Customer Reviews

Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(15)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book may be what you need, or it may actually drive you nuts, quite quickly. This depends on your skill level in photoshop, your personality, and your actual needs regarding photos (i.e., what you need them for). Since some of the reviews formerly posted here sound like something a company marketing team may write, a few clarifications may be in order before you purchase this book.

First, the somewhat misleading title: sure, SEVEN is a nice number with lots of ancient tradition (e.g., from seven deadly sins, and seven virtues to seven habits of highly successful people, etc.) Alas, there aren't just seven "points". It's more like SEVENTY.

Scott Kelby (as always very articulate and mercifully NOT trying to be too humorous this time) uses some very wide, general, and often COMPLEX concepts, and treats them as ONE "point" each. So, for example, one such point (among seven) is "use Adobe Camera RAW to make all appropriate / necessary adjustments" (I am paraphrasing here) - but that is hardly ONE point: it includes setting / adjusting white balance, exposure, white / black point, fussing with shadows, initial sharpening, clarity / vibrance, saturation, etc. Another example of such single "point" (among the seven) would be "painting with light": which sounds good and simple, but actually involves working with multiple adjustment layers, and creating numerous, often quite complex, variable density masks for localized adjustments - so much so, that some images wind up being a sandwich of more than four layers, each with its own masks, individual transparency settings, and blending modes - hardly "one simple point" again.

As a result, fixing many example photos turns out to be a LENGTHY process which often involves more than 20 steps, many of which are in turn complex, multi-step procedures that require both practice and skill (e.g., hand painting precise masks with brushes of progressively diminishing opacity, or using selection drawing tools). Needless to say, such level of precision is best implemented working with a tablet / stylus, and is going to be less-than-pleasant (and successful) using a mouse, a point which needs to be made clearly (and the book doesn't do it). If it is to be done right, it will also be time consuming.

Other issues further add to the above problem: some techniques (such as "faking" water reflections by flipping and blending the actual non-reflected image) will be seen as questionable by many serious photographers. If you ethically don't object to doing this type of "deep-pixel editing", then why not just composit-in a sky or other element taken from another, better-exposed photo altogether? Also, as one reviewer has mentioned previously, some procedures use settings that are arbitrary (7-7-7 for defining a black point when working with curves), and do not include a good explanation of the WHY of the processes involved.

Yet another issue is the fact, that such very heavy reliance on aggressive editing in ACR (especially since Kelby sometimes uses 8-bit jpg files in ACR and not 12-bit RAW) often winds up producing images that are "punchy" (or garish, depending on how you see it), but at the expense of unnatural-looking color shifts, posterization, and artefacts visible EVEN at the very small print sizes used in the book (under 2 inches?) - I encourage you to look at the example of a "before and after" on the p. 31. Would you really want your sunset/sunrise photos to look like that? Perhaps this may be acceptable for saving a one-of-a-kind, 4x6 shot for a family album, but I don't see it having much potential for anything else (e.g., 8x10 or a serious print). Yes, there definitely are many example photos that benefit greatly from the procedures outlined in the book, but that's mostly because many were GOOD (reasonably correctly exposed) photos to start with, and simply needed help to get rid of the characteristic "dull" / "flat" look so typical of baseline RAW files. Most also rely of Kelby's experience and intuition in deciding which steps (of the seven) to implement and which to skip in each case.

There is also a more serious, practical issue here: if you are going to spend several HOURS fixing one, not-very-good-quality photo, and repeat that lengthy (and eventually repetitive and boring) process with some frequency, wouldn't you be better off just spending A FEW hours ONCE to take a workshop with a good photographer, so that your BETTER photos do not need such convoluted and extensive "fixing" in post all the time?

To summarize: the book outlines some useful, if excessively complex techniques to fix (smaller) photos. Many of these techniques will not be feasible on photos meant for larger print sizes, unless a stylus, considerable time, patience for trial-and--error, and precision masking skills are used. For remedying of casual snapshots for a family album, many techniques presented here, although potentially useful, will be an overkill for most users. For professional users and serious advanced CS3 photo-amateurs, this book is too formulaic to be useful.

