Customer Reviews

Professional Photoshop 6: The Classic Guide to Color Correction

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own several PS instructional books, and this is the first that tackles color-correction in a serious way. Call me crazy, but I read through it like a novel, albeit with a highlighter, as suggested by Norman Sanders' review.

This is not for the beginner learning PS -- Adobe's PS Classroom in a Book is good for that. Likewise, it is not for a person using PS LE or Photo Deluxe, which do not support all of the pre-press features of the full version. Instead, like Bert Monroy's "Photorealistic Techniques with PS & Illustrator," and Biedny, Moody, and Monroy's "PS Channel Chops," this is a book for someone who knows his way around PS, but realizes there is still lots to learn. This is a book that will put hair on your chest.

Margulis essentially shows how to get the best possible corrected color and contrast for a published image. The first two or three chapters of the book are about tweaking the CMYK curves, reading the numbers from PS's info palette. This is the part he calls "monkey work," the correction by the numbers. Of course, it is the basis for all color correction and image improvement. Margulis then goes further, including an entire chapter on the subject of how dot gain settings affect output, for example. His explanation of sharpening -- also an entire chapter -- is excellent. He has a chapter devoted to RGB versus CMY curves, a whole chapter about the importance of the black channel, a chapter about Lab mode corrections, and a chapter or two about adding depth and detail to images by adding contrast to the "unwanted color" (i.e., the cyan plate for a red object). He explains how and when to use channel operations to give images more snap, depth, and detail. And he ties everything together as the book goes along, explaining how to correct specific problems, with before and after illustrations. The differences can be quite subtle -- but it is those subtleties that give the final image a more professional, polished look. And, as often as not, the differences can be quite dramatic.

Margulis is clearly a little full of himself -- see Stephen Gracey's note about his "caustic criticism of others in his field." But he's convinced that sometimes the "flavor of the day" is wrong, mostly about ICC tagging of documents and the problems with color calibration hardware and software. He's probably right. This doesn't get in the way of the numerous useful techniques detailed in this book, and you can skip some of his tirade sections if you want.

One note -- this is not a book just for pre-press professionals or people who use a CMYK workflow. But it will clearly help them most. Even so, anyone who wants to get the best quality printed or on-screen image can benefit from the techniques in this book. It will help photographers printing high-quality digital images on RGB desktop inkjet printers, or advertisers or internet professionals who must prepare images to be posted to the web. Yes, Margulis can occasionally gloss over a point he assumes "anyone" would understand, but if you stick with it the book, you'll see how everything fits together. Margulis *realizes* that good color correction is more art than science. He aims to give the reader the tools and some inspiration to tackle the art and science of color correction, and he succeeds. On several occasions, I found myself thinking, "Hey, I never thought about doing that!"

Highly recommended; not necessarily for the beginner, though.

This is one of the 2 or 3 most useful Photoshop books available today. Other books just basically cover tips and techniques. This book specifically targets proper color output.

Dan Margulis describes how to effectively color balance and adjust contrast without loss of detail. Chapter 4 is probably worth the price of the book alone. In it, Margulis describes a very effective sharpening technique which does not produce the usual "halo" effect if you try to oversharpen.

Margulis accomplishes all sorts of wonderful image enhancements without the use of tricky selections or masking. He also covers a radically different method of moving between RGB, CMYK, and/or LAB modes to get the best possible image quality.

If you already feel somewhat comfortable with some of Photoshop's capabilities, but you just aren't getting the printout "punch" you'd otherwise expect, this book is highly recommended.

I have purchased several photoshop books over the past year with mixed results. Most of them were "Wow look what I can do" crap showing off silly tricks I could have grabbed off an online tutorial. Thankfully, this book is not in that category. Not only are there no "Gee whiz I can make a toilet look like polka dot glass " sections, but the author helped dip[eled some of the misinformation I got reading that other crap. I too was intimidated by other reviews at first, but I am glad I ignored them. The book also reads well, although some may find the author a little egotisitical ( I think he is kind of cool myself). If you can only own one photoshop book, this is the one to buy. You can learn parlor tricks online for free, but this information is next to impossible to come buy in book form.

If you choose to buy "Professional Photoshop 6" I suggest that you also invest in a yellow highlighter and keep it close by as you read each chapter. Dan Margulis offers so many clear explanations and so much practical advice and direction that, unless you take a moment to re-read and mark particularly cogent passages, you may not absorb their full value. I endorse this book to my colleagues and students in the strongest possible terms.

Having said that, I must add that I believe this book is not for the Photoshop beginner. There are no sections devoted to using particular tools, no hints about where Version 6 has hidden the Paint Bucket or Measure tools this time. On the other hand there is superb instruction regarding creative use of what Mr. Margulis refers to as Channel Blending (to differentiate it from the Channel Mixing function). Moreover, his detailed discussion of the purpose and application of LAB is the most lucid and useful that I have found anywhere.

Although several of the illustrations and explanations in the new edition appeared in his earlier book, many now also appear on the accompanying CD along with additional ones, and provide the reader with the opportunity to apply the techniques described throughout the text. At least half of this latest edition seems like new vital information, and his summation of just one aspect, in a chart on Page 184, outlining the strengths of CMYK, LAB and RGB when retouching, ties it all into a neat, useful package of reminders.

