Reviews (17)

Photoshop 7 Bible
Well structure for the professional or novice.You'll find yourself looking trough it every chance you get.

I love his human side of technology
I must say, as much as this book takes VERY LONG to get through, because I have to stop, try the stuff out myself and really try to understand it, I find myself motivated by Deke's humor. As much as he contradicts himself after saying that he'll be concise in the beginning but half the time he's talking nonsense (funny nonsense that is), you can't blame him. That's his style after all! I have found myself loving the book because I'm always curios to see what silly thing he's going to say next? I love it how he knows when to be serious about the tools and when to make a good joke about it. My favorite has to be the one about using the healing and cloning tools with a picture of a baby's bottom that heals the dents on his forehead.
Use this as a reference book once you already know PS
This book describes the fine intricacies of all the tools, the filters and the features of Photoshop. Where other books lead you through lessons and tell you to set X tool preference to Y, and you may happily use the Y preference for years without even knowing there is also a Z preference, this book explains all the preferences for all the tools and gives illustrated examples of what the various settings produce.
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Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Computer Graphics - General    3. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    4. Computer graphics    5. Computers - Other Applications    6. Digital techniques    7. Image processing software    8. Microcomputer Graphics    9. Photo Techniques    10. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    11. Photography    12. Techniques - Equipment    13. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    14. Photoshop   

Editorial Review

Explaining the fundamentals of personal computing to those who wouldrather read words than look at pictures, Read more

Reviews (8)

Outstanding books for beginners!!!!
I was a "dummy" when it came to pc basics. I wanted to know Ram, rom, whats on the motherboard, etc. I wanted to know my Dell 4100 inside and out. Thanks to Mr. Gookin's excellent book, I am on my way to becoming very good friends with the very computer that once intimidated the heck out of me. He talks in, depth (but doesnt go so far as to confuse the beginner with a lot of geek jargon), and with humor, all you need to know about your computer so you can feel confident about using it. Youre not going to be a techinician when youre done with this book, but after reading it, you will be able to go to the local computer store with confidence and talk their language and not get the runaround. If every computer were to come with an instruction book, this one should be it!! Hats off to Dan Gookin and IDG books for such an excellent book. I look forward to reading Upgrading and Fixing Pc's For Dummies next!

Very Good
This is a very handy book to have.It is best for people who have very little experience with computers.

Who's the Dummy
I have been working with computers for a number of years and I am still mystified by all the computer hardware, software, jargon, acronyms, properties, claims, capabilities etc.Most of what I have learned has been through experimentation, reading Dilbert, and pleading for advice.Dan Gookin's book PCs for Dummies has been a great help in demystifying the world of PCs.After breaking down and purchasing this book, I realized just who the "dummy" was.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computers    3. Computers - IBM    4. Hardware - Personal Computers - PCs    5. Microcomputers    6. Computers / Personal Computers & Microcomputers / IBM-Compatible    7. PCs (IBM-compatible personal computers)   

Reviews (7)

Photoshop CS2 Bible - Professional Edition Book Review

Great photos and graphics, sage advice.
The features you need, the advice you want, the examples you'll refer to again and again: that's what you'll find in this book. The experience and insights that the authors bring to this book have made it one of my favorites among computer books in general and my total favorite among Photoshop books. I recommend this edition of the Bible to anyone who has already used most of the basic features and wants some expert advice to move them on to the next level. The "Professional" tag is appropriate, but you don't need to be an expert to use the book: that's where it takes you. Don't expect this book to baby you and for every single button and dialog box to be covered, because this is a book focused on the features you use for more advanced projects, and the work that pushes the edge of the design envelope. If you're looking for coverage of everything in the Photoshop menus and tools, get the main CS2 Bible, the one that's like 1500 pages. If you want to learn specific stuff to take your work to the next level, the Professional Edition is the one you want.

