This is the second Scott Kelby photography book I have purchased from Amazon. As a beginning photographer who is also learning Photoshop CS3 I have found Scott's step-by-step instructions very easy to follow and extremely helpful in improving my images. I have been using the chapters "Channels & Better Colour" and "Sharpening with Channels". Save yourself time and agro - purchase this book. Too many books I have purchased over the years, assume a certain level of knowledge and leave blanks in the middle of instructions. This is not the case with the two Scott Kelby books I have purchased to date.
The first Scott Kelby book I purchased was "The Adobe Photoshop CS3 book for Digital Photographers" and it too provides step-by-step instructions.

Whether you are a beginner or professional you will find tips and shortcuts from Scott Kelby books that you did not know before.
Pauline D, Queensland Australia

I like the way Scott designs his information, it makes it easier to absorb, and skim through if I already am familiar with it. Full of to-the-point tutorials, I learned a lot from this book. Also, he freely plugs other authors who give more in-depth teaching, which I appreciate since his books are not ultimate "Bible" type works. His goofy humor is featured in the intro to each chapter, barely worth a chuckle most of the time, but at least he's not an unbearable ego maniac schooling the unwashed masses like Dan Margulis. Recommended.

Like most of Kelby books very usefull guide and very easy to understand. Even if you only know a little of english like me. Recomended

Excellent: Easy to understand, detailed, great for beginner's to the advanced. I learn something new every time I open this book.

Scott's style of writing in this book becomes a little overbearing at times, as he tries to be amusing at every turn of the page. That makes it rather hard to read the book a second time to review things one may have forgotten.

Having said that, Scott doesn't write as if the reader is an imbecile, and the pace of the book is good. Scott clearly explains each step required to use channels and if you follow along you are amazed at the end of an exercise how much you have accomplished in a short space of time.

Because of the large number of screen shots, the book can be easily read without sitting in front of the computer, which is handy if you want to read it on the plane or over a beer at the pub.

I therefore recommend the book for people with a variety of skills in the use of Photoshop. That ranges from anyone who knows what a layer is through to an advanced user.

Scott Kelby uses an easy style to get the information he wants to present across to the reader. It may not be for everyone but it made the material more accessible for me. I was able to quickly absorb a lot of information. I read the entire book first and now I am going back and doing the excersizes. I have been using Photoshop for several years but I have not used channels until now. Recommended.

I've had Katrin Eismann's book Photoshop Masking & Compositing (VOICES) for about a year before finally seeing this in a bookstore. I had read several unflattering reviews of it, and one positive one which sparked my interest in it. That review mentioned it offered advice about channel masking Eismann's didn't. This proved true.

Esimann's book, although a superb one in its own right lacks one method of using channels for mask which is completely essential: combining channel masks. She does cover it, but for some reason the way in which she does is either completely baffling or a different and unnecessarily complicated method of doing it.

Kelby's book here covered that method with good detail and without any confusion. I bought the book for this reason alone.

There is other information in it which is useful as well most notably, keeping an object's original shadows. But for anyone not interested in using Photoshop for composites, this book has almost no, if any value.

Most of the complaints I see in other reviews of this book are about Kelby's lack of explaining the settings he uses. This can be easily overlooked if you have a good understanding of most of Photoshop's adjustment features. I personally was easily able to fill in the blanks Kelby left but I can definitely see how a beginner would be completely lost reading about setting blend slider settings and using the displace filter.

My only real complaint is Kelby never goes into much detail about anything. He says what things do, and how they're done in as few words as possible. Esimann on the other hand goes into nearly pornographic details about every topic and concept she mentions. A combination of these two books is all one should ever need for masking and compositing in Photoshop.


The bottom line:

If you're familiar with Photoshop and are serious about photo compositing, buy this and Esimann's book immediately. If you're still learning the program and have only a passing interest in composites, you'd be far better off looking for something else more tailored to your interests because it holds almost no value otherwise.

