Charles Moore Reviews Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer’s Guide To Printing, Showing, And Selli
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This book contains not only the information you need, but is also a hands-on illustrated instruction manual that shows you how to employ that information by walking you through the processes and procedures it describes.
While the book's authors are obviously Windows users (all of the many screenshots throughout the book are from Windows programs), the Macintosh is not ignored, and there are references to Mac versions of Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, ACDSee 1.6, iView Media Pro, and Mac - only programs like Lightbox, iPhoto, and Keynote.
Most of the image-manipulation content is Photoshop CS oriented, and Photoshop works pretty much the same in Windows or the Mac, so that should not present a problem for Mac-using readers. Photo Finish is targeted at any digital photographer who wants to present their images in the best possible light, as it were. There is plenty to interest advanced amateurs and budding professionals, but more and more shatterbugs are making their own prints these days, and/or displaying their snapshots on the Web or in slide shows. You don't need to be a Photoshop ace or even a computer geek to use this book. If you have the interest and possess basic computer skills, Canfield and Grey can show you how to create professional looking prints, Web galleries, and slide presentations.
The first part of the book, Chapters 1 through 4, cover printing on the desktop.
Chapter 1 starts at the beginning, Choosing The Printer And Medium, discussing the relative merits of inkjet printers compared with the more esoteric and expensive dye-sublimation units. There are also comparisons of different types of inks, image resolutions, and the various sorts of printing papers available, as well as specialty print media and backlit frames.
Chapter 2, Preparing The Image, deals with monitor optimization and calibration, soft proofing, print preparation workflow, and sharpening your image for printing.
Chapter 3 gets down to business with actual Printing, walking the reader through the printing process from preview through setting a printer properties (there are two pages of instructions dealing with setting printer properties in Mac OS X), and choosing and using a Rasterized Image Processor (RIP).
Chapter 4 moves on to Specialty Printing, such as creating proof or "contact" sheets from digital images, designing albums, and creating border treatments using Extensis Photo Frame or Photoshop Masking.
Part II of Photo Finish is on using online print services.
Chapter 5, Choosing The Output and Print Lab discusses reasons why you might opt to have a professional digital lab print your images for you, perhaps to benefit from expert experience or to obtain prints larger than your printer can handle. Digital print labs can offer inkjet and dye-sub output, as well as hybrid digital-to-photo techniques that blend digital technology with traditional chemical processing to produce real photographic prints. There are tips and suggestions on selecting a print lab, and preparing your images for handing off to the lab.
Chapter 6 is about using the Online Print Services, which offer the convenience of ordering prints online, and in some cases specialty items like T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, or calendars with your images on them. Also discussed is using kiosks that allow you to insert your digital media memory from your digital camera can preview your photos, as well as choosing from a variety of printing and CD burning options. Then there are other online services that allow you to produce your own photo book (such as the service included with Apple's iPhoto).
In Chapters 7.8, and 9, we move onto the topic of displaying images on the Web.
Chapter 7, Planning Your Site, asks you to the first consider what you what your photo Website to accomplish, and what realistic expectations might be. It then proceeds to detail the ins and outs of choosing a domain name and a hosting service, and choosing Web authoring software. There is a capsule tutorial on using HTML, as well as a look at image editing, image browser, and Web gallery programs. The only image editors discussed are the ltwo Photoshop applications and Windows-only Print Shop Pro 8, which leaves out a lot of alternatives available for the Mac, such as a AppleWorks, Graphic Converter, Color It!, ImageJ, Canvas, ToyViewer, and more. This long chapter then goes on with tutorials on site planning, organization, and design, creating effective photo galleries, using templates, color schemes, using CSS, and hiring consultants.
Chapter 8, Going Live, takes up with creating Web pages, building photo galleries, and publishing them to the Website designed in Chapter 7. Also covered are using keywords and search engines, publishing your Website, and setting up for online sales of photographs. Discussions include the relative merits of GIF vs. JPG formats, creating a Home page, preventing image theft, and building galleries.
Chapter 9 concludes this section with takes and ideas for Publishing And Maintaining Your Site, checking links, updating the site, and, Website maintenance, using FTP, and reevaluating site layout.
The fourth category covered in Photo Finish is presenting digital slide shows, to which Chapters 10, 11, and 12 are dedicated.
Chapter 10 is on Choosing Slideshow Hardware. The advantages and shortcomings of various types of digital projectors are discussed, such as LCD vs DLP, screens, and other display options such as CD or DVD, the Web, and email.
