Adobe Photoshop CS6 Book for Digital Photographers, The (Voices That Matter)

The CS6 Book for Digital Photographers is the latest in the series from Scott Kelby, now updated to include the latest features in Photoshop. CS6 is a pretty extensive software upgrade with a good number of new features, and Kelby does well once again to get to the nuts and bolds of using them in a practical way, without getting bogged down in theory or semantics.Like the previous books in the series, it's not necessary to read the sections of the book in any particular order. Each individual section shows how to perform a particular function, giving practical examples and actual settings, so you can skip around the book and focus in on things that you feel are particularly relevant to your particular workflow.This latest version covers several new topics including editing video from your DSLR, and processing and editing images using the "Merge to HDR Pro" feature. I personally have only dabbled a little bit with HDR images in the past and have not managed so far to get the results I wanted. But flipping through this part of the book reveals many useful suggestions, and specific instructions for what settings to use as a starting point. Scott even explains how to establish some presets for HDR that will work well in most situations to deliver the goods. After doing this, you can begin to make adjustments where desired. This has made me eager to give HDR another try since it seems that Kelby has filled in a lot of the 'blanks' that were bogging me down previously.The video editing section is another great plus in this book, and stumbling across this section is actually the first time I realized that Photoshop CS6 can also be used to edit video, without needing to purchase the 'extended' software version. Scott explains what it can and cannot do, and how to use the video editing features effectively. CS6 does not give you the full functionality of a dedicated video editing program such as Premier Pro, but Scott shows how you can use what is there to edit the typical videos that most folks produce with today's latest model DSLRs. It's exciting to know that many of the same editing tools we commonly use when editing still photos can now be applied to video clips as well.CS6 gives even more control for raw image processing than previous versions, and Kelby goes into some detail about how to do portrait editing right there in Adobe Camera Raw. After the CS5 upgrade, I found myself doing more and more editing in camera raw and less in Photoshop itself. With CS6 you will likely find yourself going even further in that direction.As with previous editions in this series, each chapter concludes with a "Photoshop Killer Tips" section to give you a few more gems that were not included in the chapter.If you enjoyed the previous versions in this series, then you will probably love this latest edition. And you'll also find yourself quickly getting up to speed with the updated features and controls in Photoshop CS6.

I have used Scott Kelby's books before and always found them an excellent source of practical knowledge and guidance.I consider myself around an intermediate level photoshop user having used it now for 5-6 years albeit in a limited way.First thing to note, this book is for photograher users, not graphic design users. If you want to know how to design say web interfaces or GUI elements, them while you no doubt gain useful info, this book is all about editing photographs, not making buttons and interfaces etc.The biggest revelation to me was how far the camera raw settings have come, as i say having been using raw adjustments for 5 + years. Maybe i didnt fully understand what was there before, but now I can edit much or all I need to in raw alone, and the raw adjustments do many things either better than the photshop adjustments, or things that they dont really do. I love the Adjustments brush in raw, for instance.Scott gives a wide varity of options in many cases, but always gives his own preferences and reasons why . The chapter on sharpening is as comprehensive as you would ever want, in my opinion, as a good example.I have had absolutely o problems understanding any of the instructions, the screen shots and annotations are as clear and easy to follow as you would want, and the whole thing just makes sense and is easy to follow.Negatives: - well there arent too many, if any. One small thing - I would like to see an index of the "Photoshop Killer Tips" up front as some of these are gems but its like if you didnt know they were there, how would you ever thing to look them up in the index at the back?The other thing, not a negative, but maybe if you are a top-level user you might already know a lot of whats in the book. But then, would you have a need for a book if you were that sort of user?

If location, location, and location are the three most important things in real estate, then it is much the same thing in Photoshop that workflow, workflow, and workflow are the important triumvirate. Whereas the fine "Classroom in a Book: Adobe Photoshop CS6" provides fine step by step explanations and exercises for beginners and those who need refreshing on less frequently used techniques, Scott Kelby gives a lighthearted look at the nuts and bolts of both the techniques and the efficient processes required of professional and serious amateur photographers. His material is geared toward photographers and he ignores some of the more esoteric features of Photoshop that are more in the realm of graphics manipulation, like puppet wrap and the intracies of text font selection and text manipulation that are perhaps more useful to users of other programs in the CS6 suite, like Illustrator. The materials for the exercises and the bonus materials available from his website are first rate and provide a challenging set of examples for photographers. If you don't like his quirky humor, then do as he advises and don't read the introductions to the chapters. Personally, I find them amusing and part of the charm of Mr. Kelby's work.

