This book was a great read and a worthwhile investment. When I first started reading it, I thought it was too basic for me, but luckily, I kept reading. Yes, it has the very basic concepts of layers, but it has WAY more too. I made several breakthroughs with this book, which is a major accomplishment for me. I usually feel like a book is worth it if I find one really worthwhile technique. I have 12 pages dog-eared so that I can get back to them quickly, and of course highlighting throughout the book.
I loved the layout of the book. It is broken into 10 chapters that have subchapters within. The subchapters are short, less than 10 pages each, and have LOTS of graphics showing the screen he is referring to. There were a few times that I wished he'd shown another screen that he was referring to, but overall he showed what he was discussing. The text is brief and to the point without the mindless detail that kills some Photoshop books. At the end of each chapter he has a "How do I..." section that replays some of the tips he demonstrated from the chapter that I found quite useful.
Some of my favorite things from this book were:
* All of the great keyboard shortcuts. Yes, I have a book on shortcuts, and have printed out volumes from another book I purchased, but I found his more useful because they were in context.
* His description of the layer blending modes with examples. I have a few that I use all the time, and this has really helped me branch out of my blending mode rut.
* Clipping masks, yes, I've used them, but I didn't really understand how to make them. Now I do, and it's easy.
* He also helped me expand with text. I didn't think about rasterizing a text layer so I could add filters, gradients, or use a brush on them, now I will. Or locking the transparent pixels, so a gradient doesn't apply to the whole layer, seems obvious, but I never thought of it.
* I did not know there was a keyboard shortcut where you could run the last filter, but open the dialog box so you could change the settings. It's command-option-F! Yeah!
* Loved his sections on creating a watermark, and creating glowing light streaks with layer styles. His layer style discussions were great.
These were just a few of my favs. Some of these things may be familiar to you, especially if you watch Photoshop User TV the podcast as I do. But I still found the book quite helpful.
There were a few things I didn't like about the book, for instance, he uses the eraser tool in situations where I would use a layer mask, since a mask would be less destructive. But I know another very famous photographer/retoucher that uses the eraser tool extensively over layer masks. So maybe it's what you are used to, but I would teach masks when at all possible. Matt does use layer masks extensively, but a few times, I thought, "Why is he using the eraser tool now, and not a mask?"
Then when he was teaching the highpass filter to sharpen or create an `edgy look' he said he really uses a plug-in Topaz Adjust to create the same look because it is easier. I use the highpass filter as he describes all the time, but I have it as a recorded action, so it is easy for me. I own Topaz, I just don't use it that much.
I really struggled over what rating to give this book, because I normally save my 5 stars for books that I consider perfect, and there were, as I mentioned, things I disagreed with in this book. But I liked the book so much, and would recommend it to any of my friends, that I decided it deserves 5 stars. This is a book that I will refer back to and study and incorporate many of his techniques, and where possible, automate them!
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About the author
Simple lessons that spawn endless creativity
Seeing Matt K. on Kelby Training and Kelby TV, I figured his book would be overly technical and a bit dry if not silly. Mind you, I actually do like him on Kelby videos, but he's definitely the "little brother" of the group. However, he's always full of useful information so I thought I'd give this book a shot on ipad kindle app.I'm about a third of the way through this book and even though I've used Photoshop, layers, and layer masks for years, this book has opened me up to the uses for different layer modes giving me a whole other world of tools. Now I find myself going through old photographs and applying these tools to improve what I thought were already good photos. I'm sure that I still have many other great tools/techniques to learn from this book and I'm looking forward to working through it.I will definitely purchase Matt's next books based on the great information that I've received from this one. Also, if you have the Kindle app on a tablet or PC, this is a great way to have quick access to both the book and Photoshop at the same time.
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 28, 2010
- Reviewed in the United States on January 17, 2011
Top reviews from other countries
- Dr. Malay Kumar KunduReviewed in India on September 19, 2019
Book is a wrath purchase
- Un audiophileReviewed in Canada on June 14, 2015
It is easy to follow and there is a lot of example
