Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:  
Summary: Conceptually a great idea but difficult to capitalize on
Comment: The concept of having acutal photographs to work on using the instructions of the book is great. That is, only if you can get the photos onto your computer and opened in Photoshop/Bridge CS3. The book gives you one unhighlighted reference buried in the introduction to the web site to obtain the files containing the photos. This should not be a secret. No where is there any information as to what programs/plugins you must have on your computer in order to access these photos and therefore be able to use the book. This information should be available to a person considering buying the book. Not all of us have state of the art computers.
I went to the web site given by Mr. Kelby only to find that it lists other web sites not directly concerned with providing information on this book or others written by him and more importantly the web site was advertised as "for sale". Calling the 800 number listed on the cover of the book only got you to a sales office that was polite but had no knowledge of computers and had no recomendations as to where one could get information on how to open the photos and thereby use the book.
This was a waste of time and I have returned the book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Valuable Photoshop Tool
Comment: As Scott Kelby claims in the introduction, the 7-Point System was designed to turn the "boring to beautiful," the "flat to fantastic," the crappy into the non-crappy. Certainly, there are no shortages of books, blogs, and web-based tutorials that promise to teach you something similar - how to take that lifeless shot from your camera into a rich, vibrant image.
The 7-Point System distinguishes itself from other books in that it is a comprehensive Photoshop workflow disguising itself as a simple, recipe-like type of manual. The name itself, the 7-Point System, is silly and disarming in the way that the 1200-page colossus known as the CS3 Photoshop Bible (Fuller) is not. Sure, there are seven Photoshop features one needs to know well to understand Kelby's rationale for this book, but the constant use of some or all of these tools in the book's twenty-one lessons will make experts of those with a shaky Photoshop foundation. Of course, those with a greater comprehension of layers, masks, channel adjustments, Smart Objects, and Camera Raw adjustments will only benefit in taking the book's underlying principles into their current workflow.
There is a certain criticism that other reviewers have noted about the book's methods of transforming the boring to beautiful. Mainly, when does one say, "This is beautiful enough?" Again, the book is not a simple, for-dummies-like manual. Even within each of the lessons, there are deviations and alterations on the 7-Points that are arbitrary choices made by the author. These are made, as he clearly states, as a matter of personal choice. There is a chapter where he adds a reflection of the sky on a body of water that did not exist in the original. In another image, he uses a composite method to fix an over-exposed image. In both cases, the final images are significantly better than the originals. Whether the final image is true and pure, morally acceptable or not is completely up to you. Of greater importance is learning how these Photoshop tools integrate with one another to create an image that is better in color, contrast and style than the original. After all, if you're worried about preserving the purity and integrity of the original image, why are you using Photoshop?
As good as this book is, truth be told, processing and editing pictures on Photoshop should not be fun; it robs you of valuable shooting time. Once you start applying some of these lessons to your images, and you begin to see where you went wrong on the original capture, you become more critical about your skills as a photographer, about capturing a better original image. For that reason alone, the 7-points system is a highly recommended addition to your digital photography workflow.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Also for CS2 users with Lightroom
Comment: I think of myself as a mid-level Photoshop user - past the beginner stage, but I only use PS every week or two. I use PS CS2 and Adobe Lightroom, which has the same editing capabilities as Camera Raw in Photoshop CS3. During the past 10 days I've completed 15 of the 21 lessons in the 7-Point System. The book is definitely written for CS3 users and makes no mention of alternatives if you're using CS2. I have been able to do 98% of the manipulations in the lessons using Lightroom and CS2. If I had only CS2, I'd have been stuck. Where Scott calls for using a smart filter on a layer copy, I import a 2nd file copy from Lightroom into PS and apply the filter, then "move" it onto the file I've been working on, etc.
The lessons succeed in pounding in certain things through repetition. If you were at all uncomfortable using adjustment layers, masks, blend modes and gradients, you won't be after completing this book. Every lesson has some elements that are unique (obscure/expert?) and I doubt that I'll have them remembered and available in my toolbox. I love to use keyboard shortcuts and Scott uses them to a fault. Some like D for default colors, Ctrl-J for layer copy are learned through repetition - and Scott almost always says what they're for. But he'll occasionally throw in a keyboard shortcut to make something happen and you have no idea what it's "really" doing.
There are a lot of things in the lessons that are recipe-like and beg for further experimentation / learning by the photographer. But, if you go through the lessons, you're almost certain to take your work to a much higher level and be able to work quickly to achieve those results.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One of the best I have bought
Comment: I am currently on Lesson 5 out of 21 in the book. This is a great learning tool and I now know how to start with my own photos. You use the same pictures as in the book downloaded from a website and go step by step to make the changes following the settings Scott gives in his book. The repetition works well for me. The photos are all quite different and some have different processes applied but all start in Bridge then open in Camera Raw then open in Photoshop. Takes out a lot of confusion for me because he has the same basic sequence for each photo. I have purchased at least a dozen books since I got my camera a month ago but this is the best basic tutorial yet for getting me over the confusion and fear of doing something wrong or not knowing which menu tab to choose.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Teaching Tool
Comment: This is a must have book! If you are wanting to give your photos that extra pop this is the book for you! I consider it a must have for CS3!
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