Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop
A couple of years ago I picked up Scott Kelby’s Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers. It’s an excellent reference book and I highly recommend the edition for whatever version of Photoshop you happen to have.
But, this isn’t a review of that book. That’s because Kelby’s 7-Point System is the essential book Photoshop users and if you are going to start with one Photoshop instruction book, this is the one I’d recommend.
Kelby and Joe McNally are both from the “self-deprecating, smarty pants” school of writing. It’s entertaining, even if at times a bit annoying. But the writing style doesn’t detract from the very solid instruction Kelby provides.The 7-Point System walks the photographer through seven essential steps that Kelby recommends for every photograph. But, he doesn’t just walk you through it, he does it 20 different times, using appropriate portions of his system with different examples. Of course, as has become a standard among computer instruction books, the exercise files are available online so you can use the same examples he shows in the book.
Kelby’s lessons make extensive use of both RAW and “smart objects,” two areas that I now find I use much more regularly and much more effectively after completing Kelby’s book. As of this writing (August, 2010) there is no version of the book available for either CS4 or CS5, but I wouldn’t let that stop anyone from buying the book. I used it with CS4 and had no problems.
This book will make your photographs look much better. Guaranteed.