If you've wondered how the InDesign pros get twice the work done in half the time, here's why: They know every inside tip, every hidden keyboard shortcut, and every little trick that gives them the edge. They know the fastest, smartest, and most efficient way to do just about everything. In short, they know all the "tricks of the trade." But you can too.

That's because you're holding a book that is nothing but tips. It's packed cover-to-cover, wall-to-wall with nothing but those cool little inside tips that can make you faster, better, and have more fun using Adobe inDesign CS. There's no detailed descriptions on working with hyphenation dictionaries, or long boring discussions on color workflow--it's just tips--short, sweet, and to the point.

So why just tips? When we (you, me, etc.) look at books, if we see the word "Tip" we're all immediately drawn to it. That's because we know we're about to learn something really cool. Maybe it's an undocumented keyboard shortcut, a hidden inside secret, or just a faster, better way to do something we do every day. The only problem with the tips in these books is, there's never enough of 'em. That is, until now.

We wanted to create a book that is nothing but these tips, hundreds of tips, but with added bonus that each tip would have a full color graphic along with it, showing you exactly how it's done. Most importantly, to get in this book they've got to be "Killer Tips" The kind of tip that makes you smile, nod, and then call all your friends and "tune them up" with your new status as InDesign guru.

This book is your ticket to working faster and smarter in Adobe InDesign CS than you ever thought you could, and best of all, you'll have a blast doing it.

If you've ever wondered "How'd they do that?" you're about to find out!

How it works

Scott Kelby, Editor of Photoshop User magazine and author of a string of bestselling Photoshop books (including Photoshop CS Down & Dirty Tricks, and The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers) takes these classic techniques and shows you how they're used by today's industry's leading professionals. You'll learn step-by-step how to build complete projects, from start to finish, so you can put these Classic Effects to work for you today. You¿ll learn classic photographic effects, type effects, commercial and advertising effects, and the special effects the pros turn to first to get the job done fast!

What Makes it a "Classic"

Over the years certain Photoshop special effects have become so popular they've become classics, much in the same way certain songs, or certain cookbook recipes have become classics. For example, if you bought a book of "Classic Recipes" you'd expect that it would include some kick butt recipes for spaghetti sauce, apple pie, buttermilk pancakes, meatloaf, tomato soup, and a wide range of classic dishes, right? Right. So would you expect to find some wild new culinary explorations from Wolfgang Puck in a Classic Recipes book? Not a chance. Instead you'd find the "meat and potatoes" recipes that are used every day by great cooks all over the world. Well, my friends, that's what you¿re holding--a book of kick butt "meat and potatoes" special effects, the same ones used by great Photoshop photographers and designers all over the world.

MTV or CBS?

Here's the thing: if your client is MTV, you can go out and do all the latest, wildest, weirdest effects and they love it. But what if your client is CBS or CNN? Try that stuff and they'll show you the door. They need a professional, clean look, and they'll expect you to know the classics and how they're used today. That's what this book is all about--teaching you the handy bag of tricks that you can use again and again.

Finally, a Photoshop book that is written expressly for professional photographers and hi-end serious amateurs that doesn't talk about F-stops, exposures, and how to frame a shot (you know all that stuff already--if you don't¿I hate to say it, but this isn't for you).

This new book, from Photoshop User magazine editor and bestselling author Scott Kelby, starts at the moment your digital camera photos come into Photoshop, and he shows you the Photoshop pros techniques for managing, correcting, retouching and outputting your photos to knock your client's socks off, and turn you into a Photoshop production wizard. This book is absolutely ideal for traditional photographers who are making the jump to digital photography, and Scott's casual, step-by-step, plain-English style makes even the most complex Photoshop techniques seem so easy and accessible. It's the type of book that makes you smile and think "Ahhhh, so that's how they do it" and then immediately you realize "Hey, I can do this!"

The entire book is graphically rich, in full color cover-to-cover, and best of all it's packed with real-world project-based tutorials that will take you through the process of sizing your images with the proper resolution (and the secret to doing so without losing image quality), how to deal with High ISO noise, blue channel noise, and other common plagues introduced by digital cameras; you'll learn how the pros color correct their photos for output on everything from inkjet printers to printing presses, and the secrets to getting perfect fleshtones no matter where it¿s output. You'll learn the sharpening techniques today's top digital photographers use, and how the leading retoucher's perform "digital plastic surgery" in Photoshop, plus professional facial retouching techniques using Photoshop 7.0's amazing new tools.

Plus, you'll also learn how to manage your photos, "digital dodging and burning" tricks, dealing with common problems, making client presentations within Photoshop and on the Web, and the inside tips on how to work faster and more efficiently than you ever thought possible. If you're serious about digital photography and Photoshop, this is book you've been waiting for.

This update is so important, because if there was ever a version of Photoshop that was aimed at digital photographers, Photoshop CS is it, and "The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers" by Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) once again breaks new ground by doing something for digital photographers that's never been done before--it cuts through the bull and shows you exactly "how to do it." It's not a bunch of theory; it doesn't challenge you to come up with your own settings or figure it out on your own. Instead, it shows you step by step the exact techniques used by today's cutting-edge digital photographers and retouchers, and it does something that virtually no other Photoshop book has ever done -- it tells you, flat-out, which settings to use, when to use them, and why.

If you're looking for one of those "tell-me-everything-about-the-Unsharp-Mask-filter" books, this isn't it. You can grab any other Photoshop book on the shelf, because they all do that. Instead, this book gives you the inside tips and tricks of the trade that today's leading pros use to correct, edit, sharpen, retouch, and present their photos to some of the most demanding clients on the planet. You'll be absolutely amazed at how easy and effective they are--once you know the secrets.

LEARN HOW THE PROS DO IT Each year Scott trains thousands of professional photographers how to use Photoshop, and almost without exception they have the same questions and the same problems -- that's exactly what Scott covers in this book. You'll learn:

• The secrets of how the pros retouch portraits
• How to color correct any photo without breaking a sweat (you'll be amazed at how they do it!)
• How to unlock the power of Photoshop CS' new features for digital photo pros
• Amazing digital body-sculpting techniques
• How the pros use CS' File Browser (it's much more powerful than you think)
• Tricks that can send your productivity through the roof
• The sharpening techniques the pros really use (there's an entire chapter just on this!)
• How to deal with common digital camera image problems
• Removing noise, avoiding halos, and protecting your images
• How to use Match Color, The Color Replacement Tool, and other amazing CS tools.
• Masking techniques for photographers
• The most-requested photographic special effects
• and much more!