I got this to gain the photoshoping skills to restore glass plate photographs and paper photographs dating from 1900 to 1940 which were damaged from years of storage in an outdoor shed at my grandparent's house. I have used just about every method in this book to restore the photos. It is very well thought out and includes lots of figures to help at going through the tutorials. All images in the book can be downloaded from the book's companion website.

This book covers color correction, overcast, breaks, cuts, scratches, dust, mold, texture, exposure, tone, and more!

Katrin's book is my new bible for retouching and better understanding how the various blend layers work together to restore and improve photographs. Presented in an easy-to-learn, visual format, this book is a must-have for anyone interested in getting the most from Photoshop.

After reading the sample chapter they have on their website, I knew I had to get the rest of the book. I wasn't disappointed. If you ever need a book on restoring old photos and have Photoshop this is the book for you. Using techniques in this book has allowed me to get the most out of some photos from my childhood, even some that appeared hopelessly faded.

The book covers the features in Photoshop CS2, but translates very well to Photoshop CS3.

The book's chapters are organized in such a way as to give the reader the building blocks for a restoration and retouching workflow. Each chapter focuses on a particular subject. Starting with color correction, and ending with adding finishing touches.

Pros: Thorough coverage of what is needed to restore and retouch photos. Many tutorials the reader can follow step-by-step using media available on the book's website.

Cons: This book is not for beginners, and assumes the user is experienced with Photoshop. Some techniques will work better if you have a touch sensitive tablet, such as a Wacom tablet.

The book was all it said it was. Has everything in it if you realy want to restore or retouch damaged photographs.

I highly recomend this book for anyone who wants to get the insider secrets of retouching or restoring color or black and white phographs.

Having been tipped by regulars at the Adobe Photoshop forum and in the process of restoring a whole collection of 10 to 150 year old family pictures, I was eager to obtain this book. It has been everything it claimed to be. As a novice to intermediate user of Photoshop in my first year of experience with it, I feel like I tripled my supply of tips and tricks. Beyond what I learned in the book, I have increased my willingness to tweak, temper, and experiment with the software. Almost all the examples in the book are provided on a website for download, allowing the reader hands on experience with each image. The entire file downloaded in minutes, using cable internet. My only concern so far is that the chapters are not necessarily as descriptive as they could be. It is easier just to flip through looking for something on which you need clarification.

Well, maybe they aren't secrets but this book has a LOT of good information. In Eismann's usual thorough style she guides the reader through typical retouching problems from global corrections of density and color, through details of glamour makeovers. The book is detailed, excruciatingly so at times, but one is seldom left wondering how the author got from this step to that one.

The book is illustrated with a plethora of teeny tiny images and there lies my major problem with this work. If you are not blessed with 20 year old eyes the value of these images is largely lost without the use of a loupe. In fact, I read much of the book with a loupe in hand so I could see selections and read the screen shots. Eismann has a companion website with large jpg images to accompany the text so you can work along with her using your own computer. That's very nice but unfortunately, if you can't read the screen shots, you're in trouble. Only a few screen shots seem to be included on the website, at least, that I have found. There is a section on the website for errata including text errors, of which there are quite a few.

That being said, and taking into account the above caveat, it's a great book. When you read it, bring along your loupe.

The Adobe Photoshop Restoration and Retouching offers a hands-on approach in which every assignment takes you step by step is a very clear presentation by the author, Ms. Eisman. The simplicity in her explanations takes into consideration the inordinate amount of planning that has gone to keep this book interesting and non-threatening. It can be used by beginners as well as Photoshop professionals. Great book!