This is a very good start to understanding what photoshop's channels can do to improve your photographs. Be prepared to give up a lot of your spare time revisiting old photographs that you will want to rework. After this book, if you want deeper understanding, follow Scott's advice and buy Photoshop LAB Color by Dan Margulis.

I found this book to be incredibly useful to me not having much knowledge on how to use channels in Photoshop.... defenately gives you so much more possibilites to expand your range of creativity and use of Photoshop may it be on your digital camera pictures or digital creative images of your own. I found this book to be very practical and not just "theoritical", it's fully illustrated with "tutorial" examples on how to use the type of channels depending on the result required in your image(color change,fast selections,sharpening, contrast.. and so on and that all with the use of channels)...which does help you work more efficiently and faster! and you can even download the examples of this book's tutorials (website link given to grab the images to work on) and follow the tutorials step by step on your own computer. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more on the subject.

I am a Graphic design student and consider myself in the upper amatuer catagory, before reading this book I knew how the channels worked and how to make basic masks. This book shows you how to make very complex masks very quickly, as well as grayscale conversions, spot colors and much more. Very easy to read compared to other books. Bar none the best $20 I have ever spent.

Whether you're a casual Photoshop user or a seasoned veteran, Scott Kelby's Channels book should be one of your favorite Photoshop resources.

Channels are an often-overlooked Photoshop palette where your image's color info is stored as separate grayscale components (an RGB image, for example, has a Red, a Green, and a Blue "channel" in this palette). But Scott demonstrates far more than simply manipulating color information. He shows you techniques for sharpening, noise reduction, creating "impossible" cutout selections, color correction, compression optimization, and more. The uses for channels that you will find here are unique and innovative enhancements of Photoshop's capabilities. This book shows you such a range of possibilities that you simply cannot avoid finding something that you could really use for your artwork.
And it's accessible. It's a truly enjoyable book to read due to Scott's unique mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and down-and-dirty power tips that will have you understanding Photoshop in ways you never thought you would. (Good ways).

Because of the wide range of techniques offered and the skill levels encompassed, I recommend this book to almost anyone using Photoshop today.

I'd had this book saved on my Wishlist for many months but I put off buying it because of that first review (I've been burned by Photoshop books before). The person who wrote that review must be on some serious medications because this book is worth every penny.

Working with Photoshop channels was always a very intimidating task. I'd played around with them, but never seemed to make things happen as I wanted them to happen. Not anymore.

I'm just about through this book, and while I won't claim I'd be able to explain to anyone else how channels work, I can damn-sure claim to know how to use them.

Also,if you're tired of spending hours in quick mask mode, you need to buy this book. You'll not only make masks in a fraction of the time, you'll make better masks.... no, that's wrong, you'll make GREAT masks.

I'm kicking myself for letting that first review make me put off this purchase for so long. This book is trememdous!

Where on earth did the person who wrote the bad review get the idea that you couldn't use the information?

This book has been a revelation for me, and it's easy to read. I have been using it in practice for my portraiture and art prints. It's awesome! If channels have always been mysterious to you and you want to master them (they are an amazingly versatile way to deal with lots of color and contrast issues)... this is the book to get.

I have been a designer using Photoshop for many years, so I'm not the "amateur" the featured bad reviewer seems to think would be the only person who would like the book. That person is also insulting the many photographers who have moved to digital from film and are getting up to speed on digital processing.

I'm not afraid of channels anymore. I am glad I got the book.

I love scott kelby books , simple english written , powerful examples.



Good work Mr. Kelby, High recommend.

