Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Mac and PC

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a GREAT book! I thinks it's the best book on Photoshop since 'Photoshop Channel Chops' (out of print, but if you see it, GRAB IT). However, the amateur should beware as this is definately NOT for the novice user of photoshop.

I consider myself to be an 'advanced' user of photoshop (worked with it since version 4). I use it for everything from simple color correction of photos to full-blown, entirely digital matte paintings composed of 50+ layers and channel adjustments and even I learned a thing or TEN from this book. I was really pleased with the author's thorough discussion of color management and file output and proofing - GREAT stuff! Not to mention the many examples utilizing Photoshop 6.0's improved funtionality to do things in ways I'd either never thought of, or had done in a less than elegant, round-about way 'cause I've always done it that way.

Like many of the unsuspecting readers who have posted here, when I first read the back cover I thought it would be yet another one of the many 'Getting Aquainted With Photoshop' type books that litter the bookstore shelves, but after thumbing through it, I quickly realized that despite the quotes that the publisher had thrown on the back-cover, the author has aimed this work squarely at the professional. In fact, upon close inspection of the cover you'll see just below the main-title, the faint silver sub-title, 'A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop For The Macintosh and PC',...that really says it all. I have no doubt that the publisher purposefully made the sub-title a MUCH smaller and thin, sans-serif font with a silver (read: invisible) color to drop it from pronouncement on the front cover. With that and the 'Anyone Can Use It' tone of the quotations on the back cover, it's obvious that they were hoping to appeal to a much broader audience. Shame on you guys! However, I do think that a determined novice user of photoshop , someone who understands the program and is enthusiastic to learn more, will benefit GREATLY from this book,...I wish I'd have had this book when I was first starting out. Worth the read. Well done!

Finally, a book on digital imaging that actually uses full color throughout! This is an excellent book if you are interested in digital photo reproduction and/or manipulation. While you'll need some knowledge of the terms in the profession to understand everything the book has to offer, even the casual photoshop tinkerer will find a lot of useful information. If you EVER use Photoshop to handle digital images, you will NOT be sorry you bought this book. It covers scanning, digital cameras, retouching, reproduction, and has extensive information on color management. The list goes on, but needless to say, the author covers everything that he, as a photographer, feels is important.

First of all, this is a beautifully done book. It's not your typical reference book that uses plain old paper and black and white photos. The paper stock is heavy, glossy, and all the images are in color. I've always wondered how anyone could put together a book on photo editing and do all the pictures in black and white.

However, this is not a book to run out and buy if you're new to digital imaging and/or Photoshop. The book is titled "Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers". That should tell you right there that there is an assumption made that you know what you're doing behind a camera and that you have some level of experience. It's not for the weekend shooter that takes family photos and vacation pictures. This is heavy stuff in here and very informative. The included CD has some useful information on it as well. I've used Photoshop for quite some time now and I still buy a book on it now and then because I always manage to pick up something new. I doubt that anyone (with the possible exception of the Adobe people) knows all there is to know about this program.

Spend your money on this one. I think you'll agree that it was well worth the investment. This one's even better than the last version for Photoshop 5.5.

An update to the already wonderful Photoshop 5.5 for photographers, Martins book belongs in the rare class of 'books you gotta own' if you use this program and photography is your primary purpose for using Photoshop. Along with the equally strong (and probably better written from a USA vs UK dialect point of view) Photoshop 6 Artistry (Haynes/Crumpler), this will teach you about everything you need to know to seriously improve the quality of your images. There's not a lot of trickery or way out special effect stuff (oh, there's some, but it's more fun here), just solid tutorials on how to get the best possible end result from your scan. Definitely a solid read, and probably not recommended for the very casual photoshop user, the trickster who loves the 'Wow' series books, or anybody not willing to put some effort into improving their work. Bottom line, even after reading about 5 other PS books and playing around with PS for a year, after reading this one, my work got better, and hence it's worth every (expensive) dollar I paid for it.

Photoshop 6 for Photographers is a must if you do any digital imaging. Evening's writing style is fresh and easy to read. The book is, as the title suggests, directed to photographers both film and digital. Weather you are a Photoshop newcomer or an experienced user, Photoshop 6 for Photographers has something for you. The introductory chapters are, for the digital novice, invaluable. Chapters 4 and 5 (Color management and File output and proofing) alone are worth the price of admission. Both contain comprehensive, well written, and easy to understand information that every digital photographer should know. Photoshop 6 for Photographers is a book that you will keep next to your computer, not on a bookshelf out of sight. I highly recommend Photoshop 6 for Photographers if you care about your digital photos.

I have varies books on Photoshop, but Adobe Photoshop for Photographers 6.0 hits the mark for me, because I am a professional photographer and I do work with Photoshop 6.0 for digital output. Colour images are essential when dealing with photographic images because that's what most of deal with, and this book delivers. The general layout of the book is simple to follow and with a good selection of chapters that enables easy referencing. The CD enclosed in the back is also excellent for video tutorials. This is not a book for beginners however for it assumes that the reader is at least a little proficient with Photoshop, but it does also cover such areas as Configuring and Color Management which helps with the general setting up of Photoshop. The Shortcuts chapter is also very useful. All in all it's an excellent book that deals with it's title in a clear and professional manner.

Let me preface this by saying I am an amateur photographer making the switch from printing Ilfochromes from color transparencies to printing inkjet and Lightjet prints from scans. I'm switching because I believe I can make prints closer to my intentions at a lower overall cost digitally. This book provides the clearest description of color management that I have read in making this switch, and the accompanying movie on the CD reinforces the text. It emphasizes color correction, resolution, and printing at the expense of using all the filters, extensive compositing, etc., which fits in with the book's (and my) attitude: Photoshop can be used to improve prints beyond the limits of my (relatively modest) darkroom capabilities, but should not be used to create what was not in front of the camera lens. If you want to learn how to create the best prints, but without fabricating images, then this is a great book.

. . . this is the real thing.

I just recently discovered the Focal Press and Martin Evening's new Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers. I immediately scooped it up and have been captivated by it ever since. __ Wow! Martin has changed the rules for publishing Photoshop tutorial books. Having reviewed most of the other Photoshop 6 books appearing today, my summation is: this is the real thing. __ Adobe Photoshop 6.0 for Photographers has a clear, clean layout with superbly detailed content on nearly all of Photoshop's features, old and new. It's wonderfully Illustrated with color images throughout, and (my favorite) includes real-life assignments from leading photography professionals - the real difference between the bulk-book authors and the pros is the fact that they are using the techniques professionally every day -- for real world clients. __ This book will be an important and treasured addition to any Photoshop users' bookshelf... thus gaining the Design Bookshelf's "Editor's Choice" for the month.

This book is geared more towards the photographer as well as the Photoshopper with the understanding of the handling of images for Photoshop. The book is written by a photographer, Martin Evening, who uses Photoshop himself.. Photographer's as well as the layman will benefit from this book. He goes into the basics as well as advanced techniques for Photoshop 6. Being a photographer myself and an advanced Photoshopper, I found the book to be basic in some chapters and in others, very helpful. The power of this book lays in the companion CD rom. The tutorial's on the cd rom add to the power of this book.

I am beginner with PhotoShop. Not a newbie but still a beginner. This book is clearly aimed at the advanced, professional PS user. Unless you know the PS jargon as well as advanced image processing jargon in general you will be lost on many of the paragraphs. Also I find it hard to use as a reference as the examples are typically not step-by-step and the sections are long and unorganized. For pro's this may be a good book, but beginners should look elsewhere, as for instance the PhotoShop Bible.