Hi Group-I've got $55 worth of coupons at Amazon that are burning a hole in
my pocket and have to use them by 15th.  I have the PS CS Bible, paperback
version.  I'm going to order PS CS Book for Digital Photographers but wonder
about some other books that sound interesting and authoritative.  I only do
photography, no graphics.  I'm probably a step above novice-I haven't worked
with layers.  I am familiar with most of the tools as to their basic uses
but don't know what the color picker, paint bucket and those related tools
are about.

Apart from the fact that I haven't spent much time with 1100 page soft cover
Bible, between the following books what 2 or 3 that you use would you
suggest for me and why.  I obviously would want to avoid subject
matter/depth duplication as much as possible and also want a clear and
simple writing style so that I understand what I read (I'm aware this is
subjective).  The books are:

Adobe PS CS Artistry
Real World Adobe PS CS by Fraser etc
PS Restoration and Retouching by Eismann
PS Color Correction by Kieran
PS CS Bible, hard cover ed.

Thanks for any illumination you can throw on this issue.  BTW, went to
Borders yesterday and spent time with the Artistry book-I kind of liked the
style but don't have any idea of how it rates to the others or what subject
matter would be duplicated by 1 or more of the other books.

outtasight wrote:
> Hi Group-I've got $55 worth of coupons at Amazon that are burning a
> hole in my pocket and have to use them by 15th.

I highly recommend Dan Margulis's Professional Photoshop book.  It opened up
a new world for me re how curves and other operations should be used.

It's written in a lively humorous style, and is full of genuine examples of
how to improve images.
--

Mike Russell
www.curvemeister.com
www.geigy.2y.net

> Apart from the fact that I haven't spent much time with 1100 page soft
> cover Bible,

That is a notable problem with Photoshop books in my experience. When I buy
a huge tome it has a tendancy to sit on the shelf, a sort of imposing
project which I never have the time to take on. I've actually stopped
buying such things; I now look for smaller books which focus on a subject
I'm interested in. There's always a chance I'll read one of those. :o)

> PS Restoration and Retouching by Eismann

That one, if the subject matter interests you. It's excellent.

In article <YIo1d.430757$%_6.92722@attbi_s01>, xq174_md-6@comcast.net says...
>
>Hi Group-I've got $55 worth of coupons at Amazon that are burning a hole in
>my pocket and have to use them by 15th.  I have the PS CS Bible, paperback
>version.  I'm going to order PS CS Book for Digital Photographers but wonde
r
>about some other books that sound interesting and authoritative.  I only do
>photography, no graphics.  I'm probably a step above novice-I haven't worke
d
>with layers.  I am familiar with most of the tools as to their basic uses
>but don't know what the color picker, paint bucket and those related tools
>are about.
>
>Apart from the fact that I haven't spent much time with 1100 page soft cove
r
>Bible, between the following books what 2 or 3 that you use would you
>suggest for me and why.  I obviously would want to avoid subject
>matter/depth duplication as much as possible and also want a clear and
>simple writing style so that I understand what I read (I'm aware this is
>subjective).  The books are:
>
>Adobe PS CS Artistry
>Real World Adobe PS CS by Fraser etc
>PS Restoration and Retouching by Eismann
>PS Color Correction by Kieran
>PS CS Bible, hard cover ed.
>
>Thanks for any illumination you can throw on this issue.  BTW, went to
>Borders yesterday and spent time with the Artistry book-I kind of liked the
>style but don't have any idea of how it rates to the others or what subject
>matter would be duplicated by 1 or more of the other books.

Your list looks good, and Mike Russell added one. Let me include Ben Wilmore
's
"Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques," Adobe Press. For a photographer,
Wilmore does one of the best jobs of opening up the capabilities of PS. I've
been so impressed, that I have every ver of his book, even when the PS ver
changes were not that great, he managed to cram even more into each edition.

Hunt

>From: "outtasight" xq174_md-6@comcast.net
>
> I have the PS CS Bible, paperback
>version.  I'm going to order PS CS Book for Digital Photographers but wonde
r
>about some other books that sound interesting and authoritative.  I only do
>photography, no graphics.
>
> between the following books what 2 or 3 that you use would you
>suggest for me and why.
>
>Adobe PS CS Artistry

Excellent book if you want a series of tutorials complete with the original
files and are willing to work through them (since you said you hadn't cracke
d
the Bible yet this may not be what you want though :).  Excellent for
photographers.

>Real World Adobe PS CS by Fraser etc

Excellent book, I think the best overview of any I've seen.  However in many
ways it's similar to the Bible, basically a detailed reference work that cov
ers
everything well but doesn't go into as much details as Artistry does about
photography.  I'd get either this or the Bible but not both (I have both but
 I
wouldn't do it again :)

>PS Restoration and Retouching by Eismann

Best book available on the details of retouching and fine-tuning photos, but
 it
doesn't go into depth (or even the shallows) on many important topics that a
re
covered well in Artistry or Real World.  For example, Artistry talks in dept
h
about various printers and scanners and covers things like monitor calibrati
on
and the ICM color management flow very well, while R&R doesn't cover these a
t
all, telling you to buy a different book.

>PS Color Correction by Kieran

Haven't read this one, dunno.

>PS CS Bible, hard cover ed.

Since you already have the soft cover edition I'd pass ...