I'm an amateur digital photographer who deals with noise (used to be called grain in the film days), glare, sharpness (formerly focus), and other foibles. Photoshop CS2 has ways to address many of them, but using channels is a superb and subtle method for those difficult tasks that keep an image from being perfect. Using Scott Kelby's book has heightened my awareness of what is possible to quickly use in channels. His examples are excellent, and it is easy to explore the range of any given setting he suggests. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to improve his/her digital imaging techniques. This is not a fix-all book but is a book to add to your library. It is an easy read and a very good reference book. It is NOT the definitive technical dissertation on the theory of channels. Many other books cover that esoteric knowledge. This is a hands-on, step-by-step manual written by a master of digital imaging.

A fine book on the Photoshop function called "channels," different from "layers" but almost as esoteric. Far too technical to describe here, the book was a great help to me in learning channels and how to manipulate them to produce every better photos. If you're a Photoshop nut and don't know everything you need to know about channels, here's the book!

Scott Kelby does it again, in his own humorous style! I can think of no other Photoshop author who uses illustration and clear, concise descriptions to demonstrate his techniques.

Scott Kelby does a great job of demystifying Channels in this book. It is explained in plain english, very easy to understand. The way he has parts of it highlighted makes it easy to go back and reference when you are finished with the book and want to check back on how to do something. I have always thought Scott was a great instructor who makes learning Photoshop even more fun to learn with his great sense of humor. If I could give it 10 stars, I would!

This book really explains Photoshop channel for a person not fully technical in the Photoshop Software. It is easily to understand and covers many topics where Channel can be use in the photo editing process.

I like Scott Kelby's books. They're simple and easy to follow. It's weird because I like the simplicity and cookbook style, but at the same time this cookbook style is handicapping in a way. Imagine learning to cook, you could do it two ways. Learn 25 recipes or you could learn about various ingredients, how to combine them to make new dishes, etc. This book is the former, a cookbook. The quite famous book about Channels by Eismann is the latter. So it really comes down to what you want. I love the LAB book but I wouldn't say it's easy to read, it's challenging in fact. So whether you like this book will depend on whether you want a quick cookbook or if you want in depth coverage of the subject.

I found the advertising for istock was a bit annoying, saying they're great and all one time would be enough. Also the jokes.. well I missed most of them because I've learned that with Kelby's books you automatically skip the first page of each chapter! But it is true that this guy doesn't know how to be funny.

Overall, I liked this book and it met my expectations, which admittingly weren't very high. I will probably check out the other channels book to really learn Channels.

All your questions (and then some) will be answered.....
This book looks great and is hilarious to read too!

I haven't been able to get very far in this book but I have been able to glance at it and I have found several hints and tips very helpful. This will be the next book in line for my learning tutorial. Scott Kelby is wonderful in explaining how to work with photoshop. I have enjoyed his program Photoshop TV since it began showing on Itunes.

The Channels Book got me much further into creative uses of channels than before. The sections on doing trick selections and sharpening were useful, but the one I use the most is how to turn a color image into black and white that really looks great. Photoshop is this generation's darkroom. With insights from this book the creation of beautiful black and white images is more attainable.

I was really excited when I saw this and had it on my wish list before it came out. However, when I received it as a gift, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning who quickly learns that the race track that looked "super cool" on TV, sucks in reality. Kelby's writing is just like that toy - he can't seem to stay on track. What's even worse, and most annoying, are the juvenile jokes. This book should have been listed under humor (and bad humor at that). If I want funny, I'll watch reruns of Arrested Development. When I want technical information, I'll consider a different author. Unfortunately, I can't change my star rating from a 3 to a 1.

First of all, the information that is presented in this book is thorough, concise and easy to follow and understand. It even comes with a CD containing the images used in the book. However, Mr. Kelby, has to realize that he is a "tech-head" and NOT a comedian. Seriously, the jokes/quips he uses in this book are not funny and, often times, annoying. Worst of all, there are far too many of them. If there is a new, updated edition, the comedic commentary needs to be removed.

If you want to bump up what you can do with PhotoShop buy this book. The lessons and examples are clear, nicely sequential--you can teach yourself at your own pace with this book. Once you have mastered the principles Kelby teaches, you can do all kinds of things with Channels. I really loved this book.

