Attractive to Photoshop users of all levels, Gold Edition begins with four fairly rudimentary chapters covering the fundamentals of the software usage--including navigating the user interface--and introductions to many of its tools. Beyond this section, the book focuses on demonstrating specific task, tool, and feature groups such as retouching, layers, and special effects.

In the section dedicated to special effects, the book illustrates processes such as color correction and making composite images by using sample photographs in conjunction with an adjustment of the related software component. This way, readers actually see the differences the adjustments should make instead of simply getting a description of the change.

Inspiration infuses the text with full-color glossy images and interviews with the artists who created them. One of the best chapters is "Inventing Photo-Realistic Worlds." Focused on Eric Chauvin, an Industrial Light and Magic alumnus and freelance film and television matte painter, the chapter discusses how Chauvin uses Photoshop on Babylon 5 projects. Chauvin also walks through the process work he did on the digitally enhanced rerelease of the first three Star Wars films.