Scott Kelby, the world’s #1 bestselling Photoshop author, and the man who changed the Photoshop and digital photography world with his ground-breaking, award-winning "Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers" unveils a exciting, brand new way of thinking, and working in Adobe Photoshop that will not only change the industry again, but it will change the way we all work in Photoshop forever, so we can finally spend less time fixing our images, and more time finishing them.

You’re about to become a Photoshop Shark!
Scott has focused in and really narrowed things down to just exactly which Photoshop tools and techniques we absolutely, positively have to know, and he found that there are just seven major tools, seven major features that we have to master to enhance our images like a pro. But then he took it a step further. Out of those seven major tools, he looked at which parts or sections of those tools do we really need to master, and which parts can we pretty much ignore (in other words, he whittled it down so you’re not learning parts of the tools that you’re probably never going to need). Then, and perhaps most importantly, he determined exactly when and in which order to apply these seven techniques that make up Scott’s amazing "Photoshop Seven Point System."

But the magic of this book, is not just listing the seven tools and showing how they work. It’s how they’re used together, and how Scott teaches them (and makes it stick), that makes this book so unique. You’re not going to just learn one technique for fixing shadows, and another technique for adjusting color (every Photoshop book pretty much does that, right?). Instead, you’re going start off at square one, from scratch, as each chapter is just one photo?one project?one challenging lifeless image (you’ll follow along using his the same images), and you’re going to unleash these seven tools, in a very specific way, and you’re going to do it again, and again, and again, in order on different photos, in different situations, until they are absolutely second nature. You’re finally going to do the FULL fix?from beginning to end?with nothing left out, and once you learn these seven very specific techniques, and apply them in order, there won’t be a an image that appears on your screen that you won’t be able to enhance, fix, edit, and finish yourself!

Plus, Scott’s techniques work across a wide range of photos, and that’s exactly what you’ll be working on in the book, from landscapes to portraits, to architectural, to nature, from event photography to everything in between?there isn’t a photo you won’t be able to beat!

This is the book you’ve been waiting for, the industry’s been waiting for, and Scott’s "Adobe Photoshop Seven Point System" is so revolutionary that he’s officially applied for a patent with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and this new system is only found in this amazing, ground breaking new book. Once you learn these techniques, and start applying them yourself, you’ll be the next one to say?"You can’t beat ’The System!’

7 point system

This book helps you in establishing an effective workflow by reinforcing a good working ’order’.
Some of the techniques used within the steps are a matter of choice and, in my opinion, not always the most effective, but the theory of which step first, second etc is spot on.
Starting with Camera Raw each and every time, and using it multiple times in reworking an image is bang on.
Would recommend this for anyone wishing to nail down good working habits.
Well worth the money.

Very Novel and Helpful approach to PhotoShop

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is by far one of the best books on how to use Adobe PhotoShop CS3. I really learned a lot on lightroom techniques with PhotoShop. As an instructor for a local Community College in Adobe PhotoShop, I intend to use this book in the class. This is not a beginning book, but one for the advanced PhotoShop user, very informative.

Excellent PhotoShop Tutorial

This book is a useful addition to the digital photographer’s library. Its focus is helping the reader make sense of PhotoShop’s vast capabilities to solve photographic post-production dilemas. The examples used by the tutorial chapters are included in a CD-ROM so that the reader can follow along with the illustrated commentary.

While the book very effectively covers the territory it sets out to explore, I think there is at least one other area of photographic post-production that can be and should be usefully explored: composition. In fact, I think there is an "eighth point" that should be added to the System for more completeness. Specifically, there are things the photographer can do with the transformative features of PhotoShop that can have substantial benefit for more complete image optimumization. Have a look at Edit->Transform options. These offer a great deal of scope for improving a photograph beyond just light and color balance.

This is the book that I have been looking for a long time!!

This is the book that I have been waiting for for a long time. I have been optimizing my photos with photoshop, but it always felt uncomfortable because of a lack of structure. The seven points system allows me to keep a structured approach and my photos look a lot better. What I also like about the book is Scott’s writing style which is lively and funny and keeps me reading (usually I get bored and don’t finish the book).
This one I finished, with pleasure, it’s the first book I rated with 5 stars,thanks!
Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 (Voices)

Worth the money.

I enjoy Scott’s pedagogy - he has a flair of writing in a tone that is approachable to the novice but with a few nuggets for the more advance users. This book is in a nutshell Margulis secret weapon arsenal: (1) Curves, (2) Channel Blending, (3) Sharpening, (4) Highlight and Shadows, (5) Apply Image and the use of (6) LAB space but with a few additions, masking in "painting with light" and RAW. Here, Scott diverts from the Margulis philosophy of making global changes and "RAW processing". However, the story is re-told with the classical, engaging and always humorous Kelby voice making his books a joy to read and well worth the money. I hope what comes next is a joint adventure with Scott Kelby, Karen Eismann and Margulis - in a narrative trialog.

Misses Some Basic Teaching Opportunities

Kelby’s 7-point system for using PhotoShop is highly touted, but I haven’t found the book as well written and helpful as I expected. Despite this man’s reputed teaching skills, there are many things a teacher should do that are missing in this book. It certainly isn’t a book for beginners to PS. He assumes you know a lot and often uses the PS lingo and if you don’t know it, you have to figure it out for yourself because he leaves much of it unexplained. It also appears as if he wrote much of the book from his memory as to how to do these procedures, rather than going back and running through them in PS and making notes about names and places. I’ll give some examples below from chapter 1.

