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• D'Lynn Waldron, PhD is L.A.'s "Golden Graphics Girl" and occasional contributor to the pages of DT&G. She's an expert photography and Photoshop wizard and follows the industry quite closely. I rely quite often, and quite completely on her advice for image acquisition, printing and output. We're very happy to get her selection of the best Photoshop Books for everyone!
• Fred

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Best Photoshop Books

... reviewed by D'Lynn Waldron, PhD (c)03

for The Professional: Photoshop 7 Artistry

This is by far the best book I have found for Photoshop users moving up to Photoshop 7 because it clearly explains the changes. For new users, it fully explains the use of the tools and facilities.
      This is beautiful book filled with wonderful examples of things that can be achieved in Photoshop and how to accomplish them. It has exercises with accompanying images on the CD for painting, retouching, and restoring, color correcting, and compositing, as well as instructions on how to calibrate your monitor with your printer.
      Photoshop 7 Artistry is a book I would recommend to every professional Photoshop user, as well as all who aspire to do professional quality work.
Photoshop 7 Artistry Authors: Barry Haynes and Wendy Crumpler New Riders $55 455 pages, color Illus., Mac/Windows CD

The Best Book On Color Correction

Photoshop Color Correction by Michael Kieran, from Peachpit, is by far the best book I have ever found on the subject of optimizing photographs and preparing them for the press. This book is clear, concise, comprehensive and ideally organized. It is very well illustrated and the CD has images on which the reader can practice the techniques presented in the book.
      The author Michael Kieran is a deservedly renowned authority on optimizing photographs and preparing them for prepress and Photoshop Color Correction is excellent as both a text and a reference.

• Part 1 explains the fundamentals of color: How lighting conditions and individual eyes affect the way color is perceived.
  The RGB, HSB and CIELAB models for color in the computer - How to adapt the transmissive RGB color of a monitor to the reflective color of CMYK inks on paper.
  The various kinds of process color and spot color printing.
• Part 2 covers color managemeent with ICC profiles, calibration, and color spaces.
• Part 3 explains how to use the various facilities in Photoshop to improve images and prepare them for the press.
• Part 4 tells how to bring out the detail that is in the highlight and shadow areas of a photograph.
• Part 5 explains why making your grays neutral is important and how to achieve them.
• Part 6 deals with contrast and how to analyze tone channel by channel and apply curves to individual channels.
• Part 7 discusses the options available in sharpening and how to use them, including sharpening only selected color channels.
• Part 8 presents advanced techniques using CIELAB, stacked layers and channel blending.

Color correction, sharpening, etc., are a subjective art. With this book, you can use the author's methods to achieve whatever results you prefer or your client wants.
      Michael Kieran's Photoshop Color Correction from Peachpit is of inestimable value to every professional and all serious amateurs. I keep it right beside my computer.
Photoshop Color Correction Author: Michael Kieran 384 pages, color Illus., Mac/Windows CD Peachpit $49.99

Best Photoshop Book For Creative Artist

Daniel Giordan writes the clearest and best organized books on Photoshop (See below for Giordan's book How to Use Photoshop 7, by far the best How To for beginners). Giordan's latest The Art of Photoshop is large format and beautifully illustrated.
      The Art of Photoshop is of special value to creative artists, providing them with both skills and inspiration. It has a gallery of Daniel Giordan's own magnificent work and a very clear step by step explanation, with screen captures, of the tools in Photoshop which all artists should master.

• Image Editing: Optimizing, Enhancing Focus, Curves, Color Correction, Adjusting Hue and Saturation, Adjustment Layers.
• Montage: Silhouetting with the Extract Filter, Layer Masks, Clone / Stamp Tool, Blending Modes.
• Special Effects: Custom Brushes, Distort Filters, Making Patterns, Gradients and Gradient Maps, Liquify Filter, Lighting Effects

The Art Of Photoshop by Daniel Giordan -- 305 pages, color illustrations, large format Sams: October 2002 $49.99

Best Photoshop Book For Easy Learning

How To Use Adobe Photoshop 7 is an excellently organized, clearly written and well illustrated book that will take the Photoshop user through all the essential aspects of the Photoshop 7 in the form of simple clearly illustrated lessons. It is a perfect foundation upon which to build advanced skills. I have always found Giordan's books and articles to be superior in every way, and he gets my absolutely highest recommendation. How To Use Adobe Photoshop 7 by Daniel Giordan QUE $29.99- 288 pages, color illusustrations

Next: Special books for Artists...

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