I just picked this book up through Amazon, I'm about 3/4 through it and it's been extremely helpful already. I've read other photoshop books, some I've liked more than others, but this one is tops for me. Scott Kelby's books are helpful, but they are more recipe driven and you don't always gain an understanding of why you are doing something. I've read one by Frasier and for me that was all but useless, since it was unreadable, and I found it difficult to 'find' what I wanted to know in it. Too many circular references. Katrin Eismann's book is different -it is readable, and easy to use as a reference. All her tips for setting up your work space/area/tools in CS2 were helpful, and designed for efficiency. The book is well organized, and the material is presented logically and in an easy to understand way, with good examples and clear goals and solutions presented. There is a web site provided where you can download all the images presented in the book, to work along with. Even if you aren't doing digital 'restoration' work per se, the lessons and examples provided can be applied to a variety of issues and problems to new digital images, straight from your camera, not just to scans of old photographs and slides. Lots of tips and tricks, and Katrin provides solid examples, and easy to follow lessons. More of her lessons will stick with me and I'll incorporate many of them into my workflow (I believe), because they aren't merely recipes, but good explanations of problems and solutions to common flaws in digital images.

I could never say enough about this book. I was looking through reviews to find anything negative to dispute. There was nothing reasonable. The reviews say it all. Katrin does everything she possibly can to teach Photoshop outside of taking her classes and even then I doubt she has left anything out.

I thought I knew Photoshop fairly well until I read this book. I realized I definitely was a beginner. I don't believe you have to have allot of working knowledge of Photoshop in order to use this book except for the simplist of basics but I don't want to mislead anyone. But I think If you use Photoshop at all you probably already know all you need.

I 've read the book several times while working on photos and without. Each time I read it I learn more. After a while the tools, adjustments,techniques and etc. start to become second nature. I've learn and am still learning how to really expand my use of Photoshop in multidimensional directions. I'm able to discover many ways to solve the same problem, even solutions that aren't in the book because she teaches it that well. You can learn much more then step by step procedures that seem to come from nowhere like in other books. Their are some advanced filters she doesn't get into and less important stuff like making contact sheets, etc that you can find in simpler beginner books like Deke McClelland's One on One, a good book for beginners. And there are even more techniques covered in her other book Masking and Compositing a book just as good. I wonder what kind of more advanced books she will come out with next but I look forward to getting all of them.

Katrin has a great personality which is reflected throughout this book. She even emails you back if you have any kind of photo question and she uses the feedback to refine her updated editions. How does she have time to do so much? She travels all over the world taking photographs which are exceptional, teaches classes, lectures, writes books that require allot of research, works with the biggest companies in the industry and still has time to be personable. It definitely shows her passion for photography and shows how much of a true teacher she really is.

I have other books on Photoshop but Katrin Eismann's books are by far the easiest to learn and develop from.

This book would be excellent for those wanting to learn photo/document restoration or photo/portrait retouching. It's very instructional & includes downloadable photos to practice on. It usually provides several different ways to approach the same problem and covers a lot.

This book has proved invaluable. As Katrin says, you need to know how to navigate around photoshop but other than that - just follow what she instructs. Written in clear, consise English (without waffle) and on-the-whole, easy to follow instructions.

I attended a 21 hour course on photoshop CS2 before buying this book and that was a good move - this book is reinforcing and expanding those lessons. Love it.

After deciding to purchase this book from reviews over the internet I couldn't be happier. I am restoring some 50 year old slides for my parents wedding anniversary and this has so many tips and techniques that I am sure to get out of all sorts of problems that time has created.

Colour coded chapters and clear and concise instructions make it a valuable tool for photoshop users. Would be more useful for those already familar with photoshop who want a challange.

Karen
Australia

This book is a must-have for any serious Photoshop user. It is written in such a clear, easy-to-understand style, it is the first Photoshop book I have actually read, as opposed to going through tutorials and examples in a random fashion. I consider myself an experienced Photoshop user, and I am learning a lot from the book! I originally purchased the book to learn about, of all things, restoration and retouching, but what I am learning pertains across the board to the work that I do.

While I am definitely rating this book 5 stars, I have a few caveats for the folks contemplating this book. This is not a beginner's book - while the examples do explain what to do very well, there is definitly an assumption that "create a Curves adjustment layer" or "invert the adjustment layer mask" are routine tasks. I also hit a few - very few - spots where I was not able to match up the book with my screen - I have upgraded to CS3, and it is completely my own fault that they don't match - just a tiny "don't be suprised" statement if you are already on CS3.

