Looking for state-of-the-art practical advice and inspiration? The Photoshop 6 Wow! Book strikes the perfect balance, giving you creative, timesaving tips and techniques for Web graphics, illustration, photo correction and compositing, and special effects. Packed with stunning new examples of Photoshop artistry, Photoshop 6 Wow! presents real-world, full-color artwork accompanied by clear, step-by-step instructions that you can use immediately to create your own projects. This updated edition shows you how to get the most from Photoshop 6's redesigned interface, new Shape tools, improved typesetting, and other vector-based features. You'll also get expert instruction on ImageReady's automated rollover states and one of the hottest new features—Layer Styles—for instant, elegant special effects.

The accompanying Wow! CD-ROM is invaluable, loaded with "before and after" tutorial files for the techniques in the book, with layers, adjustments and Styles intact. You'll also find dozens of preset Wow! Layer Styles and improved Actions designed to automate Photoshop creativity and productivity, along with libraries of new Wow! Patterns, Custom Shapes, Gradients, Brushes, and bevel Contours. Educators can use the Instructor's Guide PDF to design a Photoshop class—whether a single seminar or a semester-long course—based on the book-and-CD package.

Find out why the award-winning Photoshop Wow! is the best-selling Photoshop book of all time—and why this edition tops them all!

• For the first time ever, before-and-after files provided on CD for every exercise
• Every project iscompletely new or completely rewritten for Photoshop 6's new capabilities — streamlined for the efficiencies and quality provided by applying layer styles and vector tools in Photoshop
• Presets included on disk for the shapes, contours, gradients, and patterns in the exercises

Introduction

What's New in Photoshop 6 and ImageReady 3?

How To Use This Book

What's on the CD-ROM?

1: Fundamentals of Photoshop

What Is a Photoshop File?

The Photoshop 6 User Interface

Making and Modifying Selections

Transforming

Understanding Resolution, Resampling, and File Size

Scanning and Other Forms of Input

File Formats

Output

Automating Photoshop: Layer Styles and Actions

Working Smart

Essential Shortcuts

Gallery

2: Color in Photoshop

Color Modes

Spot Color

Color Depth

Blend Modes

Choosing Colors

Tools for Applying Color

Tools for Adjusting Color

Getting Consistent Color

Duotones and Other Tint Effects

Controlled Recoloring

Channel Mixing

Channel Mixer Presets

From Color to Gray

Spot Color Overlays

Gallery

3: Retouching & Enhancing Photos

Cropping

Adjusting Overall Tonality & Color

Retouching "by Hand"

Correcting 16-Bit Images

Retouching with History

Special Effects for Photos

Quick Tone & Color Adjustments

Framing with Masks

Softening the Focus

Focusing Attention with Color

Fixing a Problem Photo

Adding "Grain" to a Photo

Blurring the Background, but Keeping the Grain

Coloring a Black-and-White Photo

Gallery

4: Combining Images

Choosing and Preparing Components

Layer Masks and Layer Clipping Paths

Clipping Groups

Blending Options

Layer Sets and Layer Colors

Quick Masking & Blending

Extractingan Image

Blending Images & Type

Assembling a Still Life

Blending a Panorama

Collaging with Masks & Groups

Integrating Type or Graphics

Wrapping a "Decal"

Gallery

5: Using Filters & Liquify

Sharpen

Blur

Noise

Lighting Effects and Other Render Filters

Liquify

Applying a Logo with 3D Transform

Filtered Frames

Combining with Light

Liquifying a Shadow

Filter Demos

Gallery

6: Painting

The Painting Tools-Paintbrush, Pencil, Airbrush, Eraser, Smudge, and Pattern Stamp

The Cloning Tools-History Brush, Art History Brush, Clone Stamp, and Erase To History

Painting & Cloning Tool Options

Choosing, Editing, and Creating Brushes

The Filling Tools-Paintbucket and Gradient

Using Gradients

Painting "Wet on Wet"

Art History Lessons

Art History Examples

Gallery

7: Type, Shapes, Paths & PostScript

Type

Shapes and Paths

Photoshop and Illustrator

Typography, Groups & Layer Styles

Warped Type

Organic Graphics

Fast Filter Embellishing

Coloring Clip Art

Crafting a Neon Glow

Designing for Scalability & Animation

Silhouetting Images & Type

Gallery

8: Special Effects for Type & Graphics

Using Layer Styles

Digital Embossing "by Hand"

Photoshop and the Third Dimension

Anatomy of a Layer Style

Clear, Colorful Plastic

Textures & Backgrounds

Making Seamlessly Tiling Patterns

Quick Neon

Carving a Textured Surface

Carving a Smooth, Patterned Surface

Rusted & Pitted

Custom Chrome

Chrome Reflection Variations

Chrome Style Variations

Custom Glass

Styled Steel

Gallery

9: The Web & Motion Graphics

The Web Tools

Establishing an Efficient Web Workflow

Planning Art for the Web

Setting Type for the Web

Preparing Web Art in Photoshop

Animating for the Web

Building Interactivity

Optimizing Color and Compression

Web Gallery Templates

Cel Animation

Animating by Transforming

Animating with Masks

Scalable Animation

Stylized Button Rollovers

Gallery

Appendixes

Contributing Artists and Photographers

Resources

Index