Very detailed...
Good book giving the details on all the CS 2's new features. Two thumbs up! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: General    2. Computer Graphics - Design    3. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    4. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    5. Computers    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    8. Photoshop   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (9)

Great bang for your buck with useful, very well explained examples.
This book rocks.I started learning Java about 2 months ago with the Head First Java book, which is AMAZINGLY helpful (even if you know absolutely nothing beforehand).Once I got through that all that I began writing small apps on my own, but found in many cases that the API (Javadoc) was hard to understand because my limited Java knowledge leaves me with no context in many cases.I would think, "ok, it says this class can do this using these methods, and that's what I want, but how exactly do I put this into practice."Java Examples in a Nutshell fills this need perfectly with excellent examples(!), explanations, and clarifications.There's only so much that it can cover, but what it does cover, it covers really well.
Summary of Java
Great overall summary of Java with examples.Replaces short surveys, tutorials and cookbooks of Java.

Very good book of examples of specific Java concepts
This book should not be expected to substitute as a tutorial for people looking to learn the Java language. Instead, it is a book full of short programs that each illustrate specific concepts in the Java language. If you are needing a tutorial on the Java language in general, I suggest "Head First Java", which is also published by O'Reilly and Associates. You can either read the appropriate chapters of this book in parallel with that one, or look through this book after you finish the Head First Java book. If you already know Java, keeping an updated edition of this book around as a reference is a great idea.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Java (Computer program language)    5. Programming Languages - Java    6. Computers / Languages / Programming    7. Computers / Programming / General    8. Computers / Programming Languages / Java    9. Java & variants   

Reviews (17)

Great glimpse of a programming language's history
This book is very interesting in that it doesn't tell you howto program in C++ but rather highlights why C++ is the way it is today. It starts with the very roots, an extension to the C language ('C with classes'') Bjarne devised back in 1979, because he faced a software engineering problem at the time where all currently available tools seemed inappropriate. This highly real world oriented design attitude was kept throughout the evolution of C++ - Bjarne specifically didn't want to produce an 'academic' language. This view and the absolute necessity for C compatibility and efficiency explain lots, if not all, of C++s more ugly syntactic and semantic constructs. While the book has chapters dealing with very specific parts of the language, I found the philosophical chapters the most interesting. These explain the author's personal views on programming and design in general and consequently why certain things were accepted or rejected into C++. Bjarne stresses the point that C++ was designed from the beginning to be a 'multiple paradigm' language. Object oriented programming was never meant to be, and is not, the only valid - holy grail - style of programming, that many make it out to be. It's quite frustrating to see features devised ten years ago still not properly supported by the current crop of compilers, templates for example (export anyone?).
Modeling Engineer
This is a great book for those who want to understand the history of C++, the details of its implementation and more importantly, this language's spirit.

For the Novice C++ Programmer
I was taking a graduate class for beginning C++ students. The book gave a wonderful history of C++.I would recommend for students who have not taken C or C+ to understand the scope of how powerful C++ is.This is also a good book for the introduction to object-oriented programming. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. C++ (Computer program language    2. C++ (Computer program language)    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Programming Languages - C++    5. C & Visual C    6. Computers / Programming Languages / C++    7. Object-oriented programming (OOP)   

Reviews (11)

Photoshop 6 for Dummies
Although this book can be quite useful for basics, it is too laden down with useless titbits. Also, a lot of important stuff is hidden between these, so it can be very easy to become frustrated. The book is presented well, slightly too much light humour but it does at least presume that you (like I did) have no experience. Practice will make you a much better photoshop user than reading this book, but combining this with thousands of F1 searches will set you well on your way.