The most amazing thing to me is that this entire book is just about built on the Camera Raw add-on to PhotoShop, but our author doesn’t tell you how to find and open Camera Raw! How essential is that? I had to go into PS and find a default to open all JPEGs in Camera Raw. I still don’t know how to find it without that.

Lesson 1: The lesson doesn’t have a title but the example picture is dark, monochromatic, and without detail. So my assumption is that the purpose of this lesson is correct those problems. You would think a teacher would mention that, even put it in the title! Here are some problems I encountered in trying to do lesson 1.

He starts with the basic screen in Camera Raw and adjusts three things: White Balance, Exposure, and Black. He doesn’t explain very many "whys" and a bit of explanation here would have been helpful. For example, why does he set the temperature at 7100? Why doesn’t he adjust the tint of the picture? Most interesting to me is, there must be a reason for setting the exposure at +1.30, but he doesn’t explain why the picture has to look nearly washed out before proceeding. So, by this time, I’m just doing things because he says so, without understanding very much about why? He does tell me that increasing the black will bring back the saturation and density enough to fix the image, but I don’t now whether his 39 setting is good for every picture or just this one.

Now he takes us to PS proper to use its "Curves" feature for more improvements. At this point, if you are a beginner, things are confusing, because, I learned by trial and error, that there are two ways to get at layers. There is a layer drop down menu on the top bar, but there is also a layer panel on the right side of the screen. It isn’t always clear from his writing which one he is referring to, and they do some different things, so it is essential to know. This sentence is an example: "Once the photo is open in Photoshop, click on the Create New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers panel and choose Curves from the pop-up menu." (Beginning of step 5, p. 4) Well, I didn’t know the Layers Panel was on the right side of the screen, and had little icons at the bottom. Another sentence an a slide of the panel would have cleared this up. This is what I mean by a teacher who misses essential elements, at least for the beginner. I went to the layers menu at the top to do these things and was confused by his reference to icons. I was about one-fourth the way through the lesson before I finally discovered the Layer panel on the right side, and half-way through the lesson, before I discovered the icons at the bottom. Call me slow, I admit it. But a paragraph and a slide of the Layer panel would have saved me frustration and almost giving up in the middle of the first lesson. I discovered many things by both trial and error. I’m not a lazy student, but I felt some anger at having to resort to trial and error unnecessarily.

I mentioned that he used different names than I sometimes found in PS. An example is in reference to the eyedroppers in the Curves dialog box. He said they had to do with shadows, mid-tones, and highlights. But when you place your cursor on the eyedropper it talks about black, grey, and white. I figured out that was what he was referring to as shadows and highlights, but I wondered why he didn’t use the terms used in PS and then explain what I just did. Another oversight a good teacher wouldn’t make. He has you put numbers in each of the colors for R, G, and B, but doesn’t explain why. They are saved and have now become the default, but I don’t know why those numbers were picked or what the represent.

The most difficult part of this lesson for me was a little side trip he has you take to learn how to find the brightest spot on a photo, if it is so monochromatic it is hard to tell. He has readers create a new layer with the threshold option in the Layer menu. I won’t go into detail here, but when you are done with this he says "then drag this adjustment layer into the trash (at the bottom right of the Layers panel) to delete it." I was still hadn’t sorted out the difference between the Layers menu at the top and the Panel on the right so had a hard time finding the trash. I expected it to be at the bottom of the entire screen. After several aborted efforts with this I finally figured it out. But I wondered why he simply didn’t have the reader "cancel" the Threshold operation and achieve the same result, without the frustration. By clicking the eyedropper on the shadows and highlights he said this made them "neutral" and I have no idea what that means or why it is important, but it must be important in PS.

In order to correct shadows further he then introduces the reader to the Shadow/Highlight feature of PS. Luckily, I have had some experience with this, so this was easier for me to follow, but not entirely without problems. The background color was changed to white and then to black, without a word of explanation as to why? So, I lamely follow a process without understanding why I am doing it!

In step 13 he says we are to click on the "layer mask thumbnail" in the Layers panel. I didn’t know what to expect when I clicked on it-whether an image would come up or what. As it turned out, nothing happened visually on the screen. I finally figured out this was a necessary step before converting to black, but I don’t know why.

In step 15, he instructs the reader to click on the "gradient thumbnail" in the dialog and that will bring up the Gradient Editor. I think of a thumbnail as an image, so I expected the image I was working on to be in a gradient box. No such luck, so now what do I do? If he would have simply said double click on the gradient bar, that will bring up the Editor it would have been much simpler. I searched high and low in both the menu and the panel for a thumbnail, and clicked on the boxes where there were or should have been thumbnails. Nothing. After the lesson, while trying it out on one of my own pictures, I tried clicking on the gradient and behold up came the Editor. And it was just like the one in his book. The one I found in the menu was different, but I suppose it did the same thing. I don’t really know.

The layers needed to be blended, and for some inexplicable reason, among the options, I was told to select Soft Light. It worked, but I don’t know why. At this point I might make the observation that the labels PS uses aren’t exactly intuitive to the new user. Maybe after 5 years of experience with the product I will understand why "luminosity" is the choice when fading curves, shadow/highlight, and the like. I would never have guessed it on my own or figured it out rationally. Without help books, these things are unfathomable!

It was fun to set up what I would call a "macro" to repeat the sharpening process, but I don’t know why he selected 85% as the medium sharpening 120% for the High and 100% for the Low level of sharpening! Shouldn’t 100% be in the middle? But he did have us change one other number in the Low option, which I suspect made it lower than the other two, but there was no explanation as to why or what it accomplished.

