Easy to Use | The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

Great Book, big help. | The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) | Scott Kelby

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	• The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) Scott Kelby New Riders Press, 2007 - 496 pages average customer review:based on 113 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Another good one, Kelby-style! A+

Easy and pleasant reading, straigth forward explanations...suits the amateur very well while the pros can surely skip the first chapters and go directly to what interests them...

Easy to Use

This is a book that is readable for the learner! Its great! I'm new at this and can still follow and understand the instructions!

Great Book, big help.

I haven't had a chance to work through a lot of the projects, but the book is very easy to read/understand. The projects make good sense, and it will help to build skills and organize photo files. Glad I bought it.

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THE best initial guide to Photoshop

To me a review is most meaningful when you know a little something about the person writing the review. I have been an avid amateur photographer since the late 1970's and have been selling my work since 2004. Photography isn't my day job, but it does provide a welcome supplement. I shot with a Canon 1D Mark II Professional Digital SLR from 2003 until May of 2008. I recently switched to a Nikon D3 and while the files do have a different look directly out of the camera, in the end both systems provide wonderful images once they have been worked in post process. When I last wrote a review I was doing all most all of my post processing work in Photoshop, but my workflow has evolved significantly since the introduction of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom.

I am a member of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) and make extensive use of the abundant educational materials available on the member website. I have read well over three-dozen Photoshop training guides with one overriding goal in mind; producing the best images possible.

The Photoshop CS3 book fore Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby is THE book I recommend to anyone that is new to Photoshop and feeling overwhelmed by the program. I have worked extensively in Photoshop since 2001, and I feel as though I have only scratched the surface of what the program is capable of offering. The learning curve with Photoshop is formidable. This book is the best guide I have found for getting you up and running quickly and effectively. Don't think that it is only for newbies however; there are many great tips for users of all experience levels throughout the entire book.

You won't find a great deal of Photoshop wizardry in this book, but that's not the point. This book is dedicated to explaining the basics, and helping you really master the underpinnings of Photoshop so that when you ready to take it to the next level you are doing so from a rock solid foundation. Having said that there is a tremendous amount of material covered in this book. You will learn how to handle numerous real world problems that every photographer faces at one time or another.

In a nutshell the books walks you through how to setup the program so that it works intuitively for you. Next you learn how to import and organize your images so you will be able to find them later. Once you are able to upload, store and retrieve your images then you start to learn how to correct the myriad of technical problems that are typical with digital photography. At the end there are several chapters dedicated to preparing your images for printing including numerous suggestions for ways to present your work like a pro.

There are 457 pages, most of which are written in classic Scott Kelby form. If you have never read one of Scott's books you are either in for a treat or will find yourself groaning... a lot. I happen to really enjoy his writing style, which is good because he is a prolific writer and consummate educator. If you have a thirst for Photoshop knowledge you will come across his work again and again.

I copied the next few lines directly from my review of Layers by Matt Kloskowski, because it sums up this book just as accurately. Like everything the Kelby team does, the layout appeals to the visual senses immediately. The images and examples throughout the book are well done and demonstrate real world examples of how to correct or enhance your images in Photoshop.

I'll repeat myself to make certain you come away with a clear understanding of how strongly I recommend this book. Scott Kelby far and away writes the best guides to Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom that I have ever come across. His are the first books to buy when faced with learning either program.

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Excellent resource for Digital Photographers and Photoshop CS3 users alike

As I was flipping through this book at the bookstore, what originally caught my eye was the Retouching Portraits chapter. Removing love handles, reducing a double chin, doing lip enhancement, etc. Wow...I thought to myself. I could offer friends, family and clients all this with no plastic surgery involved! I had to read on.

Actually, I had never read any of Scott Kelby's previous books, and I was in for a nice surprise. Being a regular listener of the Photoshop User TV podcast and also having recently attended the 2008 Las Vegas Photoshop World conference, Scott Kelby is no stranger to me. As we all know, a good presenter must not only know the topic well, he must also know how to capture the audience's attention. And, Scott Kelby is a master presenter. While some people may not relate well to his style of humor, I appreciate it as it keeps me awake and engaged.

His book writing style is no different. Scott Kelby keeps his writing simple and fun. It starts with the book's introduction, or should I say, lack thereof. Instead of a typical introduction, he includes a humorous Q&A section which was definitely much more interesting - and I actually read it (well, not all of it, but some of it).

Scott Kelby provides a fine introduction for each chapter. He then breaks each chapter down into bite-size chunks of tasks. Each task has step-by-step, easy to read instructions, complete with a screen shot for each step. Yes, I said - each step has a screen shot. I wish all instructional books included screenshots for each step! He also includes Photoshop shortcut keys for the steps, as appropriate; I like this, since I only knew a handful of shortcuts previously. The steps to completion are anywhere from 2 steps to more complex tasks that take up to 16 steps. Throughout the book, he offers little asides and tips as an added bonus.

The book starts out with two chapters introducing Adobe Bridge, followed by a chapter discussing Camera Raw. To be honest, at first, I was surprised to see these chapters, as I assumed this was all about Photoshop CS3. Oh, I forgot who the intended target audience is - digital photographers! Ok, this makes sense. Having not used either tool more than twice, I found these chapters to be enlightening. For those unfamiliar with the tools, here is a very basic description: Bridge is a photo management tool (and more). Camera Raw is a tool available in Bridge and Photoshop CS3 to non-destructively modify photos. Point and shoot photographers should also take a peek at the Camera Raw chapter, since a limited set of Camera Raw features are available for use on not only RAW images, but also JPG and TIFF.

