By Eddie Tapp, Rick Lucas
First Edition
October 2006
Pages: 162
ISBN 10: 0-596-52768-3 |
ISBN 13: 9780596527686
(Average of 2 Customer Reviews)
The second book in this acclaimed series delves into color management, a topic that has needlessly become a mystery to experienced digital photographers. With his easygoing yet authoritative style, noted expert Eddie Tapp explains how color management can be integrated into the overall photographic workflow. Included is a chapter on technical aspects from color guru Rick Lucas.
Full Description
Clear and concise, this highly visual book explains how color management is a part of the overall photographic workflow. Eddie demonstrates the three stages of color managed workflow, from choosing a color space, to calibrating your devices, to applying appropriate profiles, and shows you exactly what you need to know and why you need to know it. Color management scientist Rick Lucas contributes a chapter on the hard-core technical aspects. Other books on color management are much too long, involved and intimidating. This absorbing book sets the right tone and supplies you with key answers quickly.
Our Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography book series brings you the focused knowledge you need on specific areas of digital photography. Acknowledged as one of the premier trainers of digital imaging in the world, Eddie brings his teaching experience to bear on issues that other books gloss over or bury under general coverage. Now, you don't have to buy a doorstop-sized book to get the key information you need on color management, efficient workflow, or a variety of other specific digital imaging topics.
Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography also covers workflow setup; advanced and professional production techniques; controlling digital color and tone; creative enhancement techniques; and more. This series is a perfect complement to O'Reilly's general list on Photoshop and digital photography, and offers you focused books that cover technical issues at prices that are affordable and solutions that are quickly accessible. We're thrilled that Eddie Tapp has finally agreed to publish books -- and with O'Reilly.
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Book details
First Edition: October 2006
ISBN: 0-596-52768-3
Pages: 162
Average Customer Reviews: (Based on 2 Reviews)
Featured customer reviews
Excellent and understandable presentation on Color Management, January 02 2008
This book presents the complex topics of color management in an easy to read and understandable manner, suitable for both the professional and non-professional photographer. Eddie Tapp certainly has the credentials to write this book. For more information on the author, connect to his website, http://www.eddietapp.com/, and to http://www.leppphoto.com/eddietapp.htm.
If you have ever said to yourself, “this photo doesn’t look like what I saw,” then you need to read and study Chapter 2, Understanding Key Color Management Concepts. The author writes about calibration, color profiles and color spaces, all of which can dramatically affect the finished photograph. Or, more accurately, he provides a discussion of “calibration vs. profiling,” which I found especially helpful in sorting out the need for, and the appropriate sequence of, the two techniques. The discussion of color spaces, or color gamuts, is also helpful, but the gamut diagrams do not, in my judgment, effectively show the differences between various classes of devices (e.g., monitors vs. scanners vs. laser printers vs. printing presses). Most non-professionals do not know just how much information in an image is lost—compared to a set of healthy human eyes— when using a camera and then trying to create a print from the resulting image. The discussion in this chapter will contribute to changing that situation, despite the need for better gamut comparisons.
I would also like to see a little more information on calibrating LCD’s. Having experimented with the gamut numbers on my laptop, and eventually returning to where I started, I could use some additional help understanding this topic. Even if I decide to buy one of the calibration kits recommended by the author. True, there is more information in Chapter 4 on this topic (including those recommended calibration kits). What seems to be missing is a link between setting the correct gamma value by the user, and current industry practice in setting the value (which, in some cases, is “normalized”) that is incorporated into actual hardware, when newly shipped from the manufacturer.
You can evaluate this chapter for yourself before you buy because it is available online at http:// www.oreilly.com/catalog/colormgmt/chapter/ch02.pdf.
If you want to combine scanned photos (and you need to correct those scans), and photos from your digital camera into a printed album, you will find the information in Chapter 3 absolutely essential for a satisfactory result. Considering the vast array of image editing software applications available today, I don’t think it is unreasonable to conclude that almost everyone with a digital camera has tried to correct problem photos. What is not obvious—at least to the casual photographer—is that there is a specific sequence needed for effectively applying corrections. That information is provided in Chapter 3, Establishing a Color Management-Friendly Workflow, so don’t let the chapter title intimidate you. There are useful nuggets of information on how to set up the image capture devices (scanners or cameras) before you start. There are additional recommendations on which camera formats to use, and when to use them. There is also a discussion of how to “prepare a file for output.” While that may sound much too generic, the information on image processing, printer resolution and even paper choices will make a very big positive difference to the quality of your finished product.
