When Photoshop Elements came out it was assumed by many that, because it was so inexpensive, it would be the sort of program that you could master in a couple of hours it certainly wouldn t require a huge learning curve and probably, let s face it, a chunky manual to get to grips with it, as its professional sibling, Photoshop, does. But how wrong we were. Budget certainly doesn t mean basic in this case, and Adobe has packed so much into Photoshop s little brother that you really do need an expert guide to get the best out of it, to lead you through all those nooks and crannies and show you all the cool tricks that are not obvious to the casual user.

But who to choose to be that guide? Well for me there s only one person, and luckily for you it s the one whose name is on the cover of this book. Philip Andrews is an enigma. As editor of the UK s leading digital photography magazine I require two main qualities from my contributors: they have to be real experts who possess a truly in-depth knowledge of their subject, and they have to be able to communicate that knowledge in simple layman s terms that anyone can understand. (They also have to be reliable and hand their copy in on time, but that s another story!) Well there are plenty of experts and plenty of communicators, but you d be amazed at how rare it is to find someone who is...