Great basic overview of digital color management & printing on inkjet

books:


	• Color Management in Digital Photography: Ten Easy Steps to True Colors in Photoshop Brad Hinkel Rocky Nook, 2006 - 152 pages average customer review:based on 9 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Great basic overview of digital color management & printing on inkjet

My color experience is from being a long time film photographer. Digital color management principals were new to me before this book. Having completed it, I feel that I understand the fundamentals and have made some excellent color prints using Photoshop CS3 on my Intel MacMini printing to my HP B9180 archival printer. These prints are as good or slightly better than any I've made using traditional chemical color printing processes. If you want to make better prints on any inkjet printer, this is a great handbook!

A little short and shallow

As the author stated at the beginning of this book, I was able to read the whole book in less than 2 hours. The material in the book gives a fast introduction/overview of the subject but certainly leaves one lacking for more detail more often than not. The text, particularly in the charter on color spaces is quite repetetive, to the point that I from time to time felt the editor has mistakenly repeated a section of text.

The author offers, throught the text, references to the books website which usually is an enhancement to a book. In this case, the web site is diffinately lacking. The only available item is the PDI target. The Macbeth color checker is NOT available as advertised (p.72). When I attempted to download the document on multiple exposures for the web site, I ended up at a broken link. The about the author section came up in Japanese when I tried it. A complete web site is the expected way to add to technical books these days and if one is offered it should work (especially since the book was published in 2007, but probably written in 2005-2006, and the equipment recommendations in the book have become rather outdated.)

I also agree with one of the previous reviewers that the price is a bit high for the content. Other books, such as Fine Art Printing for Photographers, offer more in depth information. For example, the chapter in this book on monitor profiling is a scant 3 pages plus the intductory paragraph. It takes more than this to cover this very important topic.

The beginner may get some information out of this book, but I think they will be left with the need for a more in depth treatment in order to really apply the 10 steps to their own digital printing. A person with more experience with the subject willI think be left with the impression that they didn't get their moneys worth here.

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Compendium of information easily found elsewhere

This book is short, and is mainly information that is better explained in other books. See the Rocky Nook book about photographic fine art prints. The material is sound, but should represent one chapter in a bigger book about printing.

Facing the Color Management Challenge

What you see is seldom what you get when you make the arduous journey from digital image file to hard copy. It's a royal pain in the ASCII.

Most of us pass off the color difference between what we see on our monitor and what we get in our prints with a shrug of the shoulders. It's just one of those vagaries of computing, right?

Generally, that's a healthy attitude for the casual computer user/digital photographer. There are enough hassles in life without looking for new ones. On the other hand, if you're trying to make a living in graphic arts/photography, color management looms large in your professional life.

Some days, when I'm working on several computers, each with it's own color quirks, it gets frustrating. The book nicely bridges the color management gap with thorough explanations of color space and how to calibrate and profile your monitor.

Obviously, a good monitor is going to be an important component of the management process. Hinckel covers the related subjects as well as making some specific recommendations. He also looks beyond the monitor and discusses a good work environment.

There are specific software packages like Monaco OPTIC and Monaco EZcolor that are more powerful than the color management programs that come with printers and photo/graphic editing software. There is a good explanation of how these work.

Hinkel explorers numerous printing option, tells how to test your system, and then he moves into Advanced Printing.

This book presents a comprehensive, easy-to-understand overview of color management. Hallelujah. This book may actually inspire all of us color-management-procrastinators to jump in and get this vital area of graphic arts under control.

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reviews: page 1, 2

Color management is one of the essential elements, yet major stumbling blocks in digital photography. The vast majority of digital photographers really wish they didn't have to be concerned with color management, yet the basic process of moving images from capture to print becomes impractical without it. And the more sophisticated the photography workflow becomes, the more important it is to manage colors from capture to print.

In this book, Brad Hinkel simplifies the language of color management. It is based on classes and workshops the author has given to hundreds of students of digital photography. His process for color management is intended to provide enough information to create a simple and effective system allowing the user to get on with photography - focus on creativity instead of technology. However, the fact that this book suggests a simple approach to color management does not mean it sacrifices quality and effectiveness. Simpler is usually better - if it works.

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