Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Photographers : A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC Book

The reaction of those working in commercial photography to the changes being brought about by digital imaging vary from unbounded enthusiasm through scepticism, anxiety and outright hostility. Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Photographers is aimed at anyone, regardless of which of the above categories they occupy, who needs a clear understanding of how digital imaging works and who wants to use that knowledge to produce professional results using Photoshop. Relieved of the need to explain the underlying photographic theory, Evening concentrates on providing clear and concise explanation of the techniques of most value to practising photographers who have swapped a chemical darkroom for a digital one. As he writes in the introduction, "Techniques which show you how to create 3D type effects and illustration graphics have been deliberately scaled down." Still, the book is much wider in scope than the title suggests, covering digital capture, resolution, colour management, proofing and file formats in addition to hands-on Photoshop techniques. The sections covering Photoshop itself take professional perspective. Chapters are devoted to image adjustment, image repair, montage techniques, black and white effects, colouring effects, layer effects and filter, and are organised into basic and advanced sections. Examples are all illustrated in full colour using commercially shot projects and aim to achieve the kind of quality demanded in a commercial environment. The accompanying CD contains a number of tutorial movies developing techniques, such as montage, solarisation, colour balancing and replicating cross-processing effects that are covered in the text. For the generation of photographers who trained in the pre-digital era, Focal Press's Manual of Photography was the technical bible. Adobe Photoshop 5.5 for Photographers fulfils that role in the digital age. --Ken McMahonRead More