Hello to the group.  I want to thank all of you for your thoughtful
responses to my initial post regarding the books I was going to choose among
for purchase.  I have garnered some good info on the books I listed and a
couple of new book choices.  Special thanks to Bill Hilton who gave a thumbs
down to the book Dan Margulis's Professional Photoshop not because of the
book but because of where I probably am in the PS learning curve, etc.  His
post made me realize I hadn't said enough about what level of photographer I
am and what I shoot so this would make it tougher for you to know what to
recommend.  That is why I'm posting this new query which is on the same
topic but with the following info on me.

I find I am not particularly intuitive about some of the PS concepts; the
ones that are simple tools where you apply them and see what they do with
the preview button I understand, such as applying the warming filters,
gaussian blur, unsharp mask, dodge and burn, etc.  However, although I
understand the basic concept of layers I don't work with them because I am
not sure about how to work with them, although I have learned adjustment
layers, but again that's simpler to me than the overall layer use.  So I'm
looking for books that will be very clear and also detailed (i.e. not too
much presuming) about the steps to take to use the more sophisticated tools
and layer use.  I probably don't want to sit down and read a book straight
through, but rather would like one with a good index so when I want to do a
particular thing I can go right to it and focus on the matter at hand.

I'm strictly an amateur; don't hope to exhibit anything but know and want
good quality output.  I come from decades of using 35mm Olympus gear-bodies
and lenses; have had a wet b/w darkroom for decades; shoot scenics, animals
(when I can find "em), birds, people (especially grandkids); don't do any
studio work; work only in RGB space; not into graphics, just photos; have
cheap, 8.5 x 11, 4 color epson printer with separate Durabrite pigment ink
tanks; looking to move to the epson 2200 or the new canon 9900 (I think
that's the number); have a canon G3 4MP point and shoot digital camera;
looking to buy the canon 20D, 8 MP DSLR; recently bought the Minolta 5400
dpi dedicated 35mm film scanner.

OK-that's enough about me.  All of the foregoing should have been in my
original post.  I'm hoping that some of you will see this new post and weigh
in again.

A refresher from my original post:  I have the PS CS Bible, paperback
version.  I'm going to order PS CS Book for Digital Photographers-that's
definite.  I want to buy 1 or 2 others, and my list contained the following:

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.

OK-so what say you now?

Jim

Bill-just came back from amazon.com and boy, there's a Wilmore book that's
got 5 star reviews from everyone except one guy who gave it a 4 star because
the web chapter was omitted from the current edition.  The book is called
Adobe Photoshop CS Studio Techniques and although it says studio in title
the reviews indicate thorough and simple explanations of all the tools as
well aslayers and masks etc-with a CD with images, kinda like Artistry.
I've got to try and find this at bookstore and this one is also going on my
short list, which is getting longer.  Much thanks for the recommendation.

Jim

"Bill Hilton" <bhilton665@aol.comedy> wrote in message
news:20040914152716.22988.00000655@mb-m10.aol.com... 
> 
>
> I would still recommend "Artistry" since each chapter has a specific
example
> illustrating a typical problem photographers face, with the original
starting
> files and a step-by-step description of what to do, plus his final files
so you
> can compare what you did with what he did.  This is the best way for *me*
to
> learn it, IF you're willing to put in time actually doing the work in each
> chapter.
> 
a 
>
> "Bible" or "Real World" are ideal for this ... once a tool or technique
catches
> your interest (or puzzles you a bit) just sit down and read the 20 or so
> excellent pages of background describing it in detail in either of these.
> There is also a lot of good info in the Photoshop Help files.
> 
ink 
>
> "Artistry" has some good specific info on various Epson and Canon
printers,
> color management and monitor calibration packages, and compares various
film
> scanners in detail, which would also likely be useful for you I think.
>
> Another good "Photoshop for Photographers" book is by Martin Evening but
my
> impression is it's geared more toward studio photographers (I haven't read
it,
> just skimmed a couple of chapters at Barnes & Noble).  I started with
> "Artistry" back on Version 4.0 so am probably biased that way; if I had
started
> on the Evening book I might be recommending it instead :)  Several people
like
> the Ben Wilmore books too ... if you are located near a large bookstore
you
> might see if these three are on the shelves and spend an hour thumbing
thru
> them to see which writing style and teaching approach seems best for you.
>
> Bill
>
>