons and provide for an overall effective flow to the instruction.

Included with the book and video is also a trial membership to Lynda.com. I have enjoyed this excellent Web site for many years, though it is an expensive habit. It’s hard to imagine anyone going into more detail with application explanations than Lynda.com, and so the tutorials do tend to be time-consuming. And herein lays a quandary with the trial subscription: it’s sort of like a teaser, introductory rate for a credit card application.

In addition to being somewhat shallow on instruction for professional photographers, another drawback to this all-encompassing Photoshop instruction book is that it is all-encompassing. I am always on the lookout for effective, efficient tutorials for beginners and have always been forced to accept the very long and detailed ones. Maybe someone can create a shorter book that would get the reader up and working with Photoshop, and confident to then begin exploring it more in-depth with a book that focuses on photography or graphic design.

Adobe Photoshop CS3 one-on-one is an excellent tutorial for instructors looking for tutorials to showcase essential functions of Photoshop. However, this book is probably not one that I would put on the required list for my students, though I probably will list it as essential for those among them who plan to continue learning Photoshop.