I truly feel that any Photoshop user can and will benefit from this excellent book! I hope you enjoy reading and using it as much as I have!

Adobe Photoshop Restoration & Retouching (3rd Edition) (Voices That Matter) I am still working my way through this very complete text. Katrin Eisman is an excellent teacher. The book covers a myriad of situations where the skills she teaches can be used in Photoshop to restore old and/or damaged photographs; or just those recent shots that were poorly taken in the first place. As I am in the process of trying to restore many old family photos this is just what I needed. I only wish that it was updated for CS3.

Definitely for advanced beginner: Make sure you know your basics first. Also make sure you like to read as there are a lot of details to digest. If you are serious about restoration it will teach you a lot.

Katrin has been my #1 woman in my Photoshop life. She is the best! If any of you don't have any material on this woman's teachings you are missing a great amount of tremendous information that she has to offer. There are other authors of similar teachings and I'm not trying to single them out as they also have a great impact on my learning, I'm just insuring that Katrin is right up there amongst the greats.

This book delivers exactly what I was looking for. It takes you through very clearly from the most basic to very sophisticated techniques in retouching and restoration. The book is logically laid out so you can quickly go to the specific technique you are looking for.
The instruction steps are easy to follow with good examples and screen shots and pull down menus shown. You need a fundamental understanding of Photoshop but this book is rapidly increasing my PS skills in a very practical enjoyable way.
It's written in an engaging and chatty sort of way sharing many tips and tricks along the way.

A supporting website is also another bonus.

Highly recommended.

Really detailed and an excellent source of knowledge for anyone that is interested in restoring or retouching images. I'm only part the way through the book and I've already found out heaps of ways to do things, and the background to why you are doing it and how it works.

This book was written for CS2, however, I have found the examples timeless. In every chapter the point is made, not by saying this is correct and this is incorrect like in so many other books. The point is made by saying here is the technique (and is you spend the time to really try it and practice with it) work wonders for you.

Bought this book, hoping to get into the image compositing and threw it in the gargabe where it belongs. I could net get one penny out this confusing, hard to follow, nothing makes sense book. Look elsewhere for help. You will not find it here.

THANK YOU to previous reviewers who said: buy the new edition. EXCELLENT advice. (This kind of customer feedback is so valuable.)

I'm adding my voice to the "buy it" chorus. Buy it. You won't regret it. Plenty of detail of the wonderfulness of RESTORATION & RETOUCHING in other reviews.

I'll just sign out with: Me's a HAPPY camper!

Kirtland Peterson

An excellent book written been an expert Katrin Eismann in Adobe Photoshop. Presentation and the practice (step-by-step) projects are very good. Highly recommended to those who perform photo/image retouching and enhancing.

I've been working with Photoshop for several years and have recently purchased this book. I think that the reader should have a working knowledge of Photoshop before using this book because it assumes you understand the basics. Ms. Eismann provides excellent instructions and downloadable photos on which to work. I highly recommend this book for photographers interested in retouching old photos or for those who want to extend their Photoshop techniques.

I can only be enthusiastic when it comes to this book. The instructions and examples are very down to earth and clear. Just what I was looking for. As a result I then purchased Katrin's other book "Masking & Compositing" or as she says it should have been "Selecting, Masking & Compositing". I have purchased several books on Photoshop CS3 now and have read them all from cover to cover. Katrin's M&C book was written for CS - but I found it very instructive even when used with CS3.

Katrin Eismann is nothing short of a genius. I have her DVD, and what she can do for someone serious about learning restoration and repair is second to none.

I took a one day Adobe Photoshop CS2 class. The instructor recommended this book for extra training. Photoshop is a program you can study for years and still have tons more to learn . This book gives you a great headstart. It's easy to follow and contains a great deal of usefull information. It's the kind of book you read cover to cover but it's also a good reference book. It's nice to be able to go at your own pace.

I have been in graphic design for 8 years, since Photoshop 5. I have purchased/read/borrowed every major book made for Photoshop from Peachpit and New Riders. From cheesy technique books, to instruction manuals, quick start guides, classroom in a books, and this is hands down, The most important Photoshop book I own.