>Thanks for any illumination you can throw on this issue.

If you can get two get Eismann and Artistry.  If only one, get Artistry, is 
my
suggestion.

Bill

>From: "Mike Russell" REgeigyMOVE@pacbellTHIS.net

>I highly recommend Dan Margulis's Professional Photoshop book.

I've read this one and think it's a bit too deep for a beginner or
low-intermediate who is working mainly with RGB files.  I have no bones to p
ick
with Dan as he's a very knowledgable guy (and in the Photoshop Hall of Fame)
,
but it's written mainly for people doing CMYK work and several of the positi
ons
he takes are somewhat controversial, like his disdain for anything but 8 bit
mode, his dislike of the ICM color management flow, which is wonderful for R
GB
files printed on inkjets (once you have a calibrated monitor and good printe
r
profiles), and his dislike for almost any color correction tool except Curve
s.

Maybe make it your fifth or sixth book (especially if you want to work with
CMYK or want to get a lot of practice using Curves), but I'd say it's
definitely not a good choice for your first or second Photoshop book.

Of course he mentions Mike in the book so maybe that's why Mike likes it so
much ?  :)

He also mentions Chris Cox, in a much less favorable light ... what do you
think, Chris? :)

Bill

Bill Hilton wrote:
>

> If you can get two get Eismann and Artistry.  If only one, get Artistry, i
s my
> suggestion.

I started in PS by following a few of the Artistry tutorials. The
tutorials are based on images of real photos with real problems, and the
image files are on the book's CD. The images include different kinds of
photos, such as landscape, portrait, etc. so that you can practice on
only your kind of photos.

Eismann's book is especially good for fixing aged and torn photos, and
for portrait and fashion model photos.

Margulis' book is definitely a challenge for the beginners, and his
intended readers are more printing pros rather than desktop hobbyists.
Lacking a clarification between the two in the writing can be very
confusing for the hobbyists. His writing style is not my favorite, and
he is certainly opinionated.

However, there is one section that I think can be very helpful for the
beginners. Most books will teach you how to begin editing by removing
color casts in an image's white/black/neutral areas. Margulis teaches
you how to evaluate which parts of an image are *true*
white/black/neutrals, and whether these tones exist at all *before*
editing. (Kind of like what a good carpentry instructor would teach you
to measure twice before cutting.) I only wish I had read that chapter
before learning any PS tools. It would have kept me from trying to
remove color casts in the *wrong* white/black/neutrals areas. Talk about
wasted time and headache! That by itself is worth the price of the whole
book.

Many have also recommended a Channel Chops book that covers blending,
which is supposed to be the basis of PS. It is out of print, and I have
yet to get hold of one.

Bill Hilton wrote:
> 
> 
>
> I've read this one and think it's a bit too deep for a beginner or
> low-intermediate who is working mainly with RGB files.  I have no bones to
 pick
> with Dan as he's a very knowledgable guy (and in the Photoshop Hall of Fam
e),
> but it's written mainly for people doing CMYK work and several of the posi
tions
> he takes are somewhat controversial, like his disdain for anything but 8 b
it
> mode, his dislike of the ICM color management flow, which is wonderful for
 RGB
> files printed on inkjets (once you have a calibrated monitor and good prin
ter
> profiles), and his dislike for almost any color correction tool except Cur
ves.
>
> Maybe make it your fifth or sixth book (especially if you want to work wit
h
> CMYK or want to get a lot of practice using Curves), but I'd say it's
> definitely not a good choice for your first or second Photoshop book.
>
> Of course he mentions Mike in the book so maybe that's why Mike likes it s
o
> much ?  :)
>
> He also mentions Chris Cox, in a much less favorable light ... what do you
> think, Chris? :)
>
> Bill

Digi phot enthusiast?

Maybe this book for learning RAW handling:
http://luminous-landscape.com/reviews/rw-cr.shtml

Cheers, Jason  (remove ... to reply)
Video & Gaming: http://gadgetaus.com

<bookworm@att.net> wrote in message news:4146E4EF.9C3DFAF1@att.net...
> Margulis' book is definitely a challenge for the beginners, and his
> intended readers are more printing pros rather than desktop hobbyists.
> Lacking a clarification between the two in the writing can be very
> confusing for the hobbyists. His writing style is not my favorite, and
> he is certainly opinionated.
>
> However, there is one section that I think can be very helpful for the
> beginners. Most books will teach you how to begin editing by removing
> color casts in an image's white/black/neutral areas. Margulis teaches
> you how to evaluate which parts of an image are *true*
> white/black/neutrals, and whether these tones exist at all *before*
> editing. (Kind of like what a good carpentry instructor would teach you
> to measure twice before cutting.) I only wish I had read that chapter
> before learning any PS tools. It would have kept me from trying to
> remove color casts in the *wrong* white/black/neutrals areas. Talk about
> wasted time and headache! That by itself is worth the price of the whole
> book.
>
> Many have also recommended a Channel Chops book that covers blending,
> which is supposed to be the basis of PS. It is out of print, and I have
> yet to get hold of one.
>
> Bill Hilton wrote: 
to pick 
Fame), 
positions 
bit 
for RGB 
printer 
Curves. 
with 
so 
you 

Here ya go Bookworm:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/s...4698575-5049757

Hope this helps,
Dave