Customer Reviews

Adobe Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Ben Willmore is one of the world's best Photoshop teachers. He possesses an extraordinary wealth of knowledge about Photoshop and, just as importantly, he has a great gift for sharing that knowledge in an almost folksy and down-home style. In one of the editorial reviews above it says "arguably one of the best Photoshop books ever written" and I would take the word "arguably" out of that sentence--it's absolutely one of the best Photoshop books ever written.

I have taken all-day seminars with him and when I leave them my head is swimming my so many new ideas that it's hard to know where to begin (and if you're like me, you forget a lot the minute you walk out the door--good thing he hands out notes!). That's why Ben's books are so great: they are beautifully written and he carefully explains myriad technqiues in simple step-by-step fashion. If you've been bewildered and frustrated by the awful guides that Adobe includes with Photoshop CS2, you will find this book to be incredibly refreshing and simple to use.

Ben has a very scientific approach to Photoshop which you might think would take the fun out of it, but it doesn't. In fact, by explaining things in a very clear way and giving you the underlying "why" of how things work, you understand the tools and techniques of Photoshop much better. Things like Curves (a huge thing in Ben's teaching) and Layer Blending Modes (a world unto themselves) become easy to understand and use.

The book is also nicely illustrated with good step-by-step photos and diagrams and is very well indexed (what good is a Photoshop book that isn't well indexed?).

I am a photo how-to writer myself and even though I've been working with Photoshop since 1993, whenever I finish writing a piece on Photoshop I double-check my facts with this book (or one of the older versions). I think that Ben Willmore and Katrin Eismann are the two best Photoshop teachers that I've encountered so far (Katrin is brilliant and funny and quite an artist I heartily recommend anything that she writes). If you ever get the chance to spend a day at one of Ben's $99 seminars, do it, you'll be glad you plunked down the money.

Finally, there are a few small things I look up occasionally that are not covered in this book, but that is rare and the topics really are minor. On the other hand I've never picked this book up and not walked back to my comuter to try something new. You learn something worthwhile every time you open the book and that is saying a lot.

Jeff Wignall
Author, The Joy of Digital Photography (Lark Books)

I'll be very honest about how I found this book and how I ended up ordering it from Amazon. I have mentioned in my previous reviews that I live in Pakistan where we do not have Photoshop books readily available in bookshops to browse through. So I am always on the look out for "other" means. I found the e-book version of Adobe Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques on the internet and out of "curiosity" downloaded it (I know its unethical but could not help it..wanted to see what the book was like).

Guys, when I was half way through this book (reading it from the PC screen) I had made up my mind that I needed a hardcopy of it in its original form, not because my eyes were all puffy and red but this is one amazing Photoshop Book. I own 10 Photoshop books at the moment including Katrin Eismann's Photoshop Restoration & Retouching 2nd Ed. and Masking & Compositing and thought Katrin was the best when it came to explaining techy stuff. But Ben Willmore is masterful. I have yet to see a Photoshop guru explain Photoshop blending modes in the crystal clear way he did in this book. Simply amazing. Infact each and every concept of Photoshop has been dealt with the same finesse. People who want to learn the "behind the scenes" of Photoshop must buy this book

Ben's blend of explaining every tool/technique and the situations in which they can be used is fantastic. The pages are chock full of information...nicely arranged small images which might be too small for some but do the job perfectly fine along with perfect explanation. I mean Scott Kelby can make atleast 10 books out of this one amazing book by leaving out extra space on pages and using larger images. This book is 573 pages ...but it is much bigger when it comes to the information it contains. The only thing I wish is that the bonus chapters on the CD were included in the book...small gripe though

I hope Ben would forgive me for reading the ebook version since I bought the book eventually along with Bruce Fraser's Real World PS CS2.

P.S. Both books arrived with free samples of Degree Silver Ice deodorant. Do the folks at Amazon think that Photoshop users have smelly armpits? It can't even be a third world country aid thing cuz the delivery was made in Missouri and I got the books when my relatives from US flew in.

I have read many PS books, and have spent many hours in bookstores carefully reviewing all of the popular PS books. This is without a doubt the best book to start with, and may be the only one you will ever need to buy.

This is the PS book best suited to photographers, either digital or analog. It covers the basics in great detail, and also the sophisticated techniques and tips required to optimise any image.