Well, I am a retired teacher, and so I expect a little better job of anticipating and answering such basic questions. MrKelby gets a C grade as a teacher.

Still, I’m glad I have the book, and I will study each lesson and learn much, but I don’t look forward to the frustrations I experienced in the first lesson. Knowing is part of conquering, so forewarned, I can now make better use of a product that could have been even better than its fans have led us to believe.

Learning on your own - a good place to start

I recently purchased this book after doing what I always do and searching other peoples reviews and trying to guess what would be good or not. I live in country Australia and there aren’t a lot of stores to buy these types of books from so I depend on the reviews quite a lot.

I am thoughly enjoying working through the book. Previously I had Photoshop 7 and the difference to CS3 is huge. Although it is more of a do what I say type of book, when you don’t have a clue what you are doing it is a good place to start. Further in the book you are required to start thinking for yourself. Great idea and there is even a refresher chapter for those who have gone through the book before and just need a quick reminder.

And as for Scotts humour and the way he writes his books, love it, just love it. It is meant to be tongue in cheek. but since I already own quite a few of his books and have rarely been disappointed I already knew what I was getting.

A Fun, Hands-on Toolkit Assembled by an Expert

I went to the bookstore a few weeks ago to buy a book, as my girlfriend was working on her Dreamweaver CS3 course daily, and I really wanted to move my own Photoshop work forward, being an amateur photographer. I’ve been shooting for decades, picking up bits and pieces of knowledge about using the camera, and using only those pieces of Photoshop that I needed to at the time.

I knew from experience that many other books teach you one thing at a time, so you end up not learning workflow, just a disjointed series of neat little tricks.... If you do them once, you probably won’t remember them. So, for example, because I white-balance 100% of my RAW images, I know that by heart...but some of the other stuff, I don’t.

I bought this book after reading the introduction, and really connecting with the writing style (something that’s very important to me - if it’s hard to read, I won’t read it, no matter how much I’ve spent). The humor was what sold me in the end (we all need a laugh!) but the way the book is laid out has been actually helping me to USE it. I don’t know how many computer books I have on my desk and shelf that were only used once or twice...and at $50+ a piece, that’s not good.

This book really works, and you learn a truly valuable workflow, which is exactly what I was looking for (and didn’t even know it!) I process images every day, and I see this System peeking its way into my own work...even though I’ve only been immersed in it for a short period of time (when I have the time to work on it), and need to perfect some of the "artistic" sides of it (how far to tweak things in my own images, which way to set certain settings, etc.) I know that these things come with time...and the book makes this process fun - and easy to remember because you perform the important steps over and over again in different ways.

In reading some of the Amazon reviews that show this book in a less than spectacular light (Two stars? Whoa!), I’d like to address some of the points from my own perspective:

1) 7-Points versus 70-Points - Okay, yes, what Scott’s teaching you isn’t really seven easy clicks of the mouse, he’s teaching you a workflow - his own workflow to be exact. This guy owns a Photoshop magazine, has been working with photography and Adobe for years, and has a lot of friends. So he’s pulled in some really great concepts, and placed them in a specific order which seems logical to me, as a photographer. Do I necessarily want to know why we sharpen last, or why you want to adjust white balance first? I mean, that might be nice to know at some point, but when I just want to improve my images overall, it’s a really sweet book. He doesn’t just say "here’s how you improve the sharpness of an image" because you don’t really LEARN the technique by having someone tell it to you once. By the time you’re finished with the book, you’ve done it many MANY times, and should be comfortable with all the techniques he’s outlined. Having said all that, not all of the lessons are super long, and you don’t have to apply each and every technique to all of your images. As one of the two star reviewers mentioned, some of the steps can be eliminated by improved camera handling - but when you’ve got limited time, or just like to shoot a lot, maybe you’re not going to be like Ansel Adams and wait a few hours to release the shutter, you know? "OOh, there’s a duck!" *Click* So maybe my white balance is off...*tweak*, and my exposure wasn’t perfect (I was looking at the moving duck, not the exposure meter, sorry!) *drag* *Happy sigh*. Get the picture? It may seem like "70 steps" is a lot, but it’s really not, after you’ve mastered the techniques most of them just take a few seconds until you’re happy with the way things look. *click* *drag* *click* Another nice thing about using Scott’s images is that he’s helping you (through all the lessons) to train your eye...to see what an "eh" photo looks like compared to a winner. When you take his images from so-so to exceptional, you want to immediately do the same thing with your own images, which leads you to learning more quickly. Personally, I like the fact that he shows you all 70 steps, rather than just say "okay, let’s increase the sharpness," leaving you to remember all the steps after a week or two of being away from the book. With as busy as folks get, it’s awesome to be able to step away from the book (out of necessity) and come back to it later to work the next lesson, without having to relearn all the previous steps.

2) Consistency - In some of the other books I’ve used in the past, they show you how to do something once, one way, and expect you to learn it. That’s not the way everyone learns. Our brains need variety, and some folks are wired differently than others. If Scott showed us how to do a specific process one way, and one way only, throughout the entire book, your brain would get bored with it (as it would lack that novelty the 20th time you saw it described the same way), and you wouldn’t want to continue...or you’d just not remember the steps. I find that the method used in this book actually helps me to retain the information long enough that I can practice it in my own work without having to go back to the book - aside from the more complex procedures I haven’t mastered yet. If someone writes a book without realizing that they have a diverse audience, the book will only appeal to a small group of individuals. In order for a book to be popular, and to reach as many people as possible, it has to include diversity, and I think this book does a pretty good job of that. I don’t get confused when he shows me how to do the same thing using a different technique, because I can see on-screen in the preview exactly what each click and drag does. So, yes, he’s guiding me step-by-step, but I’m also having my own experience within the lesson, which aids in the final outcome of learning the basic concepts being taught. I don’t think this book needs to be more systematized, although I do hope for an intermediate and advanced sequel which WOULD rely on previous books in order to understand the material. In the case of an intermediate or advanced version of this book, if you don’t know how to pre- and post-sharpen, you might want to go back to the original book. In the context of THIS book, however, there are very few assumptions made, aside from a general understanding of computers and Photoshop. I feel like, if I sat my mother down in front of Photoshop CS3 with a decent set of her snapshots, she could improve her pictures using this book.

