Photoshop Restoration and Retouching: Amazon.co.uk: Katrin Eismann: Books

Amazon.co.uk Review

It's disappointing when a photo of a loved one is marred by "red eye" or the wrong exposure, or a cherished picture from long ago cracks and fades. Luckily, Katrin Eismann seems to know every trick available in Photoshop for making photographs--film or digital--look just how you want them to, whether that means restoring what has been lost, fixing incorrect exposures, erasing dust and scratches, or even re-creating reality. (Who wouldn't want to lose a few wrinkles?) Eismann has the artistic eye to appreciate good photography, the technical savvy to be able to offer numerous solutions to any given problem, and the writing and teaching skills to walk readers clearly through them.

Photoshop Retouching and Restoring assumes readers have a working knowledge of Photoshop; it does not go through the basics or cover complex selections or masking, although it does quickly explain essentials such as shortcuts, context-sensitive menus, quick image-navigation tricks, the varieties of layers, and smart file management--all issues that expedite workflow and distinguish regular and power users. It even outlines what it takes to set up shop as a professional retoucher--equipment, studio arrangement, and working with clients and contracts.

The author strongly advises reading from start to finish, and she's structured the projects so that they build upon each other. The book is divided into three sections: correcting tone, exposure, and colour; restoration, repairing, and rebuilding; and portrait and glamour retouching. Each page is filled with plenty of before-and-after images, along with screen shots of palettes and dialogue boxes.

This book makes tackling each flaw look easy--it seems like even the worst photo can be saved. Also, by the end, readers will have an appreciation for those who do retouching for a living--it takes planning, a good eye, consistency, and a lot of organisation, or you're just flailing away with adjustment layers. You can get a look at a sample tutorial and chapter on the companion Web site, digitalretouch.org, which also includes all project images and other resources. --Angelynn Grant

Product Description

Photoshop Restoration and Retouching is a hands-on book for designers, photographers, commercial illustrators, and artists who seek to make the best out of the not perfect. The world is full of imperfections, but professionally-prepared images never show those blemishes, cellulite, poorly reproduced colors, stray hairs or wrinkles. This book will walk readers through all kinds of repair and correction, including:

Improving contrast and tone
Correcting color, either from a bad original or a bad scan
Removing unwanted elements from photographs
Repairing heirloom originals with problems such as mold spots, cracks, or torn corners
Improving portraits by removing blemishes, removing distracting elements, or replacing closed eyes
Tips and tricks for glamour and fashion photographers

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34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

Superb, easy to follow and in a league of its own! 9 May 2001

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This is the book I've been waiting for! Katrin Eismann takes you meticulously through just about all of the possible scenarios you could imagine encountering in terms of photo restoration and retouching, from painstakingly restoring antique family portraits that might be stained or torn, right through to giving us the 'secret' tricks used by photoshop retouchers when working on professional portraits - how to get flawless skin, touch-up eyes so they look flawless, etc. etc.

The layout and presentation of the book is very clear, with the various steps involved in each procedure being easy to follow. It is also fairly easy to use as a reference tool, since it has a good contents listing and index. However, most can be gained from reading this from cover to cover.

So, this book is a gem! It's been a long time since anything this good came out for those Photoshop users who, like me, really want to get the best out of our photographs - especially portraits. The book focuses on Photoshop version 6, although it should also be useful for those with older versions (it covers both Mac and PC). There is also a companion web site containing images from the book that can be downloaded to practice on.

This is the most detailed treatment of restoration and retouching using Photoshop on the market - it goes much further than any more general books on Photoshop, such as the Photoshop Bible or even Martin Evening's excellent 'Photoshop for photographers'.

I would recommend this book to anyone who already has some working knowledge of photoshop - buy it - you won't regret it!

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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

The best Photoshop retouching book around 9 Jan 2002

By R. Whiting

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

As a professional portrait photographer who works with digital images all the time this book is just what I have been waiting for. Katrin Eismann is a highly skilled Photoshop user who puts over her ideas and techniques in a very easy to understand way. She shares some of the secrets of the professional retouchers who create the flawless look of the glossy magazines. Highly reccomended.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

excellent 1 Nov 2002

By A. Charter

this is by far one of the best books on photoshop that i have seen yet.
one good feature is the little hints, tips and warnings paragraphs on every other page that guide you through the processes and techniques involved whilst not leading you astray from what you are doing.
another nice touch is the ability to download the pictures in the book from the website and practice on them yourself!

this book is worth every penny, buy it now!!