Dry, Dry, and still more Dry
I'd rather eat the pages of this book for lunch and swallow them without a glass of water than read any further from this bone-dry book.I found the humor in the book more iritating than helpful, and the expanse of long drawn-out paragraphs with very few visual aids proved this to be the worst Photoshop book I've laid my hands on. It should be subtitled (forcomputer experts only)
I have been a pen & brush graphics artist all of my life. Now that I have retired, I decided to try computer image manipulation. I bought this book in the hopes of learning to recolor, flip, distort, or whatever via my computer (I just got my first one in 2000)and have found it maddening to use. The authors gloss over information vital to a basic understanding of Photoshop and then blithely show highly advanced image techniques that cannot be duplicated without the underlying knowledge. It pretends to being step-by-step, but ignores crucial steps. For example, a complex collage is created using a number of disparate images: how did they select only that portion of the original? How did they make the surrounding parts of the image transparent so the background shows through? This are the most basic maneuvers, but a couple of months with the book left me unenlightened. I have since found another book that delivers on the premise of this one, Photoshop 6 In An Instant by Toot & Woolridge, and am now happily photoshopping away -- this despite the fact that Photoshop 6 for Dummies was more ... and has many pages of color illustration, in contrast to Photoshop 6 In An Instant's reliance on B&W even to show color manipulation! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Computer Bks - Desktop Publishing    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers - Desktop Publishing    7. Microcomputer Graphics    8. Photo Techniques    9. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    10. Photography    11. Techniques - Equipment    12. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    13. Photoshop   

Reviews (15)

Heavy
This book is good for beginners who want to learn HTML and the basics of web design and programming. It's well written.
I don't think this is good for beginners
I used this book to refresh my memory because I hadn't done any web programming in a while.It worked just fine for that, but I don't think I'd have any idea what was going on if I approached this book without prior knowledge.I definitely wouldn't recommend this for absolute beginners.This book is best for people who need review or as a supplement to other books on the subject.

Five Pieces of Junk
First of all, my new book broke into three different pieces after sitting on the shelf for three weeks.I only read it at home - no damage due to lugging it back and forth - and had only made it through the first three chapters.It is now in five pieces four months after purchase.If you hope to resell books after reading them, this won't be good for you.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books And Software    2. Computer Networks    3. Computer Programming    4. Computers    5. Computers - Languages / Programming    6. Internet - General    7. Internet - Web Site Design    8. Internet programming    9. Programming - General    10. Programming - Software Development    11. Programming Languages - General    12. World Wide Web    13. World Wide Web (WWW)   

Reviews (3)

Lacks answers
I am just beginning to learn programming.This book starts out well with easy tutorials that you work through, and then gives exercises at the end of each tutorial.The only problem is that there are no answers to the exercises, so if you get stuck or just want to check your solutions, you are SOL.So, if you are a beginner like me, the book is worthless.

For a book so heavy to carry, it only scratches the surface
The Deitel & Deitel books are very colorful and very heavy to carry in your backpack. The only way to learn programming!
This book takes beginners by the hands, from installing and configuring Visual Basic.NET to actually coding, running and debugging the sample applications, which is precisely what beginners need. There are many exercises at the end of each chapter, always relying on complete applications instead of just code samples. You also learn how to use pseudocode to visualize what your application needs to do and the steps needed to make it functional. Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Languages    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Microcomputer Application Software    5. Programming - General    6. Programming Languages - Visual BASIC    7. BASIC (Computer program language)    8. Basic, Visual Basic & QBasic    9. Computer Software Packages    10. Computers / Programming Languages / Visual BASIC    11. Information technology industries    12. Microsoft .NET    13. Microsoft Visual BASIC   

Features

• Illustrated

Reviews (14)

Average User
After a few minutes of reading and in front of the PC, I was able to understand many of the new features in XP Pro. This book should have been included with the software. I considered myself as a fairly competent PC user, but the book unlocked all the items that you cannot find using the "Help" function in XP Pro. At least it seems that way to me! I highly recommend this purchase for ALL PC users.

