You don't need to know the previous versions of the program to get right to work. You use the practice files on the included hybrid CD-ROM as you follow the lessons throughout the book. There are step-by-step instructions, explanations of features, and plenty of illustrations to help you as you work, and each chapter has review questions and answers.
First you learn the basics of the interface as you tour the options for selecting, using layers and filters, painting, retouching, and saving files. Next, you learn the essentials of opening files, navigating the interface, getting help, and creating layers and selections. After that the chapters get much more specific, teaching you how to use the paint, editing, and pen tools; work with selections, masks, channels, and layers; and apply photo-retouching techniques and special effects. You also learn how to combine graphics from Adobe Illustrator with those from Photoshop, prepare images for the Web, manage two-color print jobs, and fine-tune color preferences for ideal output. The projects involve both fine art and commercial art---everything from composite images to color-corrected photographs. Finally, you work with Adobe ImageReady 1.0, the new package for creating images and animations for the Web and other multimedia projects.
A full-color section shows you the finished artwork from the various chapters, color models, and, in a few cases, the various versions of an image as you apply changes to it. This section also shows you how to use all the Toolbox tools, including the selection, paint, stamp, sharpen, sponge, pen, type, gradient, eyedropper, zoom, and measure tools. This section is particularly helpful for users who are trying to get up to speed with Photoshop's many features. This tutorial will take you well past basic interface issues and have you creating some pretty amazing images.