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Adobe PS and Lightroom Classic for Photographers 3d Ed

Obregon Obregon

Is from: Southold, US
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Sun 07-Aug-22 04:19 PM
Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom Classic for Photographers 3d Edition by RC Concepcion

Lightroom is a great piece of software for photography. With the latest updates one might almost think it is perfect. Yet there are still adjustments that can’t be made in Lightroom that are available in Photoshop. For those who want to use the two in tandem, this is the book that tells you how. Besides, when you subscribe to the Adobe photography plan you get both programs, so why waste the opportunity to use what you are paying for.

Actually, just sending images back and forth between the two pieces of software is pretty easy, and could be described in a pamphlet. What RC Concepcion does is to show you both when and how you might want to make the transfer. He discusses how things like layers and masks can be used to target precisely adjustments that you might want to make to an image. (If you don’t know the basics of each piece of software this book is not the best place to learn those lessons. The author (and I) recommend that you start by reading the applicable Classroom in a Book for each piece of software before delving into this book.)

The book provides step-by-step practical exercises for the reader, using images that can be downloaded from the publisher’s web site. More importantly (to me at least) purchasing the book entitles you to the electronic version which includes videos showing the execution of the exercises as well as the text. I have used Photoshop for more than twenty years, and Lightroom since it was first introduced, so I didn’t feel the need to do all the exercises. On the other hand, once in a while I found a technique that I was not familiar with where I could shift back and forth between the on-line book and the two pieces of software, without having to juggle the dead trees version. Occasionally, I encountered an unfamiliar function that I had never needed and had no present need for. I watched the video, and now when I encounter a place where that function will be useful, I expect to return to the book and video.

The processing of an image may require many different functions in the two pieces of software for the best results. Most of the other texts on Lightroom and Photoshop explain single tools and their applications, while Concepcion, for the most part, shows the reader how many interrelated functions are necessary, which can be useful to get a handle on the process. The author also showed me certain useful functions that other books had not covered, and at least one that even Adobe’s on-line did not explain.

There were a few techniques that I use that integrate the two pieces of software that weren’t mentioned. I prepare my images in different custom sizes for clients. I use the export function (rather than open in Photoshop) so that I don’t crowd my catalog with these custom sizes. I also prefer to print my images in Photoshop, where the printing is more controllable. Just saying.

I have a few nits to pick. It’s been the better part of a decade since Jeff Schewe delved into the mysteries of sharpening. We need an update. Also, the publishers have been a little sloppy in the electronic version. Every time I moved to a new section of the book, I got one or more notices from my browser asking me where I should save a file called index.html on my computer. I cancelled these notices. The fault may be with my Firefox browser, but the book should have been tested with all the major browsers. The book includes review questions at the end of each chapter. The hard copy includes answers but the on-line copy doesn’t. Finally, my aged eyes made me maximize the videos to full screen. When I minimized the first video I was returned to the top of the page. However, when there were more videos lower on the page, and I had maximized one of these, I was returned to the top of the page again when I minimized the later video. I had to scroll down to return to the point from which I had maximized.

Despite these problems with the on-line edition, this is a good learning tool for people who want to maximize the possibilities in an image.

G