Scptt Kelby knows his business and knows how to pass it on to amateurs like me. I guess I have avoided working in channels before, but not now.

If you're just learning about channels, and want to learn ways to make your images look better, this book is a good start. Scott Kelby is certainly one of the most prolific pundits in the PS world, and here he assembles techniques from many sources. Explanations are simple, the techniques are tried-and-true, and the writing is not bad (albeit a bit corny). You'll get a lot better at Photoshop by incorporating these techniques into your workflow. It is indeed NOT meant for Elements users, and assumes use of CS2, although most methods can be used in earlier versions with minor modifications.
If you're looking for a treatise on the theory behind channels and color spaces, look elswhere (like Dan Margulis' work). But if you want to avoid the lofty explanations and just get in there and make your images great, this is the place for you.

I bought this book because I was confused about channels. Mr. Kelby does a good job explaining, and showing by example, how to work with channels in Photoshop. I read the reviews before I bought this book and noticed the criticism about Kelby's "cute" writing style and lack of detail. I bought the book anyway because I wanted the information. This is a good to great book if you want to know about channels. If you already know a lot about channels you'll probably be disappointed.

No part of the description of this item states that the book is only for Photoshop CS or CS2 users. Photoshop Elements 3 (which I have)is a software that is used widely and is still for sale in all software sales locations.

The book is useless to me.

"The Photoshop Channels Book" continues Scott Kelby's well-established tradition of creating Photoshop instructional books that are concise, written in a lively and humorous style, and take the reader right to the heart of processes. This time he delves into the potential applications of Photoshop's "mysterious" channels panel, something that most people rarely use. While other books touch lightly on the subject Kelby devotes an entire volume to its functionality, and deservedly so.

The book is very well designed in a 1950's/1960's TV-channel metaphor, richly illustrated and very easy to follow. Nearly anyone can get something new from it in ten minutes or less. It's a superb work that should have a long shelf-life as Photoshop continues to evolve.

In response the previous reviewer who hated it, yes I'm a beginner and thanks to Mr. Kelby I'm finally getting it. Who says that Photoshop's advanced techniques should be for the Selected few.
The guy knows how to teach. Makes complicated concepts seem easy. The book is very organized and easy to read.
On the downside: He is using a lot of filler addressing some topics that few of us will need.

The information in the book is really great. My problem with the book is that the author goes WAY overboard on "cutesy". His cutesy style of writing often made it hard to focus on content.

I was expecting a substitute for the classic "Photoshop Channel Chops" by Monroy and friends. It trivializes the subject with "How to unlock the hidden power of channels ... blah blah.
If you want a better understanding of channels be prepared to wade through a lot of fluff with this one. Infomercial.

This is not a book, as the author states, for someone new to photoshop.

That being said it is one of only two photoshop books in my library, and I am very glad that its there.

I've used photoshop for years, but never really delved into the subject of channels. I thought I was getting along just fine, until I picked up this book in an effort to learn a little something about I knew little of. Having read this book I realize how much it has opened my eyes to the possibilities of photoshop.

Photoshop's power lies in how it handels selections. Being able to cut images out of backgrounds, and applying filters to only selected parts of an image are very powerful tools that photoshop gives us. Channels I have found out, are one of the most powerful tools in the selection process. There are plugins sold for photoshop such as corel's knockout which help you in making complex mask selections, but as I have found out by reading this book, those expensive tools are not necessary most of the time if you know how to make selections using color channels.

Because color channels are such an effective tool to create complex selections, the book also covers related topics, such as quick masks, layer masks, blend modes, and layer adjustments, which are tools all photoshop artists need to know inside and out.

