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Photoshop CS3 Raw: Get the Most Out of the Raw Format with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw,...
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by Mikkel Aaland
Sales Rank: 5606
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List Price: $34.99
$23.09
At Amazon
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Paperback: 270 pages
Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc. January 11, 2008
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0596510527
ISBN-13: 978-0596510527
Product Dimensions:
9.9 x 7.9 x 0.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
Product Review
Book Description
Because RAW files remain virtually untouched by in-camera processing, working with them has given digital photographers greater flexibility and control during the editing process -- for those who are familiar enough with the format. Camera RAW, the plug in for Adobe Photoshop CS3, has emerged as one of the best and most familiar tools for editing RAW images, and the best way to master this workflow is with Photoshop CS3 RAW.
Award-winning author Mikkel Aaland explores the entire RAW process, from the practical reasons to shoot RAW, to managing the images with the new features of Bridge 2.0 navigation software, to processing your images with the new power of Adobe Camera RAW 4 and Photoshop CS3. The book's unique four-color, photograph-rich design helps you grasp the subject through visual instruction and clear explanation.Photoshop CS3 RAW focuses on Photoshop editing techniques, such as: - Automating RAW workflow
- Correcting exposures
- Extending exposure range
- Manipulating grayscale
- Working with the DNG open standard
Aaland helps you establish the best tool for each phase of your workflow, from managing shoots to perfecting photos. A digital photography pioneer and author of eight books, including O'Reilly's groundbreaking tutorial Photoshop Lightroom Adventure, Aaland's trademark ability to teach complicated topics on digital imaging with straightforward, easy-to-follow text makes this book a valuable learning tool for anyone serious about digital photography.
Required reading for professionals and dedicated photo hobbyists alike.
Seven RAW & Photoshop CS3 TIPS by Mikkel Aaland
#1) Shoot RAW when technical quality is critical, memory plentiful, and post processing is feasible. Shoot JPEG if capture speed is an issue, camera memory is limited, and processing time is of the essence.
#2) When shooting RAW critical camera settings include ISO (sensor sensitivity), and exposure--even though with a RAW file you have a greater margin of error. Not-so-critical settings include: white balance, sharpening, color space, and the choice between grayscale and color. These settings can all be applied later, using RAW processing software such as Photoshop Lightroom or Adobe Camera Raw.
#3) When shooting RAW with grayscale images in mind, dont bother using different color filters over your lens to produce dramatic black and white effects. Adobe Camera Raw provides graysale conversion which provide color sliders that "dial" in a filter effect.
#4) To recreate accurate colors in your RAW file, when possible, include in the shot a xRite ColorChecker target which cost around $50.
#5) To safeguard your images against unwanted usage, use Adobe Bridges Photodownloader and have it automatically add a copyright notice to every image downloaded. (The Photodownloader is found under Bridges File menu,"Get Photos from Camera".)
#6) Create and use different Bridge workspaces to work with your RAW files. For example, the default workspace displays small thumbnail versions of your images so you can see the entire collection at a glance for quick editing. The Horizontal and Vertical Filmstrip presets display large previews of your images for close examination and comparison. You can create custom workspaces as well.
#7) RAW files remain untouched when worked on with Adobe Camera Raw (and Adobe Lightroom), and developing instructions are saved separately, in XMP sidecar files. Avoid confusion, and the possibility of unreadable data, by converting your native RAW files in DNG, an open-standard RAW file format championed by Adobe.
About The Author
Mikkel Aaland is an award-winning photographer and and the author of nine books, including Photoshop CS2 RAW (O'Reilly 2006), Shooting Digital (2nd edition, Sybex, 2006), Photoshop Elements 4 Solutions (4th edition Sybex/Wiley, 2006), Photoshop for the Web, 2nd edition (O'Reilly, 1999), Still Images in Multimedia (Hayden, 1996), and Digital Photography (Random House, 1992), Since 2001 Aaland has been a regular guest on G4's Call For Help TV Program with Leo Laporte. In 2003 he was a guest columnist for newsweek.com. In 2004, Shooting Digital was named the best "Digital Photography" book of the year by the Designer's Bookshelf.
Aaland's documentary photographs have been exhibited in major institutions around the world, including the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris and the former Lenin Museum in Prague. In 1981 he received the National Art Directors award for photography. He has contributed both text and/or photography to Wired, Outside, Digital Creativity, American Photo, The Washington Post, and Newsweek, as well as several European publications.
Aaland has been a pioneer in digital photography, an interest that dates back to a 1980 interview he conducted with Ansel Adams. When Aaland asked Adams what he would be pursuing if he were just starting out, Adams discussed at length his fascination with digital photographs of the planets. Aaland has pursued this new technology since its infancy. During the 1980s he reported on digital photography as west coast editor of the Swedish FOTO magazine, and wrote a column on the subject for American Photographer magazine. Aaland is one of the few orginal Adobe Lightroom's alpha and beta user, and he served as an unpaid advisor on the project for over a year.
Customer Reviews & Comments
Here's a simple, clear introduction to CS3 Camera Raw. RAW is the generic name for the file type created by digital single lens reflex cameras and some other high end cameras that contains the basic, unprocessed data captured by the camera. As explained by Aaland, manipulating this data will allow the photographer to more accurately create his or her vision of a captured subject. Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) is the built in software included with Photoshop that allows processing of raw files. The book includes instruction on the use of Bridge, the common front end for all Adobe Creative Suite products, and Bridge's Photo Downloader, as well as limited information on using Photoshop to process images that have gone through ACR. It is not a manual for the use of the basic Photoshop. The author goes through the use of ACR's basic controls, advanced tonal control, sharpening, noise, vignetting and chromatic aberration controls, black and white processing and DNG files. I was particularly pleased to see that Aaland covered all the controls in the 4.1 update to ACR, including the new sharpening facility, as well as Photoshop's Smart Sharpen. Old hands interested in learning about the new sharpening might benefit from reading the sharpening chapter, although the book is clearly aimed at beginners. The author's method is to present text explanations on the outside of a page and illustrations next to the fold. There is plenty of white space and explanations are always adjacent to illustrations. Aaland takes you through the application of each of the tools in a step-by-step fashion with easy to understand text. I do have a few complaints. The first is that the screen captures of the ACR menus, while plentiful, are too small for aged eyes. I confess to keeping a magnifying glass at hand to examine these illustrations, although Aaland's text usually explained the procedures in sufficient detail so that it was often not essential to see the captured menus. My second complaint is applicable not just to this book, but many image processing books. I hereby call for a moratorium on the use of the word "art" in book titles and on covers. The subtitle is "Transform your RAW images into works of art". I suppose one could interpret that as merely a wish for your use of the software, but most people would probably think that there was going to be something about making your pictures more artful. There is not. This book is about using the sliders. If you are a beginner, looking for a good introduction to the use of ACR to manipulate your files to help you create better pictures, this book is as good as it gets.
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Photoshop CS3 Raw: Get the Most Out of the Raw Format with Adobe Photoshop, Camera Raw,...
List Price: $34.99
Available from Amazon
Price: $23.09
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