3) What to apply the system to your own photographs - Okay, so this is like telling Bob Ross that you can’t paint, because he has to tell you exactly where to put that happy little bush. Seriously, folks...this is art. Scott is giving you TOOLS (and the more you practice using them, the stronger they become for you) to use in your own images. He’s not going to be there to handhold you when you took a decent shot that you want to make fantastic - and that’s not the intended point of the book. Once you’ve seen what one of the points does, you should be training yourself to always ask yourself the question: "How could I improve this image?" and more specifically "Does this image need any or all of these ’points’?" and "If so, to what degree? In what manner? How should I apply it?" and finally "Does it look better or worse than when I started?" Each step is an incremental movement from one end of the spectrum (hopefully a decent image) to the other end (the ARTIST’S vision of the perfect image). The reason why YOU are taking the photograph and posting/printing/eating it, and not Scott, is because it’s your art. It all comes back to the fact that you, as the photographer, are the artist and have to learn how to make certain choices about your art. I am personally inspired by seeing each of the images in Scott’s book go from somewhat drab to spectacular (or at least nicer-looking), knowing that I did it, step-by-step, and can just as easily do that with my own images.

I guess three bullet-points is enough, but I just want to say that this book contains a great set of tools that any digital artist can use to help improve their images in Photoshop CS3. Plus, at the price, its a LOT less expensive than an in-person course, you can certainly get a lot more out the book and when you’re done with it, you can loan it to a friend.

Easy to follow instruction and a fun read as well

Scot Kelby’s books have done more to teach me concepts of digital photograpy than any other source I have tried. His style puts the reader at ease as he authoritatively disects the complex world of digital photography.

Excellent book from Scott Kelby

Scott Kelby is a prolific author, but his output is often little more than collections of recycled hints and tips. And all too often it is delivered in a style that Kelby obviously considers as humorous - and I find grating and annoying.

In the 7-Point System, however, Kelby is a reformed man. (Reshaped as well, it seems, since he mentions that he lost 100 pounds in a year and trekked 3 miles in 112 degree heat to capture what becomes a spectacular photograph.)

The 7-Points actually refers to seven very broad capabilities of Photoshop CS3 that permit an infinite range of adjustment, manipulation and alteration. In 21 lessons, using downloadable images, Kelby walks the user through many of the adjustments. Kelby provides only moderate explanation of the "why" of what reader is doing, but focuses on the "how" and "what". It is a quite acceptable approach: the reader gains insight and familiarity with the 7 broad capabilities.

It is, in the final analysis, a "learn by doing" approach and a good one.

All in all, this is an excellent book for the Photoshop beginning through mid-level user.

Jerry

Simply worthwhile

I’ll keep it short and sweet. I learned a little in this book. But the little that I learned was:
1.) What I really need to make my photos pop.
2.) Easy to retain
3.) Valuable for everyday, no, make that every PHOTO use in photoshop.

Great book for people who want results. Not a great book for someone who wants every command and pallet in PS CS3 explained.

Nice work, Scott!

Scott Kelby’s 7 point system

Scott Kelby is an awesome teacher, by reading and following his books I know my way around Photoshop inside and out. I have tried other tutorial books but they do not compare to the ease of Scott Kelby and his associates of the way of learning.

Best Training I’ve had so far

In the past two days since I got this book, I’ve read it straight through and did every exercise. I’m so much more confident in my use of Photoshop that I’m going back and retouching all of my favorite photos. This book is fun to read, and Kelby treats the reader with respect, not dumbing it down. It’s very repetetive and that’s fine with me. This book made me enjoy using photoshop more than ever.

Can’t believe the results I am getting!!!

This book is different than any other "how-to" book I have ever seen. You download lesson pictures off Scott’s website and you do what he does with each picture. It is like you are sitting in the same room. You follow his plain English directions-with pictures--and you do the exact things he is doing in the book and you end up with amazing pictures...I never knew learning Photoshop could be easy!!!

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3

Good product. I recommend everybody who uses Photoshop. Many possibilities
what i do not know beforehand. It takes time to learn this book.

4th book of his

This is the 4th book of Scott Kelby that I’ve purchased. I find his books informative, written well without being so over the top technically and always interjected with his quirky sense of humor. I think you need to have basic knowledge of Photoshop CS3 because I find myself referring back to his CS3 book if I get stuck on a step in the lesson. His methods can save a less than impressive photo.

Cutting through the confusion

I found the 7 Point System to be a great way of cutting throught the confusion of Photoshop and getting down to the basics of improving the photograph. I am relatively new to Photoshop and all the other books I’ve read on this topic lost me after the first few chapters. This book allows you to dive right into it by offering 7 common functions that seem provide the most significant improvment to a photograph. I find myself going back to previous sections in the book to improve upon what I have already learned. A great book that I would recommend to any newbie to photoshop.