I found the layout of the book very simple to follow. There are a few other reviewers who complain about the lack of depth within each chapter. I found the brief examples refreshing. I would rather spend half an hour reading and two hours playing around in photoshop practicing my skills, than two hours reading and only half and hour practicing my skills. I found myself reading a chapter every night and then getting into photoshop to try out the new tricks I learned. This in not a book which is bogged down in explanations, and I looked forward to reading the next chapter each night. I feel anyone who is tight on time, but thirsty for knowledge on channels will also find the brevity rewarding.

I also enjoyed Scott Kelby's emphasis on teaching his lessons with keyboard shortcuts and a non-destructive workflow. Learning that way will only save you time and improve your productivity.

If you already know the basics, and want to take your knowledge of photoshop to the next level. If you don't have the money to spend on expensive classes, or the time to read an encyclopedia. Then I highly reccomend this book.

Scott Kelby's newest book, The Photoshop Channels Book is the kind of book that you simultaneously love and hate. You might love it because the examples are clear, step-by-step procedures for selecting, compositing, adjusting tonal range and sharpening images based on the red green and blue components of an image (otherwise known as channels). And you might love it because all of the example images are available for download. It is a decent tutorial for those who want an easy introduction into what is too often a subject characterized by difficult jargon and inexplicable explanations.

But in the end you will hate this book because it is superficial. It does not provide you with the depth of understanding available for example, in Katrin Eismann's superb Photoshop Masking & Compositing (New Riders, 2005 ISBN 0-7357-1279-4). It is further flawed by self-indulgent flights of fatuous humor. This kind of "humor" wears thin very. People who buy this book want real solutions to real problems, not pages juvenile humor. I am also disturbed by continuing references to Mr Kelby's other publications. I don't want to spend money for advertizing.

Beyond my love-hate ambiguity, I have some real questions about the point of this book. Without doubt channel manipulation is an important tool for those of us who are advanced Photoshop users. But that group of people needs much more than this superficial book provides. It seems to me that Ms. Eismann has written the quintessential book on this topic, and, coupled with Bruce Fraser and David Blatner's comprehensive Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2 (Peachpit Press 2006; ISBN 0-321-33411-6) you will have covered 95% of the knowledge you need to be a Photoshop power user. And for those wanting a more basic grounding in Photoshop I strongly recommend Tim Grey's very clearly written books (Color Confidence and Photoshop Sybex 2006 ISBN: 0471786160 and CS2 Workflow;Sybex 2005 ISBN: 0782143962 )

I waited to purchase this book from Borders because I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped. It was a "late arrival" (March 2nd) and well worth the wait. I'm a frequent reader of Mr. Kelby's Photoshop material ("Down and Dirty Tricks", "CS2 Killer Tips", and the magazines "Photoshop User" and "Layers") and I must say this book is another masterpiece. My copy of "The Channels Book" is only 6 weeks old and looks as if it's been in my library for years.
I've read a few reviews here that seem to do a disservice to someone wanting to learn the power of Photoshop channels.I myself like the fact that Mr. Kelby shows screenshots with his "optimal settings" and describes the images to which he applied those settings. It allows the reader to QUICKLY use the techniques being applied while also giving a starting point that causes the reader to THINK about how that technique may or may not apply to their own images.
When it comes to improving images, selection is key, and the approach you'll take from the use this book isolates just that part of the image that needs adjusting. With different image examples in each chapter along with an explanation of which techniques work where and why, the time-saving tools and correction methods you'll add to your arsenal are worth the price of admission.
One final note: There's a reason that Mr. Kelby was awarded with the distinction of being the world's #1 bestselling author of all computer and technology books, across all categories for the second straight year. His easy to follow, excellent writing style will help you develop lifelong skills faster and easier then you've ever imagined!

The Channels book is great. Scott Kelby cracks me up. I haven't ever read instructional manuals that are actually humorous. It helps make what might otherwise be a boring instruction manual into an entertaining read. This is one of the more advanced topics in Photoship, but Scott guides his reader through the process with amazing step-by-step instructions that detail every step.

