Photoshop Channels Book, The

Product Author Bios

Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) as well as Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User and Mac Design magazines. Scott also serves as Training Director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the Technical Chair of the PhotoshopWorld conference. Scott has written numerous books on Photoshop and is the creator of the best-selling Killer Tips series.

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that's why the secret power of Photoshop's channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now.

Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop's Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn't a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use  channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets they use to get twice the work done in half the time).

You'll learn how today's top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field. There's a reason there's always been a mystique to using channels, and why Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today.

You'll be amazed at not only what you're able with channels, but you'll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give you. If you're ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you're holding the book that will take you there, and you're gonna love it! 

Customer Reviews

154 of 185 people found the following review helpful Very superficial and lacking, April 6, 2006 By  Nor'easter (Northeast) - See all my reviews    This review is from: The Photoshop Channels Book (Paperback) I bought this book hoping to understand the holy grail of channels and what they could do for me in my everyday work with Photoshop. After reading this book I came away believing that for the most part one can do without understanding or using channels. I fault the author for this outcome who as one reviewer noted seemed to have come up with the idea of a book about Photoshop channels and then scraped the barrel for ways to actually use channels in Photoshop. There are a few good sections such as how to boost sharpening with channels but for the most part the examples given are of very obscure use in the real and practical world and i doubt I will ever have the need to use them. I also agree with the reviewer who noted that Mr. Kelby glosses over explanations in his examples so one would be hard pressed to use the technique on his/her own for their particular picture because he didn't explain his choice of settings, i.e. the big picture. In conclusion, there has been a market for... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comments (4) 44 of 52 people found the following review helpful Just a little too superficial, March 9, 2006 By  William W. Smith (Bridgewater, NJ) - See all my reviews       Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?) This review is from: The Photoshop Channels Book (Paperback) This is the book that seemed to never arrive. Announced last summer some time, many of us waited and waited, watching the delivery date recede. When it finally did arrive the book turned out to be just slightly disappointing. Kelby seems to have committed to a book on channels and then realized he had to fill pages with nothing but techniques that somehow use channels. The result is a book that stretches to find a way to work channels into the discussion or veers off into little used techniques only because they make use of channels. How often will you work with spot color? Not unless you do prepress work for newspapers. That said, the useful chapters are pretty useful. But if you ordered Dan Margulis's book on LAB color while you were waiting for Kelby to finish writing, you got the bible before you got the Cliff's Notes. Margulis does the heavy lifting. Kelby keeps it pretty light and breezy. Some of the best stuff in here is about mixing channels or... Read more Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comments (2) 13 of 13 people found the following review helpful Good Starting Point for Channel Work, September 7, 2006 By  Bruce Albrecht (Keaau, HI USA) - See all my reviews    This review is from: The Photoshop Channels Book (Paperback) If you're just learning about channels, and want to learn ways to make your images look better, this book is a good start. Scott Kelby is certainly one of the most prolific pundits in the PS world, and here he assembles techniques from many sources. Explanations are simple, the techniques are tried-and-true, and the writing is not bad (albeit a bit corny). You'll get a lot better at Photoshop by incorporating these techniques into your workflow. It is indeed NOT meant for Elements users, and assumes use of CS2, although most methods can be used in earlier versions with minor modifications. If you're looking for a treatise on the theory behind channels and color spaces, look elswhere (like Dan Margulis' work). But if you want to avoid the lofty explanations and just get in there and make your images great, this is the place for you. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews  Was this review helpful to you?  Report abuse | Permalink  Comment

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Praise For Photoshop Channels Book, The

A++ rating. Channels and layers are the two major tools you need to use to get the most control and quality out of your images, and this book will give you everything you will ever need to know to master the channels part of that.”
Read the full review at:
http://apogeephoto.com/july2006/bookreviews0706.shtml

apogeephoto.com
July 1, 2006

Downloadable Sample Chapter

Chapter 1: Channel Basics

Errata

Download the current list of errata for this title (errata.pdf)