September '08 Issue:

• > Monthly Memo: A note from the editor
• > Barbara Brundage's Photoshop Elements 7 Tips
• > J.D. Biersdorfer's New iPod Tips
• >iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition Special Offer
• > We're Wondering...

New Releases

• Quicken 2009: The Missing Manual
  By Bonnie Biafore
  September 2008 (est.)
  

• iPhone: The Missing Manual, Second Edition
  By David Pogue
  August 2008
  Covers the iPhone 3G. The PDF, EPUB and Kindle-compatible Mobipocket formats are now available.

• > More titles

Buy 2 Books, Get the 3rd FREE!

Buy two books from oreilly.com and get the third free by using discount code OPC10 in our shopping cart. All orders over $29.95 qualify for free shipping within the US.

Let Us Hear From You!

Got questions? Need more information? Do you fancy yourself a book reviewer and want to share your thoughts on the Missing Manual you just finished? Did you find an error in your Missing Manual? (Hard to believe, but it's been known to happen.)

Visit our feedback page to find links where you can find answers from the experts, share your opinions, and just plain reach out to fellow Missing Manual readers.

Monthly Memo

A note from the editor

By Peter Meyers, Missing Manuals managing editor

It's getting to be a bit of a September ritual: Adobe and Apple announce a new crop of updates (Photoshop Elements 7, a new fleet of iPods, and iTunes 8) and we follow suit. For the third year in a row, we celebrated Labor Day by cutting short our grill time in order to make sure two of our bestselling titles -- Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual and iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition -- are ready for you just as soon as possible.

Entering its 5th edition, Barbara Brundage's Photoshop Elements 7: The Missing Manual is off to the printer early next week (it'll hit stores the second week of October). Elements newcomers and veterans alike: prepare to be wowed by Adobe's new Photoshop.com service. Integrated right into Elements, this Web site makes sharing and backing up your photos a no-brainer. Barbara's put together a tip sheet on working with many of the program's new features; read it now and pre-order your copy of the book today.

And J.D. Biersdorfer and David Pogue have signed on for another round of "Who needs sleep? We've got a revision to do!" We're incredibly fortunate to have both these New York Times veterans team up for one of the most visually stunning, chock-full-of-tasks books in our series. Take a peek at some of the tips they've already uncovered. A downloadable, electronic version of the book will be available early next month, with the print edition ready by late October. Pre-order today and get all versions for the heavily discounted price of $25.99.

Hope you enjoy reading both titles as much as we did while putting them together.

Barbara Brundage's Photoshop Elements 7 Tips

1. It's still important to back up your photos. Elements 7 gives you a totally painless way with Photoshop.com. Sign up for a free account and you can set your albums to automatically back themselves up to your space at Photoshop.com. Once you set up album syncing, you don't have to think about it again. It happens automatically. If you have a computer disaster at home, just reinstall Elements on the new computer, turn on the backup/sync option, and sign in to photoshop.com, and your photos reappear on your new computer. This service has some limitations (all detailed in the book), but it's a terrific way to keep an extra copy of important photos. And you still have the regular Organizer options for backing up to CD, DVD, or a different hard drive.

2. Find a size that fits. If you've been using Elements for scrapbooking, take a look at the new file size presets available in Elements 7. There's a whole separate category for scrapbook sizes in the New File dialog box. Now you can create a 12"-, 8"-, or 6"-square sized file without having to set up a custom size.

3. On vacation? Take a private tour. If your "staycation" this year takes you to a nearby tourist spot along with everyone else in your state, you can get rid of those strangers crowding into your photos—as long as you plan ahead a little. Start by getting a series of pictures that give you enough clear spots, even if there are people you don't know meandering somewhere through every photo. Then you can combine the pictures with the Elements 7 Scene Cleaner to create an image of Aunt Esmeralda and Cousin Wilberforce standing in front of the falls all by themselves, with nobody else around.

Read more tips

J.D. Biersdorfer's New iPod Tips

Meet the Genius: Your Personalized Playlist Maker

Geniuses don't just hang out at the Apple Store. With iTunes 8, you get your very own music-mixing expert. Once activated, the new Genius Playlists feature whips up instant song lists in your iTunes library that, well, play nice together. You select a song and the Genius pulls together other tunes that it thinks groove well together.

To use it, click the "Turn On Genius" button on the right side of the iTunes window, or choose Store→Turn On Genius. Be prepared to type in your iTunes account name and password, though, because Apple needs to "gather information" about your iTunes library before making Genius work for you. Once Apple's finished analyzing your collection, click a song title in your library and then click the Genius button down at the bottom of the iTunes window. In a flash, iTunes rounds up at least 25 songs it thinks would sound great with the one you clicked. You can change the number of songs in the playlist and save it for posterity by clicking the buttons at the top of the window. These new playlists now sit alongside all your other lists on the left side of iTunes.

Read more tips

iPod: The Missing Manual, 7th Edition Special Offer

Read It First, Save 35%

Now that Apple's rocked -- the new iPods and iTunes 8 look amazing -- we're ready to roll. We're burning the midnight oil, getting the latest edition of "iPod: The Missing Manual" ready. Get your hands on the book as soon as we're done -- and at a special price.

Order before October 21st and get all versions -- print and electronic -- for just $25.99. You can download the electronic versions as soon as they're ready (PDF: 10/8, EPUB and Kindle-compatible Mobipocket: 10/15). The printed book ships on 10/21. That's 35% off the total price for all versions.

Order today

We're Wondering...

Would you be interested in reading Missing Manuals on an iPhone or iPod Touch? emailus@missingmanuals.com