BKPHTSHP.RVW   971210

"Photoshop in a Nutshell", Donnie O'Quinn/Matt LeClair, 1997,
1-56592-313-8, U$19.95/C$28.95
%A   Donnie O'Quinn donnie@maine.rr.com
%A   Matt LeClair matty@maine.rr.com
%C   103 Morris Street, Suite A, Sebastopol, CA   95472
%D   1997
%G   1-56592-313-8
%I   O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
%O   U$19.95/C$28.95 707-829-0515 fax: 707-829-0104 nuts@ora.com
%P   616 p.
%T   "Photoshop in a Nutshell"

In the preface, the authors note that the Nutshell reference format is
well suited to systems or languages, but may not be quite as easy to
deal with when the topic turns to other, and particularly graphical,
processes.  While they have done a laudable job in making the attempt,
the difficulty is still obvious in places.  By the way, just to keep
the record straight for Corel or Microsoft users, this is Adobe
Photoshop we are talking about.

The book is divided into three parts, tools, menus, and palettes. 
Tools include selection tools, paint tools, special tools, view tools,
colour controls, quick mask tools, and view controls.  The menus list
all items in descending order, and consist of the standard file and
edit, as well as image, layer, select, filter, and view.  Palettes
appear under the Window menu, and incorporate the navigator, info,
colour, swatches, brushes, layers, channels, paths, and actions, as
well as submenus.  Appendices list 170 common techniques, 300 keyboard
shortcuts, and other information.

Each tool and function is described by explaining the specific
function, common use, common errors in use, special notes, and
suggestions in regard to the dialogue box.  An invaluable aspect of
the book is side-by-side inclusions of both Macintosh and Windows
keyboard commands.

In expressing the aforementioned difficulty in dealing with a
graphical subject, I may, of course, be the wrong person to review
this book.  I have freely admitted, in previous reviews, that I
*don't* consider a picture to be worth a thousand words.  I have
little experience with graphics, and therefore do not understand why,
when "you fill a 40% selection with black, the result is a 60% opaque
black."  Thus I find it difficult to say how helpful this explanation
would be to others who have more background in the field.

I will, however, state that, were I to take up graphical artistry,
this would be the book I would turn to.  I might not understand it
now, but given a bit of experimentation I could certainly work out
what I didn't understand.  The book's reference format makes it easy
to find the types of functions desired, and a few attempts would
narrow the field.

copyright Robert M. Slade, 1997   BKPHTSHP.RVW   971210