Some great techniques and some overworked images

I’ve been using this book for a while and have improved my photo editing skills. Kelby offers some useful recipes for fixing or enhancing photos and he offers methods for adjusting both RAW and jpeg images. After learning the basics of Photoshop it’s always helpful to have a manual that will take you through an entire process, so a workflow not just a trick can be learned. Scott Kelby’s clear and conversational style works well here as does the the wealth of intermediate step photos.

Many of the end product photos look a bit too obviously Photoshopped. I suppose that’s useful as a teaching method, overemphasizing the end result to illustrate how much an average image can be enhanced. I wouldn’t want to display them with my name on them, but did learn a lot working through the examples. After understanding the workflow it’s pretty easy to tone down the edits to achieve subtler results.

As with more targeted and specialized Photoshop-for-photo-editing books this assumes that the reader has a reasonable familiarity with Photoshop. There is no general introduction to the program. That’s fine buy me as it keeps the weight and presumably cost down, and I consider it a useful addition to my library.

Hide it from your sisters.....

I have this book and it is wonderful! It is so good, in fact, that my sister broke into my house while I was out of town and "borrowed" the book from my desk. She did all lessons in a weekend and returned the book, open to the exact page I was using. Then she bought a copy for herself..for a reference tool.

Excellent

Muy buen libro; creo que resume todo lo que un fotógrafo necesita para trabajar sus fotos en Photoshop.

This is a GREAT Book!

I’ve got all sorts of Photoshop "How To" books which I constantly go to when I’m "stuck". I usually remain stuck:-) This book, for the first time, makes many of the great features of Photoshop make SENSE! You actually work "along with Scott", downloading pictures from a website so you work alongside him as you apply different effects, fixing up photos. It’s more of a workbook than "how to". I’m only on Lesson 10 (of 21) and I’m already vastly improving some of my own photos using the techniques taught here. He also, in the various lessons, has you doing many of the same techniques over and over so you really understand how they work. Anyone, other than a Photoshop "Expert" can gain from having this guide.

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Photoshop CS3

I found the Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Photoshop CS3 book, very interesting, and very useful. I have not finished the book as yet, but by the time i had done the first 2 lessons, i could already see a marked improvement in some of my own photographs for their originals.

Could be a FIVE, but!

I really want to give Scott a five, because I am a big fan of his work and educational products. The only problem I have with this book is some of his steps take a lot of work with mask and then painting with a brush..something I hate to do because it takes a lot of time to get it right and I would rather be out shooting.. this really is a book to fix problem images.. my goal is to correctly expose and not have to spend so much time in photoshop.. with that said.. his techniques produce WONDERFUL pictures, and many of his steps have been added to my workflow.. I want to give a 5, I just cant!! I use the sharpening and the LAB mode boost on all my pics...

He has done it again

I have just finished the first eight lessons and find it most informative and have picked up many points that make CS3 the best yet. The lessons take you to areas that you have used only a little or maybe not at all and make you want to keep digging deeper into the program. As for the humer, that’s Scott and for those who don’t like it that’s called Too Bad. This is a new way of teaching and I think it’s great.

A digital darkroom compass.

I have read Mr Kelby’s boks guiding folks like myself working with Adobe digital editing software beginning with my first purchase to help me with Elements 2 or 3. To put it simply, this is the book that surpasses his previous works (and the works of other fine writers with similar purpose guiding photographers through Adobe software) to a substantial level of effectiveness in purpose. Each title I have read and used has helped. This book works better for me by taking the software and pointing to some fundamental pieces of digital editing that helps transform an image into its greatest potential, as art. It is not replication of the 21 lessions that count toward this achievement, it is the use of the 7 points as needed with a photograph (continuously stated by Kelby in this and his other books...other authors in this medium I’ve read as well) that make this work so valuable. I just had not "gotten it" as clearly until now.

Mr. Kelby has always helped in his previous works. Adobe, for that matter, has always been working to make their software more helpful to the photographer and the graphic artist. Kelby has poured forth an excellent piece of help with his "7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3" book.

I recommend it highly.

The "System" is not much of a system

The main problem with this book is that "The system" is not much of a system. The author doesn’t follow a consistent approach for every photo. He shows you steps that work for his specific photos in the book but doesn’t really explain why. With his 7 techniques he sometimes skips or changes the order of one of them but doesn’t really tell you why. For example, for colors adjustments, sometimes he uses Lab Color Mode, sometimes he does it in Camera Raw and sometimes he fixes it with the Hue/Saturation command. Since not much explanation is given, I don’t know what is the best method to use for my own photos. So in the end, without the explanation of why, you do learn 7 techniques you could use but don’t which ones to use, the workflow order, or even the values to set each parameter. I did get some results but it was most trial and error and a lot of guessing...

Scott Kelby’s Lucky 7 (Photoshop 7-Point System)

Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3: The seven key techniques for taking your images from flat to fantastic.

