Professional Photoshop, 5th Edition -- Advance review
rutt
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I've just finished beta reading Dan Margulis' Professional Photoshop, 5th edition. You can now preorder this from Amazon. The scheduled publication date is December 7.
This is a book about how to make photographs look better and more believable. In fact, I'd say it's the most authoritative work on the topic in existence. Scott Kilby calls Dan "the father of digital prepress". The National Association of Photoshop Professionals cites him as, "the most influential voice in color reproduction." Learn what Dan has to teach and you'll take a big step in the direction of producing more professional looking work.
For those unfamiliar with Dan's work, reading this book is no small undertaking. Dan makes demands on his readers quite unlike other Photoshop authors. There are powerful recipes here, as there have always been in Dan's books. But there is much more for those willing to expend the effort: a deep understanding of what the recipes do and why and when they are appropriate. Absorbed at that level, the case studies in the book lead to a kind of mastery that transcends any collection of recipes. The recipes and workflow are an outgrowth of a coherent theory. Learn this and you'll be able to recreate Dan's techniques without memorizing them and be able to shape your own new techniques as needed. Andy has described Dan's books as "making your eyes bleed". I'd say that "making your head explode" is a more accurate description of the reward for the diligent reader. In compensation for the difficulty of his topic and approach, Dan has a wonderfully lucid, learned, humorous, and entertaining writing style, which makes the prospect of an inevitable second reading much more palatable.
For those already familiar with Professional Photoshop, this is a major rewrite from the 4th edition. Dan says it's 90% new. As is often the case with his claims, he has the data to back this one up. There are 142 base images in the new book, and 126 of these weren't in the previous edition. The text seems at least as fresh.
There are entire areas here that weren't covered in the 4th edition. For example, there is a chapter about converting raw images with Adobe Camera Raw. There is an explanation of the shadow/highlight adjustment which didn't exist at the time the 4th edition was published. This last exists in a broader context of moves for improving shadow and highlight detail and making the best of the gamut available (for whatever output device.)
Familiar topics get new treatment and more subtle approaches. There are now two chapters devoted to sharpening, a sensible explanation of how conventional USM differs from HIRALOAM (high radius low amount) sharpening, some guidelines for thinking about how each kind of sharpening helps particular kinds of images, and a new framework for combining the two techniques in the same image.
RGB techniques, particularly curves are now given greater emphasis. In previous editions CMYK curves were the first, primary tool. Now Dan starts with RGB curves, but quickly makes the connection between CMYK and RGB and strongly makes the case that mastery of all three color spaces (RGB, CMYK, and LAB) is necessary in order to be able to get the best from each image.
Dan doesn't shy away from controversial topics, but when he enters battle he is always well armed. For example, he doesn't think much of automated color management which aims to calibrate monitors to each other and to printers (and presses) by way of spectrometers. He shuns the use of many of Adobe Camera Raw's features. He famously denies that there is much advantage in 16 bit mode. He explains why very little is lost in sRGB or even CMYK vs color spaces with wider gamuts. In every case, his reasoning and experience throw light on the subject and result in practical insights. You might not agree completely with all his controversial opinions, but you ignore them and his reasoning at peril of confusion and misunderstanding.
OK, so I loved this book. But not all of it is useful for photographers as opposed to people who deal with commercial 4 color offset presses. This latter topic is big and important and, once you get your head screwed on just so, pretty entertaining. Just think about all those great looking images you've seen in print, in magazines, in coffee table books. Now think about the issues involved. These days, the lowliest photo inkjet printer has a wider gamut and more resolution. The image will be viewed under many different color lights. Even the most expensive book will be printed on less expensive paper than we commonly use for inkjets. And for those of us who are used to viewing our images on computer screens, well, it would seem that 4 color offset presses are very limited. Yet, we all know that images can look beautiful in books and magazines. How is this accomplished? Dan gives us a view into the nuts and bolts. In fact, Dan is partial to CMYK as a final color space for his image. I've taken a few of his classes and he required that each image end up in CMYK. Partly this is because it's the most challenging requirement. But it also is a requirement of professionals that their work can go into high volume commercial printing.
As you might expect, Dan doesn't shy away here from using LAB techniques, but this is a companion book to Photoshop LAB and does not replace it. Dan emphasizes techniques in the other color spaces. But when the workflow calls for a trip to LAB, Dan makes it. Every image has 10 channels is truer of Dan's approach than ever before. It's a joy to watch Dan's mastery as an image moves through RGB luminosity blending, into LAB for color correction and sharpening, and finally into CMYK for shadow improvements. Or whatever.
Dan has no single fixed workflow for all images. He offers a very full toolbox of techniques, ideas, and ways to think about color correction. He exposes us to his reasoning about how to approach a wide variety different images with different issues. In the last chapter he offers some guidelines about how to shape your workflow to work best with particular images.
