If you are looking for a rehash of the manual, or for an explanation of what a mouse is, or for something written in a ho-ho-ho jolly style then forget it.
If, on the other hand, you want a book that explains in clear terms how to use a computer to help your digital photography in general, and how to use Elements in particular, then this is the book for you.
The author assumes that you have read the manuals you got with your camera, scanner, computer and the program itself. He gives you enough information to know what options to tweak and most importantly why. He talks to you like an adult. Using astonishingly few words, he communicates a heck of a lot of useful information - a rare talent these days.
He shows typical problems that arise in photos and scans and explains how the various tools in Elements can be used to deal with these. On reading the book, I found myself repeatedly thinking "oh, so THAT'S what that thing is for". While the manual tells you WHAT to do, this book tells you WHY. Very quickly I found myself using Elements effieciently after almost a year of struggling both to use the program and understand why I had bought it.
Very useful is the chapter on Photoshop, telling the reader what Elements doesn't have. Why? Most magazine articles and general books on digital photography talk about firing up your image processing program, when in fact they really mean Photoshop. I have struggled to follow some of these tutorials desperately (eg. in the book "Bildbearbeitung by Nina Martini published by Data Becker) looking for the relevant feature in Elements. This book explains why I couldn't find them - cos they weren't there. So this book also serves as a "buyers guide" in a way.
Is it perfect? No. Some of the "real life examples" grate a little bit - did we really need a picture of a professional photographer annotating slides, or a picture of a real estate broker holding a digital camera?? The sort of people this book is aimed at probably don't need this sort of "real life" example. Also, I would have liked to have seen a few more guided examples/tutorials. The "summaries" tend to be little more than a list of commands.
But to moan about these things is really a little petty in view of the excellence of this book.
Acknowledgement: the title of this review is adapted from a TV advert that ran in Britain many years ago, although I cannot remember for what.