Whether your goals are to enhance good images destined for print reproduction, or to salvage poor ones, I can think of no better expert to look to for practical advice. This book, "Professional Photoshop 6", encapsulates a tremendous amount of it. Congratulations, Mr. Margulis!

I had the Margulis' book "professional photoshop version 3" and i thought this was the best book on color correction ever written. The author is a true expert of pre-press color management and it writes in a really enjoyable way.

This edition for Photoshop 6 keep the content at highest standards and it's even more detailed with color photos and schemes.

This book covers every aspect of color correction, RGB, CMYK, LAB systems are fully examined and (most important) it does not behave like a second Photoshop manual, it is totally oriented to the image point of view. That's why I believe the title is reductive, this is a book on color systems not just on Photoshop itself. Every argument is discussed with incomparabled skill and professionality, nothing is underestimated. Color correction is explained "numerically", even a color blind person could make the right adjustments!.

Beware of complexity! this book is for professionals, mostly involved in pre-press environments, this is not a tips & tricks book on how to remove red eyes from your photos. For the not-trained eye some of the pictures in the book showing "before" and "after treatment" will look the same!

The whole book is not an easy reading, because the subject itself isn't. The force of this book is to keep discussing complex issues without giving up.

The CDrom included (this is the first edition to include one) completes the masterpiece because you get the high resolution images discussed inside, ready to test your skill.

This is a must-have.

I read the the reviews posted with interest and was rather surprised by some of the negative comments. I am just buying the book now, but I have taken a peek at it, and since I own all 3 of his previous books, have a collection of all his "Makeready" articles for Electronic Publishing and subscribe to his "Color Theory mailing list, I think I can speak to his approach and style of writing.

I admit I am a fan. I have learned more from Dan's books and articles that I can even begin to say. While some might view his comments and asides as caustic, I've always considered his writing the rarest of all things things that can be said about writing on a highly technical subject--witty--and there's nothing wrong with stating a strongly held opinion either. There's nothing like a chuckle to make one pay attention and get on with learning the tasks at hand.

Color theory is extremely complex, and I've found Dan has the ability to boil down information into understandable chunks, even giving formulas, and recipes.

Having said all that I will agree his books are not for the average beginner, nor do they pretend to be, as the titles contain the word "professional", and that's who he writes for, professionals, and those who strive to be. Photoshop neophytes or those not serious about learning how to achieve the best color correction possible, and devoting some time and effort to it, probably should not buy this book. But if you want to be a photoshop professional, apply yourself to this book and you will take a big step toward being one.

What Moses did with his walking stick (parted) to the Red Sea. Dan Margulis does with Photoshop to images. Example: In chapter 17 "There are no bad originals". He takes a hopeless,underexposed image and brings it back to life. If this man was in the religion business, he be a healer. While this is not a starter book on photoshop. It's advanced. A beginner can learn on a better level starting out (if your serious about learning high end color correction). For a intermediate and advanced user. He makes you think. From color by the numbers to plate blending to there are no bad originals. His key as a master is in using curves and more important, His know how. Anyone who is going to press(cmyk). This book is a must have. Even for anyone doing non-web rgb (photographers). His methods can be applied. For retouchers,using his methods (color correction). Take retouching to a higher level. It's an in-depth advanced book. High end color correction at that. I'm glade,I'm one of his chosen ones.

John Opitz Photographer

Most of the online reviews promise a lot but the book doesn't deliver and that is a great disappointment since an understandable guide is need. The author does not explain and illustrate the relationships between rgb (additive) and cmyk (reflective) in enough detail for one to comprehend how to read color coordinates in the info window and then correct the images using PhotoShop's image adjustments whether they be curves, levels, or whatever (which require thinking in both color spaces). The author is an expert on the four process color inks on the press and how they relate to cmyk color densities on printed paper but how to achieve the corresponding correct color densities in your digital files using PhotoShop is not clearly communicated. I've learned more reading the compressed "Create Print" articles in MacWorld by authors like David Blatner (a fine writer) then I learned from this book. My recommendations are: if you want to understand the basics of digital prepress then the Agfa Guide to Digital Color Prepress (though dated) is far better; if you want to understand channels then PhotoShop Channel Chop (also dated) is better; if you wants to understand curves then the PhotoShop Artistry books (version 5 or 6) are better. If you want a professional's insights into how he goes about correcting cymk color situation along with lots of self accolades, well this is it. Also be warned that none of the photographs measure up to the quality of good commercial stock photo images. Hopefully, by the next version of PhotoShop a good technical editor can turn this book into the gem the PhotoShop audience needs on this topic.

I expected a dry, technical tome that would languish on my bookshelf until needed to "solve" the harder problems in Photoshop. I was pleasantly surprised instead to find an engaging and often witty book that not only explained the intricacies of Photoshop's curves functions and color spaces but also helped apply the real world experience of human color perception to the mechanics of computer color correction. My images looked better, with less effort, the first time I put Margulis' techniques to work -- and on top of everything else, it's a fun book to read.

As a small time publisher with no training in Photoshop, I struggled along doing my best to make things look good. Then I came across Dan Margulis's book and for the first time I understood what photoshop did and why, and how that related to how things look in print. The book is concise, and for this reason I ended up reading it about 4 times, learning a little more each time. By then I felt really confident at working in Photoshop. I couldn't have been happier with the book.