Up To Speed: Photoshop CS3 is touted as the only book that focuses on the new features of Adobe Photoshop CS3. For many of us who have been using Photoshop for a number of years, I have worked with it off and on since version 4 and owned it since version 6, so it is real important to have something that focuses on just what is new in Photoshop.
Written by award winning author of Adobe Photoshop Studio Techniques and Photoshop Hall of famer, Ben Willmore, Up To Speed: Photoshop CS3 is a thin book just over 150 pages. But it is a well focused book that is divided into seven chapters. Obviously, to work with this book you will need a computer, Mac or Windows based, and a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS3.
First, a couple of notes. Willmore does not cover Version Cue, the version management software that comes with the entire creative suite. He felt that this did not meet the objective of what's new with Photoshop. Second, while he does touch on a couple of the features of Photoshop CS3 Extended, this book is aimed at photographers, and hence these features go beyond that scope as well.
Chapter one, "Bridge CS3" covers the extensive changes to the Bridge module. These include the interface changes. Since many things have been rearranged, renamed or removed, this becomes a must read section for those who used the Bridge module in CS2.
Chapter two, "Camera Raw 4.0," is also a major revision and requires some significant brain shift in the way that you approach camera raw. These include some features from Adobe Photoshop Lightroom as well as a lot of both big and little changes to the product.
Chapter three, "Interface Changes," covers the new arrangements that have occurred in CS3. Things like the palettes which now can be grouped into docks that can cling to the edge of your screen. For some it will take some getting used to, others just don't like the changes. Here Willmore even shows you how to get some of the old interface back again.
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