Others say...

"Andy Anderson: The Author"
I just wanted to make a statement on this book... although it has my name on it, I did not directly write it. As a matter of fact, I only knew of its appearance when I came to amazon to check on my other books.
I'm not trying to get into some legal issue with Que, as a matter of fact, they might have the right to use my name; however, the only contribution I made to this title would be in copy/paste from my previous books on Photoshop.
If you like, or dislike this title, please thank or complain to the people who wrote it and used my name.

I have (to this date) not received one penny of compensation for Que putting my name on this title... and the same holds for another title called Flash CS3 Professional On Demand... my name... copy/paste.

"Good Information, Careless Proofing"
When I purchase a book that sells itself as a path to ACE certifications, I expect many things including depth and detail for every function. What I don't expect are incorrectly labeled captions, and misplaced or erroneous screen shots. This book *does* have many good examples and descriptions of important Photoshop CS3 functions, but this is marred by several pages throughout, that were not carefully proofed. Many beginners will be confused when they read how-to steps that actually contradict the screen shot and labels that are used for the same example.

I typically stay away from SAMS and QUE books for this reason and this book turned out to be no exception. I won't be buying another one again. Try your luck with New Riders, Peachpit and Focal Press. Their Photoshop books are typically high quality and worth every penny (also because they not only proof things carefully but choose amazing authors).

"CS3 on Demand"
This is an excellent reference for the new Photoshop CS3. The layout is easy to understand and is helpful for both a Photoshop "Newbie" or an advanced user.

"Great for Intermediate+ and those seeking ACE certification"
I don't believe I could have bought a better book, being at an intermediate level on Photoshop. This book is put together in such a well-organized, well-designed way, anyone already having some knowledge of Photoshop, but needing to fine tune certain areas or prepare for the Adobe Certified Expert exam, should find everything they need in its 500+ pages.

Although it starts with the most basic areas: installing, first-time use, basic interface and tool use, the book doesn't go into a lot of discussion about each area. Those with no knowledge of Photoshop may be distressed at how fast the authors go on to other features of the program.

The table of contents lists each task by page, color-coded by chapter. For those upgrading from previous versions, the authors display a "New!" icon next to tasks that are new to CS3.

The whole book is full-color, with many visual examples. Each task is designed to be basic enough to be shown on one page, or two pages facing each other; the authors wanted to make sure readers didn't have to flip pages when learning the same topic. This is where the book gets its fast pace. The tasks consist of basic things such as "Creating a Layer Mask," "Selecting Layers" or "Using the Lasso Marquee Tool." Each task normally has a paragraph explaining details and possible uses, and has a sidebar showing step-by-step how to accomplish the task. There are also separate boxes with additional info such as the For Your Information and Did You Know? boxes.

For those interested in taking the ACE exam, each task covering an ACE objective displays the appropriate icon. Also, at the back of the book, in the certification section is a list of certification objectives along with the page that covers that topic. The only thing I would ask to include in the book is some indication in the table of contents as to which topics are ACE objectives. I went through the book and verified each topic and highlighted the page number in the table of contents for my own information.

It's an excellent book, one that will remain close by for reference as I go back over each topic in preparation for the exam.