On the plus side, the book is well written, carefully edited, and has a generous amount of well-described screen shots and (small) "before-and-after" photos.

This book is Scott Kelby's typical witty and unpresumptuous style. So if the content suits you, it's a good and worthy read. However, you should be aware that it is really a set of recipes for correcting 'problems'. Some of the problems are 'real' problems, like gross underexposure, best handled by better camera work, and some are 'enhancements'. Granted, all photographers, or cameras, make exposure mistakes so the material is valuable. Some of the 'enhancements' are very distinct departures from reality, also OK if that is what you want, but might violate some of the ethical rules held by nature photographers. These are not serious problems, just issues of choice... serious choice.

Bigger issues for me are the inconsistancies of the methods described. Sometimes color balance is achieved in Camera Raw, sometimes in Photoshop; same for contrast, same for sharpening. In most cases there are no explanations about how that decision is made. Recipes, not instruction.

And the largest issue is that of retaining the ability to manage each step of correction so that intermediate changes can be recovered or changed. So while Scott makes a big deal of the fact that a change to LAB mode and back will not 'damage' the pixels, this requires that the image be flattened, which causes a much bigger problem (the need to start over from scratch if subsequent changes are not satisfactory.) In the very first example, Scott shows a very sophisticated approach to using the Shadow/Highlight filter as a smart object that avoids the issue of irreversibly changing the underlying pixels, yet later flattens the image to make the change to LAB mode. In example 1, the image is flattened 4 times! Geesh! Missing is the discussion of the possibility of managing irreversible change, when necessary, through various file and image management techniques.

Overall, this book is written for the beginner, but uses very sohpisticated techniques more suitable to a more experienced user. The steps are demonstrated, but the reasoning is lost; and the advantages of the technique are lost in subsequent steps.

So this book remains just a set of recipes, useful if you have images that correspond to the examples, but less ueful for generalized work.

I own many of Kelby's books and I was really looking forward to his 7-point system book. It sounded like the target audience was ME. I can tell that a photo needs work but I don't know what to do. I have a fortune invested in Photoshop books and they tell me what all the controls do - but not when to apply them.

I with I could give this book a 5-star, but what's missing for me is the *why* in each step. For example, in the first lesson he says to go to curves and to double click on the shadow eyedropper and enter 7's for the RGB values. Why? At the end of this adjustment he says to flatten the layers. Why?

What would be great would be if the publisher had a forum where people could discuss the book and ask questions.

I just finished Scott Kelby's "7-Point System" on photoshop techniques. I have been using Photoshop since version 4, now on CS3. I've been to Photoshop World, and have purchased many books on photoshop. I am a landscape photographer, and have a well-established work-flow, but I'm always willing to learn new techniques. I frequently post on Fred Miranda's website. I think Scott Kelby's book is the best and most useful overall Photoshop Book I have read. The workflow is a very good one, well explained, and it implements Photoshop tricks and techniques that I have found hard to master. It is well written and easy to follow. I am very happy to see it incorporates LAB processing as well (I think critical to landscape work; and there's something you wouldn't want to tackle on your own -- be sure to remember the LAB tip in Chapter 21; make the highlight/shadow adjustment in the Lightness channel.) I've already adjusted my workflow; I now use new techniques with confidence thanks to this great book. I give it ALL the stars.

I've invested a small fortune over the years in Photoshop books, some good...some not so good. Photoshop guru and prolific author Scott Kelby's latest-the 7-Point System-is in a category by itself...absolutely essential. The concept he uses is to guide you in each lesson from original photo to finished using the same adjustments, tools, and techniques...seven points that are easy to learn for a beginner, and already well-known for more experienced Photoshop users. The beauty of the book lies in seeing not just a curves adjustment or a layer mask in use, but actually working on the same photos (downloaded)Scott used and step-by-step bringing it from bland to beautiful.

I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about Photoshop techniques, but this book has done more to improve my workflow and overall approach to what to look for in a photo that I'm editing than anything before it. And using only 7-points to boot! Lesson 1 alone is an eye-opener as you take a barely viewable photo and using those 7 points, end up with a photo anyone would be proud of. There is a huge Wow factor at work in each lesson.

