Real World Camera Raw with Adobe Photoshop CS3 is a complete walk through, run-down and tutorial on how to use Adobe Camera Raw with Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Bridge. Covering everything from what a Raw file is, to how your camera works to create a Raw file to the Adobe Raw system overview to the controls in Adobe Camera Raw, to getting in and using Adobe Camera Raw to process your files to using Adobe Camera Raw with Adobe Bridge, some ideas and information on workflow as well as what metadata is and how to use it to your advantage and how Adobe Camera Raw supports it. Finally, Real World Camera Raw covers using automation in Adobe Camera Raw to batch process dozens or hundreds of Raw images.

While Bruce Fraser is no longer with us (god rest his soul) this book is very much a part of his lasting legacy. Mr. Fraser has done a lot for every digital photographer on the planet. I dare say that Adobe and Adobe Photoshop wouldn't be what they are today if it wasn't for him. He will be sorely missed.

Jeff Schewe is the other author of this book and while I have had some dealing with him in the past over Adobe and their products and while we don't often agree he does know his photography and he has a very good grasp of Adobe Camera Raw. It is unclear just how much of this book is Bruce Fraser and how much is Jeff Schewe which I think says a lot. The information presented in this book and the way it is presented is easy to understand especially when dealing with some the more technical aspects of what a Raw file is and how your camera works to create a Raw file. I also found the workflow section to make a great deal of sense and it is very similar to my own workflow.

All in all this full color book which is loaded with lots of screen shots and sample shots take a complex subject and brings it down to earth so that all photographers of any skill level can understand, make use of and get the most out of Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Adobe Camera Raw. Nicely done.

Chapters:

Chapter 1: Digital Camera Raw
Chapter 2: How Camera Raw Works
Chapter 3: Raw System Overview
Chapter 4: Camera Raw Controls
Chapter 5: Hands on Camera Raw
Chapter 6: Adobe Bridge
Chapter 7: It's All About The Workflow
Chapter 8: Mastering MetaData
Chapter 9: Exploiting Automation