Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography [Paperback]

Eddie Tapp (Author), Rick Lucas (Author)

Book Description

Series: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photogra | Publication Date: November 3, 2006

The second book in this acclaimed series from noted photographer and digital imaging expert Eddie Tapp delves into color management, a topic that has needlessly become a mystery to experienced digital photographers, whether they're avid amateurs, serious students, or working professionals. With his easygoing yet authoritative style, Eddie sheds light on this topic and supplies an understanding of color management that readers apply to their own work.

Clear and concise, this highly visual book explains how color management is a part of the overall photographic workflow. Eddie demonstrates the three stages of color managed workflow, from choosing a color space, to calibrating your devices, to applying appropriate profiles, and shows you exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. Color management scientist Rick Lucas contributes a chapter on the hard-core technical aspects. Other books on color management are much too long, involved and intimidating. This absorbing book sets the right tone and supplies you with key answers quickly.

Our Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography book series brings you the focused knowledge you need on specific areas of digital photography. Acknowledged as one of the premier trainers of digital imaging in the world, Eddie brings his teaching experience to bear on issues that other books gloss over or bury under general coverage. Now, you don't have to buy a doorstop-sized book to get the key information you need on color management, efficient workflow, or a variety of other specific digital imaging topics.

Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography also covers workflow setup; advanced and professional production techniques; controlling digital color and tone; creative enhancement techniques; and more. This series is a perfect complement to O'Reilly's general list on Photoshop and digital photography, and offers you focused books that cover technical issues at prices that are affordable and solutions that are quickly accessible. We're thrilled that Eddie Tapp has finally agreed to publish books -- and with O'Reilly.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Eddie Tapp is an award-winning photographer, lecturer, consultant and author on digital imaging issues with over 20 years of experience in computer technology. Eddie has shared his knowledge worldwide through a series of instructional CDs on Professional Enhancement Techniques, Color Management and Digital Workflow available from Software Cinema, as well as numerous contributions to publications such as "The Professional Photographer", "Photo Electronic Imaging", "Infoto Magazine", "Southern Exposure", and "Digital Capture" among others.

Currently the Director of the Institute of Visual Arts in Maui, Hawaii, Eddie served 6 years as the Chairman of the Committee on Digital and Advanced Imaging for the Professional Photographers of America where he holds the Master of Photography, Master of Electronic Imaging & Photographic Craftsman degrees, API (Approved Photographic Instructor), and is a Certified Professional Photographer. He also is the Commercial Council representative to PPA for the GPPA. Eddie serves on Adobe's Photoshop beta team and on NAPP's (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) Photoshop Dream Team.

Rick Lucas, a partner in Digital Attributes, Inc., has been working in both the photographic and prepress industries since graduating from Rochester Institute of Technology's Professional Photography program in 1976. Rick is an independent consultant specializing in quality control, color management, scanning, and workflow/productivity solutions. His knowledge of imaging technologies includes a wide variety of scanners, digital cameras, imagesetters, color copiers, film recorders, plotters, and digital proofers. He offers a range of digital imaging services, which include comprehensive evaluations, installations, training and support.

Product Details

• Paperback: 168 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; 1 edition (November 3, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596527683
• ISBN-13: 978-0596527686
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #536,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #41 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > Color

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great resource for newbs and pros, December 6, 2006

By 

David Girard (Montreal) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography (Paperback)

I was looking for a book to expand and hone my knowledge of colour calibration and management, since I do retouching and art direction professionally and I want to better control my press output. I was a little worried that this would be too basic when I started the book, since it delves into the fundamentals like what a colour gamut is, but thankfully it builds on those basics quickly to provide very helpful techniques that professionals can use to actually improve their work. Setting up a fully-calibrated working environment, from scanner to camera to screen to press, can be a daunting task since each piece of the puzzle needs to be right for it to work but the author does a very good job of explaining these techniques while keeping the tone light. More people should be reading these types of books since getting what you want from an image or design is so critically linked to unfortunately technical-looking things like IT8 and ink-limit charts. Titles like this will hopefully help make this knowledge more commonplace. My only criticism is that the book should have covered more about CMYK, dot gain and black generation since it mentions that you can create a custom CMYK profile in Photoshop but doesn't show any practical applications like making a low-colour CMYK profile for rich greyscale conversion. Many people will still be just hitting CMYK thinking that if the profiles for their devices are right, then they will be set for ideal saturation without understanding they can control the plates. Hopefully this will be addressed in coming editions. Still, a great book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Provides Good Understanding and Useful Tips, January 18, 2007

By 

Jeremy Hall (Pleasant Grove, UT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography (Paperback)

I was very excited to see this title because color management has always been a difficulty for me with my various job tasks and hobbies. Between web & print design along with heavy digital photography work, getting colors workable across many devices is a constant effort.

At first I was a bit worried that this was going to be just a theory book despite the title. The first several chapters were spent on history and understanding the need and how color management is needed and works. The later chapters delved into some of that nitty gritty I was looking for.

I would not call this a comprehensive guide, yet it was well worth the read for the information it provided. I found it more targeted to those with ink jets and general business printing. Don't be dissuaded if you are often printing on 4 color presses, the workflow tips and understanding here is very applicable.

I enjoyed Eddie's straightforward and easy to understand writing style. The book has a page layout style that is atypical but enjoyable - with heavy emphasis on the visuals.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, October 25, 2008

By 

Robert A. Reynolds - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Practical Color Management: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography (Paperback)

Yet another large format photography book with an emphasis on pictures and very weak on explanation. I endured only the first four chapters, within which terms were repeatedly introduced which had yet to be defined or explained. The author credits his "color guru" as a supporting author but the extraordinarily poor and suspicious explanations of basic color management concepts leads me to conclude that the author doesn't understand the material in a fundamental way and should have let the "guru" write the book. I tossed the book in the trash after the author equated a pixel with a photon.