Ok, the alliteration aside, Scott Kelby has thrown down the gauntlet by challenging his readers to go through his new book, ... The 7-Point system, from cover to cover, and leave the experience able to transform any reasonable image into something they’d be proud to show their mother, friends and fellow photographers. And, yes, Scott says, right up front, that for this book to work--that to be able to develop the skills and confidence to rescue photos previously doomed to the digital trash bin--readers are going to have to go through all of the book’s 21 lessons, download the corresponding photos from the book’s Web site and actually do each recommended step in the lesson exercises.
Now remember, we’re nominally talking about learning just seven Photoshop skills over the book’s 263 pages; so the real question becomes not can Scott fulfill his promise to make the reader a much better (and faster) Photoshop user, but can he do it without boring the reader out of his or her skull? Having read the book, done the exercises and been very pleased at the results, I feel the answer is definitely "yes."
Fortunately, Scott’s sense of humor, his tendency to add significant "extras" to the seven steps and his excellent book illustrations actually may make his readers wish there was a chapter 22 (or 23). I don’t think it’s giving away too much of the book’s value to list the seven areas where Scott helps reader build up their knowledge and skills: Processing in Camera Raw*; Using Curves; Applying the Shadow/Highlight Tool; Painting With Light and Darkness; Using Channels to Make Adjustments; Using Blend Modes and Layer Masks; and Applying Sharpening. Along the way Scott will help the reader build Photoshop actions for repetitive tasks, turn the LAB mode from mysterious to user-friendly and bring the often overlooked (read that as studiously ignored) Apply command into the limelight.
Although Scott does his usual excellent job of explaining each concept and step along the way, I was glad I already had familiarity with Photoshop tools, layers, masks and channels. It made it much easier for me to jump right into working with the image of Lesson 1.
I do recommend Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3; but with this proviso: This is not a skim-it-and-put-it-on-the-shelf book; it’s a hands-on set of detailed lessons that will generously reward anyone who makes the effort to do the work.
* For those readers who already own Adobe Lightroom, the Raw processing steps listed in the book can be done in that program rather than Adobe Camera Raw.

The best way to learn

The only thing I don’t like about this book is also what makes it so great. It is straight forward and to the point, and there is not a lot of in depth explanation on why you are doing each step. Of all the books I have ever bought on Photoshop, I was able to get through this book the fastest because I didn’t have to spend a lot of time absorbing theories and principles. But even though Scott doesn’t do a lot of explaining, he makes you follow his steps over and over again so that you eventually learn the theories and principles and the "whys" through experience. And that’s really the best way to learn. By the end of this book you will have followed his steps so many times it will become second nature. I have found myself using these techniques in my work without even thinking about them. Invaluable!

Outstanding

I have purchased a number of products devoted to learning more about PhotoShop. This is the absolute best I have found. I can see why Scott Kelby patented this approach. It is that much better than other efforts. If an individual follows through the Seven Steps outlined in this book, he/she will be an improved Photoshop user. This is a great tool for both the beginner or the experienced Photoshop "practitioner."

Scott Kelby’s 7 Point system

This is another of Scott’s hands-on, here’s how you do it guides to using Adobe Photoshop CS3. Buyer’s beware; the book is oriented to CS3 but this is not very apparent from the book’s cover which has the CS3 designation hidden in small print within the letter O of photoshop. I purchased this book expecting to use it with the previous edition of photoshop. It is still useful, and since I have Adobe Lightroom I could still do many of the adjustments which otherwise would not have been possible in the RAW editor in CS2.
The books enables you to down-load the example photographs used for each of the 21 lessons and then you can follow Scott’s step by step guide to editing each of them. I find this an easy way to learn. I would recommed it to CS3 users and even to CS2 users with Lightroom who are already somewhat familiar with navagating their way around in Photoshop.

Kelby Training for Photoshop-7 points takes the next step!

Scott Kelby is the leader of the pack when it comes to Photoshop training. His 7 point system will teach you steps to REMEMBER and not guess at what you need in certain situations. Best money I spent on Photoshop!

A good read

Overall, this is a good read for a fairly advanced Photoshop user with the most up-to-date Adobe software. But its not a reference book at all. Think of it as a programmed instruction book.

By this I mean that you’ll try a lot of cool stuff working through the examples, but trying to find them again when you really need them for your own work is harder to do. You’ll also find that while the technique works fine in the example, you may feel like you’d like more detail when using it in a new situation. You may also wish he wasn’t trying to show off all the latest tricks in CS3 without giving you a workaround.

As some of the other reviewers commented, there are some fairly advanced techniques in here. If you’re a newbie you should definitely look elsewhere.

7 Point System

This is a great book. I have learned so many things to improved on photoshop. I recommend this to other photoshop learner.Scott Kelby’s 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS3 (Voices)

Kelby’s 7 points

It works as a quick guide, and you may use Mr Kelby’s other book (The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers)to get more detailed help in Photoshop.

Good for beginners

If you’ve never read any photoshop books on manipulating photographs, this is a great book for you to learn.

If you have read any other books, like, say Dan Marguilis Photoshop LAB Color: The Canyon Conundrum and Other Adventures in the Most Powerful Colorspace or Professional Photoshop: The Classic Guide to Color Correction (5th Edition) you’ll probably be very disappointed, as he just rehashes everything that you’ve already learned.

And the 7 steps? There are not seven steps, more like dozens. I think it would be better titled as "Seven general techniques you might want to try to improve your photos" He doesn’t even tell you when to use the different ideas, you just have to figure that out for yourself.

Disappointed

I have always loved Scott Kelby’s books but not this one. I don’t understand why he uses Photoshop with layers when after ever step he has you flatten the work before going on to the next step. I want to see all the layers and be able to go back and tweak the layers when necessary. I can’t believe he saves each picture before flattening it. I was very frustrated by this approach.

It Really Is a Great Book!

I’ve read the entire book cover to cover, and while it’s not the final word on post production, it is so good that anyone who truly follows these points, will have photographs that are "The Best" that they could possibly make.

This is not a beginners book, but if a beginner is very motivated, they could follow the instructions well and be successful.

If you like Scott’s approach to technology subjects, this is just one more great book of his that won’t disappoint you!!

Enjoy!

I really wanted to like it but....

The book doesn’t really explain why Scott makes the adjustments he makes to the photos. That is the biggest flaw with this book.