Written in Scott's familiar breezy style, this should be on every Photoshop user's holiday wish list...if you can wait that long. Two thumbs up and a pat on the back to Mr. Kelby for delivering the goods with this one.

This book is hyped as being the final say in digital photo development and Photoshop workflow, and gives the impression that once you read this book you'll know exactly what and how to make all your photos "picture perfect". The fact is, there's not getting away from the fact that even if you follow the workflow detailed in Kelby's book, it's up to your own personal judgment and opinion. This is borne out by the fact that Kelby has a 7-step methodology, but in many of the examples not all the steps are used. That's because he made the judgment that certain steps were not needed. There's no comment as to why some steps are used sometimes, but not others. So you are going to be left hanging and left with having to make your own judgment calls when it comes to your own work.

The book is nice and easy to use with step-by-step instructions. It's relies on the principle of learning by repetition and example. Even when you get to the end of the book and start working on your own photos, you are still going to be faced with the same questions as always: what do I do to improve this photo, what do I do first, what do I do next.

It is good to get a professional opinion of what is an appropriate workflow for developing your digital files in Photoshop. And I do feel that I learned a lot from working through the examples, but if the marketing hype around the book gives you the feeling that this book will take away the need to exercise any judgment, then you will be disappointed.

Although most of the steps might be familiar to a regular photoshop user, the 7 point system is a concise method for applying the various tools found in photoshop. I found the lessons very well written. I downloaded the photos used in the lessons so I was able to follow along very well. I have used these tips on several of my own photos with fantastic results. Well worth the money.

Mr. Kelby's book is clearly written, well-illustrated, and is filled with useful techniques. You can rest assured that after completing the exercises that you will have a firm understanding on how to achieve the particular look evangelized within.

It's your call whether or not that look is what you'd like.

Personally, I find some of his results to have an over-processed look. This is most likely due to the fact that his work is destined for print. What oftentimes looks good on screen comes out flat or drab once on paper. I found myself lowering the effects about 10% or so.

I have lots of 1- and 2-star images, those without any chance of redemption. I have far fewer 4-stars or 5-stars. This book isn't for those.

This book is for your 3-star photographs, your C+ photographs. The ones that you keep coming back to, again and again. They're not yet great and perhaps you don't consciously recognize their potential, but there's something that draws you to them.

Scott - just a quick note on your new 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop3 ... I can only say THANK YOU... I am the guy you describe in your introduction - knowing that my photo needs fixing, but not knowing where to start in Photoshop3 to fix it... I have bought many Photoshop books (even some of yours), but still have not had a consistent workflow to use every time I look at a photo. Attending various workshops only confused the issue more, as each photographer or instructor has their own way of doing things. FINALLY, you have provided a roadmap to use each and every time I open a photo where I will not have to rifle through hundreds of pages in multple books to figure out where to start and what to do. And when I come back 3 weeks later, as you describe, I know I will start in exactly the same place. Thanks again.

-Bob

I loved this book. Scott Kelby's teaching style is humorous and easy to read. And the best part about this book is I get great results with his techniques. And in the end, that is what counts most to me.
Besides the great techniques taught in this book, it uses a system of teaching that is usually not found in other books. The key word here is "repetition". I admit, that the best way I learn is through repetition. If you go through this book with that in mind, you will learn a fast and easy workflow with enough variations to work with many of the common day problems we find while processing our photos.
I know that some people will say that you "should get it right in the camera to begin with" My feeling is that, yes, get it as right as you can in the camera. But remember, it doesn't matter if you are shooting with digital or film, the camera never records an image the way the eye actually sees it. It is the nature of the beast. Until Camera manufacturers work out ways to deal with dynamic range in the camera, it just isn't going to happen.
So it is our job as photographers to optimize the photo during processing. For me, this means processing from a RAW format. Not only do I want it to look like my mind visualized it, but I want creative freedom to go beyond that. And that is why I found this book so useful. Results are the bottom line.