Digital Print, The: Preparing Images in Lightroom and Photoshop for Printing

Schewe's two books have been quite helpful as I ramp up my digital camera usage to get more attractive hard copy results at sizes above 8x10. I respect him a lot from his contributions to the Luminous Landscape website. This book about printing covers all of the bases from digital image to mounted and framed ink+paper. It even covers exhibiting. It takes a grand tour approach with some tangents -- for someone looking for a howto does it make any difference that musician Graham Nash was a pioneer in digital printing?Despite its design that tries to touch every base (and a few too many) within modest length, this book has plenty of depth on some essentials -- his photos of art paper surface textures comparing natural versus white and cold press versus hot press were outstandingly informative. His coverage of color management inspired me to finally appreciate the value of ICC printer profiles and get them working. His settings-then-results approach is very useful even when I can't understand how the two connect initially.There are three problems with both of Schewe's books that lead to my less than 5 stars: (1) To try any of the software examples one must have an Adobe Lightroom or Photoshop license or subscription; (2) The books' software aspects go obsolete quickly as software versions proceed - he does release later book versions that one has to buy at full price again (in Kindle); (3) He is a very advanced practitioner of the arts and sciences of image processing and print production, and for me who is slowly ramping upward his writing often leaves me behind initially and I have to go elsewhere (e.g. Kelby or DPReview) to get up to speed before I can take advantage of what he covers. Compare his to Michael Reichmann's (R.I.P.) writing at Luminous Landscape which often meets me at my amateur, affordable level.Worthwhile purchases both.

I have been looking for a book that covers Photoshop and image color management in a concise and up to date manner. It's not a sexy subject, I but it's an essential one that distinguishes those photographers who do know it. I can spare you reading another tedious review - just get this book!First of all, Jeff gets it. He knows what it is we need to know and is able to communicate it with a great deal of clarity - perhaps too much clarity for some! He starts at a logical place and takes you through the entire color management process as a procedural workflow - which is uber helpful even to us professionals. He covers tough issues like image sharpening and preparation for printing, workflow and final printing - all of which can be HUGE challenges especially when you consider how quickly technologies come and go and change. He gives you the core-level stuff you really need to need to know to make smarter decisions and dodge all of the mental masturbation people who truly have no idea what they are talking about are spewing with regularity on the Internet.If there any weaknesses, it is probably that Jeff doesn't include anything about RAW converters like Capture One Pro, which would be nice since so many use it today. Maybe the next revision, Jeff? That's a pretty minimal nit when you consider the entirety of this work.This is one of the best books I've acquired in a long time - and it should be on every photographer's shelf. In an nutshell, I don't think you can call yourself a professional unless you know this stuff - and this is one place to get it and get it correctly. This book isn't for the faint of heart, but it's essential knowledge covered in a logical way that is both understandable and comfortable.

Jeff Schwe is an excellent writer and a joy to read. His knowledge of printing processes inspires confidence. However, I don't see how endless pages about color theory will make me a better printer. Maybe he could summarize the essential technical details necessary for making a good print. Also, the information is five years old. Isn't it about time he came out with an updated edition? Formatting for the book deserves pluses and minuses. The binding is superb: I love the way the book lies flat; if only more books did this. However, the screen shots are so small I can barely read them. My suggestion: Fewer pages about highly technical stuff that the average photographer will never use, leaving more room for larger screen shots for those who don't have 20/20 vision.

As many have stated this is a highly technical book, which I find very refreshing. There are many books that cover subjects in a casual, general way, but do not necessarily help i understanding how it all works. This one does.If you are just interested in how to calibrate your system, this may be more than you want. However, it is always helpful to understand why you are doing everything, and this book does that.Yes, it is a little older, but really the information is still all completely valid, so that is not a problem.

Wow. Just wow. Jeff Schewe knows what he's talking about. I got to the point where I was getting serious about my photography as a potential business ... but highly dissatisfied with the inconsistent results I'd get from various labs. Sometimes great. Sometimes horrible. So I picked up an Epson SureColor P600 to get my feet wet. Here's the thing though - my previous experience with digital printers was horrible. I would see others getting great results and my prints were crappy. This book fixed that. My first print out after reading this book was right on the money. It matched what I was seeing on screen and - better yet - matched my vision.Now, if I had a quibble, it would be that the author spends too much time up front on color theory. A lot to wade through that I'm not sure is necessary. But it's a minor quibble. The payoff for those early chapters are that you're set up nicely for the following how-to guides on Lightroom and Photoshop. I'm sure there are other great books out there on digital printing. But this one - from my experience - is excellent.

I bought this because I have always struggled with both the theory and practice of printing. Schewe is one of the gurus, so I thought this and the sister volume on processing would be helpful. They are - up to a point. The text is so-so, but the illustrations are so small and badly reproduced as to be useless. They are absolutely essential to understanding. I tried using a torch, then a magnifying glass to see the points being made about the images, then I gave up. In a way it is quite amusing that a text on images is totally deficient in this respect, but at £30 for the two I'm not laughing too heartily.

Heavy going, & too much into the theory for me.I was having trouble with orange colour castes on LightRoom prints.I found this difficult to read, & not much help to reference.It is perfectly possible that a student of photography, or someone very interested in the science of printing may find this very informative.

Not for beginners. you really need to have built up a knowledge base with Photoshop & Lightroom before tackling this book. I would also add that you need to be into printing your own prints on top of the range Epson/Canon printers.

Jeff Schewe is incredibly knowledgable about processing images, and not only provides guides/tips for maximising image quality, but also technical info on the way LR/Photoshop/Printers work so you understand why things turn out the way they do. Highly recommended to anyone who is interested in printing their own images, or send images to be printed.

The book presents a good and practical technical background to creating a print from a digital photographic file. I has helped me to have a far more comprehensive understanding of the subject.