The adjustments work great on the photos but that doesnt really help when it comes to adjusting your own photos.

I’m sure there are better books than this one

Conceptually a great idea but difficult to capitalize on

The concept of having acutal photographs to work on using the instructions of the book is great. That is, only if you can get the photos onto your computer and opened in Photoshop/Bridge CS3. The book gives you one unhighlighted reference buried in the introduction to the web site to obtain the files containing the photos. This should not be a secret. No where is there any information as to what programs/plugins you must have on your computer in order to access these photos and therefore be able to use the book. This information should be available to a person considering buying the book. Not all of us have state of the art computers.

I went to the web site given by Mr. Kelby only to find that it lists other web sites not directly concerned with providing information on this book or others written by him and more importantly the web site was advertised as "for sale". Calling the 800 number listed on the cover of the book only got you to a sales office that was polite but had no knowledge of computers and had no recomendations as to where one could get information on how to open the photos and thereby use the book.
This was a waste of time and I have returned the book.

Valuable Photoshop Tool

As Scott Kelby claims in the introduction, the 7-Point System was designed to turn the "boring to beautiful," the "flat to fantastic," the crappy into the non-crappy. Certainly, there are no shortages of books, blogs, and web-based tutorials that promise to teach you something similar - how to take that lifeless shot from your camera into a rich, vibrant image.
The 7-Point System distinguishes itself from other books in that it is a comprehensive Photoshop workflow disguising itself as a simple, recipe-like type of manual. The name itself, the 7-Point System, is silly and disarming in the way that the 1200-page colossus known as the CS3 Photoshop Bible (Fuller) is not. Sure, there are seven Photoshop features one needs to know well to understand Kelby’s rationale for this book, but the constant use of some or all of these tools in the book’s twenty-one lessons will make experts of those with a shaky Photoshop foundation. Of course, those with a greater comprehension of layers, masks, channel adjustments, Smart Objects, and Camera Raw adjustments will only benefit in taking the book’s underlying principles into their current workflow.
There is a certain criticism that other reviewers have noted about the book’s methods of transforming the boring to beautiful. Mainly, when does one say, "This is beautiful enough?" Again, the book is not a simple, for-dummies-like manual. Even within each of the lessons, there are deviations and alterations on the 7-Points that are arbitrary choices made by the author. These are made, as he clearly states, as a matter of personal choice. There is a chapter where he adds a reflection of the sky on a body of water that did not exist in the original. In another image, he uses a composite method to fix an over-exposed image. In both cases, the final images are significantly better than the originals. Whether the final image is true and pure, morally acceptable or not is completely up to you. Of greater importance is learning how these Photoshop tools integrate with one another to create an image that is better in color, contrast and style than the original. After all, if you’re worried about preserving the purity and integrity of the original image, why are you using Photoshop?
As good as this book is, truth be told, processing and editing pictures on Photoshop should not be fun; it robs you of valuable shooting time. Once you start applying some of these lessons to your images, and you begin to see where you went wrong on the original capture, you become more critical about your skills as a photographer, about capturing a better original image. For that reason alone, the 7-points system is a highly recommended addition to your digital photography workflow.

Also for CS2 users with Lightroom

I think of myself as a mid-level Photoshop user - past the beginner stage, but I only use PS every week or two. I use PS CS2 and Adobe Lightroom, which has the same editing capabilities as Camera Raw in Photoshop CS3. During the past 10 days I’ve completed 15 of the 21 lessons in the 7-Point System. The book is definitely written for CS3 users and makes no mention of alternatives if you’re using CS2. I have been able to do 98% of the manipulations in the lessons using Lightroom and CS2. If I had only CS2, I’d have been stuck. Where Scott calls for using a smart filter on a layer copy, I import a 2nd file copy from Lightroom into PS and apply the filter, then "move" it onto the file I’ve been working on, etc.

The lessons succeed in pounding in certain things through repetition. If you were at all uncomfortable using adjustment layers, masks, blend modes and gradients, you won’t be after completing this book. Every lesson has some elements that are unique (obscure/expert?) and I doubt that I’ll have them remembered and available in my toolbox. I love to use keyboard shortcuts and Scott uses them to a fault. Some like D for default colors, Ctrl-J for layer copy are learned through repetition - and Scott almost always says what they’re for. But he’ll occasionally throw in a keyboard shortcut to make something happen and you have no idea what it’s "really" doing.

There are a lot of things in the lessons that are recipe-like and beg for further experimentation / learning by the photographer. But, if you go through the lessons, you’re almost certain to take your work to a much higher level and be able to work quickly to achieve those results.

One of the best I have bought

I am currently on Lesson 5 out of 21 in the book. This is a great learning tool and I now know how to start with my own photos. You use the same pictures as in the book downloaded from a website and go step by step to make the changes following the settings Scott gives in his book. The repetition works well for me. The photos are all quite different and some have different processes applied but all start in Bridge then open in Camera Raw then open in Photoshop. Takes out a lot of confusion for me because he has the same basic sequence for each photo. I have purchased at least a dozen books since I got my camera a month ago but this is the best basic tutorial yet for getting me over the confusion and fear of doing something wrong or not knowing which menu tab to choose.

Great Teaching Tool

This is a must have book! If you are wanting to give your photos that extra pop this is the book for you! I consider it a must have for CS3!

Another great book from Scott Kelby

I have used PS for almost 10 years and I have acquired quite some expertise with it when it comes to general design or retouching photos. However, Kelby’s books always teach you new tricks in a fun way. This book is perfect for beginners who want to retouch photos to 95% of their potential without having to spend countless hours trying to master PS or learn the sometimes daunting lingo. This is a very recommended read and should be on the bookshelf of any photographer!

