Rating: Summary: Editing photographs with Photoshop CS Review: I have never before taken the time to document my impressions of a book. I have just finished reading The Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby, and I feel motivated to record my impressions of it. The book is not a large one. But I have acquired more "know how" in using Photoshop than ever before, even studying books on the subject several times larger than this one. Scott knows his subject and he is skilled in ways to share his knowledge with others -- unfortuately a rare skill. I found his chapters on editing digital portraits particularly useful. Six different ways to crop a portrait. And, after studying them, I can utilize any one of them. Compensating for too little or too much flash. Two different methods of removing "red eye". Color correcting is clearly explained in several chapters. Retouching portraits. Precise selections, using the pen tool. Enhancing eye-brows, Brightening teeth. Skin softening. Slimming and trimming. Turning a frown into a smile. The list goes on and on. Things from which an amateur digital photographer is sure to benefit.
Rating: Summary: Great Book Review: I have read quite a few "how to" books on various topics. Whithout question, this book is outstanding. It answers my questions very well and gives me great answers to questions I didn't even know I had. I highly recomend it to all CS users who may not know it all.
Rating: Summary: Adobe Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers Review: I just got this and am finding it very useful; it's full of practical and easy to follow tricks that I've wondered about for a while. Well worth the price if you are serious about post processing. Scott has a dry quirky wit and it provides for interesting reading. He is also a master with CS and has collected many awesome tricks from a wide network of professionals.
Rating: Summary: Another Great Book by Scott Kelby!! Review: I own a few books on Photoshop, but none compared to Scott Kelby, who keeps you in the book with his awsome before and after shots and easy to understand and do tutorials. If your interested in how to turn an ordinary picture into a masterpiece, then this is the book for you.
Rating: Summary: Practical and Helpful Review: I recently purchased Photoshop CS. After I got the program, I went to a local book store to look around and see what books might assist me in my quest to learn the program and at the same time learn the finer points of digital retouching. I am so pleased with Kelby's book. It has short, step by step examples, on ways to resolve frequent problems that befall digital photographers and their subjects. Problems, like wrinkles, forgotten fill flash, over exposed foreground, bags under the eyes, acne, etc. You name it and Kelby probably thought of it. His pro-tips are superb. I highly recommend this book. You cannot go wrong with it.
Rating: Summary: Leaves you frustrated and wanting more Review: I will make this review short and to the point. I had high hopes for this book because it got good reviews by so many other but for me those hopes were not realized. My main problem with the book are these. First, Mr. Kelby attempts at humor in the book can really start to wear thin... Almost on every page we have him trying his best to be a stand up comedian... at first it was cute, but by the end of the second or third chapter it just got old and lame. My advice for him is that cut down on the jokes and save room for more informative text, which is what people buy the book for. Anoter complaint is that the author skips over the whole subject of color managment and printing from Photoshop CS by using the excuse "it's been done in all the other books". This may be true, but did the author ever stop to realize that the reason that it is in all those other books is because it is so important? Granted, he has a good point about not everyone having the same printer and such, but he could have at least covered the basics.... To make matters worse he then tries to promote another book about color managment.....this of course will deplete your wallet by another 25$ or more....
On the upside I did find a few of the tutorials helpful and informative and I'm sure my digital photography will improve because of it. I just wish there was more of the good and less of the not-so-good.
Rating: Summary: Excellent Book - Shows Better ways for Important Tasks Review: I've been using photoshop for 4 years or so - and I thought I was doing ok with image sharpening, correcting exposure, etc. This book however quickly illustrates better techniques for sharpening, exposure, enlarging and dodging an burning. The techniques are simply explained - with some humor mixed throughout.
This is a fantastic Photoshop book.
Rating: Summary: Great book; misguided reviews Review: I've read a lot of books about Photoshop, and Scott Kelby's are by far the best and most helpful. This book's writing, layout, and topics make it an easy-to-use-and-understand goldmine for digital photographers at any level of experience. (...) If you buy this book with this title, you will see a different cover, and it is indeed about Photoshop CS. As far as Scott's humor in the books, I find it refreshing and enjoy it, especially compared to some of the dry, dense, incomprehensilble stuff in other books. (...) Yes, the book uses Macintosh screen shots, but the difference between Mac screens and Windows screens in Photoshop CS is nil. The small, consistent, differences in Mac and Windows key strokes are spelled out every time keys are mentioned and are not at all difficult to deal with. Kelby never suggests a fixed set of values for "Custom Grayscale Using Channel Mixer," (...) Kelby's suggestion to back up to CDs is a useful one, to be followed or discarded by each reader. How can making the suggestion be a fault? (...) If you use a digital camera and Photoshop CS, this book will be a huge help for both doing and learning. And it's enjoyable!
Rating: Summary: Superbly conceived and written. Maximum value for money. Review: I've used Adobe Photoshop Elements for two years without the benefit of instruction other than Adobe's help online. Now I have Photoshop CS, and got this book yesterday. I read it in one sitting, and the constant reaction I had was "so that's how that's done". No other photoshop book is so direct, so to-the-point as this one; at least for digital photographers (scans, digicams or DSLRs). If the material were not as meaty, or the illustrations skimpier, one might get irritated by Mr. Kelby's informal style. But instead, he keeps us from getting bogged down in dull verbiage, as we quickly master very subtle, yet essential digital darkroom techniques. A long way from, and a lot more productive than many a dull meandering tome on the imaging theory behind each photoshop feature, accompanied by instructions that go no further than telling you how to navigate through the menus, leaving you no more enlightened than when you bought those books.
Rating: Summary: You HAVE to get this book!!! Review: If you are serious about digital photography and being able to print your photos with outstanding color, then you MUST get this book. I read the reviews here before going to my local Borders Bookstore and skimming through the index. After looking it over, I had to buy this book. It has all the stuff that none of the other books have - practical, straight-to-the-point directions for fixing problems. The author is hilarious throughout the book, not dry at all. I can add a fill flash to my photos without it looking like I added it in Photoshop now. Amazing stuff!!!
One previous reviewer who gave this a low rating whined about the book being "Mac centric". Not true. The author gives key commands for both Mac and PC. The author used a Mac when doing his screen shots for the book and I think this intimidated that reviewer for some reason.
Get the book or at least check it out. If you do, you will buy it!
|