The book continues on with chapters describing common Photoshop CS3 challenges facing a digital photographer, such as Resizing and Cropping, Printing and Color Management, Color Correction, Black and White, Digital Image Problems, Retouching Portraits, Special Effects, and Sharpening. Scott Kelby's last two chapters offers readers insight as to how to show one's work as well as sharing his own step by step workflow.

Here are, but a few, examples of how I found the book beneficial for me.
* I really enjoyed chapter 9 of this book, that uncovers his beauty secrets, i.e., Scott's techniques for lip enhancement, skin softening, nose jobs, love handles removal etc.
* New to Camera Raw, I found his technique on fixing chromatic aberrations (colored fringe around objects in a photo) well described and very simple to follow.
* As an intermediate Photoshop user, I thought I knew quite a bit about resizing in Photoshop. But, when I turned to the chapter focusing on resizing and cropping, I learned a completely new technique to create poster prints, researched by Vincent Versace, an acclaimed photographer.
* I heard a little about the advanced LAB color correction and sharpening techniques during a Photoshop Conference, and I wanted to learn more. When I looked at the book's index, and reviewed the pages, I was pleased to see that this book provided at least some basic coverage of this more advanced technique.

As I mentioned earlier, the book is organized by tasks to get the job done. Other Photoshop books are organized by Photoshop functionality, covering Photoshop tools one at a time. I already have another beginning Photoshop book that details Photoshop tools which I rely on to detail the Photoshop tools for me. If you're like me, you never buy just one book on a large subject as Photoshop; you always buy multiple books to round out your knowledge and to get different perspectives. This is probably the fifth book I own on Photoshop, and the best one I've seen that is geared especially for digital photographers.

Summary:

This book is an excellent starter book for digital photographers just getting into Photoshop who want to jump into Photoshop quickly without learning all the details surrounding each and every Photoshop tool. It also appeals to new and intermediate Photoshop users as an secondary book, who want to learn more about digital photography and some fast Photoshop techniques to improve photos.

While it is not a comprehensive reference for all Photoshop CS3 functions, that is not the intention of the book (as noted in the Q&A section page xvi). The book does not profess to be "the be all, end all of Photoshop CS3 books" covering the hundreds (or is it thousands?) of functions of Photoshop. Instead, it provides an excellent reference for fast and reliable Photoshop CS3, Bridge, and Camera Raw techniques that digital photographers can appreciate. I definitely recommend this book to be in your arsenal of Photoshop books.

My Thoughts:

Ease of Use: Very easy and fun to read

Audience: Any level of digital photographer

Cost: Reasonable

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Scott Kelby was honored with Professional Photographer magazine?s highly coveted 2008 Hot One Award for The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers. Here?s what Jeff Kent, the Hot One Editor at Professional Photographer, has to say about the book: ?In a how-to published by Peachpit Press, Scott Kelby, best-selling author on Adobe Photoshop, delves into CS3 to uncover the most important and useful techniques for digital photographers. Our judges liked Kelby?s direct approach with step-by-step instructions. In this new edition, Kelby shares even more secrets from the top pros.?

Shutterbug magazine chose The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers as a Top Digital Book of 2007. Here?s what Joe Farace of Shutterbug has to say about the book: ?Scott Kelby?s name on a Photoshop book is like the Dodge brand on the front of a pickup truck. You know it?s built RAM?or pixel?tough. Combining his famous twisted wit with unwaveringly straight tutorials, Kelby takes you through a detailed tour of Photoshop CS3 by showing how to use the new features. No fluff; just page after page of well-illustrated tutorials showing photographers how to get the most out of the new features, commands, and effects found in the latest version of Adobe?s flagship. It will get you up to speed on CS3?s new features faster than you can all by yourself.?

Scott Kelby, the #1 best-selling Photoshop author in the world today, once again takes this book to a whole new level as he uncovers the latest, most important, and most exciting new Adobe Photoshop CS3 techniques for digital photographers. This major update to his award-winning, record-breaking book does something for digital photographers that?s never been done before?it cuts through the bull and shows you exactly ?how to do it.? It?s not a bunch of theory; it doesn?t challenge you to come up with your own settings or figure it out on your own. Instead, Scott shows you step-by-step the exact techniques used by today?s cutting-edge digital photographers, and best of all, he shows you flat-out exactly which settings to use, when to use them, and why.

That?s why the previous editions of this book are widely used as the official course study guide in photography courses at college and universities around the world, and this new edition for Photoshop CS3 exposes even more of the top pros? most closely-guarded secrets.

Learn How The Pros Do It
Each year Scott trains thousands of professional photographers on how to use Photoshop, and almost without exception they have the same questions, the same problems, and the same challenges?and that?s exactly what he covers in this book. You?ll learn:

? The sharpening techniques the pros really use.
? The pros? tricks for fixing the most common digital photo problems fast!
? How to get great looking prints (that actually match your screen!)
? A whole chapter on the latest, most requested Photoshop special effects!
? How to color correct any photo without breaking a sweat.
? How to process Raw images, plus how to take advantage of all the new Camera Raw features in CS3!
? The portrait retouching secrets only the pros know about!
? How to add real automation to your work.
? How to show your work like a pro!

Plus a host of shortcuts, workarounds, and slick ?insider? tricks to send your productivity through the roof! If you?re a digital photographer, and you?re ready to learn the ?tricks of the trade??the same ones that today?s leading pros use to correct, edit, sharpen, retouch, and present their work?then you?re holding the book that will do just that.

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