Most PS books fall into one of two categories: either they are full of "creative tricks" like showing you how to replace someones nose with their dog's tail; or they simply state "to achieve this do this", with no explanation. In both cases they scrimp on or gloss over what is important to photograhers: how to get a great image from a digital file. Getting from a raw file or scan to the optimal print or web image in the easiest and quickest way is all this book is about. Because of that it concentrates on the features in PS that are crucial to achieving these ends, and has enough space to explain them comprehensively and clearly.


Most PS books don't explain features well or at all; they say "do this in this situation" but when you happen upon a slightly different situation you are stuck, because you don't understand what you are doing. This book explains clearly, and in simple terms, all of the CS2 features that a photographer needs, and doesn't waste your time on anything you don't need.

Covered in detail:

PS tools and how to use them
Making selections
Using layers
Optimising images, color and grayscale
Understanding curves
Color managment and correction
Camera Raw
Color manipulation
Adjustment layers
Sharpening
Advanced Masking
Collage
Retouching
Workflow (thorough coverage of all of the steps to follow, and why from start to finish)

If you're starting from absolutely scratch, I recommend you begin with Deke McClelland's Photoshop One-On-One. However, that will only whet your appetite and he gives a broad overview; this book explores various areas in more detail which reinforces what you've learned on a macro level with Deke.

The whole subject of Photoshop is vast and exhausting. This book requires effort and perseverence but they will be rewarded with a much greater faciity with Photoshop, something that is its own reward if it turns out that you enjoy photography and image enhancement.

A book is only as good as it's author and Mr. Willmore is an incredibly gifted writer in that he is able to explain WHY different techniques are used in Photoshop rather than simply listing a clinical step-by-step HOW-TO, as most of the Photoshop cookbooks out there do. This ultimately leads the reader to a much better understanding of the program and the tools that it offers the digital artist. The so-called telephone-book-thick "bibles" that are offered up for every software suite under the sun are nothing more than 'do this, do that, arrive at this' lists of instructions; they do very little in the way actually explaining WHY you would want to use a certain filter here, or adjustment layer there.

Ben Willmore however does a fine job of explaining, in everyday English, what it is that makes Photoshop's offerings so useful and also so powerful. He also provides a CD with tutorials and sample images to go along with some of the lessons, which makes it much easier to actually grasp some of the concepts.

If you only buy one photoshop book, this is the one to get. It is great for beginners, intermediate users, and also advanced users as he really does get into the meat of Photoshop without wasting valuable chapters on crap like "how to install Photoshop on a PC or a Mac" or "sytem requirements" etc. - something which 90% of the "bibles" out there waste the first third of their book on (which is entirely useless as installation instructions etc can be easily found in Photoshop's own help files, on the web, etc etc etc).

I have read quite a few Photoshop books and this one by far is the first book that actually leaves you with a feeling that you understand the program.

This book has two advantages over other CS2 books. First the book is organized like a text book. Each topic is covered in a chapter. The author defines all the different tools, highlights their application, and explores the various settings available to each tool. I find this arrangement very rewarding, as I am better able to make educated decisions as to which tool to use and how to use them in my projects. Most other books handle such topic by going through a project in which they omit using so many essential tools and never explore important settings. This book is obviously different.

The second advantage, admittedly this one is limited to a segment of CS2 users, is that this book is useful for photographers who want to learn how to process their images. If you use a digital SLR this book will help you put the "POP" back into your pictures. Hence, this book treats correcting an image is an end of itself. Other books view pictures as a raw material used to create some piece of art through Photoshop. So the approach of this book is very well suited for photographers and graphic designers alike as the first advantage display.

I cannot recommend this book enough for any photographer. It will help you put the "pop" back into their photography by understanding things like color management, sharpening, level/curves, and many other things. The best thing is that it handles every subject in a comprehensive manner, so you will be able to add new skills as you read this book. I particularly found the following chapters helpful:

Chapter 4: Resolution Solutions. This chapter helped me understand the definition of dpi, ppi, and their relation to print size, conversions etc.

Chapter 5: Optimizing grayscale images: Here I learned about compensating for oversaturated prints

Chapter 6: Understanding Curves. As the subtitle entails I truly took curves for a ride.

Chapter 7: Color management. I learned all what I need about device calibrating down to paper and ink specific profiles to match screen view to print output.

Chapter 10: Color manipulation. This chapter was extremely helpful in revealing the relation between hue, saturation, levels and many other functions.

