Hans you have obviously had a good look around as you have selected probably 3 of the best around.
I have all 3 and use them regularily. They are all excellent but are quite different. I am a full time Pro and I have spent over AUS$600 on various Photoshop books in the last year. Probably well over $2000 in the last 5 years! YIKES.
"Hans" wrote in message
How would you rate each of these books? I don’t have a lot of cash to build up a huge library right now but would like to purchase one of these.
Depends what you will be using Photoshop for Hans!
Real World Adobe PS CS by Fraser
If you are a professional photographer who is seriously into photoshop, workflow and colour management issues etc this is THE book to get. It really gets into the nuts and bolts of PSCS telling and showing how and MORE IMPORTANTLY why to do things in particular ways. Blatner and Frasers occaisionaly differing opinions on things is refreshing and indicates how deep and complex a program PShop is. Well written by two acknowledged world experts. Bruce Fraser is probably one of the leading writers on colour management issues and pre-press work.
PS Restoration & Retouching by Eismann
A superb book well written with excellent examples by a real pro. Title says it all. This is NOT a general how to PS book. Its a full on book for aspiring retouchers – mostly portraits, and has minimal info on PS for other purposes and has helpful tips on setting up a portrait and photo restoration/ retouching business/studio.
Adobe PS for Photographers by Martin Evening
Another superb book by Martin. Excellent if you are going into business as a photographer as he has lots of good info on equipment selection etc.
Another good book if you are after simpler step by step stuff is "The Photoshop CS book for Digital Photographers". Its a great companion for Real World when you want to look up quick how tos with step by steps and don’t have time to wade into theory on why this way is better than that etc. Another one is Adobe press’s own "Photoshop CS – Studio techniques" by Ben Willmore.
I refer to all of these so regularily I have had to make a bookshelf next to my workstations as they never make it back to the proper bookshelf! Good luck with whatever you choose!
Regards,
Frank Styevko from OZ