|
Cool Mac Gear• iPod Video • iPod nano • iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Garageband |
|
by Scott Kelby Review by Gary Coyne ott Kelby Photoshop, Photo-retouching Secrets by Scott Kelbe, 245 pages, New Riders, U.S. $39.99 (Canada $59.95, UK £30.99) This is the only book in this set of reviews that is not a "how to use Photoshop-book," but rather how to perform specific techniques of Photoshop. Scott Kelby is the President of NAPP, author of "Photoshop 6, Down & Dirty Tricks" (see my review), and one of those kind of people you want to sit near at a dinner table because that's where the action will be. As more and more people are scanning old photos and taking new ones with their digital cameras, they want to do all the special Photoshop tricks that the professionals do to get the photo "just right." As Scott lets you know in the Introduction, the point of this book is to help you improve your photos, not his. However, he does acknowledge that some may want to try their luck on the photos used in the book before they try there own. As such, some of the photos are available at the books companion site, www.photoretouchingsecrets.com. As you would surmise from what I've written in other reviews on this page, I'm glad to see this option. Be aware that this book does not teach you how to use Photoshop. There is no explanation of how to use any menu, palette, or tool. What this book does do is explain what you can do with these options. Thus, it shows tricks and techniques on how to use Quick Masks or Rubber Stamp tool for removing aging. Or two different (one fast and dirty, one complex and detailed) on how to remove red-eye. There are 11 Chapters, each with about a half-a-dozen different tricks and techniques. Topics covered include color corrections, grayscale corrections, cropping tricks, digital plastic surgery, basic (essential) retouching techniques, how to clean up line art, how to fancy-up a photo, and how to get some fancy effects into a photo. I was impressed that Ben provides suggestions on how to make color corrections for both CMYK (printing) and for RGB (screen) images. All techniques presented are done in a cookie-cutter approach. That is, along with a screen shot of either the image, the tool(s) or both, Scott explains which tool to use and how. Depending on the complexity of the technique, this may go on from one to six or seven pages. This approach toward teaching is a mixed bag. While it does show/explain how to perform such a technique, it does leave the reader in a somewhat of a disadvantage in his or her knowledge of Photoshop. With that in mind, let me repeat--this is not a book on how to use Photoshop. This book, in combination with any of the other three books can teach you more than any one book. Scott's Down & Dirty Tricks Book is exactly the same: "If you want to know how to do this trick, here's how": Nothing more and nothing less. However, it is a great way to be presented with a variety of Photoshop techniques. It's a great teaching approach when working with a feature-rich program like Photoshop, and most important, it can get a beginner or intermediate Photoshop user to use a greater amount of the program than they might otherwise ever use. I do have some complaints: For example, Ben shows one technique each on how to repair images that are over- and underexposed. While the techniques are certainly adequate, the fact that Ben doesn't even mention using curves and/or levels for similar correction is a curious absence. Call me greedy, I would like to have seen a thicker book covering other ways to deal with such common image problems. Over- and underexposed pictures would have been an easy place to start. Despite it not covering as much depth as I would have liked, "Photoshop, Photo-retouching Secrets" is a great addition to any other of these books. Buy Photoshop, Photo-retouching Secrets  Adobe Photoshop 6.0, Studio Techniques Photoshop, Photo-retouching Secrets
Page: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5
|
|
Cool Mac Gear• iPod 1G-2G • iPod 3G • iPod 4G • iPod Mini • PowerBook-iBook • Keyboard Skins • Garageband
| ||||
|
| ||||||||
