I was surprised when so many of the class members attending the new Photo Editing class at the Learning Center were using Photoshop Elements software. This obviously makes teaching the class much easier. Even so, a number of those attending the class aren’t familiar with all the Elements Tools on the tool bar and therefore, I’ve been spending a fair amount of class time showing how to use each tool in an actual application.

I received this book for review and I’m very impressed with its content and how the information is presented. In fact, I’m recommending this book to the students in my Photo Editing class.

Photoshop Elements 2 Bible (ISBN 0-7645-4391-1), published by Wiley Publishing, is by Laurie Ulrich who has authored or co-authored more than 20 books on computers and software. If you measure how good a book is by its heft, Photoshop Elements 2 Bible, at 553 pages and weighing just less than two pounds, you have to admit there is a lot of information packed between its covers.

You can use this book as a teaching tool, reading each chapter by chapter to fully understand Photoshop Elements 2 Bible. Or, you can use it simply as a reference book, looking up an image modifying technique or procedure in the contents page or in the 27-page index. The trouble with the latter is you need to know photo-editing terms in order to find that section in the book.

The book contains 31 full-page color photos edited/modified images to get your creativity flowing. I found the numerous Photoshop Elements 2 Bible screen captures showing drop down boxes particularly helpful. These images showed the brush selection or tool that was being described in the copy adjacent to the screen capture.

Chapter 14, Adding Text to Images, was interesting. I found several slick ideas to use in future projects.

Finally, I photocopied the 3 pages of keyboard shortcuts and keep them on my desk as a handy memory nudge. I noted that Joseph de Leon, our editor of PC Alamode and Photoshop class instructor is a big user of keyboard shortcuts so if they are good enough for him, they ought to be good for me.