"Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers The Ultimate Workshop" by Jeff Schewe and Martin Evening

<p>I just picked this up tonight at my local Borders. So far I give it a thumbs up for clairity of presentation, readabilty, interesting choice of good photos to illustrate their points and technique, and over all immediate utility.</p>

<p>It will replace several other Photoshop how to books on my over crowded shelf.</p>

<p>http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-CS4-Photographers-Ultimate/dp/0240811186/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239760906&sr=8-1</p>

<p> </p>

Yes, I flipped through that at my local B&N and put it on my mental short list. There is a lot of junk out there when it comes

to photoshop books, but this one is really good and useful.

<p>Did Schewe write most of it? Evening's past writing has been obtuse, full of poor grammar, and very hard to follow. His earlier PS book(s) would tell you to use a technique yet to be explained. I found incomplete sentences, impossible to follow. What I read was worse than the old Adobe manuals.</p>

<p>I disagree with Jeff's statement about Martin Evening books. I have the Lightroom 2 book and the CS4 book (solo authored, not the one authored with Schewe). I find both well written, especially compared with the usual 3rd-grade language found in most how to books on any subject. Most refreshingly, I find none of the lame "humor" I see in another author's Photoshop books.</p>

<p>Well if I go to the library in the next few days, I will pick up Evening's PS book. I haven't seen such terrible grammar since third grade.</p>

<p>I like Evening's books very much. I like his style and the fact he can take good photographs helps too.</p>

<p>How is this book different from Evening's Photoshop for Photographers?</p>

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<p><em>Did Schewe write most of it?</em><br>

<em><br /> </em></p>

 

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<p>I have do idea of the actual editorial split -- the first few chapters seem more heavily weighted towards Jeff than towards Martin but I am basing that strictly on the credits of the photos.</p>

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<p><em>How is this book different from Evening's Photoshop for Photographers?</em></p>

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<p>It doesn't go into the depth Evening's larger and heavier book on Photoshop does. The "editorial voice" seems more focused as well. As Schewe and Evening contribute both text and photos from his commercial work it is more focused on the things I think most photographers actually use Photoshop for a regular basis. Finally , as the title says it is a workbook, a illustrated series of exercises.</p>

<p>I'm still in the CS3 dark ages. Is the book applicable for those of us who have yet to upgrade?</p>

<p>From Martin Evening;</p>

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<p><em>Hi Ellis,<br /> <br /> Thank you for starting the thread on the Ultimate Workshop book. To help answer some of the queries about this book, this was a joint effort with Jeff and myself working together on some of the photography, where Jeff came to London for the studio fashion shoots and I went to Chicago to help on the still-life work. We then wrote up the various tutorial sections separately, although we did collaborate writing some of the sections. The one thing we didn't get around to doing was to explain fully who you can tell who wrote what. If you look carefully at the banners you will see an Me or Js symbol, or sometimes both. These icons are put there to help the reader tell who wrote what.<br /> <br /> The main difference between this and the other book is that the main CS4 book continues to be a reference book on how to learn all the essentials of Photoshop. The Ultimate Workshop allows us to focus just on Photoshop techniques without having to explain the Photoshop interface and colour management all over again. Basically the main book covers all the essentials of Photoshop plus what's new in CS4 and the Workshop book becomes a classic reference that helps you take your Photoshop skills to the next level. There is a small amount of overlap between both, but I think they successfully compliment each other as a Photoshop CS4 resource. I was concerned that splitting the book up in this way might alienate some readers, but the progression to a two volume edition has so far gone down really well with readers.<br /> <br /> Martin<br /> </em></p>

 

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<p>"I haven't seen such terrible grammar since third grade."<br>

Actually, I think you'll find that Martin's grammar is indeed quite proper...being English means Martin is probably better educated in the use of the English language than most Americans–although his writing does have a bit of an accent–at least me let me spell color without the u...<br>

:~)</p>

<p>Ellis,<br /> I agree with your assessment (I read it cover to cover). One additional point, Martin and Jeff have done some VERY valuable videos on the included DVD. Even that alone would be worth the price!</p>

<p>Thanks Ellis (and Martin). It looks like I will have to make room in my bookshelf for another book.</p>

<p>Jeff, just an idea - have you considered doing a video tutorial version of this book - something like Lynda.com or the tutorial videos from Katrin Eismann? I found this is the most effective and time saving way to learn...</p>

<p>>Jeff, just an idea - have you considered doing a video tutorial version of this book </p>

<p>Actually, if you check out the DVD that comes with the book you'll see we've already included quite a few sections...a sample of which can be seen at <a href="http://photoshopnews.com/">PhotoshopNews.com.</a> I doubt we would do a long format video tutorial although I have done some of those for <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/videos/LR2.shtml">Lightroom</a> and <a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/videos/CR_1.shtml">Camera Raw</a> along with Michael Reichmann from the L<a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/">uminous Landscape website</a>.</p>

<p>Excellent, thanks!</p>