All I can say is WOW! I love this book. Katrin Eismann has outdone herself. I can't believe the work that must have gone into writing this book.

Katrin, retouching profession, teaches everything you need to know in order to become an expert Photoshop retouch artist. She covers everything from rebuilding damaged or torn photos to glamour touching photos with stylistic flair. This book is full of detailed examples, color photos and step by step tutorials for every situation.

I use Photoshop all the time as part of my photography. Katrin's book has become an invaluable tool to me. I constantly reference it. It seems that whenever I reach a Photoshop problem, the answer is in her book. In fact it is sitting on my desk right now as I type.

Whether you are a professional or a newbie to photo retouching, I would recommend that you purchase this book first, then don't purchase any other book; because this book teaches it all.

Thanks, Katrin; you rock.

Hope this helps.

-Craig Nybo, co-author of Total Human: The Complete Strength Training System

Easy to understand and covers most things I want to do, excellent reference book

I was delighted to find Miss Eismann's book so easy to follow. She uses a great deal of detail to help you follow the steps to fixing photo problems. I think it is a book everyone who owns photoshop should have as a resource.

Good organized material. Used to have to make some of this stuff up myself. Some of it is overly involved, however, for the outcome.

This book is a real time saver. I like the clear and easy to understand activities

I have more Photoshop books than I wish to count. Many touch on a few topics that I am interested in, then move on. Katrin Eismann's book is the first that I eagerly read cover to cover. This is exactly what I was looking for in a Photoshop book. When I was finished I wanted more of her knowledge and teaching. So I am now reading her book, "Masking & Compositing." It is just as in-depth and everything I expected from her.

This is not a book for beginners. Most of the other Photoshop books will fit this need. I will not go into detail about the book as many reviews have done a better job than I am capable. But the other reviews were the reason I picked this book and trust me, they are right on the mark. This is a wonderful, well written book that contains a wealth of information. Buy it, you will not be disappointed!

Excellent instruction!

I have a bookshelf dedicated to Photoshop, and I feel like this is the most valuable material I have ever seen. I can't wait to finish it and get "Photoshop Masking and Compositing" another one of her publications. I teach Photoshop classes and will definitely be using her techniques and insist that my schools have students buy and use her book in class exercises. If you're a Photoshoper, you will gain much knowledge from this book. Highly recommended!

I have found this book to be very well written with clear, concise descriptions about how to achieve excellent results when either restoring or retouching photos. An great resource that I continue to refer to as I learn the art of photo retouching.

I have found this book to be very well written with clear, concise descriptions about how to achieve excellent results when either restoring or retouching photos. An great resource that I continue to refer to as I learn the art of photo retouching.

I am a regular reader of PhotoShops tutorial books and this one pleased me a lot. Very consistent, covers most of all available tools, as well as gives to the reader the possibility to go more or less deep into the PS world. After so many books, this is the first one I rate 5. Good choice.

great book, very in depth and easy to understand, only complaing is there is no companion cd, howevere all files can be downloaded off the web

This book has been a wonderful resource. It is filled with numerous examples that are extremely helpful. It has quickly allowed me to better understand Photoshop.

This is the best book I've seen on the subject of Restoration & Retouching. It offers the best methods of print correction in an approach that even people just starting out in Photoshop will understand. As far as I'm concerned, it is a must have book.

I'm only about a third of the way through Katrin's Restoration and retouching book and have already learned a great deal. I have learned more about Photoshop from Katrins books than all other sources combined.

Whether you plan to do any retouching or restoration of photos in Photoshop is immaterial: you still should have this book in your Photoshop library.

Why?

Because Katrin Eismann is not only a true master of Photoshop, but she is that rarity of rarities: a teacher who can teach through the written word - and in this case, a ton of illustrations.

This is truly a Photoshop master's class between covers. It is not for the beginner - Eismann wisely leaves that for others. You should definitely know the basics of Photoshop for cracking this book open.