I encourage others who don't normally like to read instructional books to pick up any of his books as they are unlike others. Funny with great tutorials, a great combo!! They have really taken me from a novice to a proficient user and for that I am grateful.

If you don't know what channels are, never have used masking layers, calculations, and are more of a lasso and magic wand guy/gal for your selections so far, then this is a great book for you.
Probably I would have given it 4 starts if had read it two year before, because many of the techniques I've found them already on videos (total training series), web sites and other books and forums. Only a third (perhaps less) of the book was usefull to me, mainly the calculations, and the using channels to improve color part.
I was thinking in books like: "Photoshop Masking and Compositing", and "Photoshop LAB Color" (wich the author here also recommends). I should have bought any of those books instead, since I know that most of the explanations there will surpass in detail the ones in this book. (I will end up with 2 great books and one so so "useful for only a couple of tricks" book)
Another star less for the humor (or lack of it). The author thinks he's a comic and each introduction to the chapter it's part of his routine...(instead of giving valuable information to why the chapter it's important or something alike).
And finally I don't like that he's always repeating the things once and again, doing silly comparitions (no need to, if he thinks that most of the readers are already frecuent users of photoshop).
Overall a nice book, but fully replaceable with some of the books already mentioned.

----- that was my opinion till I read Katrin Eismann books-----

I'm reading now her "Masking and Compositing" book along with the "Retouching and restoration" one. And let me say, Katrin's books make this book look like another recipe book (and not even a good one for that matter). Much more comprehensive they are and with many, many explanation and little tips that make your workflow much better...

but hey this isn't a review of Katrin's books, so to make it short. Don't waste your money here, if you would like to use channels for selections, then the "Photoshop: Masking and Compositing" it's your best choice, if you would like to use them to improve color then "Photoshop: Retouching and Restoration" it's a sure bet, and if you are curious about LAB, well, Dan Margulis has the best book in that subject.

I've been trying to teach myself channels and layers since photoshop came
out. Before reading your book The Photoshop Channels Book, I was flying in
the dark.

Just a short note to let you know that you absolutely nailed it! Easy to
read, and even an idiot like me gets it... THANKS!

If you don't know what channels are, never have used a masking layer, calculations, and are more of a lasso and marque tool guy/gal for your selections so far, then this is a great book for you.
Probably I would have given it 5 starts if had read it two year before, because many of the techniques I've found them already on videos (total training series), and other books and forums. Only half (perhaps less) of the book was usefull to me, mainly the calculations, and the using channels to improve color part (along with some sharpening techniques and some other SFX).
I was thinking in books like: "Photoshop Masking and Composing", and "Photoshob LAB Color" (wich the author here also recommends). I should have bought any of those books instead, since I know that most of the explanations there will surpass in detail the ones in this book. (I will end up with 2 great books and one so so "useful for only a couple of tricks" book)
Another star less for the humor (or lack of it). The author thinks he's a comic and each introduction to the chapter it's part of his routine...(instead of giving valuable information to why the chapter it's important or something alike)
And finally I don't like that he's always repeating the things once and again, doing silly comparitions (no need to, if he thinks that most of the readers are already frecuent users of photoshop).
Overall a nice book, but fully replaceable with some of the books already mentioned.

The book is wonderful in part because it is unique among the photoshop books I own, because of it's cookbook recipe type approach. It does not get into too much detail, Kelby just takes you through it step by step in very logical and clear writing. I own about six photoshop books and find most of them too complex. The other good thing about this book is that once you learn a technique, you can use the headers to walk you through it quickly and you don't have to go back and read the chapter. I will be looking at all his future books after this experience. Got some fantastic results: check my site out: stephenweissphotography.com

Channels are an important, if very under-reported, aspect of Photoshop. Channel manipulation is the key to much of the power of Photoshop, but it can be an intimidating subject. The early masterwork was "Photoshop Channel Chops" by David Biedny, Bert Monroy, and Nathan Moody, which is long out of print.