A Must Have for Digital Photographer

I was a bit skeptical about this book when Scott first announced it, since I feel comfortable with Adobe Photoshop, and with so much information out there about it already, do I really need one more Photoshop book on my shelf? But I am a fan of Scott Kelby, and I decided to get it anyway. After going through it, here are my pros and cons.

Pros-
Scott’s teaching style. I like how Scott teaches. Anybody, including someone who barely started using Adobe Photoshop, can pick up any of his books, and immediately see improvement in his or her images. The 7-point System is written in chronological order, so you really should begin with chapter 1 and proceed accordingly, but his explanations are straightforward from the beginning, and if you already know how to add new layer, well, you’ll move faster at the beginning.

Reasons Why. Scott is a excellent teacher when it comes to giving you tips, but what I found is that he doesn’t always explain why he uses certain tools, whether he’s doing that in his other books or on Photoshop User TV. However, in this book he often pauses and explains why we should use a gradient settings of this kind, or why the layer should be turned off before creating another copy of the background layer. I learn a lot this way.

Lessons You Commit to. I’m about half way through the book, but I’m making constant progress, as it’s broken down by lessons and I tackle 1-2 chapters a day. All the images are available for download, and you’re working through on them together with Scott. So it’s more of a course than it is a book, which is approach I actually prefer.

Variety of Images. Scott takes turns processing all kinds of images, from macros to portraits to landscape, so his System applies to any kind of photography.

His Creative Thinking. Besides reading about Adobe Photoshop technique, I enjoy learning why Scott did what he did on particular image. It gives you a glimpse of his creative process and thinking, a part that is the hardest to develop when it comes to Photography, and to me that’s as big of a value than any other aspect of his new book.

Cons-
Incompatibility with other versions of Photoshop. I don’t care about this one, since I use Adobe Photoshop CS3, but users of other versions of Photoshop will be disappointed. Scott often uses smart object, smart filters, opens Jpeg’s in Adobe RAW, etc., so you won’t be able to follow this book unless you have Adobe Photoshop CS3.

Destructive Workflow. Scott flattens his images at least twice before he arrives at a final version. I started doing it more often now, as some changes I don’t care about reversing, but I prefer to keep layers in case I want to adjust something later. But this one is easy to overcome - Sft+Ctrl/Cmd+Alt/Opt+E and you have the flattened version of the image on top of all you other layers, so this issue is minor.

Using ACR Instead of Lightroom. Scott is a faithful user of Adobe Lightroom, and published a great book about it. However, he uses Adobe Camera RAW for the beginning stages of his 7-steps workflow. Sometimes it creates problems if you’re a heavy Lightroom user as I am. For example, it’s not as easy to open the same RAW file twice and stack them on top of each other if you’re using Lightroom. Others have found a work around it, but it’s not as straight forward. Perhaps Scott could have included a chapter on this issue.

Bottom Line-
It’s certainly a great purchase I made, and I highly recommend it. The pros far outweigh the cons. My work flow has improved, and I keep adding knowledge and tools that help my own creative process with each chapter I read.

As Good as its Hype

This book was advertised on nearly every photographic website when it was released. I expected Scott Kelby to edge out Al Gore for a Nobel prize given the publisher’s hype. But the book /is/ very good. Kelby gives a link to the files he works on and critiques each photo and then proceeds to correct each using his system. One can follow along step by step and duplicate his work using the same files.
Along the way he throws in nuggets like actions he uses to speed up his work flow. If you shoot raw and use PS it’s one of the best (if not /the/ best) book of its type.
Maybe Mr. Gore should have been worried.

Well worth you attention

Scott Kelby has produced a book with WOW factor! The concept is great! As, always, you will have a lot of fun learning.

Go from "Schmo" to "Pro"

If you are photographer and/or an artist and you have a decent sense of composition then you have complete step one in creating provacative images.

If you use Photoshop and are NOT familar with the techniques in Scott’s book, then you do not "use" Photoshop. There are so many tools available to tweak images into a glorius visual appeal that I now go back to my archives of 40 years in age and find gook that I can transform into gold.

This and (anything Scott releases) are a must.

Bottom line: buy it, work each session, make these techniques yours...

Here, I’ll prove it --- see for yourself: http://MarcBlakePhotography.com

Did I mention a big hearty "Thank You" to the author?

There’s no A-B-C for digital photo processing

This book is hyped as being the final say in digital photo development and Photoshop workflow, and gives the impression that once you read this book you’ll know exactly what and how to make all your photos "picture perfect". The fact is, there’s not getting away from the fact that even if you follow the workflow detailed in Kelby’s book, it’s up to your own personal judgment and opinion. This is borne out by the fact that Kelby has a 7-step methodology, but in many of the examples not all the steps are used. That’s because he made the judgment that certain steps were not needed. There’s no comment as to why some steps are used sometimes, but not others. So you are going to be left hanging and left with having to make your own judgment calls when it comes to your own work.

The book is nice and easy to use with step-by-step instructions. It’s relies on the principle of learning by repetition and example. Even when you get to the end of the book and start working on your own photos, you are still going to be faced with the same questions as always: what do I do to improve this photo, what do I do first, what do I do next.

It is good to get a professional opinion of what is an appropriate workflow for developing your digital files in Photoshop. And I do feel that I learned a lot from working through the examples, but if the marketing hype around the book gives you the feeling that this book will take away the need to exercise any judgment, then you will be disappointed.