Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers: A Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC

I have to start by saying that I do love the writing and presentation style of the Scott Kelby CSx series of books but Martin Evening takes CS3 to the level that true digital photographers (using CS3) really need. In my opinion, one of the most important features for photographers is covered in Evening's book while not being mentioned in Kelby's. Soft-proofing is such a major benefit for digital photographers and Evening devotes 6-10 pages in his book on the topic. That is not a ton of pages considering the size of the book but the topic is not missed. In defense of Kelby, his book is not intended for the CS3 digital photographer who goes to these depths with their work. It is more for the tips and tricks that all digital photographers do, want to do or may come across a need for in their random workflow. Evening's book is for the hard core digital photographer who wants the most from their digital workflow. Defintiely for an advanced intermediate to pro level photographer who wants to really learn what may be a key element in their digital workflow. Both books though are great books to have on your shelf. The depth from one to the other is just different.

When I wanted to learn Photoshop I bought this book, started reading it and immediately found myself completely lost - so I naturally blamed the book. But the real problem was me. This is not a book for beginners, but rather it is an advanced book for those who have some grounding in the subject. If you want to learn Photoshop, a good introduction is Adobe Photoshop CS3 Classroom in a Book (see my review). Once you know the basics, Evening's book is the go-to guide for almost anything you want to do.

Techniques such as installing and parameterizing Photoshop, basic pixel editing and advanced procedures like complex montage creation are all clearly and thoroughly explained. Often many variations of an approach are included, one of which may be more useful in this or that situation. Beautifully illustrated and rich with detail. I recommend this book highly, but just not as a first step.

A worthy take on the abilities of PS to improve/manipulate digital photographs. Written for the photographer and someone with a modest knowledge of PS. The included disk has details for the complete novist, so a good balance. PS has so many bells and whistles that hardly anyone can keep track of them all. A reference is needed when you want to try a technique that you don't use frequently. This is a good place to look to refresh your memory on those techniques. Also good information on equipment you need to efficiently run PS, as well as how to set up PS for first time use. Useful information on new capabilities in CS3, and whether on not it's useful for you to upgrade.

I am very Satisified. The DVD included with the book is a real asset.

I'll start off by saying that it wasn't actually my choice to get this book, it was the required book for the digital photography class I am enrolled in at the moment.

However, that aside, I am quite glad i did get the book as it is a fabulous manual for the most recent version of Photoshop (CS3). The highly instructive tutorials cover pretty much everything you would want to use photoshop on your photos for (and even some that might not have occured to you). The tutorials are mostly pretty easy to follow, though it get a bit complicated on some of the more lengthy procedures, and the provided DVD hold not only a few nice video guides to certain parts of photoshop, but also almost all of the pictures used in the tutorials in the book, so it becomes a good deal easier to compare results, and make sure you've done it right. Also the book is very well indexed, so if you're looking for something in particular, it doesnt take too long to find at all

i don't usually go for instructional books, but this one is thorough and very well done
i'd deffinately recommend it