Creating Photomontages with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook (Designers Notebook) (Paperback)

~ Patrick Collandre (Author), Didier Crete (Author), Guillaume Daveau (Author), Lamia Dhib (Author), Tai-Marc Le Thanh (Author), Eric Mahe (Author), Odile Pascal (Author), Bernard Rossi (Author), William Rodarmor (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Showcasing the breathtaking work of French digital artists, "Creating Photomontages with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook" will both inspire and educate as you explore the endless photomontage possibilities with Photoshop.

Translated from French into English for the first time, this lavish collection of groundbreaking digital creations by well-known French artists is a visual smorgasbord for digital imaging professionals, graphic artists, photographers, and anyone involved in the creation of digital images or animations.

Photomontages are multiple images artfully combined. When joined together, they assume a new and more complex definition that, if done well, is both believable and aesthetically thrilling. The stunning digital photomontages within this book offer a challenging and beautiful glimpse into a vibrant culture known for pushing the limits of imagination with photography, graphics, and art. Filled with splendor, energy, and creative risks, the images will change the way you see and perform your own work.

But "Creating Photomontages with Photoshop: A Designer's Notebook" is more than a full-color feast for the eyes. It gives intermediate-to-advanced Photoshop users invaluable guidance through all aspects of the photomontage creation process--from an initial concept (including inspiration and specifications) through its step-by-step practical execution (photographing, retouching, special effects, and so forth)--and provides insight into the vision behind each creation and how that vision evolved to became a dynamic reality.

This one-of-a-kind collection will compel you to explore new and inventive techniques for Photoshop, one of the most vital, powerful, andsophisticated tools in the graphics industry. Your photography, illustrations, advertisements, animations, and art-for-art's-sake creations will never again be the same.

Reflecting the very best of French graphic design and digital graphics professionals, this book takes you to the heart of what's possible with photomontage and digital technology through Photoshop. It is suitable for your coffee table or your desktop--wherever you most thrive on creative inspiration.

About the Author

At 28, Florian Zeller is one of the most vibrant voices in modern French literature. His previous novels include "Lovers or Something Like It" and "The Fascination of Evil. "In 2007, he was awarded the prestigious Prix du Jeune Theatre by the Academie Francaise for his play, "Si tu mourais," "Julien Parme" marks his American debut.
William Rodarmor is an award-winning French translator, writer, and editor. One of his many translations, "Tamata and the Alliance" by Bernard Moitessier, won the 1996 Lewis Galantiere Award from the American Translators Association.

Product Details

• Paperback: 96 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media; illustrated edition edition (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596008589
• ISBN-13: 978-0596008581
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #154,567 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wide Range in Subject Matter and Creative Techniques, July 23, 2005

By	Diane Cipollo (Editor at BellaOnline.com) - See all my reviews

The creation of a photomontage is one of the most creative and distinctive forms of digital art. Most photographers use Adobe Photoshop to edit and enhance their photographs and creating photomontages with Photoshop is a natural evolution.

As with all books in the O'Relly Designer's Notebook Series, the eight professional artists featured in this book discuss in detail, with full color examples, how he or she created their digital art. These artists represent a wide range in subject matter and creative techniques; from a beautiful and baroque-styled photomontage of an angel bathed in candlelight to a fun and playful photomontage of a frog drenched in a rainstorm. Each artist discusses the techniques he or she used to obtain their individual style; from setup, lighting and photographing the scene to the finishing touches in Photoshop.

The photomontage starring the frog, entitled On The Web Rain or Shine, was created by Bernard Rossi. He shared his technique for superimposing three separate photographs of the same scene of the frog; one dry, one wet and one with falling raindrops. Of course, he accomplished this using layers in Photoshop.

Another featured artist, Patrick Collandre, created a photomontage entitled Exotic Products which represented the interrelationship between software applications. Collandre began by discussing the special challenge in photographing live fish and a uniquely shaped aquarium. Next, certain sections of each photograph were isolated, masked and blended together using layers in Photoshop.

My favorite was the beautiful photomontage of a candlelit angel entitled From Woman To angel. Texture was the secret ingredient that the artist, Odile Pascal, used to eliminate the symmetry that gives most digital art that "computer generated" look. He discussed in detail the filter effects and the stacking order of the layers that he used to create his textured, timeworn look with Photoshop.

The eight artists featured in this book are Patrick Collandre, Didier Crete, Guillaume Daveau, Lamia Dhib, Tai-Marc Le Thanh, Eric Mahe, Odile Pascal and Bernard Rossi. The book was translated by William Rodarmor from the original, Photomontages creatifs avec Photoshop - Les cahiers des Designers 04.

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Artistic guide, March 10, 2005

By	E. Wuehler (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book takes nine projects from ordinary pictures to artistic presentations. Each project follows a different artist's design and thought processes, which is really pretty cool - it is effectively nine different authors rolled into one book.

This is not so much a tutorial as it is an artistic guide. Unlike the traditional "how to" books which tell you how to get from point A to B, this book seems more geared toward the artistic elements and how to use Photoshop (among other digital tools) to realize your goal.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars subtle methods of composition, February 25, 2005

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Ever wonder how to compose a funky digital montage? Perhaps like those you see so often in magazines. Well, Photoshop has many ways for you to accomplish this, as demonstrated here. Other simpler books invariably show how you can include various image files into a Photoshop document and then do some elementary special effects. Trouble is, such efforts often yield crude results.

By contrast, artists in this book explain far more graceful techniques. Such that, collectively, a final image may reasonably be regarded as artwork in its own right.

The nine example chapters let you see different methods and together they demonstrate not a single correct way, but a spectrum of approaches. Which may encourage you to experiment. In this sense, the book is open ended, if you adopt this attitude.