Quick, grab a seat. The show is about to begin, and it is full of a wonderfully mischievous cast of characters you do not want to miss. They call them “pixels,” magical spirits brought to life by digital mayhem and transported by light. They are the muses of the digital artist, the star performers on the Photoshop stage, and the lead actors in this book, Exploring Adobe Photoshop CS5.

Whether a new student to computer graphics, a computer arts educator, a professional visualizer, animator, designer, illustrator, photographer, or just plain curious dabbler, Exploring Adobe Photoshop CS5 has something for you. It offers a practical and straightforward introduction to the essentials of digital image creation, compositing, and photo retouching; comprehensive step-by-step lessons; easy reference to commonly used tools and features of Photoshop; and plenty of encouragement for artistic exploration.

Now fully updated to the new release of Adobe's Creative Suite, EXPLORING ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS5 shows how to use a great software tool to create dynamic design. Written by an author who is an experienced designer as well as computer graphics instructor, EXPLORING ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS5 is a designer-driven resource that examines the tools and features of Adobe Photoshop while showing how to maximize the potential of desktop digital imaging for graphics, illustration, composition, and special effects.