Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: a professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC
Product Description
With the new edition of this proven bestseller, Photoshop users can master the power of Photoshop CS5 with internationally renowned photographer and Photoshop hall-of-famer Martin Evening by their side.
In this acclaimed reference work, Martin covers everything from the core aspects of working in Photoshop to advanced techniques for professional results. subjects covered include organizing a digital workflow, improving creativity, output, automating Phot… More >>
Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers: a professional image editor’s guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC
This is a book with more than 740 pages, very small letters. This means that for those who want to quickly but efficiently operate CS5, even coming from prior versions, reading will become extremely tiring after a while. More yet, there is no doubt that Photoshop has enormous amount of options, ways of doing things, but the reality is that unless you spend hours every day working with this software, what you really need is some “killing tips” literature, presented in a mild environment. This is a heavy book to read, to store in mind, although very professional. As far as I can see, to date, no books released based on desirable profile submitted above. Jennifer Smith, Scott Kelby (with less sense of humor) and even the standard “Adobe Class Room” should be more advisable for those who want to benefit the max, with a compatible time & effort.
Rating: 3 / 5
I’ve been using Adobe Photoshop for many years and this book opens areas that I did not know existed as well as explaining in detail those that I thought I knew. I recommend this book to anyone wanting a serious understanding of CS5.
Rating: 5 / 5
I am still reading and trying all the new features in this book. I like the style and the examples. Good book for the already knowledgeable Photoshop user.
Rating: 5 / 5
Martin Evenings books have never disappointed, and this book is no exception. His style is very thorough and understandable. Evening is always one of my first choices when looking for guidance on Photoshop.
Rating: 5 / 5
There is a reason this has become one of the industry standard guides, focused on intermediate users of Photoshop, who want to go beyond the basics while focusing on essentials. It is thorough and clear, and manages both to outline each technique and approach it describes in a clear and general way, and to enhance its coverage with personalized insights and tips, obviously drawn from a wealth of experience, and also addressed to the specific issues of specific photographs that are included for reference on the accompanying dvd. The book strikes a nice balance between “how to” and “hands on,” in other words. I like this especially because it isn’t just a cookbook approach to photo editing – according to the Foreward, Evening was closely involved with Adobe’s development team as it created this new release, and it shows in his insights about the inner workings of Photoshop. Even for those who have been using Photoshop a long time I expect that working through this book would be a nice refresher, that would give fresh insights into the basics of Photoshop and clarity about the newest features.
The title of my review may sound like an oxymoron, since “comprehensive” implies complete coverage, beyond the basics. That’s not what you get with this book – in spite of its massive, tome-like heft, this guide focuses on the most essential and basic skills of photo editing that Photoshop makes possible. At the same time, this is not an introduction to Photoshop, not a “getting started” book, but aims to give thorough coverage of all the features that professional photographers can use to fine tune and improve realistic photos and show them in their best possible light. I’m not a professional photographer, but really like taking photos and want them to look the best they can – I’m usually more interested in enhancing what’s already there in my photos than in creating fantastic images, so the emphasis in this guide on essentials is exactly what I wanted.
I took out the previous edition of Evening’s book from the library when I made the move from Photoshop Elements 8 to Photoshop proper; but this is really a book to own, and with the latest version I’ve found myself going back over several sections as I work on photos. As far as I can tell, the basic approach of the book and several of the examples are continuous with the last edition, but there are a few new sections, lots of new examples, and an increased emphasis on a workflow that begins in Adobe Bridge, makes non-destructive adjustments in Camera Raw, and then completes the look in Photoshop Proper. In addition to the book proper, there are several chapters on specialized tasks available in PDF form on the dvd; and there are a few hours’ worth of video tutorials that complement and expand on the treatment of a few techniques covered in the book. The new “Content Aware Fill” feature of Photoshop CS5, for example, is covered fairly briefly in the book but Evening explains and illustrates several different ways to use it in a video tutorial on the dvd. I do wish there was a bit more clarity in the book about “what’s new” in CS5 and in this edition of the book, which would make it a bit easier to approach for users of previous editions of Photoshop and readers of previous editions of this book. Still, it’s an excellent and thorough guide to the most valuable features of Photoshop, that would be a great refresher for experienced users and has taught me a lot. For those most interested in enhancing realistic photography with Photoshop, rather than “cheating” in Photoshop and creating photomontages and special effects shots (for that see How to Cheat in Photoshop CS5), then this might be the only photoshop book you really need.
Rating: 5 / 5