Kelby does here what he does most of the time in his books. He collects tips and techniques from various sources and cleans up the presentation. He is a good technical writer, able to translate what might be too technical for most readers, into plain English. Unfortunately, he also thinks he is a comedian. For some reason, many writers about Photoshop think they are funny: they are not. The attempted humor is banal and a distraction. But perhaps these futile attempts at comedy are a reaction to the dread so many people bring to learning Photoshop. In any event, it would be nice if Kelby and cohorts would recognize that they are not stand-up comics.

Much of what Kelby covers is fairly basic: but that's good. You have to start with the basics to learn the complex power of Photoshop. If there's a fault, it's that Kelby never goes too deeply into any subject. These are just hints, tips and techniques that scratch the surface. Yes, Kelby over-promises and under-delivers. On the other hand, he does offer a sugar-coated way for people to learn about various aspects of Photoshop.

One thing I could do without in this or any Kelby book is the relentless promotion of Kelby's little empire of Photoshop entities, such as his National Association of Photoshop Professionals, his seminars, his other books, his friend's books and products. This braggadocio gets old fast.

Since Photoshop Channel Chops is long out of print, Kelby's volume does fill a need and fills it reasonably well.

Jerry

I bought this book hoping to understand the holy grail of channels and what they could do for me in my everyday work with Photoshop. After reading this book I came away believing that for the most part one can do without understanding or using channels. I fault the author for this outcome who as one reviewer noted seemed to have come up with the idea of a book about Photoshop channels and then scraped the barrel for ways to actually use channels in Photoshop. There are a few good sections such as how to boost sharpening with channels but for the most part the examples given are of very obscure use in the real and practical world and i doubt I will ever have the need to use them. I also agree with the reviewer who noted that Mr. Kelby glosses over explanations in his examples so one would be hard pressed to use the technique on his/her own for their particular picture because he didn't explain his choice of settings, i.e. the big picture. In conclusion, there has been a market for years for a book on Photoshop that dealt with understanding the use of channels. This book did not meet my expectations and I came away only slightly more educated in the use of channels. It seems that Mr. Kelby saw a marketing opportunity and seized it without really giving his readers the quality book they deserve. As Mr. Kelby jokingly (?) says in his introduction, anyone who buys his book either has a burning desire to learn about an obscure topic like channels or throws their money around loosely. After reading the book, I now read this as a very interesting comment which may reflect Mr. Kelby's own feelings about his final product. One could do far batter with Dan Margulis' book on Lab color as one reviewer mentioned. Leave this book by Mr. Kelby alone unless you have money burning a hole in your pocket. And for those that gave this book high marks, ask yourself how much you are really going to use the info in his book and how much of it was just an interesting, abstract read. I think there are only two groups of people who appreciate this book- those beginners who are wowed by the examples because they don't realize how obscure and useless many of the techniques and examples are and secondly, those that use Photoshop as professionals to make a living day in and day out and who might actually come across an opportunity to use some of these techniques. I just think this book was a poor and lazy execution by Mr. Kelby and misses the mark for most Photoshopers.

In all fairness, Scott made a good attempt to write his most entry level book I ever saw carrying his name. I think it will do fine for PS beginners and people who lack general understanding of channels and masks, and/or are kinda afraid of them. This book will bring them a peace of mind and in essence remove the topic of channels and masks from the "uncharted territories". However, if you did use both masks and channels consciously on your own even a couple of times - it will hardly teach you anything new...

Definately Scott Kelby is the greatest photoshop instructor and he has shown this in every book he makes, I own various of his books and are my very own favorites for consulting, or looking for a great tip or even just reading him is fun, he is very funny and easy going as a writer and this book is not the exception. Now let's talk a little more about this book..

