Rating: 

Reviewer: Joseph Iagnemmo
Austin Adobe Users Group

This is one of those books that has multiple functions. Not only does it become a reference book but, if you're like me, as you read many of the sections you will find yourself inspired to try what you learned on your own photos. I especially liked the section on how to make a photo look as if was hand-tinted.

There are 12 sections and each section has several topics that are covered under it. The first section covers the different ways to make a selection, layer masks and clipping masks. These are fundamental techniques that will be used throughout the rest of the book. Each section after is independent of each other so you can skip around if you like, just make sure you don’t miss anything because there is something to learn on each page.

You will find practical sections like ones for helping with color correction, focus manipulation, darkroom techniques and exposure correction. You will also find artistic sections with techniques for retouching portraits, lighting effects, retouching landscapes, color effects and photo restoration.

You expect a book that covers digital photo manipulation to be packed with color examples. The people at O’Reilly go one step further by making each example available for download on their website. This lets you follow along by doing each step of the process with the same image that is used in the book.

Overall this book is packed with practical how to steps and will help you fix, change or create an image from all of your photos.