Essentials of Digital Photography [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Akira Kasai (Author), Russell Sparkman (Author), Elizabeth Hurley (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Essentials of Digital Photography has much more than the essentials, actually; it's a complete guide to image input, editing, enhancement, composition, and output. The authors start out by explaining monitor calibration; light, color and tonality; recording and output devices; and resolution and other digital imaging terms. They provide an overview of available digital cameras and excellent in-depth advice on how to use scanners and digital cameras successfully.

You'll learn how to correct photographs using Adobe Photoshop controls such as brightness, contrast, and color balance and how to use pictures from a variety of sources to create composite photo images in Photoshop. There's also lots of information on output devices such as printers, film recorders, and image setters. The rest of the book focuses on the hardware and software requirements for casual and professional digital photography systems.

While the book primarily focuses on the Macintosh in its hardware discussions, it does include information for PC users; and while the hands-on editing techniques involve Photoshop, there are also tips on using other software packages such as Live Picture, Fractal Design Painter, and third-party plug-ins. The hybrid CD-ROM contains tutorial images and files, as well as demonstration software and graphics utilities.

Product Description
Essentials of Digital Photography is your guide to the imaging revolution sparked by Adobe Photoshop. Rather than another software manual or a catalog of digital photography products, Essentials of Digital Photography is a complete workbook and tutorial, serving as a bridge between the knowledge and experience of traditional photographers and the power of digital tools. You will learn vital information regarding calibrating computer monitors, scanning images, color correcting images, setting up your system, and more. Virtually every point is supported by a color illustration, and the final tally of illustrations in the book is nearly 1,500! Digital photography is experiencing explosive growth, and Essentials of Digital Photography provides a solid footing in the fundamentals without being held hostage to technological change. It will be a lasting resource for years to come.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: New Riders Publishing (June 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1562057626
• ISBN-13: 978-1562057626
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,783,005 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Full of facts, best I have, February 7, 2001

By	Claes Tegenfeldt "artist, silversmith, MScEE" (Sweden) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The book may not be the most inspirational I have read about digital photography, manipulation or techniques. However it is one of the most complete, thorough and in-depth texts I have stumbled upon. Hard to find material on color calibration is there and I found it quite valuable. It is not a book to browse through just looking at the pictures, it is a book to reach for whenever you need to deepen your understanding.

I have made research and tought graduate courses in image processing so I may not be the typical reader, but since I do a lot of digital photography and manipulation in my free time, I can only conclude: one of my best book buys so far.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for Web Designers as well, February 9, 2001

By	Barbara Rhoades "Jackie of all Trades" (O'Fallon, MO USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The book begins with a definition of digital photography. Then the following chapters are presented in the order of a good classroom course. The second chapter covers digital photography basics including light, color and an overview of digital cameras.

The other chapters include photo correcting, scanning, exposures and output. There is even a chapter on hardware and software. The section on masking explained what it was and its uses in clear, understandable words.

The authors use lots of visual graphics so you can see what they are talking about. The CD-ROM has a tutorial and demo versions of Photoshop, Live Picture, xRes, Painter, quantum Mechanic and Valis Flo Sampler.

For a Web Designer, this book is a must have. It will bring you up to speed on Digital Photography and Photoshop and show you how to make great pictures to add that special touch to your or your client's web.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Older than dust, July 14, 2002

By	R. J. Lazzarini "theSilverShadow" (Mount Tabor, NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The hardware (computers, cameras, scanners, etc.) and software (OS's and bitmap editors) used in this book are antiquarian and for the most part no longer available. The techniques are also for the most part out dated due to new features in the latest software versions such as contained Photoshop 7. This book is useful only to someone running Photoshop 3 on MAC OS 7 or Windows 98 with 64 MB of RAMwith 1GB drives.