I’d heard long-time author David Biedny, creator of the Attention Photoshoppers podcast, mention that his out-of-print work was commanding a premium, but it wasn’t until today that I saw what he meant. A photographer on the ProDig list noted that Photoshop Channel Chops is selling for $495 at a used book store. Some quick Googling reveals that the title commands $199 and up on Amazon. Dang; I haven’t read the book myself, but it must be quite the resource.
Of course, this sets my mind in motion. I tend to accumulate samples from lots of publishers, so I wonder what gems linger on my bookshelf. Psst, buddy, how much’ll you give me for this sweet Illustrator 6 Visual QuickStart Guide? Flash 4 Magic, maybe? Or how about a vintage LiveMotion Classroom in a Book? (Anyone, anyone? Bueller…?)
Not quitting my day job,
J.
John,
Thanks for the mention on your blog.
So the thing about Channel Chops that I think has made it so valuable to folks is that it’s written in a way to always be useful and viable. I was dead set against putting a version number on the cover, and wanted to create something that presented a meaningful look at the inner workings of Photoshop, a way to gain an understanding of the underlying technology and techniques for using that technology, not a mindless memorization of menu commands and tool palettes. Quality is a term that has hid hard times lately, and especially in the realm of Photoshop books, where authors often make jokes about the weight of their own tomes.
Given the abundance of Photoshop titles out there, the only other book that does a good job of covering this material is Katrin Eismann’s outstanding “Masking and Compositing” book, really great stuff. She’s interviewed on the next Attention Photoshoppers! episode, going up shortly.
I’ll make you a deal – I’ll send you a copy of Channel Chops if you put me back in the official Adobe Photoshop development loop, which I’ve been excluded from for some number of years now (check out the user manual for Photoshop 1.0, where you’ll see my name in the short list of acknowledgements).