Rating: 
Summary: Pleasantly Surprised!
Review: I knew when I saw the table of contents that this book had the technical help I was seeking. When I started using it to update my digital photowork at home I was very impressed at how easy it was to follow. I got the exact results as were shown in the examples and feel confident that my skills will be greatly enhanced because of this well written book.Thank you to the author!!
Rating: 
Summary: Straight to the point in retouching and restoring images
Review: I borrowed this book from the library and then eventually bought it because I was so intrigued with Katrin Eismann's styles and techniques. I followed Ms. Eismann's example in improving tone and contrast on photos which I downloaded from her web site. I was trying to master Photoshop restoring and retouching by following her examples and straightforwarding techniques. Doing that brought out amazing results on the images. When I applied her techniques, all I can say was "WOW". I highly recommend this book for people who already know beyond the basics of Photoshop.
Rating:
Summary: The best Photoshop book around
Review: I've used Photoshop for a number of years, but until now have never purchased a Photoshop how-to book. The reason was simple -- most of the Photoshop "Bibles" or "Definitive Guides" you see are filled with, let's be truthful about this, junk. They'll teach you how to create gleaming, 3-D text with marbelized textures and silly gee-whiz visual effects, but barely scratch the surface teaching what Photoshop was invented for -- photo retouching and restoration.I've been manipulating photographs for years in Photoshop, but in just a few pages of Eismann's book I realized there was much more to learn. Eismann's clear tone, direction, and oceans of screenshots showing photos in many stages between "before" and "after," make this book the only Photoshop book really worth owning. The techniques presented inside are smart, timeless, and will help you take your photography to a whole new level. And let's also be clear about who will benefit from this book -- just about anyone who works with images, from professional graphic designers all the way down to digital camera hobbyists. As a matter of fact, she often refers to digital cameras, and provides a plethora of techniques to consider when working with this specialized medium. The book does not come with a CD-ROM, but Eismann does provide a web site where you can download all of the images (in their raw, untouched state) used in the book so you can work alongside it. The book is printed on crisp, bright white paper that holds the detail of the photographs quite well -- an important factor especially for seeing the differences b/w before and after stages, and the sometimes subtle changes made. In closing, I have never seen a more useful book than this. Anyone would benefit tremendously from buying it.
Rating:
Summary: The ultimate reference source for retouching information.
Review: An incredibly useful, interesting, thorough, and informative book. Whether you intend to use the accompanying web resources or not, you will learn something new every time you pick up the book. For retouching old family photographs, this is the best book I have ever seen. It will help you retouch your heirloom whether your problem is fading, scratches, color-bleed, mold and other spots, or whatever else can go wrong with a picture, you'll be able to greatly improve it by following these step-by-step instructions.
Rating:
Summary: EXCEPTIONAL AND DELIGHTFUL
Review: In spite of the avid fans of this author and book, I was still hesitant to make the purchase because I was sick of the trite and boring books on photoshop we have seen over the years. MY FAITH IS RESTORED! This is the best HOW TO book I have ever worked with. The step by steps are thoughtful and measured, you simply do not get lost or miss a beat. You master each new technique quickly and easily. Moreover, nearly all the images are available for free on the author's web site. I cannot tell you how great this book is... see for yourself. If Katrin was not already married, I would propose today! I am suppressing my name to proctect my current marriage.
Rating:
Summary: My Restoration Bible
Review: The copy I brought months ago is dog eared from use. I think this book is great!! I would recommmend it for the professional as well as the beginner. It is easy to understand, and the many tricks really work. The only thing is that I wish that the samples were on the CD rather than on line. I have a hard time copying the photographs with to practice on from the on line site.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely essential techniques for the photo restorer
Review: I thought I was just picking up a book for a quick refresher, something that would cover new tools, and recent developments in techniques of digital photo restoration. I was wrong. This book has fundamentally changed and revolutionized the way I work. I consider it to be one of the 3 or 4 truly essential books on Photoshop. If you work on photographs, buy this book. The savings in time alone are worth many many times the price.
Rating:
Summary: superb
Review: For those of you interested primarily in photo retouching, I don't see how it could be more clearly or simply explained. Work through Eisman's examples, which you can download from her website, to gain experience in the techniques. I was a Photoshop neophyte, and thoroughly confused by the manual, and by Classroom in a Book; but finally understood what photo retouching was about after going through Eisman's book. If photo repair and retouching is your interest, I can't recommend this book more highly.
Rating:
Summary: Simply the Best
Review: After hearing all the hype about this book, I was a little nervous about buying it -- I feared that it wouldn't be as good as I hoped. Fortunately, though, I was pleasantly surprised as it surpasses my expectations. Not only am I learning new ways to accomplish various tasks in Photoshop, but I'm also learning how to think differently about using Photoshop. This book is more than worth its price just for what it teaches, but the fact that it makes me think and apply what I've learned in previously unexplored ways is what makes it priceless.
Rating:
Summary: Worth every dime spent, quite possibly the best retouch book
Review: As I ventured into further and further depths into the wonderfully deep world of Photoshop, there came a need to improve my retouching technique. So I purchased both this book and also Scott Kelbys "Photo Retouching Secrets" at the same time. I gotta say, while I have gotten a few useful and neat tricks out of Kelbys book, I feel that Eismanns book is the far better piece of work for what I was looking for. My view on this comes down to the fact that I prefer to have a book that teaches me some ideas, and makes me think, versus just a book that presents a laundry list of quick tricks and tips. Same thing for the "wow" books.. while they are "fun", they aren't on my required reading list for Photoshop books... they really don't get you involved in problem solving or technical kind of learning experience that I feel is necessary to master this (Photoshop) program. So, you, the reader, have to decide what you are looking for. If you want just a quick and dirty set of tips to retouch photos and you consider yourself a beginner to light intermediate, then Kelbys book might be better. (Kelbys book is far from bad, I'm just stating a strong preference for this one instead) However, if you seriously want to get inside the head of a great retoucher, and learn more powerful techniques, definitely check out this (Eismanns) book. Another plus to this book is Katrin never tosses you an attitude about her views. She credits other people when she has learned from them. In this regard she is about as far away from someone like the incredibly brilliant but occasionally arrogant Dan Margulis of "Photoshop 6/Classic Guide to Color Correction" fame. The only weaknesses in the book (and the reason I deduct a star) are a less than stellar coverage of density, contrast and color correction. (however, this topic is covered quite well in the aforementioned Margulis book or the Photoshop Artistry book by Haynes/Crumpler) This shortcoming, however, is balanced out with incredibly good portrait and glamour retouching sections as well as good discussions on restoration techniques. Seriously recommended.
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