For people like me that we are like getting more into photoshop to hear about using channels just scared me, because I did not understand what exactly you could do with them and when I heard about this book I signed in to amazon and bought it right away (when I saw it was by Scott Kelby I didn't doubt it) so now I am reading it and the structure of the book is just great, the first chapter he visually xpalins you how a mask work not using photoshop but 2 pieces of paper after reading that suddenly everything is clear. as most of his books he guides you step by step in every example BUT for you that are more between intermediate and advanced you don't have to read all of the explanation just the red bar above it. Also it is totally visual that is something I just love, because you can see exactly how are you doing while practising, every step has it's illustration.

What more can I say even though you know what channels are and you are an expert do not think that this book is just for amateurs, I think you can learn or catch a tip that maybe you didn't know or you made something that took you more time doing it and in the book it helps you a lot making things faster.
One of the things I liked the most is that he teaches you how to select a person with flyaway hair and keeping all the details Cool Huh!

If you are looking for a good photoshop book this is it, you will find tips and tutorials in channels and see just another of the great things you can do with photoshop.

I put this on my web site's list of MUST READ list of Photoshop books and posted a notice on www.photozo.com about it, too.

OK, his silly style can be a bit annoying, but I learned more about channels from this book in two days of spare time than in all the rest of my Photoshop education! If you already know how to sharpen and reduce noise in the same image (yeah, right), maybe you don't need to read this book. He goes through Lab, Calculations, Apply Image (and more) and shows a terrific Alpha Channel Edge Mask technique that, alone is worth the purchase price!

Strangely, it's a bit cheaper on here Amazon than on his own site.

Have you ever tried to use a PS filter, like "Colored Pencil", over a red channel of a duplicated background layer of a portrait psd file?

Well, I must comment that I was expecting something quite close to that, a kind of testimonial book written by an artist to share some of his trade secrets, similar to the books of Caponigro in his Adobe Master Class series or Maggie Taylor's wonderful Landscape of Dreams.

My mistake.

Nonetheless, in spite its more conventional and technical goals, The Photoshop Channels Book is a helpful, well written, easy to follow book and certainly a pleasure to read. It is certainly more about "alpha -channels" and related useful layer techniques than those applied directly to R,G,B channels to amplify artistic modes of expression.

Note about the style: Why is it that some Photoshop authors think they are some kind of TV comedians when they write technical books?

I loved the format of this book and Mr Kelby's style of writing, albeit abbreviated by the format, shone through again. His disarming manner of writing and the succinct way in which steps were presented had me 50 pages into the book and wishing I had more time on my first sitting.

This book is not a philosophy of using Channels; it is a hands-on, step-by-step process where the reader learns some powerful and subtle ways to utilize channels. If you are looking for prose then this book isn't the Scott Kelby book for you. If, however, you want a book designed to teach you how to use channels and you want Scott Kelby's perspective interspersed with those seemingly quick-witted comments then this is the best book you can find right now.

The format was well thought out; it seems incredibly well suited to teaching an moderate to advanced PS user how to take advantage of channels and the design lends itself well to becoming a reference that should be on your shelf for years to come. The book itself is a very fast "read" due to the nature of small, paragraph-length steps and I found myself spending more time actually editing photos to reinforce what Mr Kelby was teaching than I did reading (to me that's a great thing to say about any book that aims to teach something - the learner spends time involved in his own learning process instead of spending more time reading about it what he should be doing).

If you are interested in expanding your PS skills by mastering the use of channels then do yourself a favor and pickup a copy of this book.

I've been waiting for this book for over a year, ever since it was first advertised with his PS for Photographers. I love channels and love what they can do. Finally a book that has all the basic information in one place. Other books just barely mentioned or gloss over channels.

Now I can wade through the last part and reread the first part of Dan Margulis' book, Photoshop Lab Color, with Kelby's book at my side. Thought it was very nice of Mr. Kelby to acknowledge Margulis's book and pioneering work on channels.