The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Photoshop CS Essential Skills - for the bookshelf Major Keary |
Photoshop CS Essential Skills
Titles in the Focal Press essential skills series are by Australian authors, some of whom have written other texts for Focal. The essential skills series is designed for use as a self-teaching resource or as a course text in photography-related subjects. They are well suited for the purpose, the authors being professional photographers and lecturers on the subject. In this instance Mark Galer is senior photography lecturer at RMIT and Philip Andrews lectures at the Queensland School of Printing and Graphic Arts.
The book is unusual in that it does not have an index, but it does have a detailed table of contents that serves the purpose. Information is certainly easy to find. Of course, the text is not designed as an ongoing reference, but as a series of lessons that should be studied in sequence.
The principle focus is on understanding rather than how-to; hands-on exercises are used to illustrate various processes and techniques, but this is not a step-by-step tutorial. The object is to teach students of photography how to develop Photoshop essential skills, and it does that very well. The images used in the book are available for download from a companion Web site, which enables students to practice the lessons.
The discussion of topics such as 'camera raw' file formats, layers, and masks is particularly thorough. If you want to know how to use Photoshop rather than develop a learn-by-rote repertoire of editing routines, this is an excellent starting point. If you teach Photoshop or Elements to novices this should be considered as a course text.
This title is available direct from Elsevier Australia Customer Service, tel. 1800 263 951, fax (02) 9517 2249, or email service@elsevier.com.au.
|
Mark Galer and Philip Andrews: Photoshop CS Essentials Skills ISBN 0-240-51951-5 Published by Focal Press, 340 pp., RRP $58.30 incl. GST |
 |
Photoshop for Photographers
Adobe Photoshop CS for Photographers is described as "a professional image
editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC". This
text is an introduction to
Photoshop for photographers working at a professional level and with some
experience in image editing, but who are either new to Photoshop or need to
improve their respective
Photoshop skills. This title, which is a new edition of an established
best-seller, covers the latest developments in digital photography and the new
features of Photoshop CS for Mac and Windows users.
A beautifully presented book, it makes extensive use of full colour images to
illustrate Photoshop's image editing tools in tutorials that take the reader
through the techniques of using them.
Camera Raw
|
Camera raw and raw are terms that crop up particularly in advanced texts; they
mean the same thing and refer to the file created by a digital camera.
Each camera manufacturer has its own method of writing raw data that typically
contains three elements: EXIF Metadata, which includes camera model, exposure
details (shutter speed and aperture), lens focal length, ISO setting, and
filename); image data, which can be edited to affect how the picture will be
processed; and raw data, which comes from the sensors. A camera raw image
provides much more information to play with than working with a JPEG or TIFF
file. Photoshop CS for Photographers is a particularly good resource for getting
an understanding of camera raw files and how they can be edited in Photoshop.
This is the most thorough overall coverage I have seen of professional-level
image editing with Photoshop. It begins with how to set up and configure the
program and proceeds through basic image adjustments to more complex editing
techniques. There are texts that deal in considerable technical depth with
specific aspects of image editing, but from a photographer's point of view this
title is comprehensive and detailed.
A range of non-Photoshop topics are also discussed, including scanners and
digital capture, film versus digital (film is still more versatile), image
storage, resolution issues, colour management, output for the web, and output
for printing. The term, web, should be approached with caution; most readers may
assume that 'web' means World Wide Web, but when preparing images for print
output 'web' has a very different meaning.
A companion CD contains video clip tutorials for both Mac and Windows, many of
the images used in the book (for practicing the lessons), and other information.
This title is available direct from Elsevier Australia Customer Service, tel.
1800 263 951, fax (02) 9517 2249, or email
service@elsevier.com.au.
|
Martin Evening: Adobe Photoshop CS for Photographers ISBN 0-240-51942-6 Published by Focal Press, 554 pp. + CD, RRP $92.40 incl. GST |
 |
Photoshop: A Visual Reference Guide
Another excellent guide from Focal Press (and by an Australian author),
Photoshop CS A to Z, is a visual reference guide that is designed to serve as a
"quick, easy reference text to Photoshop tools". The entries are in alphabetical
order (there is also an index) and there are seven appendices that contain
useful information (a comparison of Photoshop versions, sample typefaces, a list
of useful shortcuts, preferences, useful web sites, plug-in filters, and
recording sheets for keeping track of filter settings).
The object of the book is not to show how something works, but to provide the
user with a quick way of finding the tool appropriate to a given task. Each item
is illustrated in full colour and shows where the tool is located (the menu
path) and give a concise account of what it does. Some entries are quite terse;
for example, Deselect runs to three lines including menu information and
keyboard shortcut. Equalize takes up the best part of a page and is supported by
a group of illustrations showing a particular effect 'chain'. Blending Modes has
four pages, mainly illustrations.
For many tools the illustrations provide a visual key to finding the tool one
needs. The book is printed on heavy gloss paper that makes it easy to flick
through to find the right tool. Apart from that, it is a great browse for casual
users of Photoshop. A great adjunct to regular manuals and guides; it should
prove a great time saver.
This title is available direct from Elsevier Australia Customer Service, tel.
1800 263 951, fax 02 9517 2249, or email
service@elsevier.com.au.
|
Peter Bargh: Photoshop CS A to Z ISBN 0-240-51957-4 Published by Focal Press, 186 pp., RRP $52.25 incl. GST |
 |
Photoshop Elements
Philip Andrews, the author of this title, is an Australian photographer, author,
and lecturer. He is an alpha tester for Photoshop and a beta tester for
Photoshop Elements.
"Photoshop Elements is essentially a cut-down version of Photoshop, yet it
contains nearly all the image manipulation power of the parent program, but in
an easy-to-use interface."
Adobe Photoshop 3.0 Elements, is "a visual introduction to digital imaging"
using the latest version of Photoshop Elements, which has a substantial number
of new features. Readers should be comfortable with either the Windows or Mac
operating system and know how to manage files and run applications. Some
experience in using a graphics editing program would be helpful, but is not
necessary.
Anyone about to use Photoshop Elements should realise that, even though a
simplified, cut-down version of Photoshop it is a powerful program that performs
complex tasks; learning to 'fly' Elements requires application on the part of
the user. This book is best introduction I have seen. It is comprehensive,
clearly written, and supported by excellent illustrations - both of images in
various stages of editing, and screen shots that help users to understand the
program. A companion Web site offers further resources, especially for teachers;
readers can download the images used in the text for self-teaching.
There are no theoretical discussions. The book's focus is on how-to information
with extra explanatory material confined to topics where it is necessary, such
as the RAW image formats, and the effects of different compression levels with
various output formats. Elements 3.0 introduces 16-bit editing capabilities
(which are well covered with notes on limitations) and has an integrated RAW
file editor (also well covered in the text). Each camera manufacturer has its
own proprietary RAW format and Elements 3.0 has a filter for Canon, Minolta,
Nikon, Olympus (four of the original five Japanese 35 mm camera manufacturers),
and Fuji.
The overall design of this book is excellent; the typography is pleasing to the
eye and image reproduction is enhanced by the use of heavy, glossy paper. An
essential resource for user who want to get the most from Elements 3.0. Very
good value.
This title is available direct from Elsevier Australia Customer Service, tel.
1800 263 951, fax 02 9517 2249, or email
service@elsevier.com.au.
|
Philip Andrews: Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 ISBN 0-240-51958-2 Published by Focal Press, 340 pp., RRP $61.60 incl. GST |
 |
Reprinted from the June 2005 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