He's Right, It Should Have Been In the Box
The title is right! This is the book that should have been included in the basic box with XP Pro. It is set at just the right level for the average user trying to come up to speed on a new operating system. While the basic user interface is more or less the same as the previous windows operating systems, the underlying code structure is based on NT rather than the older DOS/Windows.
connecting to the Internet
The very latest from David Pogue's eponymous publishing house [and O'Reilly]. The book goes into myriad useful tips on best using Microsoft's XP Professional. A very stable operating system, unlikesome earlier efforts by Microsoft. Replete with attractive consumer level utilities. The book does go into system type aids, like showing the full power of the start menu, taskbar and control panel. All to the good. But somewhat prosaic.
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Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computers    3. Computers - Operating Systems    4. Operating Systems - Windows    5. Operating Systems - Windows XP    6. Computers / General    7. Computers / Operating Systems    8. Computers / Operating Systems / General    9. Microsoft Windows    10. Windows, XP, Pro, Professional, Installing, Maintenance, backup, troubleshooting   

Reviews (17)

It's still here!
I am so glad this book is still around! I had forgotten what a great, useful, overview of basic typographic principles this "little gem" is.
Must Have Book
This is a must have easy to read book that Mac users should have in their library. It provides helpful tips on how to make your designs look professional and help out with the work flow.

Key reference for any graphic designer; entry level or experienced.
This book covers important type setting principles that are key in creating professional looking typography. Do you capitalize a.m. or p.m.? Where do you put a comma when there are quotations? How do you handle fractions - and more. Highly recommend as a staple for any design studio. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Apple And Macintosh (Microcomputers)    2. Computer - Apple/Macintosh    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Data processing    6. Desktop Publishing - General    7. Desktop publishing    8. Graphic design (Typography)    9. Hardware - Personal Computers - Macintosh    10. Macintosh (Computer)    11. Reference - Macintosh    12. Typography    13. Computers / Operating Systems / Macintosh    14. Electronic publishing: techniques    15. Macintosh OS   

Subjects:  1. Computer Animation    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computers    4. Computers - General Information    5. Interactive & Multimedia    6. Computer Software Packages    7. Computers / Interactive Media   

Reviews (3)

Microsoft MVP 2005 - Visual C# recommended
There are numerous upgrades between .NET 1.1 and .NET 2.0.Thankfully, this book focuses strictly on ADO.NET and how System.Xml is utilized with it.Not only do you learn about new capabilities, the authors do a good job of comparing new techniques/capabilities with those from .NET 1.1.
For Experts or people who want to become an Expert
This book is a worthy companion to Bob Beauchemin et al's First Look. And that is saying a lot.
deep integration of XML into ADO
This book shows how Microsoft supports XML as one of the core standards for interacting with its SQL Server database and with its entire .NET framework. The book divides into two parts. The first deals with pure ADO.NET improvements. Many of these. Perhaps the most tangible of which can lead to you writing less code, and hence [hopefully] more robust code.
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Subjects:  1. ActiveX    2. Computer Bks - General Information    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computers    5. Computers - General Information    6. Educational Software    7. Internet - General    8. Internet programming    9. Microsoft .NET Framework    10. Object-Oriented Programming    11. Programming - General    12. Programming Languages - XML    13. XML (Document markup language)    14. Computers / Networking / General    15. Object-oriented programming (OOP)    16. XML   

Reviews (10)

This book is for me, I am a Dummy :-)
Okay... Altho i am getting better, I still am not very savvy on the computer. Because of this book my friends think I am a photo guru!!! This book is soooo easy to understand and the example pictures are a big help. I am having so much fun!!! I highly recommend this book for beginners.

Photoshop Elements 3 For Dummies
I do a lot of scrapbooking and was quite disappointed when I purchased Photoshop Elements because I could not seem to get around in the program. Now that I have the Dummies book I'm navigating the program with the greatest of ease. The book has talked me through step by step in easy to understand language. My pictures are looking much better and I'm able to print the sizes I want and recently I've started creating accessories for my pages. So I highly recommend this book.