But once you begin, you are in for a treat: ten chapters that cover everything you need to know about retouching and restoration in detail. Best of all, every technique Eismann teaches in this book will make you a more proficient Photoshop user, no matter what you use the program for.

Unlike other authors, Eismann doesn't simply get you going and then leave you hanging. Her lessons are complete. And Eismann - happily - doesn't try to be a comedian like Scott Kelby, Deke McClelland and Russell Brown. Her writing style is clear, concise and natural and a delight to read.

Buy this and her book on masking and compositing along with Lee Varis's book called "Skin" and Steve Caplain's book on photo montage and you'll have the basis for a truly fine education in the art of Photoshop.

Jerry

Even though you can start being productive after the first couple of chapters, you really want to read it cover to cover.

A lot of "real world" examples focusing more on the whys than on the hows, so you can adapt the techniques to your problems.

Note: you will need a tablet to be able to reproduce the more advanced techniques (it would take much longer with a mouse) and do not forget to download the originals for the examples from the book website so you can practice.

I actually borrowed the second edition of this book from a friend in order to do some portrait photograph improvement from a REALY BAD scan from a newsletter. I knew I had to buy the third edition. It was so useful in providing tips for improvement. There is so much helpful information in this book, and it is an amazing resource. The instructions and visuals are clear and there are many pictures to direct the process.
I would recommend this book to anyone who may need to fix bad photos or do heavy-duty changes or enhancements.

Love it, Love it, Love it. I can't believe how much I have learned from the first few chapters of this book. I had used Photoshop for years but I had never taken any classes. This book helped me so much to find the right tools and setting to use in restoring my old family history photos. I would recommend this to anyone who is trying to learn photoshop on their own time.

I was diapointed that I had to pay DKR 132 duty to get the book!

This is a great, well written book. It really sheds light on simple retouching and photo correction techniques that seem incredibly complex and intimidating, such as channel mixing, blending modes, and adjustment layers. Great way for intermediate users to bring their photoshop skills to another level. Buy this book.

Katrin Eismann is well known in the photography world as the master of photoshop and this book is no exception. She goes into great detail on how to do retouching and restoration. But the techniques described are also of great use in ordinary photo post processing. I especially liked the in depth discussion of Photoshop's blending modes which are something of a mystery to most users.

Digital photography requires post processing to produce great photographs. We have returned to the times where most serious photographers controlled the processing of their work from the click of the shutter to the preparation of the final print. In film days that was done in the darkroom, now it is done in Photoshop or other post processing software. And you will need several books to learn how to get the most out of Photoshop.

This book is an updated version, and I'm not familar with earlier editions and don't know how much of change the new editon is.

Eismann's books should be regarded as advanced training in Photoshop. I think that new users would be better served with a basic book or two before trying one of her books. Perhaps one of Kelby's books would be a good start. But once you have a good grasp of Photoshop as applied to photograpahy then you can advance your knowledge greatly by use of her books.

The book I would call the companion to this one is her Masking and Compositing book, and it might be best to read that one first.

I have read several Photoshop books and watched training DVDs, but this book focused on my true interest, restoring old photographs. This book was more useful than all the other Photoshop training combined. I highly recommend this book.

...into the complicated, sometimes inscrutable world of Photoshop. If you're aspiring to be a professional photographer or post-production assistant, probably the single best thing you can do for your career development -aside from practice, practice, practice- is make sure you own a copy of this book and Ms. Eismann's other work: "Photoshop Masking & Compositing". Study her techniques, apply them to your own images and re-apply them until you can look at an image and know right off which tools you're likely to use and how.

Far better than a reference type book (Photoshop Bible, et al), and more thorough than other lead-by-example PS books, these two clearly explain the different contexts for each tool, and show you -in relatively simple terms- how to use them to great effect. This book is also nicely illustrated and laid out, which makes it much easier to read through the examples without getting bored or frustrated. In short, as someone who works in this business professionally and also does some instruction, Katrin's books are the ones I recommend to those who are really serious / not just looking for a glossed over summary of Photoshop.

Highly recommended.