Chapter 11 gets down to the nitty gritty of Optimizing Your Images For Slideshows, such as color management, optimizing for the screen, using adjustment layers in Photoshop, matching image resolution to the output device, and image sharpening (again).
Chapter 12 is about Putting A Slide Show Together -- telling a story, photo selection, tailoring the show to your audience, using scripts, timing and transitions, using soundtracks and music, and pitfalls to avoid. There are sections by using Apple's Keynote and iPhoto software, as well as the Mac version of Power point. Unfortunately, three other side show applications overviewed that have more features do not support the Mac. There are also sections on CD and DVD slide shows and slide showing on the Web.
The fifth and final section of Photo Finish is on Showing And Selling Your Images.
Chapter 13, Finishing Your Photos, shows you have to take your photograph from the printer to hang on a wall, with illustrated tutorials on mounting your print masking your print, and framing your print, including making your own frames.
Chapter 14, Displaying And Selling Your Images, is for the serious advanced amateur or professional photographer, explaining how to get your portfolio of exhibition prints into gallery exhibits. Points addressed include creating a portfolio, finding the right gallery, approaching the gallery, pricing your work, selling on the Internet, and dealing with stock agencies.
There are also a ten-page index, and a section of color plates in the center of the book.
Photo finish is a cool book. I haven't encountered anything quite like it. Other books I've read and reviewed here have addressed most of the topics Photo Finish covers to some degree, but none with the thoroughness and detail facilitated by this book's specifically targeted focus. Canfield and Grey are skillful teachers (both are classroom instructors), and their book's prose style and clean, attractive layout make perusing it a pleasure. The 317 pages are packed with useful and skillfully organized information for anyone interested in presenting their digital images to the best advantage.
Photo Finish: The Digital Photographer�s Guide to Printing, Showing, and Selling Images
By Jon Canfield; Tim Grey
August 2004
1st edition
336 pages
Softcover/Trimsize: 7.5 x 9"
ISBN: 0-7821-4348-2 | EAN: 9 780782 143485
UPC: 0252-11-443484
Level: Intermediate/Advanced
Type: How-to/Ref
List Price: US $29.99 | Can $41.95 | UK �19.99
Sybex Online Price: US$20.99
For more information, visit:
http://www.sybex.com/sybexbooks.nsf/booklist/4348
There is also a Photo Finish Companion Website, with links to the authors' favorite software products and utilities, hardware, supplies, and more. There are also samples that you can download for free to use your own projects, along with can templates created for use in Part II the book. You can find it here:
http://www.photofinishbook.com
Charles W. Moore
Appendix - Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Printing on the Desktop
Chapter 1: Choosing the Printer and Medium
Choosing a Printer
Specialty Inksets
Setting the Mood
Media Options
Paper Properties
Chapter 2: Preparing the Image
The Optimized Image
Print Preparation Workflow
Chapter 3: Printing
Previewing Your Print Job
Setting Printer Properties
Choosing and Using a RIP
Chapter 4: Specialty Printing
Creating Proof Sheets
Designing Albums
Creative Border Treatments
Part II: Using Print Services
Chapter 5: Choosing the Output and Print Lab
Choosing the Output
Selecting a Print Lab
Preparing the File
Chapter 6: Using Online Print Services
Why Online?
Types of Prints
How It Works
Choosing a Service
Printing Your Own Book
Part III: Displaying Images on the Web
Chapter 7: Planning Your Site
What Do You Want Your Site to Accomplish?
Choosing a Domain Name and Host for Your Site
Choosing Your Tools
Planning Site Organization and Design
Chapter 8: Going Live
Creating the Navigation Bar
Creating the Home Page
Selecting and Organizing Your Images
Preparing the Images
Creating the Galleries
Getting Seen
Setting Up for Internet Sales
Chapter 9: Publishing and Maintaining Your Site
Publishing Your Site
Checking Links
Updating Your Site Contents
Website Maintenance
Part IV: Producing Digital Slideshows
Chapter 10: Choosing Slideshow Hardware
Choosing a Digital Projector
Other Display Options
Chapter 11: Optimizing Your Images for Slideshows
Perfecting the Image
Color Management
Optimizing for the Screen
Chapter 12: Putting a Slideshow Together
Planning an Effective Show
Using the Available Tools
Sharing Your Slideshow
Part V: Showing and Selling Your Images
Chapter 13: Finishing Your Prints
Mounting Your Print
Matting Your Print
Framing Your Print
Chapter 14: Displaying and Selling Your Images
Exhibiting
Getting into Galleries
Selling on the Internet
Wrapping Up
Index
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