Real World Photoshop by Blatner and Fraser

[brian_m2]

I just want to clear up one misconception that I've seen on this site

several times. Those who recommend Blatner and Fraser's RW Photoshop

CS book to PS newbies, obviously have forgotten what it is like to

learn Photoshop for the first time. Real World Photoshop assumes a

lot of basic knowledge about the tools and processes in Photoshop.

Ex. it discusses various ways to customize the lasso tool, but never

explains what the lasso tool does (it assumes you know). I would

characterize it as a good book for those who have broad but shallow

knowledge of PS and want to deepen it. Not advanced users, but not

absolute beginners either. Please stop recommending it to absolute

beginners!

[eric friedemann]

Ditto.

[jake_tauber]

The same is true for Haynes and Crumper's "Photoshop Artistry". A terrific book, but not for a newbie.

[dfdncithekxlbn8kaglf33]

I find the Real World series to be excellent for beginners and advanced users. The problem with the series is that is draws out explanations with pointless chatter and triplicate wording that the books bloat to 3 times the needed sizes. Partly this is my learning style, but there is way too much crap in their than needs to be.

 

Maybe the market likes that, but there is not much else on the market that is as comprehensive in a broad and general way. I much prefer the Visual Quick Start guides. Less ego-author BS, and more to the point of what is going on. Also, less examples were the original looks better than the correction! Fo course being in black and white hides the bad correx.

[alexdi]

Page 501, RWPS7:

<p>

<i>The Lasso tool lets you create a freeform outline of a selection. Wherever you drag the mouse, the selection follows until you finally let go of the mouse button and the selection is automatically closed for you.</i>

<p>

Presumably he was kind enough to put similar text in CS version.

<p>

The reason RWPS is 800 pages is that Blatner <i>does</i> rehash the important bits of Photoshop's manual, and in such a way to make them unambiguous and useful.

<p>

I'd like to hear from a total novice that's bought this book, because I honestly haven't seen anything that comes even remotely close.

<p>

DI

[ethan hansen]

If you are looking for a book to bring you up to speed in Photoshop, the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/032119375X/drycreekphoto-20/">Photoshop Classroom in a Book</a>, by Adobe's Creative Team is the way to go. Spend a weekend working through the tutorials and lessons, and you'll be at a reasonably high level of proficiency. It is the most efficient Photoshop teaching tool I have seen.

[john y.k. lee]

I was a total novice when I bought this book one year ago upon the recommendation of many photo.netters. I started by reading this book from cover to cover. Then, I tried to work in photoshop. I found myself frequently supplementing my learning by going to Barnes and Noble and looking at other less comprehensive, but more basic photoshop books. Some of the basic books were better at simply describing step by step what to do. However, Blatner and Fraser are definitely better at providing the intellectual and conceptual framework for the program.

 

An important caveat, however, is that I am an amateur and have no financial interest in making quality prints. I simply like to know how to manipulate pictures and make nice prints on my HP 7960.

 

The best analogy that I can come up with has to do with my science classes in college. Real World Photoshop is like reading a hardcore biochemistry textbook (eg. Stryer). Sometimes you have to supplement the difficult reading with dumbed down versions like (Champe and Harvey for Biochemistry).

[kirk_thompson]

This is the sequence I'd recommend:

 

1. As Ethan said, Classroom in a Book is the place to start;

 

2. Katrin Eisman's Restoration & Retouching book - good for a lot more than

the title says, but presupposing the Classroom level of understanding;

 

3. Real World Photoshop, for a constant-companion reference book;

 

4. Barry Haynes for a thorough series of lessons (form a group to go through

the chapters!);

 

and take a vacation workshop in Oregon or Montana or New Mexico with

Katrin or Barry!

[pam_r]

Kirk has assembled a great PS book list. I particularly like the tip about forming a group to go through Photoshop Artistry ;) It would truly make it easier.

 

I'd also like to add more one book to the list, "Channel Chops" by David Biedny, Bert Monroy and Nathan Moody. It's a must for any serious PS user. Pricey and out of print, it's well worth it and can be found on Amazon.

[alexdi]

John, did you find the manual worth anything?

 

DI

[grant_.]

whats photoshop?

[john y.k. lee]

I definitely did find the book useful David. I still keep it beside me when I work in Photoshop. However, I definitely needed to supplement.

[david_dahlstrom]

I really can't agree.

 

Of course it depends on what you mean by a newbie. If the person has limited photographic background, is a computer novice, or a junior-high student then I suppose these books might be too advanced. But my very first book as a rank PS newbie was Artistry, and I later added Real World to my library. These books were a great pair to this newbie.

 

If you're buying Photoshop and spending that kind of money on what is essentially professional software, I have to assume you're either professional or a pretty serious amateur; otherwise why in the world did you buy it? I thumbed through Classroom after going through Artistry and found it good and informative but too fluffy for me. Artistry, on the other hand gave me the hardcore technical information that I needed to get my digital darkroom going fast. And Real World has turned out to be a great secondary book for reference.

 

Classroom or other down-to-basics books are fine, don't get me wrong, but saying that you *must not* recommend these other books to Photoshop newcomers is a bit presumptious. You see, even if someone says they're new to Photoshop, I have to assume that if they bought professional software, they are competent enough to understand professional documentation. If they are not, then perhaps a better recommendation might be to suggest they get PS Elements or some other consumer grade software.

 

Sorry for the rant, but I was a beginner too and had absolutely no difficulty understanding Artistry and Real World. Artistry is written FOR competent beginners, and Real World is a reference for everyone. These books are probably written at about a high school or early college level of writing. So I'm not sure where the difficulty lies.

[brian_m2]

Dahlstrom:

 

"So I'm not sure where the difficulty lies." Take your smug and patronizing comments elsewhere, thank you very little. (Yes, I'll call a spade a spade, even on this site, with its extraordinary numbers of passive-aggressive commenters.) As for your self-indulgent rant, and by way of reply (though I'm not sure why except I just hate comments like yours as a matter of principle), I'll note that I have advanced degrees in law and International Relations and am a partner in a major national law firm. I think I'm capable of deciphering the text of RWPS. And yes, I am a newbie, and since you asked, I bought PS because I've been developing B&W for years and want to venture into color now, and I can afford the full version of PS. As for the accuracy of my statement, see above - there are plenty who agree.