Photoshop Elements 3 for Dummies like me
I never know how much of a "Dummy" I am until I try to fiddle with a computer program.The Dummies series have always come to my rescue.I enjoy the lively banter-style format which makes me feel like I am getting personalized assistance. With no arguments!Even if I never figure out my software, at least I will have enjoyed the experience!The book covers the subject, but with no consideration to related programs (ie., XP, wherein I believe my problems lie...)XP for Dummies, coming right up! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop elements    2. Adobe Photoshop elements (Computer software)    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer Graphics    5. Computer Graphics - Design    6. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    7. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    8. Computers    9. Computers - Desktop Publishing    10. Desktop Publishing - General    11. Digital Image Processing    12. Digital techniques    13. Photography    14. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    15. Photoshop   

Reviews (2)

a rich feature set for UI design
This recent book by Homer and Sussman gives a pretty comprehensive exposition of ASP.NET version 2.0. You might compare it to another recent text, "ASP.NET 2.0 Unleashed" by Walther. That book chose to give its examples in Visual Basic. Whereas Homer and Sussman provide theirs in C#. In terms of C# knowledge, you need a general acquaintance with its syntax, to easily follow this book.
an authoritative, informative, and concise introduction to ASP.NET

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Subjects:  1. Active server pages    2. Computer - Internet    3. Computer Bks - Internet    4. Computer Books: Web Publishing    5. Computers    6. Design    7. Internet - General    8. Internet - Web Site Design    9. Internet - World Wide Web    10. Microcomputer Application Software    11. Web site development    12. Web sites    13. Computer Software Packages    14. Computers / Internet / General   

Reviews (5)

awesome
I have been reading this book for the last 30 minutes and it's one wow after another. I just turned to my dog and said "This book is amazing!" hehe. Even for the well-seasoned
I **LOVE** this book!I've been using Photoshop since version 4 and i'm self-taught.I am not an expert yet but then i don't consider myself a novice either. Photoshop reference extraordinaire
I love this book! I wish all software books were written this well. If you took 20 Photoshop books at random and put them through some magic process that took all the good stuff out and condensed them into 1 easy to read, well-organized, no fluff, no 1500 pages and 4 pounds of paper book, this would be what comes out.Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Graphics - Design    2. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    3. Computers - Desktop Publishing    4. Data Transmission Systems - General    5. Digital Image Processing    6. Photo Techniques    7. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    8. Photography    9. Techniques - Equipment    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    11. Photoshop    12. Publishing on the Internet    13. Computers    14. Graphic Design   

Subjects:  1. Computer Bks - Languages / Programming    2. Computer Books: Languages    3. Computers    4. Programming Languages - C++    5. Computers / Programming Languages / C++   

Reviews (8)

It's an OK book
The people are right that this book could have been much less thick if it wasn't for the examples. Personally, I thought they were useful. Keep in mind that they have complete examples in both C# and VB.NET, and all that code wastes a lot of space.
Very Little Practical Information
Over 70 Percent of this book is code listings (much of it auto generated) that is available in the sample code.Why generate your own database when pubs and northwind provide adequate examples.If you want to learn how to design a database there are ample books out there that are quite good.Most of the examples have very little real world application.As an example of practical concise real world examples look at "Building Web Solutions" by Esposito.He provides four times the useful information in 350 pages that this book provides in 1200.Look elswhere if you want good insight and practical information.

