Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (2nd Edition)
by Doug Nelson, Katrin Eismann

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Book Reviews of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (2nd Edition)

Book Review: Improving Digital Images
Summary: 5 Stars

It actually is applicable to more than Restoration & Retouching. The information on image editing is useful for anyone working with digital images. And while it is based on use of Photoshop many of the tools are available in the lower priced Adobe Elements 2 and the approaches and concepts can be used with other image-editing programs as well.

Up front the author states that this is not a book for beginners. It assumes basic familiarity with Photoshop and the time available to learn, practice and use the techniques presented. It is targeted at professionals who use digital editing extensively. Well, I am no pro but I do take digital photos - generally quick pics at family gatherings. Rarely are my subjects posed - I take what and when I can. DDD lets me improve the photos by cropping, improving exposure, eliminating unwanted objects and such. I found this book informative and useful - even if many of the techniques are more than I want to do - now. Perhaps I'll grow into them too, now that I know what and how to do to improve my photos.

The book is a 10" x 8" glossy paperback. It has 276 pages for ten chapters and an Appendix. I found the type smaller and lighter than in other books, giving me some trouble in reading it. However, it is filled with a myriad of pictures, most in color, that demonstrate the before, during and after look of the images discussed. These before and after pictures often demonstrate quite dramatically the benefits of DDD. The Companion Web Site offers copies of the before images used in the book so the reader can follow along and practice by doing as described in the book.

I learned about using Levels to adjust the Histogram to get better overall tone in a picture. This is more potent than adjusting only the brightness and contrast. The author makes a point to use one or more adjustments layers to contain her changes - making them easily reversible. This is also a new trick for me. [Adobe's Layers tool is very useful in graphics editing.]

Of course, the book spends much time on the Restoration/Retouching subjects - over 2/3 of the book in fact.
These would have helped me in a family project where I scanned in old photos and created a CD for each member. I could definitely have improved the project with the techniques in this book.

The book covers: eliminating scratches and other defects in the pictures; repairing tears and rips; deleting unwanted objects, [Uncle Harry with the pitcher of beer in hand]; re-creating backgrounds; rearranging subjects; changing the colors; and more. The section on improving portraits is quite revealing. Remember the stories of aging movie actresses being filmed through gauze to cover the wrinkles? The same thing can be done with portrait photos. Subjects include "Digital Plastic Surgery" and "The Digital Diet". No wonder the people in advertisements appear so perfect - it's the editing [of good subjects of course]. The author does point out that one should start with the best possible image, recommending taking photos at multiple exposures, etc.

The book lists for $50 and is available on Amazon for $35. It does not discuss: digital cameras or scanners; the various file formats for the digital image files; the ways, besides prints, to show the images [as on the Internet]; nor management and storage of the image files. These subjects are covered in another of the author's books "Real World Digital Photography".

For its intended subject matter the book does an excellent job and will remain in my active library, available to guide me in improving the quality of my digital pictures and photo scans

Summary of Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (2nd Edition)

Learn to remove wrinkles, unwanted backgrounds or color casts, image flaws or 10 extra pounds so images look better than reality. Photoshop Restoration and Retouching, 2/E has been updated with new techniques, new projects, and new screenshots. It will take you through numerous step-by-step examples that highlight the tools and techniques used by professional digital artists to restore valuable antique images, retouch portraits and enhance glamour photography. This book features dozens of tutorials that will show users of all skill levels how to transform faded, damaged photographs into beautiful images that are as clear and crisp as the day they were taken.

Equipment Books

• Subjects > Arts & Photography > Photography > Equipment
• Computers & Technology > Graphic Design
• Programming > Graphics & Multimedia
• Software
• Adobe Photoshop