The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 Book for Digital Photographers

I scoured most of the other reviews and couldn't find the answer to what seems like an important question: what skill level is this book aimed at? I've been working with Lightroom daily since the first release and I figured it would tell me stuff I already knew. Reading the reviews, I also expected it to be loaded with forced, unfunny humor. Neither turned out to be true. This book accomplishes the unusual feat of being helpful to beginners and experts alike. Lightroom is a powerful program, and powerful programs have lots of details and multiple ways of doing things. This book is more than a how-to guide. The rudiments are covered, but they're covered quickly, like in a sentence or two. The rest of each section tells you why and how to do things that go well beyond the basics. I wish I'd read it years ago. It would have saved me a lot of time. Reading this book as someone who knows Lightroom is like visiting a big city where you know the street system and freeways and suddenly you meet a local who shows you all the secret passageways and shortcuts that make getting around so much more effective and fun. I didn't go two pages without learning something useful I didn't know. Now, a lot of fuddy-duddy reviews here complain about Kelby's writing style and particularly his humor. He warns you up front that he indulges in a freeform passage at the beginning of each chapter that doesn't relate directly to the curriculum but is just there for comic relief. He even suggests that if you don't think he's funny you should skip these intros. They're harmless. Some are funny. They're really no more distracting than having illustrations at the beginning of the chapters. But judging from some of the reviews here you'd think the guy couldn't go two sentences without cutting up. It's just not true. Kelby's writing is conversational and direct. Many pages go by with no humor at all. Most of the book is useful information imparted painlessly and efficiently. So there it is: I hope I answered the question other reviews didn't about who the book is addressed to. It's equally suited to beginners and experts--no small feat. Most software instruction guides are simplified versions of the user's manual with bigger font sizes and color illustrations. Not this one; it teaches the basics and digs deeper simultaneously. I also hope I helped to debunk the rap that Kelby is obtrusively comedic. He's not. He's witty, clear, and describes complex things so you don't forget them the next time you sit at your computer. I can pretty much promise that you'll get more out of Lightroom, and gain a greater appreciation for it, after you read this book.

It's important to know that Lightroom is as much about managing your pictures as it is about developing them. It's kind of like going through old shoeboxes of prints and negatives. Some people label everything and others just stuff the boxes and spend hours trying to find that one pic that they're desperately looking for. Of course the program is so good at editing pics, that going over to photoshop is only required for extreme things these days. Anyways, Kelby's book is a fantastic starting guide, so good that I am in the process of re-importing all of my pictures taken over the past several years. I wouldn't say that I'm a complete random shoebox guy, but my folder labels don't do my pics justice. The first several chapters deal solely with importing and getting things set up to make your life easier, and it's mentioned that this is the way Mr. Kelby does it, hence the good opinion line. These chapters will amaze those thinking "why does everyone always say that LR is such a great program?" as they plod through attempting to learn on their own. It's all about workflow. Then it hops into chapters about developing pics, printing, etc. Developing in LR is pretty easy once you start to learn shortcuts and exactly what all those little sliders do. There are downloadable examples that you can use to practice right with the book. Everything is laid out in a way that no knowledge of the program is assumed, so anyone can work right through something. Now I did download the kindle edition for my iPad. I'm on the fence as to whether I really like instruction books in the e-format. With a book like this, you'll be looking to flip back and forth a good bit, so you have to make good use of bookmarks. I may have preferred a printed copy for that reason, but it's not that bad to deal with. What I should really be doing is taking notes.

Scott Kelby's books offer a breezy, easy-to-read approach that helps make the subject more approachable. He doesn't try to cover every aspect of Photoshop, so he avoids being intimidating. The fact is that Photoshop is an extremely rich and complex program. It offers tools that the typical photographer will never need or use. It is not intuitive to use, so the new Photoshop user is likely to become frustrated very quickly - like learning to drive on an 18-wheeler. Scott helps the reader ease into Photoshop and learn to be productive using it. I have read quite a few Photoshop books, and I can say with confidence that, while not the most comprehensive books on the topic, Scott's books are by far the most useful and user-friendly.

Oui, ce livre de Scott Kelby est devenu (pour moi) un classique à chaque nouvelle version de Lightroom. Les explications et descriptions sont simples et directes, et surtout pratiques. Je recommande ce livre à tous les utilisateurs de Lightroom, nouveaux ou anciens, qui apprendront beaucoup de choses.

Having just converted to Lightroom 5 (which I love) from Aperture, I knew I needed some guidance. Scott Kelby's book is an excellent resource and has enabled me to be up and running with Lightroom in no time. Like his other instructional books, this guide is well organized into short steps. And of course there is the usual Scott Kelby humour. Unlike some of his other books where you can jump in anywhere, this text (by Scott's own admission) is best read from the beginning which is perfect for a Lightroom "newbe". It really does start from "open Lightroom" which is what I needed. The book is also full of many tips and tricks which are helpful. Pictures shot by Scott can be downloaded so that you can work following his instructions in the Develop Module. Very helpful. I know I will be using this book a great deal. I only wish that it was spiral bound. To get around this, we cut off the binding, hole punched the pages, and put them in a binder. Often it is nice to just remove a few pages as you work through a section. I would highly recommend this book. (Just so you have a point of reference, I am not a professional but a very serious amateur who has been using Aperture,the Nik plug-ins, and parts of Photoshop CS6 for the last couple of years so I am not totally new to editing. Still, this book is perfect for me.)

Recebido produto com excelência e com prazo muito menor do que o estipulado

excellently covered.

I am giving this 5 stars for its ability to get to the point. Simple straightforward. My photos have improved enormously thanks to this resource.