By Jed Clampett

June 1, 2001

Deke McClelland the author of over 50 books brings his expansive experience and knowledge to new users of Photoshop 6. The concept of the Look and Learn series which is developed by Deke, is, "a syringe to the brain". Deke says it is, "information that sticks in your head". The Look & Learn series is a highly visually experience which conveys information fast by showing it. I think the most unique feature of this book is that all the text is linked to images. What I mean by that is every image has lettered annotations pointing to all the parts of the image that are being discussed in the text. Plus the text heads are short, concise and easy to figure out what is being discussed. Here is a sample of the book layout and four pages from the Look and Learn Photoshop 6 book. You can click on the PDF link to download a readable 4 pages of the book.

Click here to download a readable PDF file of these four pages.

There are over 600 annotated screen shots in this book. Now don't think this book is just full of pictures, it also has tons of content and there are 66 step-by-step examples. The illustrations are not oversized to the point that you get pictures and no content, they are just right to make a point. Another thing you won't find in this book is blank pages. I don't know about you, but don't you feel cheated when you pay big bucks for a book and you get tons of half full pages? Talking about big bucks, this learning tool is only $19.99 and at Amazon its only $15.99.

The Table of Contents uses icon images and headers that make it easy to locate a section or topic quickly and the Index is one of the finest I've seen. It uses icons and images and is quite comprehensive. A book of such quality could only have been produced by someone who clearly understands what beginners need to learn a complex program such as Photoshop 6 quickly.

Here is a list of just a few of the topics covered. Notice that the more difficult, complex subjects are not avoided. Deke explains some the the harder concepts in a manner that is easily grasped.

Paint and retouch
Draw vector shapes
Create and modify layers
Define channels and masks
Created and apply layer styles
Adjust and correct colors
Apply filters and effects
Play and record actions
Prepare CMYK images
Save for the Web

Of course things like the interface, layers, type and slicing are all covered as well. There really is thorough coverage of what any user new to Photoshop needs to jumpstart their learning of Photoshop and get the information to "stick in their head".

In conclusion I'd like to say (and this may sound almost irreverent to some of the most popular series for beginners) the Look & Learn Photoshop 6 book is truly Fast - Concise - Efficient and Complete as claimed. It is the "Best" beginners book I've seen for Photoshop 6 to date for getting up to speed quickly. 

Copyright 2001, Jed Clampett, All Rights Reserved