Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide [Paperback]

Tim Grey (Author), Christopher Robinson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2008

In this latest edition of his bestselling guide, expert digital photographer and author Tim Grey explains how proper workflow can alleviate repetitive parts of a project to allow you to focus on producing stunning results and he reveals expert tips and techniques that automate tasks, optimize output, and reduce time spent at the computer, and offers insights to using Lightroom and Bridge. He also demonstrates how to process RAW captures; crop, rotate, repair, and adjust tone and color; harness new Clone, Curves, and Blend Mode features; download, sort, and organize digital images on a computer; and more.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Get beautiful results with a better workflow

If you're like most artists, the idea of structuring your work may seem at odds with true creativity, but you'll be surprised to learn that just the opposite can be true. In this latest edition of his bestselling guide, digital imaging expert Tim Grey shows you how proper workflow can free you from the repetitive parts of a project, letting you focus on your vision and produce stunning results.

You'll discover new ways to create smooth workflows with Photoshop CS4 and gain insights into Lightroom and Bridge, plus you'll uncover expert tips and techniques that reduce the time you spend at the computer and speed you back to shooting.

• Explore new updates to Photoshop CS4, Lightroom®, and Bridge

• Download, sort, and organize digital images on your computer

• Process RAW captures to retain maximum detail

• Crop, rotate, repair, and adjust tone and color in your images

• Harness new Clone, Curves, and Blend Mode features

• Get creative with colorization, filters, and more

• Automate tasks and optimize your output

Convert RAW captures to maximize quality in your images and flexibility in your workflow

Apply targeted adjustments to your images to optimize or add a creative element

Produce excellent black-and-white images, including simulated infrared effects

About the Author

Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing and speaking. He is the author of many books on Photoshop and digital photography, presents workshops around the world on topics related to digital imaging, and regularly contributes to Outdoor Photographer, PC Photo, Digital Photo Pro, and other print and online publications. He also publishes the Digital Darkroom Quarterly print newsletter and the daily "Digital Darkroom Questions" e-mail list.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Sybex; 1 edition (November 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470381280
• ISBN-13: 978-0470381281
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #439,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Tim Grey is regarded as one of the top educators in digital photography and imaging, offering clear guidance on complex subjects through his writing and speaking. He loves learning as much as he possibly can about digital imaging, and he loves sharing that information even more.

Tim's work combines several of his greatest passions: technology, teaching, photography, writing, and travel. All of these have been part of his life in some way for as long as he can remember, and became a major focus starting in high school. He has been focused on digital photography and imaging for over 10 years.

Tim has written more than a dozen books on digital imaging for photographers, including the best-selling Photoshop CS4 Workflow and Take Your Best Shot. He has also had hundreds of articles published in magazines such as Digital Photo Pro, Outdoor Photographer, and PC Photo, among others. He publishes the Digital Darkroom Questions email newsletter, as well as the Digital Darkroom Quarterly print newsletter. Tim teaches through workshops, seminars, and appearances at major events. He is a member of the Photoshop World Dream Team of Instructors.

With such a busy schedule, Tim doesn't get much time to actually take pictures. He squeezes in as much photography as he can during his business travels, and also takes advantage of every opportunity to photograph near his home in Bellevue, Washington.

Tim can be contacted at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Near-Perfect Guide for Beginners, January 3, 2009

By 

Joseph Boone (Irvine, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (2008 HOLIDAY TEAM)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide (Paperback)

Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide is one of the best Photoshop primers I've read. The author works through image adjustments in a very logical progression. He begins with very simple edits and works his way up to more complex fine-tuning. The instructions are both step-by-step and very clear. He also does an excellent job of explaining the "big picture" of why you want to make these adjustments and does not just turn you into a mouse clicker following steps by rote.

While no one book is going to tell you everything you could ever want to know about Photoshop, this is a fairly comprehensive tome. The entire workflow process is covered beginning with downloading files and sorting them in Bridge, all the way through printing. I would suggest using the "Look Inside" function to check the Table of Contents if you're interested in a complete list of the specific steps covered. The good news is that all the most common bases are covered, and covered well. If I could add one thing to this book, it would be a chapter or two on the basics of making adjustments in the LAB color space. For certain images, LAB will yield truly superior results, yet it receives no coverage in most Photoshop books. If you're interested in learning more, I highly recommend Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace (though that book was written for CS2 and could now use an update).

For those who own the CS3 edition of this book, you should be aware that this edition offers a lot of the same material. Yes, there are additions, but you will want to flip through it in the bookstore before buying to make sure that there is enough new content here to warrant the purchase.

If this book has a weakness, it is that it doesn't really live up to its title. The book is not about workflow per se, but about all the steps that are part of a workflow. Only the first and the last chapters really focus on the aspect of trying to plan the workflow itself. This is no crime, I don't know if it's even possible to fill an entire book with workflow planning discussions without becoming ridiculously redundant and useless. But Tim Grey and his publishers chose to identify this as a workflow text and on that basis I think they have failed. Still, it's an excellent guide to editing photos and I recommend it to anyone looking to improve their skills in that area.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beginning the Trip, May 21, 2009

By 

Conrad J. Obregon (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide (Paperback)

Let there be no mistake about it. Photoshop (PS) is not an easy program to use, with all those menus, tools and panels. Yet anyone who aspires to master digital photography had better learn how to use Photoshop. The problem is compounded by lots of goldilocks-like books that are either too simple or too complex for someone just beginning to learn the program. What's a photographer to do?

Tim Grey addresses this problem in this book. The author leads the reader in gentle steps through the most important parts of PS CS4. He starts with advice on how to use the separate programs that are incorporated in PS, Bridge and Camera Raw. He then covers basic adjustments for rotating and cropping, tone and color adjustment and image cleanup. He moves on to advanced tonal and color adjustments, selections and targeted adjustments, and creative adjustments. He finishes up by showing how to save files, automate workflow and print. After reading the introductory material, the section on basic adjustments and the methods of saving and outputting files, the beginner should be able to begin processing his images in PS. He can then return to the other sections as he goes along.

The book is not perfect. There are no images to download and no tutorials. Grey concentrates on using the buttons and sliders without ever explaining how to figure out what adjustments a person might want to make to an image to improve it. Many of the more advanced PS tools that a photographer might ultimately want to use are not discussed.

Add to that the fact that Grey clearly favors the use of the PS program itself to make most adjustments, rather then Camera Raw or PS's sister product Lightroom, while other advanced photographers use these two tools more heavily.

So long as the reader understands that post processing images can involve many steps before one can be called an expert, and that the serious photographer will probably read many more books to learn how to create a great digital image, this book will serve as a good introduction to the use of Photoshop. But it's not the end of the road.

5.0 out of 5 stars A very helpful companion, August 20, 2010

By 

R. Thomas Berner "Coal Cracker" (Bellefonte, Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Photoshop CS4 Workflow: The Digital Photographer's Guide (Paperback)

I read this book from cover to cover and marked nearly a dozen pages so I could go back to them. Even though I am now using CS5, I still refer to this book. In fact, I have finally created my own workflow chart because there's so much to remember and it's all worth doing. I also subscribe to Tim's daily e-mail Q&A and his magazine. I'm a huge fan and intend to buy his CS5 videos when they are available.