Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop [Paperback]

Brad Hinkel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 12, 2006 | ISBN-10: 1933952024 | ISBN-13: 978-1933952024 | Edition: 1

Color management is one of the essential elements, yet major stumbling blocks in digital photography. The vast majority of digital photographers really wish they didn't have to be concerned with color management, yet the basic process of moving images from capture to print becomes impractical without it. And the more sophisticated the photography workflow becomes, the more important it is to manage colors from capture to print.

In this book, Brad Hinkel simplifies the language of color management. It is based on classes and workshops the author has given to hundreds of students of digital photography. His process for color management is intended to provide enough information to create a simple and effective system allowing the user to get on with photography - focus on creativity instead of technology. However, the fact that this book suggests a simple approach to color management does not mean it sacrifices quality and effectiveness. Simpler is usually better - if it works.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"It seems a month doesn't go by without another colour management guide hitting the shelves, but what we love about this book is that the author has taken the principles he has taught thousands of students and compiled them into an accessible read." Digital Photographer, February 2007

About the Author

Brad Hinkel is an experimental photographer, software designer and teacher. He combines chemistry & digital technology, silver & ink, film & tin cans to produce images of the common and the unusual. Brad was instrumental in developing the digital photography programs at the Rocky Mountain School of Photography and the Photographic Center Northwest. He continues to teach a wide range of digital photography courses. He has recently completed three books on digital photography: 'The Focal Easy Guide to Photoshop CS2', 'Digital Negatives' and ... 'Color Management for Photographers'.

Product Details

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Rocky Nook; 1 edition (December 12, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933952024
• ISBN-13: 978-1933952024
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #115,723 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #4 in Books > Computers & Technology > Digital Photography & Video > Beginning Guides
  • #8 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Color

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Simple Color Management, December 23, 2006

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop (Paperback)

When it comes to printing the pictures taken with a digital camera, the first question many inexperienced photographers ask is, why doesn't the picture look the way it did on the computer monitor? The answer is almost always color management. Color management is the technique for getting camera image, monitor and output to look alike.

This book presents a simple approach to color management, breaking it down into 10 easy steps, the most significant of which is calibrating and profiling your monitor. If I reveal to you the other 9 steps you probably won't need to buy the book. And there for me was the rub. I know there are many photographers out there who will be happy with the results of following just the first seven steps of the author's ten step process. I know that more advanced photographers will benefit from the last three steps which Hinkel calls "advanced printing". But I also believe that even following these three additional steps, there are other things photographers can do that will enable them to get prints and web pictures that will better achieve agreement with their monitors that I would expect to be covered in a book on color management.

For example, even with a properly calibrated monitor and profiles, blacks and dark grays in a print may block up with certain papers so that they are indistinguishable. One way to deal with this is by adjusting tonal range in the printing process for the specific paper being used. Photographers looking for these more advanced tips should look at books aimed at more advanced color management like Tim Grey's "Color Confidence 2nd Edition: The Digital Photographer's Guide to Color Management".

Even though it doesn't go to the substance of the book, I have to comment on the publisher's graphic content. Rocky Nook's books look beautiful from their calm grey covers with beautiful photographs to their illustrations and generous use of white space inside. On the other hand, even the author tells us that this book will only take a couple of hours to read and digest. At just over 100 pages (which probably could be less if each page did not have a generous outside margin) one feels that the price, even when deeply discounted, may be a little dear.

In any event, photographers interested in learning just enough about color correction will find the information they need here. Those looking for a fuller discussion will have to look elsewhere.

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great understanding to the relationship of image, monitor and printer!, January 16, 2007

By 

T Michael Testi "(www.Blogcritics.org) (www.p... (Edmond, OK United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop (Paperback)

One of the hardest parts of digital imaging for most people to understand is the relationship between the color that they see on the screen and the color that they see on their prints.

In Color Management In Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps To True Colors In Photoshop Brad Hinkel shows us, in easy progressions, how to understand and use available color spaces to move from digital image, to screen image, to print image.

What I like best about Color Management In Digital Photography is that Hinkel breaks down the basics into easy to understand parts. In the chapter entitled "Select a Color Space", he defines what a color space is. He then shows how it relates between the digital image; the one your camera made, the image as it appears on the screen and the image as it appears on the printer.

This book can take you to that next level, especially if every time you time you try to understand the technical jargon of color space, sRGB and profiling you find yourself confused. If you are new to printing in a digital world or you are always having problems making your screen image and your print image match, then Color Management In Digital Photography is the perfect book for you

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Facing the Color Management Challenge, May 16, 2007

By 

Jorga "Lexa" (Tucson, AZ, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop (Paperback)

What you see is seldom what you get when you make the arduous journey from digital image file to hard copy. It's a royal pain in the ASCII.

Most of us pass off the color difference between what we see on our monitor and what we get in our prints with a shrug of the shoulders. It's just one of those vagaries of computing, right?

Generally, that's a healthy attitude for the casual computer user/digital photographer. There are enough hassles in life without looking for new ones. On the other hand, if you're trying to make a living in graphic arts/photography, color management looms large in your professional life.

Some days, when I'm working on several computers, each with it's own color quirks, it gets frustrating. The book nicely bridges the color management gap with thorough explanations of color space and how to calibrate and profile your monitor.

Obviously, a good monitor is going to be an important component of the management process. Hinckel covers the related subjects as well as making some specific recommendations. He also looks beyond the monitor and discusses a good work environment.

There are specific software packages like Monaco OPTIC and Monaco EZcolor that are more powerful than the color management programs that come with printers and photo/graphic editing software. There is a good explanation of how these work.

Hinkel explorers numerous printing option, tells how to test your system, and then he moves into Advanced Printing.

This book presents a comprehensive, easy-to-understand overview of color management. Hallelujah. This book may actually inspire all of us color-management-procrastinators to jump in and get this vital area of graphic arts under control.