The Best in Adobe Photoshop Books

In the past few years I have purchased a number of Adobe Photoshop Books. This group of books I strongly believe are the best to help you quickly learn to use Photoshop. To view this page in another language, please use this translation tool...

Adobe Photoshop CS2, CS3, CS4 Books for Digital Photographers

This book and its follow-ons for CS3 and CS4 have been great. Full of step by step, screen shot by screen shot, simple instructions for a host of features and functions that photographers need to use to edit their images.

These books have made using Photoshop a breeze. I am now using Photoshop CS4 but have also kept the CS2 and CS3 books because from one book to the next, not all the same features and techniques are carried forward. When attempting to use a feature that you may not have used in a while, you may not find it in the latest book. So keep the earlier adobe photoshop books.

Adobe Photoshop for Digital Photographer's Books

Landscape and Nature Photography with Photoshop CS2

If you have ever read any of the Ansel Adams books or even studied the way he thought and worked in printing his images, then you will understand why Rob Sheppard's book is so important.

There is a wonderful theory which says "you should always strive to take the best shot using the camera so as to minimize your time spent in the photo editing". Well, that is not always possible.

It is interesting how working with this book has affected my nature photography. In the past, I may not have taken a shot or thrown it away after because some part of it was not quite right and I was not sure how I could fix it within Photoshop. Now, I find myself thinking, "no problem take the shot anyway because I have the skill to fix this one problem area of the photograph".

I am also finding that by using this book, I am more satisfied with the results of my photoshop editing.
To learn more about Rob Sheppard's other books, click here (Opens New Window)

Color to Black and White Conversion

Of the books and DVD's I have purchased, I feel Leslie Alsheimer's book and Katrin Eisman's DVD are the best so far. Especially when I combine their information with the work flow I have been taught in Rob Sheppard's Landscape book.

One of the perspectives I have discovered in the conversion to B&W process is there are sometimes photo opportunities such that when you look at the resulting image, it looks better in black and white than it does in color. And of course, the reverse is also true.

So, what does this teach you? When you are out shooting, sometimes you may hesitate on taking the shot because it does not appear to really look that great. You should take the shot anyway, because you may well find it WILL look better in black and white.

Turning Photographs into Paintings

However if you really want to master the art of turning photographs into paintings then I recommend you invest in Corel's Painter software. The current version is Painter 11 but I am using Painter X. This photo editing software has a look and feels similar to Photoshop , so it is really not that difficult to learn.

If you are looking for a great reference book to speed up your learning curve, then I recommend "Painter X for Photographers" by Martin Addison.

Although this is really not one of the adobe photoshop books, I am including it here because of the relationship to the above subjects. To see other Corel Painter books that are available, click here (Opens New Window)

News of Other Photography Reference Books?

Recommend or Review Adobe Photoshop Books?

Do you have a recommendation or review of these Adobe Photoshop Books? Or perhaps you would like to recommend another Photoshop books that our visitors should read? We would love to hear from you!