Customer Reviews

Real World Photoshop 5: Industrial Strength Production Techniques (Real World Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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while this book does have a lot of useful info, there are a few things i don't like about it. for starters, there is NO cd. most books come with a cd full of imges and other goodies. that may seem like a minor detail, but it would be nice to be able to have the same images from the book in order to practice on. the other thing i dislike about this book and this is my biggest complaint is the very bad rosette pattern of the halftone dots. it is so bad, that in some cases it's hard to see the "before and after" effect in the images. i also don't like the fact that all of the curves in the book are backwards!!!!! i have been drawing curves before DTP ever exsisted, and find it very hard to do things backwards and i have yet to see anyone use curves in that manner in the working world. the authors also seem to place too much emphasis on histograms...in my 7 years of working in photoshop, i've never seen anyone call up a histogram and use it for any sort of work yet the authors make it seem like it's an everyday thing for people to judge images with a histogram...these are minor rants, but i'd recommend the photoshop bible to people before this book.....real world photoshop is definitely a book to own, but not as a first photoshop book....

I have many books on Photoshop, but only two or three I recommend to fellow users or my students. Real World is one of them. Blatner and Fraser don't waste a lot of time with the 90 odd filters in Photoshop. Instead they focus on the tools and techniques the user needs to create the best prints or the best on-line graphics. In a world of also-rans, this book is top notch from start to finish. It's essential for beginners, professionals, and upgraders alike.

I am a graphic design student taking am advanced PhotoShop course. I highly recommend this book and any book written by David Blatner and Bruce Fraser. They are very talented at taking complex technical information and making it understandable, clear, and functional. Being that they are pros in the field of graphic design, they present the information is a way that is useful for "us". And being artists by nature, they write in a way that is not heavily technical, but direct and too the point. I recommend this book to all my fellow students.

Real World Photoshop 5 is the one Photoshop book in my collection that I refer to the most. This is a book for those who want to learn or better understand the theory behind such things as color correction, color essentials and image essentials. The author's discussion of color settings is direct and written in clear, concise language.The chapter on color settings is required reading for making proper use of Photoshop's color capabilities. Real World Photoshop 5 covers basic color and tonal correction in depth. This book deserves a place on every serious Photoshop user's bookshelf. Weather a new or experienced user, Real World Photoshop 5 is a reference text you will refer to over and over again.

Not only does this book present Photoshop 5 tools and features, the authors go the extra mile by providing background on topics like: Purchasing the right computer for Photoshop; Terms and Definitions; Setting Up PhotoShop 5; Color Theory; Choosing a Color Space; Tonal Correction; Linear vs Non-Linear Adjustments; and much more...

What makes this book great is the personal perspective of the authors. Rather than simply explaining features, the authors tell you which features THEY use and when. I suppose this is what they mean by "real world."

If you use Photoshop, but you don't use high-level techniques, you owe it to yourself to get this book. This is not one of those books on how to do crazy effects, rather it's a tool for serious users to get the most from Photoshop's tools. This book takes you through each of the different features of Photoshop -- sharpening, color correction, making selections -- and teaches you things you thought you already knew.

P.S. Years after writing this review, and attending Photoshop workshops, I can attest that the information in this book holds up. The advice on topics such as color correction, making selections, sharpening, etc are still on-the-money and totally applicable to Photoshop 7, so if you can get this book at a big discount it may well be worthwhile.

This is for people who use Photoshop in a professional setting. It will help you get better scans and get better output from your scans.

I've loved reading this book and learned a lot from it. It's even still relevent with Photoshop 6. My only negative comment is that the book is so heavy physicaly that you cant enjoy reading it but by putting it on a table.

This book explains all aspects of Photoshop from Tonal Adjustments to Getting a Good Scan to Buying A Scanner. I love it.