For an up-to-date version of the FAQ's please visit the Photoshop CS5 for Photographers web site.
This section aims to answer some of the more common questions about the Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers books and the accompanying DVDs. The most common DVD problems can be solved by checking your system setup and ensuring you have the correct software installed.
If you are still experiencing problems, please complete the online form on the Technical Support page and someone will be able to contact you and discuss your problems. If you require a replacement DVD, because yours is damaged, go to the Contact Information page and call, write or send an email to the Focal Press office nearest to you.
Why, when I run the DVD, do all the images look posterized?
Make sure your screen resolution is set to a minimum of thousands of colors.
Why is the DVD slow?
The Flash and QuickTime movies play at a resolution of both 1024 x 768 pixels and 800 x 600 pixels (if you use a smaller monitor, you may need to select the latter), and thousands of colors, if your screen resolution is set much higher than this it can cause the DVD to run more slowly. It is best to change the monitor color display depth to thousands of colors and use a lower resolution.
Why do the demo images appear light and washed out in Photoshop?
The demo images were created in the Adobe RGB (1998) color space. If you are working in a different RGB color space, such as Monitor RGB on a Macintosh and choose not to convert colors on opening, this is to be expected. Therefore, always choose "Convert Colors" when opening the pictures.
Why can't I see the tutorial movies?
The most common resolution to this problem is to install the latest version of Flash - you need Flash to view movies 1 to 9. The Flash installer can be found at http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash/
Make sure you have the correct version of QuickTime loaded. The DVD requires QuickTime version 5 or later. Apple has changed the way QuickTime works when used on the PC. QuickTime 5 applications are not backwards compatible. The is not the case for Macs, but it is always advisable to use the latest software.
Even after loading Flash or QuickTime I still can't see the movies, what can I do?
There are a number of reasons why this could be, but there is an easy solution to part of the problem. You can view the movies outside of the DVD applications, go to the movies tab on the DVD and load the movies directly into Movie Player.
In the meantime, check to see you have the latest Active X drivers and your graphics card drivers are up to date. You should contact your hardware vendor for this.
Another reason might be that the version download is incomplete. Usually there will be a warning to tell you if a Flash or QuickTime download is not complete.
The solution is to uninstall and reinstall Flash or Quicktime. This worked for a lot of readers. Make sure you only have one copy of Flash/QuickTime on your machine - this is a common cause of problems.
Why is the sound distorted/inaudible in the movies?
This is usually caused by a problem with the specification of your machine.
It isn't a problem with the DVD itself. Try saving the movies onto your hard
drive and playing them from there.
Otherwise try opening the movie files from the DVD direct, not through the main application. The original source moie files are located in the Help Guide > Files > movies folder. This should launch the Flash or QuickTime player and play them. If you still have no sound then you should try re-installing the Flash/QuickTime software. It may be that you haven't done this and your copy of Flash/QuickTime is either old or missing a file (this latter would seem more likely if you could see the pictures but not hear the sound at all however). Again. ensure that you have one version of Flash and QuickTime on the machine.
Another thought is that you may just have your Flash or QuickTime volume switch set to something inaudible. Try checking the sound slider in bottom left-hand corner of the screen. You should also check your main volume controls. On a PC if you try to use the standard volume controls (the thing at the right end of the menu bar at the bottom of the screen) while the movie is playing it seems to mute it. You have to press stop and then play again on the movie's task bar to make it work.
The voice soundtracks are in stereo so there's no problem with the balance.
How can I obtain a later version of Flash or QuickTime?
You can download Flash for free via the Adobe web site. Remember to select the correct version for your operating system.
Why can't we have all the pictures as demo files on the DVD?
We do recognize that a lot of readers would still like to see more images supplied on the DVD. For this edition we shot specially commissioned photo shoots, in which professional models were used, and we negotiated for these particular images to also be made available on the DVD for demo purposes. So for this edition, you should notice there are now a greater range of images for you to work with than there has been previously.