Robert Correll

This is one of the most maddening computer instruction books I’ve ever read. I read a chapter, say “That’s EXACTLY what I wanted to do – and now I can do it! WOW! This software is so much more than I thought it was.” I then toss the book aside and get to work. A couple of days later, I start thinking, “But what if….” and I head back to this book and there, right there, is the solution for that problem as well. So I toss the book aside and….

Well, repeat this scenario several times and you can see why this book has been so frustrating to me. The author uses practical examples, provides both basic and more advanced solutions. He makes the reader they just missed a couple of things and a friend is there to help. Compared to so many other computer tutor books, this isn’t ‘the word from on high’: rather, it’s sensible, practical advice for common (and some not-so-common) problems. This book has been a REALLY good investment and I now use Corel PaintShop Pro X2 for photos in preference to Photoshop Lightroom 1.2. If you’re looking for mid-level graphics enhancement that you can do in a couple of minutes (i.e., not the detail of Photoshop and/or hours of tweaking), get this book and you’ll be convinced that the Corel program will do the trick – and that you can do some very fantastic ‘fixes’ with very little effort.

One important thing: while it was a bit unclear to me that the book would cover X2, it certainly does – and says so right at the start. It’s a great choice even if you haven’t bought the software but are just thinking about it.… (mais)