Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers, First Edition

Approaching Photoshop from the viewpoint of a photographer, the author places much emphasis on tools for digital image acquisition, color correction, color management, and retouching. Color management--the science, art, and voodoo of synchronizing Photoshop, the computer monitor, and the printer for consistent color reproduction--is discussed in detail. Any Photoshop veteran would agree that this is one of the most important and difficult parts of any system to configure, but Evening handles it gracefully and patiently.

This book is not written for the experienced Photoshop user, however; it's clearly aimed at the experienced photographer who may or may not have Photoshop experience. Toward that end, there are chapters that detail the nuances of file management, scanning or uploading pictures into the computer, the interface, and configuring Photoshop for optimal use.

Even those with Photoshop experience should flip through every page, though. The book includes something informative on virtually every topic and tool, and to turn a page without glancing through each paragraph would mean letting important information pass by without a glance. No shortcuts were taken either with the enclosed CD-ROM, which includes 14 QuickTime movies demonstrating techniques taught in the book. Also on the CD-ROM are PDF files of some of the techniques, along with the source images used for many of the projects.

Any professional photographer or digital image artist can find countless tips, tricks, and techniques throughout, making Adobe Photoshop 7 for Photographers an important asset and a valuable addition to a library. --Mike Caputo

Product Description
Martin Evening's award-winning Adobe Photoshop for Photographers titles have become must-have reference sources - the only Photoshop books written to deal directly with the needs of photographers. This book contains a wealth of invaluable practical advice, with even more hints and tips to help you achieve professional-looking results.

Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers begins with an introduction to working with digital images, providing essential, up-to-date information on everything from scanning devices to color management and output issues.

Practical workshops show you how to master the essential techniques, with full coverage of all that's new in Photoshop 7.0, including: improved retouching techniques with the Healing Brush and Patch tool; removing color casts with the new Auto Color image adjustment feature; navigating, sorting and managing your photographs with the enhanced File Browser option; and how to save as many custom palette configurations as you like via the Workspace settings. Each technique is described in step-by-step detail, showing exactly which command to use, whether you're working on a Mac or PC. Detailed coverage is also given for Mac OSX users which Photoshop supports for the first time in version 7.0, as well as information on Windows XP for PC users.

The accompanying free CD-ROM contains invaluable movie tutorials and a selection of images to experiment with, surely the quickest way to learn.

If you have an initial grasp of the Photoshop basics and are looking for ways to improve the quality of your work, want to find new ideas and tutorials for the best techniques direct from a pro whilst making sure you are fully up-to-date on Photoshop 7.0, then this is the book for you!

* Benefit from Martin Evening's experience as an alpha tester and official Adobe roadshow speaker for Photoshop 7.0

* Includes a FREE CD-ROM with movie tutorials for MAC and PC

* Practical techniques explained in step-by-step tutorials so you too can achieve professional-looking results

While most of the content I found to be very useful, in many instances the editing was so poor that the book suddenly resembled a cloak-and-dagger mystery. Quality of instruction, it would appear, is sacrificed for speed of publication (admittedly, not uncommon in application books these days). If one combines the print instructions with the enclosed CD, the "Aha!" moment comes across much more easily; however, there just aren't enough of these print/CD combinations available for the reader's enjoyment. It's a real missed opportunity. What's more, (I have no idea if this is true or false) it appears that the publisher of the book and the publisher of the CD might be from two completely different companies; no doubt separated by the Atlantic Ocean. I must agree with a previous comment on the CD content: The narration speeds along at lightning pace, often ahead of the visuals, while the poor cursor has difficulty just keeping up (even on a fast G4 with all content saved on hard drive). It's nearly impossible to follow the narrator's cursor, unless one knows Photoshop well enough to listen for audio clues.

Still, there's a lot to be had between the covers, and it's worth scrumming through the content despite the bruising editorial.


Great production values; extremely practical advice   December 5, 2003
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is not a large book for the price, but the production values are excellent. All illustrations are in color and at high resolution, so you can actually see even the most subtle effects of image manipulation.

This is not a beginner's book, and it is not for those who wish to use Photoshop principally for painting or drawing. Rather, it is just what the title says--"for photographers." If you already know the basics of Photoshop and the elements of photography, I think you will find this is the most valuable Photoshop book in print today.

The book is divided into short (2 to 4-page) sections, each dealing with a common photographic problem (too dark, too much highlight, eyebrows too thin, waist too thick, facial blemishes and wrinkles, red eye, yellow teeth, color casts--you name it) and step-by-step remedies for each, including specific numerical values to plug into dialog boxes for filters. The book is useful for all sorts of photography, but I have found it most useful for pictures of people. The author apparently has extensive experience in fashion photography; his techniques are especially strong in the area of making people look better than in real life without producing any perception of artificiality.


absolutely brilliant   November 14, 2003
 10 out of 10 found this review helpful

No, this book isn't quite for beginners - I wouldn't use it as a photoshop primer. However, I am also not a professional photographer or photoshopper - and I have gotten so much from this book.

Within 5 minutes of picking up this book I had taken a color digital photograph and made it look like it was shot on black and white infrared film.

It took me a similar amount of time to make color images look like I had used an alternative process to develop the film.

The steps for just about anything you'd want to do creatively are short, easy to follow, and are accompanied by excellent demonstration photos. The book is in full color, which is extremely important given the subject matter.

I highly recommend this book to anybody who wants to take digital photographs and do artistic and wonderful things with them.


Adobe Photoshop 7.0 for Photographers   October 26, 2003
 15 out of 29 found this review helpful

If you are completely familiar with other Photoshop versions and are a professional photographer this book could possibly be of some use. For an amateur photographer just getting into digital photography this book is not for you. There is a lot of fluff and not much body to the book which makes it hard reading. The CD Tutorial is a joke. The dialog speeds along with a small black cursor that can not be located most of the time making it almost impossible to follow..


Awsome Book   August 16, 2003
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Mr. Evening does a great job of getting you into the digital world. The beginning of the book explains the color spaces and what this means in terms of what you see on your screen and what comes out on print. He then goes into Photoshop itself and teaches you everything you need to know to masterfully play with your images.
A great, great buy!