Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Cs4 in 24 Hours (Sams Teach Yourself)

Sams Teach Yourself  Adobe® Photoshop® CS4

Kate Binder

In just 24 lessons of one hour or less, you’ll learn all the fundamental Photoshop CS4 skills you need to get great results–in digital photography, graphic design, painting, or anything else! Using this book’s easy, step-by-step approach, you’ll master Photoshop CS4’s revamped interface and powerful new shortcuts. You can also learn professional techniques for repairing damaged photos, creating great composites, black-and-white images, and web graphics, and a whole lot more!

Full-color figures and clear step-by-step instructions visually show you how to use Photoshop.

Notes, Tips, and Cautions provide related information, advice, and warnings.

Q&A sections, quizzes, and exercises help you build and test your knowledge.

Learn how to…

• Master Photoshop CS4’s new tabbed interface, Application Frame, and Application Bar
• Personalize your workspace to work more efficiently
• Repair and retouch black-and-white and color images, no matter what condition they’re in
• Make “spot fixes” with Photoshop CS4’s improved toning tools
• Achieve powerful artistry with Photoshop’s filters and effects
• Master digital painting with Photoshop’s paintbrushes and other tools
• Get your colors right, in both print and web applications
• Transform your images using tools ranging from Flip and Warp to Liquify
• Master professional-level features including layers, channels, and masks
• Create outstanding typographic special effects
• Prepare great web images for everything from online photo galleries to cellphones
• Save time and get better results with Photoshop CS4’s latest enhancements

Kate Binder is a design and graphics expert who works from her home in New Hampshire. She has written articles on graphics, publishing, and photography for magazines including Shutterbug, Publish, eDigitalPhoto, PEI, and Desktop Publishers Journal. Kate is also the author of several books, including iMac Portable Genius, Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 in 24 Hours, Easy Mac OS X Leopard, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Mac OS X, and Easy Adobe Photoshop 7.

Category:  Graphics

Covers:  Adobe® Photoshop® CS4

User Level:  Beginning—Intermediate

Kate Binder is a graphics expert who works from her home in New Hampshire, doing design and production for books, magazines, e-books, and websites. She is the author of several books, including iMac Portable Genius (Wiley, 2008), Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop Elements 6 in 24 Hours (Sams, 2008), Easy Mac OS X Leopard (Que, 2007), and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Mac OS X (Alpha, 2001). She is the coauthor of several more books, including Microsoft Office: Mac v.X Inside Out (Microsoft Press, 2002), SVG for Designers (McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media, 2002), and Get Creative: The Digital Photo Idea Book (McGraw-Hill/Osborne Media, 2003). To those interested in a successful career as a designer, photographer, or computer book writer, Kate recommends acquiring several retired racing greyhounds (find out more at www.adopt-a-greyhound.org); she finds her own pack of greyhounds extraordinarily inspirational. Kate can be reached via her website at www.prospecthillpub.com.

 Hour 1: Exploring Photoshop Basics

Hour 2: Opening and Saving Files

Hour 3: Making Selections

Hour 4: Specifying Color Modes and Color Models

Hour 5: Adjusting Brightness and Color

Hour 6: Different Ways to Paint

Hour 7: Choosing and Blending Colors

Hour 8: Drawing and Combining Shapes

Hour 9: Advanced Painting Techniques

Hour 10: Using Transformations

Hour 11: Using Layers

Hour 12: Using Masks

Hour 13: Using Paths

Hour 14: Getting Started with Filters

Hour 15: Applying Filters to Improve Your Picture

Hour 16: Applying Artistic Filters

Hour 17: Applying Funky Filters

Hour 18: Adding Type

Hour 19: Taking Advantage of Useful Tricks

Hour 20: Creating Composite Images

Hour 21: Repairing Black-and-White Photos

Hour 22: Repairing Color Photos

Hour 23: Printing and Publishing Your Images

Hour 24: Going Online with Photoshop

Appendix A: Photoshop CS4 Palette Quick Reference

Appendix B: A Quick Walk on the Extended Side