Complete! Well Documented! Superb!
I found myself searching for a book that covered the TreeView control and others in great detail. I needed a book that would give detailed examples of how to use the advanced features of Windows Forms Controls and this was it. I use C# but appreciate the fact that both the VB.Net and C# codes is included as I never know if I will be asked to work on a VB.Net project. I have several other C# books that documented the basics of how to program C#, but this is the first that really showed me how to use the power of Win Forms to build a user friendly UI. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Computer Books: Operating Systems    2. Computers    3. Computers - Languages / Programming    4. Operating Systems - Windows    5. Programming - General    6. Computers / Languages / Programming    7. Computers / Programming / General    8. Computers / Programming Languages / C#    9. Microsoft Windows   

Reviews (16)

The cutesiness is dull, dull, dull
I learned a lot from this book, but it was annoying to have to plow through a lot of meaningless chit chat to do so.The book could be 25% shorter without all the senseless yammer--which was not that funny.When I'm trying to understand a particular tool or function, I don't appreciate the extra time it takes to read about how pixel resolution is like grandma's oatmeal cookies, or whatever.

Great Help
I always had difficulty with the original manual. On a given subject it referred you to another place in the manual. The Dummies book does a better job of covering a subject in it's entirety. The index is also much better.

Much Better Than The Manual
I learned a lot from this book and it really turned Photoshop from something intimidating into a very powerful tool that I now enjoy using. My photos are much better now and my wife is amazed at how well I can salvage seemingly "ruined" pictures. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop elements    2. Computer Bks - Other Applications    3. Computer Graphics - General    4. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    5. Computer graphics    6. Computers - Other Applications    7. Digital photography    8. Digital techniques    9. Microcomputer Graphics    10. Photo Techniques    11. Photographic Techniques Using Specific Equipment    12. Photography    13. Techniques - Equipment    14. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    15. Photoshop   

Editorial Review

The Read more

Reviews (93)

Great book for the exam
I really enjoyed using this book to prepare for the Network+ exam. I used another book from McGraw-Hill/Osborne and it just didn't help me as much. What I liked the most was the fact that the author did more than prepare me for the exam, he helped me prepare for actually supporting networks. Great book!

Passed it!
First off let me say that I managed to pass the Network+ test with a 715 (thats about a low "B" but a pass is a pass). I also used the Exam Cram 2 book as well because its always a good idea to study from at least two sources. One of the sources may cover something in more depth or is easier for you to understand then the other and vice versa.
Good book
I found this book (the deluxe edition) well written and I learned a lot from it along with the lab and test CDs included with the book. As far as preparation for the exam, I used this book along with Craig Zacker's Microsoft Press Network+ Certification book. I passed, not with flying colors, but I'm satisfied considering I had very little work experience involving network administration. There were a lot of questions on the exam that the book did not seem to cover well, particularly the ones on fiber technology. The assessment and bonus tests that came with the book were, like the book itself, educational but not the best exam prep materials. With all the braindumps available it seems that COMPTIA has made the test unrealistically difficult. Even though I have very little networking experience, I find it hard to believe that network professionals have all the network protocols and associated cable types, lengths, connector names, and speeds memorized. That's the kind of stuff reference books are used for. So, although the book provides a lot of the knowledge network professionals have, it's not the best exam prep material and would probably be a boring read for those who have a year or so field experience. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Certification    2. Certification Guides - General    3. Computer Books: General    4. Computer networks    5. Computers    6. Computers - Certification    7. Examinations    8. Microcomputer Networks    9. Microsoft software    10. Networking - General    11. Study guides    12. Telecommunications engineers    13. Computers / Technical Skills    14. Networking packages    15. Study guides, home study & revision notes   

Reviews (2)

Huh?
According to the authors the RAW file format is mainly for use in transferring graphics between Apple and PC computers and loses a great deal of detail. In other words they wrote a book about Photoshop CS but they know little if anything about the subject.

Great revision to this classic book
Whether you be new Photoshop user or experienced, you'll find great information in this good book. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Adobe Photoshop    2. Computer Books: General    3. Computer Graphics - Design    4. Computer Graphics - Game Programming    5. Computer Graphics - Photoshop    6. Computer graphics    7. Computers    8. Computers - Desktop Publishing    9. Desktop Publishing - General    10. Computers / Computer Graphics / Design    11. Photoshop