There is also a very interesting sidebar on page 29 comparing the qualities of the two primary digital camera sensor technologies.
The remaining two chapters are probably of more interest to the professional photographer, but I suggest you read “The Future of Color Management” on page 133.
The quality of the printing is excellent. There are several sets of graphics that demonstrate subtle color variations.
This is an excellent book for anyone interested in understanding digital imaging technology. It requires some study. If you are satisfied with the processing results from your local retailer, then you will very likely not make use of the information in this book.
For those who enjoy the technology as well as the artistry of digital photography, this book is for you.
Provides Good Understanding and Useful Tips, January 18 2007
I was very excited to see this title because color management has always been a difficulty for me with my various job tasks and hobbies. Between web & print design along with heavy digital photography work, getting colors workable across many devices is a constant effort.
At first I was a bit worried that this was going to be just a theory book despite the title. The first several chapters were spent on history and understanding the need and how color management is needed and works. The later chapters delved into some of that nitty gritty I was looking for.
I would not call this a comprehensive guide, yet it was well worth the read for the information it provided. I found it more targeted to those with ink jets and general business printing. Don't be dissuaded if you are often printing on 4 color presses, the workflow tips and understanding here is very applicable.
I enjoyed Eddie's straightforward and easy to understand writing style. The book has a page layout style that is atypical but enjoyable - with heavy emphasis on the visuals.
Media reviews
"This easy-to-read and well-designed book is aimed at people with some knowledge of computers and digital photo editing. The well-produced photographs, charts, and illustrations do not leave you guessing at what color you are supposed to be seeing. On each page, the black text is printed over light gray, so the glossy paper does not blind you while reading. This sets the book apart from most other books on color and it shows their regard of the reader. While the concepts are deep, the amount of material per page is easily digestible. "
-- Ilene Hoffman, MACNN
"Setting up a fully-calibrated working environment, from scanner to camera to screen to press, can be a daunting task since each piece of the puzzle needs to be right for it to work but the author does a very good job of explaining these techniques while keeping the tone light. More people should be reading these types of books since getting what you want from an image or design is so critically linked to unfortunately technical-looking things like IT8 and ink-limit charts. Titles like this will hopefully help make this knowledge more commonplace."
-- David Girard, Amazon Reviewer
"Eddie makes some of the most complex concepts understandable. His easy-going style, mixed with his years of real world experience, make him one of the top trainers in the industry today."
-- Scott Kelby, President, National Association of Photoshop Professionals
"General-interest library lending collections will find "Practical Color Management" a popular pick, offering not only a more visual approach than most, but including easy instructions even novices can readily understand. "
-- Diane Donovan, California Bookwatch
"Each volume in the Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography series covers just one important subject, thus keeping the book light in weight and tone..."
-- Carol Conti-Entin, Mouse Tales (North Coast Macintosh Users Group)
"Propagating the color from a scene in the same vivid and true color to a Web page or printed image is a daunting task. The true color in the image, displayed on a computer monitor, and passed to an output device (computer projector, printer, laptop display, etc.) must all render a version that accurately reflects the original. Implementing a color management system can be a major challenge. Enter Eddie Tapp, the consummate digital photographer with his user friendly color management workflow and easy to implement color management methods and techniques. In this attractive, full-color book he shows how color can be controlled from image capture to output."
-- Michael Kleper, The Kleper Report on Digital Publishing
"While the book's topic can be a very confusing one, Practical Color Management is only 150 pages and easy to read, written in a very understandable style. Tapp has an easygoing approach that makes you feel like the undertaking will be easy. At first look, it almost seems that the approach will be too basic, but it builds quickly and will be of benefit to newcomer and professional alike as they try to make sense of world of digital color management."
-- T. Michael Testi, Blogcritics.org
"[Eddie Tapp] walks you through the actual process of color managing your workflow, and does so in a plainspoken, easy-to-uderstand (and implement) manner."
-- Peter Bauer, Photoshop User
"Practical Color Management by Eddie Tapp is practically indespensible for any picture professional with questions on the topic of how to maintain consistent, predictable color among various devices and users--from initial film scans or digital camera capture through conversion and output. Tapp is an internationally renowned digital imaging educator, and this book proves why...Even imaging professionals comfortable with color management will likely benefit from Tapp's insights and strategies, especially because he provides up-to-date information about evolutions that have taken place in the last two years...So whether or not you just need a quick introduction to color management or you are looking to hone your skills, you'll appreciate what Tapp has to offer in Practical Color Management."
-- Ethan G. Salwen, The Picture Professional