I don't want to steal Dan's thunder by outlining too much of what he has to say in his new book. Suffice to say that Dan's fans will have a great time with this book. Newcomers should find it easier than previous editions if only because it starts with an RGB orientation. I'm finding that I can get better results now from a wider array of images than before I read it. I'm still rethinking my old workflows and ideas in light of this new knowledge. And I'm very much looking forward to reading it a second time when it's published.
![http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/032144017X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V41446634_.jpg[/IMGl]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/032144017X.01._AA240_SCLZZZZZZZ_V41446634_.jpg[/IMGl]){kind=link}
I've just finished beta reading Dan Margulis' Professional Photoshop, 5th edition. You can now preorder this from Amazon. The scheduled publication date is December 7.
This is a book about how to make photographs look better and more believable. In fact, I'd say it's the most authoritative work on the topic in existence. Scott Kilby calls Dan "the father of digital prepress". The National Association of Photoshop Professionals cites him as, "the most influential voice in color reproduction." Learn what Dan has to teach and you'll take a big step in the direction of producing more professional looking work.
For those unfamiliar with Dan's work, reading this book is no small undertaking. Dan makes demands on his readers quite unlike other Photoshop authors. There are powerful recipes here, as there have always been in Dan's books. But there is much more for those willing to expend the effort: a deep understanding of what the recipes do and why and when they are appropriate. Absorbed at that level, the case studies in the book lead to a kind of mastery that transcends any collection of recipes. The recipes and workflow are an outgrowth of a coherent theory. Learn this and you'll be able to recreate Dan's techniques without memorizing them and be able to shape your own new techniques as needed. Andy has described Dan's books as "making your eyes bleed". I'd say that "making your head explode" is a more accurate description of the reward for the diligent reader. In compensation for the difficulty of his topic and approach, Dan has a wonderfully lucid, learned, humorous, and entertaining writing style, which makes the prospect of an inevitable second reading much more palatable.
For those already familiar with Professional Photoshop, this is a major rewrite from the 4th edition. Dan says it's 90% new. As is often the case with his claims, he has the data to back this one up. There are 142 base images in the new book, and 126 of these weren't in the previous edition. The text seems at least as fresh.
There are entire areas here that weren't covered in the 4th edition. For example, there is a chapter about converting raw images with Adobe Camera Raw. There is an explanation of the shadow/highlight adjustment which didn't exist at the time the 4th edition was published. This last exists in a broader context of moves for improving shadow and highlight detail and making the best of the gamut available (for whatever output device.)
Familiar topics get new treatment and more subtle approaches. There are now two chapters devoted to sharpening, a sensible explanation of how conventional USM differs from HIRALOAM (high radius low amount) sharpening, some guidelines for thinking about how each kind of sharpening helps particular kinds of images, and a new framework for combining the two techniques in the same image.
RGB techniques, particularly curves are now given greater emphasis. In previous editions CMYK curves were the first, primary tool. Now Dan starts with RGB curves, but quickly makes the connection between CMYK and RGB and strongly makes the case that mastery of all three color spaces (RGB, CMYK, and LAB) is necessary in order to be able to get the best from each image.
Dan doesn't shy away from controversial topics, but when he enters battle he is always well armed. For example, he doesn't think much of automated color management which aims to calibrate monitors to each other and to printers (and presses) by way of spectrometers. He shuns the use of many of Adobe Camera Raw's features. He famously denies that there is much advantage in 16 bit mode. He explains why very little is lost in sRGB or even CMYK vs color spaces with wider gamuts. In every case, his reasoning and experience throw light on the subject and result in practical insights. You might not agree completely with all his controversial opinions, but you ignore them and his reasoning at peril of confusion and misunderstanding.
OK, so I loved this book. But not all of it is useful for photographers as opposed to people who deal with commercial 4 color offset presses. This latter topic is big and important and, once you get your head screwed on just so, pretty entertaining. Just think about all those great looking images you've seen in print, in magazines, in coffee table books. Now think about the issues involved. These days, the lowliest photo inkjet printer has a wider gamut and more resolution. The image will be viewed under many different color lights. Even the most expensive book will be printed on less expensive paper than we commonly use for inkjets. And for those of us who are used to viewing our images on computer screens, well, it would seem that 4 color offset presses are very limited. Yet, we all know that images can look beautiful in books and magazines. How is this accomplished? Dan gives us a view into the nuts and bolts. In fact, Dan is partial to CMYK as a final color space for his image. I've taken a few of his classes and he required that each image end up in CMYK. Partly this is because it's the most challenging requirement. But it also is a requirement of professionals that their work can go into high volume commercial printing.