Chapter 12: Sharpening. This chapter revealed some new tricks of the trade that I couldn't find in online tutorials.

There is so much more to this book, but this is what I found most useful as a "photographer". All in all, this book is a master piece in simplicity, quality, and of course usefulness. Many thanks to Ben for writing this six star (yes six is not a typo) book!

Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques
Author: Ben Willmore .. Publisher: Peachpit Press
697 pages ..with CD .. $50.00
ISBN 0-321-21352-1

I was impressed by a video of a presentation on curves that Ben Willmore made at the Peachpit booth at Photoshop World, Boston 2005. I watched the video several times, and gained a much better basic understanding of how Photoshop curves work, and how to work with them, than I had ever had before. I was so impressed that I asked to review his book "Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques" for our Macintosh user group.

In Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques, Ben writes with the same clear nontechnical language and style as he uses in his live demonstrations and lessons. The book's chapter on Curves provides a more in-depth discussion about how curves work and how to use them than the demonstration. In addition the book includes what is different in using curves with color images. Reading this chapter made me more impatient to read the rest of the book.

I had promised to write this review. There was not time enough to study the whole book the way it deserves before doing so. Ben Willmore asks you to read the chapters slowly and more than once, and to spend time to study the tools if you want to master Photoshop. Now that I have finished this review, I have started real studying from the beginning of the book.

The purpose of Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques is for the reader to master Photoshop, to really understand the tools, how they work, and how to use them. I believe it does a masterful job.

The first part of the book provides a sound understanding of the working foundations of Photoshop beginning with organizing the tools and palettes for your workspace. Then it provides the same kind of clear in-depth understanding of basic selections and layers as I had experienced in his presentation and writing about curves.

Ben Willmore asks us to master these tools in preparation for later chapters. I found it a difficult to concentrate on some parts of this so far in advance of when I would learn to apply it, and postponed some of the in-depth study until later.

The second part of this book is a about production essentials including chapters on resolution solution, line art scanning, grayscale images, curves, color, camera RAW, and channels.

The third part is about creative explorations with chapters on advanced masking, sharpening, shadows, collage, enhancement, retouching, and type and background effects.

My personal reason for reviewing books for our Macintosh user group library is to learn a little from reading them, and to decide which books I really need to buy.

I already have three excellent Photoshop books, a tutorial, a book about how professional photographers use Photoshop, and a book about using Photoshop for digital photographers. They are great books, but something was missing. They are focussed on using Photoshop to get specific results and not on understanding Photoshop itself.

I wanted a book about how Photoshop works, about the Photoshop tools and how to use them. I had a Photoshop manual, but I don't have the slightest idea where I may have put it, and it certainly was not a learning tool.

Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques is the book I need for a better basic understanding of how Photoshop works and how to work with Photoshop. It is good, clear, interesting reading. And, when I have studied the book, it will make an excellent reference for me to look up what I forget.

I recommend this book, in either the CS or CS2 version, for anyone who wants to learn how Photoshop works and how to use the tools.

This is an excellent book that covers the majority of what Photoshop can do. As can be expected with a program this complex, the book is not able to cover every tool or go into great detail about each. However, in the important areas, this book is excellent. The explanations and examples provided for utilizing curves and layers are nothing short of brilliant as are the chapters on masks and color correction. There is also a chapter on overall workflow that shows the reader how to integrate all their new found knowledge. The author also earns kudos for the book's particular focus on photograph manipulation.

Overall, this book is a fantastic value and I highly recommended it to anyone wishing to learn this great program. This could be the only book you ever need but, depending on one's needs, another book focusing on a particular area will probably be required (retouching/restoration, etc). Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques provides the optimal foundation book to begin your endeavor.

Kudos to Ben Willmore for this easy to understand Photoshop primer. As with the previous version I have, this edition works for everyone, the rank beginner to the advanced photophile. Process is easy to follow, well illustrated and the accompanying files are a real asset. I use this book as a text for my computer grahics course at a college in BC. I thank you, and so do my students.

Ben Willmore makes learning easy and appeals to the full range of learners. Great website support and lots of examples to help a person learn what they want. Dive in on any chapter and you will find out what you want to know and walk away with a better understanding of Photoshop as well. I would highly reccommend this book to all but the very newest to Photoshop, for it is jam-packed with knowledge that a lot of books promise but do not deliver.