Très bien

Well, I'm quite disappointed. The book is not about Photoshop CS6 at all, but rather about Camera Raw. Photoshop is just mentioned here and there for a couple of examples, but most of the book is about Camera Raw. Scott Kelby is a great marketing guy, but their products are not worth the money.

Ho acquistato l'edizione in inglese, perché conosco la lingua perfettamente. Consiglierei a tutti i fotografi esperti l'edizione italiana. Si legge e si consulta con piacere e con profitto, ed è piano di trucchi e suggerimenti che funzionano. Una sola raccomandazione: se non siete fotografi esperti o almeno volete diventarlo, forse non è il libro per voi.

Für mich beweist Scott Kelby auch in diesem "Workbook" seine Klasse: leicht zu lesen, und vor allem so gegliedert, daß man individuell und problem-spezifisch in die verschiedenen Kapitel einsteigen kann. Im Vergleich zur deutschen Ausgabe ist das Buch im Layout etwas größer, dadurch sind die Screenshots besser lesbar. Außerdem sind die jeweiligen Pinseleinstellungen abgebildet, was ich als sehr hilfreich empfinde – während diese willkürlicherweise in der der deutschen Ausgabe fehlen!Letztendlich muß jeder Leser und Anwender den Autoren/Lehrer finden, der im persönlich liegt. Mit diesen wird das Selbststudium zur wahren Freude. Bei mir sind es Scott Kelby, Matt Kloskowski und Maike Jarsetz.

A feature of Scott Kelby's approach is the practicality that he brings to the table. He explains things simply and with a dose of humour, that makes him a superb guide to users with easy to follow instructions laid out in logical order.Rather than detail the content (which you can see from the helpful "Look Inside" feature), it might be more helpful to compare three of the most widely used of the myriad of Photoshop user guides that are on the market -  Photoshop CS6 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers)) , Scott Kelby's Adobe Photoshop CS6 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter) and  Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC .The Dummies book is best for those completely new to Adobe Photoshop and indeed to image processing software. Unlike the other two, it is more general and so includes more on the creative art or design elements of the software. It's well organized, logical and clear. While none of the three books come with a CD of photos, the Dummies is the only one not to provide web-based images that you can work on along with the book. In fact, it's less of an instruction book and more of a general resource, although it is laid out such that you can work through it if you want to with your own images. The trademark List of 10s contained in Dummies works well here - and is less of a stretch than it can sometimes be in the series. For the new user it's very, very good indeed.Kelby though is still my "go-to guy" for Photoshop. With Kelby you get the feeling that you are being given advice from someone who uses this software day in day out and really knows the best ways to organize your workflow. It's the shortest of the three books and is strongest for those who have upgraded from earlier versions or indeed come up from Elements. First time users will get something out of this book but it's far from comprehensive. Neither is it helpful for the graphic design elements. The biggest loss is that while he provides one of his excellent workflow examples, unlike some of his earlier Elements guides, this is a general one and doesn't detail for example different workflows for say landscape and portraits. I still refer to an old Elements guide of his for this. If you are upgrading though, this is the one I'd go for, but you may need one of the other two for the missing bits.The Martin Evening book is a veritable brick of a book. It's longer than the other two put together. Comprehensive isn't the work but it's best for those who like to know why things happen rather than just what to do. He explains the technical bits behind the processes well. If you are the type of person who loves to read instruction manuals - this is the one for you. I find it much drier than the other two. Both Kelby and the Dummies range are known for a quirky sense of humour - Evening possesses none of this. I was around 170 pages into it before it got to something you could do with the images you can download from the website. It's a superb reference book to have but less user friendly as a guide. It's more technical and best suited to those who are already knowledgeable about both Adobe and ideally Photoshop.Irritatingly, all have something to offer and none are cheap. I love the practicality of Kelby and remain a fan - and in fact one of the negatives about his style, his quirky humour, is more restrained here. Ideally you will want to back this up with either of the other two though - which one depends on your previous experience with the software and, to a lesser extent, the type of person you are. If you crave detail and technical information, Evening is unsurpassed. If you are newer and want a more basic introduction, you don't need to be a Dummy to benefit from the Dummies series. Photoshop CS6 For Dummies (For Dummies (Computers))Adobe Photoshop CS6 for Photographers: A professional image editor's guide to the creative use of Photoshop for the Macintosh and PC