As you might expect, Dan doesn't shy away here from using LAB techniques, but this is a companion book to Photoshop LAB and does not replace it. Dan emphasizes techniques in the other color spaces. But when the workflow calls for a trip to LAB, Dan makes it. Every image has 10 channels is truer of Dan's approach than ever before. It's a joy to watch Dan's mastery as an image moves through RGB luminosity blending, into LAB for color correction and sharpening, and finally into CMYK for shadow improvements. Or whatever.
Dan has no single fixed workflow for all images. He offers a very full toolbox of techniques, ideas, and ways to think about color correction. He exposes us to his reasoning about how to approach a wide variety different images with different issues. In the last chapter he offers some guidelines about how to shape your workflow to work best with particular images.
I don't want to steal Dan's thunder by outlining too much of what he has to say in his new book. Suffice to say that Dan's fans will have a great time with this book. Newcomers should find it easier than previous editions if only because it starts with an RGB orientation. I'm finding that I can get better results now from a wider array of images than before I read it. I'm still rethinking my old workflows and ideas in light of this new knowledge. And I'm very much looking forward to reading it a second time when it's published.
If not now, when?
0
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Nice review, rutt. It's posted on our reviews site, here:
http://dgrin.smugmug.com/gallery/1905924
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Sounds like a good read for all of us. I think I will order a copy as my birthday present to myself....lol
Steve
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Excellent review and great teaser, John. I'm about 2/3 of the way through version 4, so by December I ought to be ready for the full head implosion. :yikes
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I bought the Photoshop LAB Colour book and now use LAB for most of my post processing work. However I was struck by the comment on page 7 " ...And just as LAB does extremely well on certain classes of image, it does poorly on others." So I shall look forward to the release in the UK. (I cannot pre order it from here)
Does the level of interest warrant a reading group after Christmas? I hope so.
Stan
Dan uses layers extensively as readers of his previous work will know. But you cannot confuse this with a Photoshop primer or manual. For example, Dan usually explains the layer blending modes he uses, but the ones he does not use. And, really, this isn't exactly a Photoshop specific book either. A lot of what is here would is theory which would be useful in other post processing programs. It also is not a comprehensive guide to Photoshops arsenal of tools. You can count on one hand the features Dan uses which are not in PS 5 (and have some fingers left over to make rude gestures with):
- Surface blur
- Shadow/highlight
- ACR
Perhaps I missed one or two, but you get the idea.Dan's approach has evolved at least as fast as Photoshop itself. At several points he compares his best effort on a particular shot 5 or 10 years ago with what he can do now. The improvement is very striking. Since I took his advanced class last fall, he has evolved:
- An advanced sharpening technique which combines the best of conventional USM and HIRALOAM without adding additional noise.
- A simple alternative to shadow/highlight which works much better when large parts of the image need to be addressed.
- Some startling ideas about ACR and a proposal for how to use it (one which will generate some controversy.)
I'm sure there are lots more, but I'm a little groggy just now, on the morning of the first day of a new job.Here is one I did while I was practicing the new sharpening technique:
Thank you for the heads-up and an awesome preview!
I preordered mine, too!
I guess I know what I'll be reading during the Holiday Season:-)
Yes.
If not now??? Tomorrow!
Considering that the first one, has stood the test of time, and is referred to time and again, I believe this is well worth the investment. And good for Dan, he should earn a buck or two for this, it's monumental amount of work.
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It's not an easy reading, by any means. But it's Goooood!
If I manage to get at least 30% of it and turn it into my day-to-day actions - I'd call myself extremely lucky
I didn't say it is not worth it, I just said that it is expensive.
lots of things are expensive, well worth it.....and all artists/writers are deserving of a return for their work, smile.
Do you all think you will be doing one of those reviews as has been done in the past?
(It comes out at Christmas, be on a lot of Christmas lists, or I think it does)
DEFINITELY tomorrow!
What reviews?
We will be doing a reading group. We're working on who's going to lead it right now, but we've plenty of time. Be ready to step up and contribute by summarizing a chapter or two, or three!
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Absolutely! If Rutt or you don't start, I most surely will
And you do - I'm in:-)
I'll be glad to participate in that.
—Korzybski
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Available from Amazon in the UK from the 1st Feb '07. A bit late for christmas, but I look forward to its arrival
Stan
If you're OK with some extra s/h, I'll be glad to get an extra US copy and ship it to you as soon as it appears here... Let me know...
That's very generous of you Nikolai. thank you. I would love to take up your offer, if it allows me to participate in the reading group. Let me know when and what I need to do...
Cheers
Stan
PM sent
So I've been wondering whether you actually did buy it and have a chance to take a look. Did I steer you wrong? Do you think it has information on layers?
Sorry if i am posting wrong - but can you recoment this book for someone who isent using CMYK a lot- it sur sounds like it is a great book. thanks jepper