Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating: 
Summary: Another great book from Scott Kelby
Comment: I have used PS for almost 10 years and I have acquired quite some expertise with it when it comes to general design or retouching photos. However, Kelby's books always teach you new tricks in a fun way. This book is perfect for beginners who want to retouch photos to 95% of their potential without having to spend countless hours trying to master PS or learn the sometimes daunting lingo. This is a very recommended read and should be on the bookshelf of any photographer!
Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must Have for Digital Photographer
Comment: I was a bit skeptical about this book when Scott first announced it, since I feel comfortable with Adobe Photoshop, and with so much information out there about it already, do I really need one more Photoshop book on my shelf? But I am a fan of Scott Kelby, and I decided to get it anyway. After going through it, here are my pros and cons.
Pros-
Scott's teaching style. I like how Scott teaches. Anybody, including someone who barely started using Adobe Photoshop, can pick up any of his books, and immediately see improvement in his or her images. The 7-point System is written in chronological order, so you really should begin with chapter 1 and proceed accordingly, but his explanations are straightforward from the beginning, and if you already know how to add new layer, well, you'll move faster at the beginning.
Reasons Why. Scott is a excellent teacher when it comes to giving you tips, but what I found is that he doesn't always explain why he uses certain tools, whether he's doing that in his other books or on Photoshop User TV. However, in this book he often pauses and explains why we should use a gradient settings of this kind, or why the layer should be turned off before creating another copy of the background layer. I learn a lot this way.
Lessons You Commit to. I'm about half way through the book, but I'm making constant progress, as it's broken down by lessons and I tackle 1-2 chapters a day. All the images are available for download, and you're working through on them together with Scott. So it's more of a course than it is a book, which is approach I actually prefer.
Variety of Images. Scott takes turns processing all kinds of images, from macros to portraits to landscape, so his System applies to any kind of photography.
His Creative Thinking. Besides reading about Adobe Photoshop technique, I enjoy learning why Scott did what he did on particular image. It gives you a glimpse of his creative process and thinking, a part that is the hardest to develop when it comes to Photography, and to me that's as big of a value than any other aspect of his new book.
Cons-
Incompatibility with other versions of Photoshop. I don't care about this one, since I use Adobe Photoshop CS3, but users of other versions of Photoshop will be disappointed. Scott often uses smart object, smart filters, opens Jpeg's in Adobe RAW, etc., so you won't be able to follow this book unless you have Adobe Photoshop CS3.
Destructive Workflow. Scott flattens his images at least twice before he arrives at a final version. I started doing it more often now, as some changes I don't care about reversing, but I prefer to keep layers in case I want to adjust something later. But this one is easy to overcome - Sft+Ctrl/Cmd+Alt/Opt+E and you have the flattened version of the image on top of all you other layers, so this issue is minor.
Using ACR Instead of Lightroom. Scott is a faithful user of Adobe Lightroom, and published a great book about it. However, he uses Adobe Camera RAW for the beginning stages of his 7-steps workflow. Sometimes it creates problems if you're a heavy Lightroom user as I am. For example, it's not as easy to open the same RAW file twice and stack them on top of each other if you're using Lightroom. Others have found a work around it, but it's not as straight forward. Perhaps Scott could have included a chapter on this issue.
Bottom Line-
It's certainly a great purchase I made, and I highly recommend it. The pros far outweigh the cons. My work flow has improved, and I keep adding knowledge and tools that help my own creative process with each chapter I read.
Customer Rating:
Summary: As Good as its Hype
Comment: This book was advertised on nearly every photographic website when it was released. I expected Scott Kelby to edge out Al Gore for a Nobel prize given the publisher's hype. But the book /is/ very good. Kelby gives a link to the files he works on and critiques each photo and then proceeds to correct each using his system. One can follow along step by step and duplicate his work using the same files.
Along the way he throws in nuggets like actions he uses to speed up his work flow. If you shoot raw and use PS it's one of the best (if not /the/ best) book of its type.
Maybe Mr. Gore should have been worried.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Well worth you attention
Comment: Scott Kelby has produced a book with WOW factor! The concept is great! As, always, you will have a lot of fun learning.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Go from "Schmo" to "Pro"
Comment: If you are photographer and/or an artist and you have a decent sense of composition then you have complete step one in creating provacative images.
If you use Photoshop and are NOT familar with the techniques in Scott's book, then you do not "use" Photoshop. There are so many tools available to tweak images into a glorius visual appeal that I now go back to my archives of 40 years in age and find gook that I can transform into gold.
This and (anything Scott releases) are a must.
Bottom line: buy it, work each session, make these techniques yours...
Here, I'll prove it --- see for yourself: http://MarcBlakePhotography.com
Did I mention a big hearty "Thank You" to the author?
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