Product Description

The commonsense, by-the-numbers approach of Professional Photoshop has shaped the workflows of a generation of Photoshop experts. This new edition, the first in nearly five years, is completely updated for the age of digital photography. It continues the book’s tradition of introducing astoundingly effective, previously unknown methods of image enhancement. The original photographs found in the book come from a variety of professional sources, and all correction exercises are on the included CD. Professional Photoshop has changed radically from edition to edition, and this time is no exception—with almost 90 percent new content and completely overhauled coverage of curves, channel blending, and sharpening.Professional Photoshop offers a full explanation of:

• How curves bring out detail in the most important areas of the imagen
  
• A comprehensive strategy for blending channels to create deeper, stronger images
  
• The strengths and weaknesses of CMYK, LAB, and RGB, and when to use each one
  
• The first detailed look at the Shadow/Highlight command—and even more sophis-ticated ways to enhance contrast in the lightest and darkest parts of the imagen
• Sharpening strategies, in three full chapters, including the innovative hiraloam method (High Radius, Low Amount). Plus, a fiendishly effective method of merging hiraloam and conventional unsharp masking
• The realities—and the politics—of preparing files for commercial offset printing and how to deal with colors that are out of the press’s gamut
• What Camera Raw and similar acquisition modules can offer
• Typical problems of digital captures that were not found in the age of film— and how to correct for them

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #51408 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Book Info
Extensively revised edition covers through Photoshop 7 and continues the tradition of introducing astoundingly effective, previously unknown methods. Softcover. CD-ROM included.

From the Back Cover
Bring your images to life!

The common-sense, by-the-numbers approach of Professional Photoshop has changed the way professional retouchers, photographers, and artists prepare their files for print. Although many of the corrections are technically difficult, the concepts are logical and can be understood even by color beginners. This extensively revised edition, covering versions through Photoshop 7, continues the tradition of introducing astoundingly effective, previously unknown methods.

Here's what the experts had to say about the best-selling Professional Photoshop 6:

"This is the best guide to color correction there is, period. The information on color correction by the numbers is invaluable for anyone involved with the commercial application of photography and is especially pertinent for digital photography that can be used in print. This is a book that you will want to re-read numerous times."
-Lee Varis, Digital Photography for Graphic Designers

"Dan is the experts' expert on the logical and effective ways to make any image look its best when printed. He has a very likable writing style that integrates metaphors and examples from other disciplines to engage your interest and explain his techniques."
-Jay Nelson, Design Tools Monthly

"The cover would have you believe that this is a book about digital prepress color correction, which is like saying that Leonardo da Vinci was a medical illustrator. Margulis' real agenda is to teach us to look critically at digital images, to understand what we see, and finally how to reason from our understanding toward an image we can take pride in. Best of all, this book is a fun read about a subject that's hardly a great party topic, written with wit, and illustrated with impressive corrections of some profoundly discouraging original images."
-User manual for dPhoto software

In addition to its relentless exploration of curves, this volume teaches:

• The uses of LAB color correction
• How to bring out detail in the most important areas of the image
• Precision control of unsharp masking
• Channel blending to build contrast
• The pivotal role of the black plate
• Blending in Luminosity mode
• Custom profiles to correct hopeless images
• A powerful new overlay blend method that will revolutionize the handling of faces
• Control of all facets of the separation process
• The unwanted color and how to exploit it
• Correcting for factors beyond the photographer's control

Includes a CD-ROM containing many of the images plus extra instructional material!

About the Author
Dan Margulis was one of the first three individuals—and the only writer—to be named as a member of the Photoshop Hall of Fame. In announcing his election, the National Association of Photoshop Professionals said, “Dan’s ability to reduce complicated concepts to words that users can understand and his insistence on dealing with real-world relevance have made him today’s most influential voice in color reproduction.” Dan’s 2006 best-seller, Photoshop LAB Color, revolutionized workflows. Channels expert David Biedny called Photoshop LAB Color “probably the most important Photoshop book ever written.”

Customer Reviews

A great text
Several members of the Brentwood (TN) Camera Club have formed an 0n-line group where we report on how we are understanding the ideas being presented.

Dan Margulis is a key "guru" in color correction and the use of curves in PhotoShop and our group just wants to understand his concepts so we can individually improve our work.

Serious stuff and requires concentration and thought. This is not a recipe book as are so many books on PhotoShop. This goes way beyond and we feel it is essential.

Excellence, Elegance and Precision
This book will give you almost everything you need to know about Color Management. Margulis is a leading expert in the field of Color Management and he is thorough in his presentation. You may find that he is a bit difficult to understand, but if you read the book twice it gets better and easier to understand.

Power Users Need This Book
In the first 20 Pages I learned new things about color and image control. This book is jammed full of information and examples. While it is not an easy read it is a must read for anyone interested in getting better results from their images. Each chapter has something new to teach you. I know I will be re-reading this book a few times to try to absorb all the information in it.