I was really excited about this book. Photoshop Finishing Touches, I mean even the name sounds good. According to the cover it is supposed to teach you the "tastiest finishing techniques" So from that I took it to mean it shows you how to add the final finishing details to your photos. Photos that have been color corrected, exposure corrected, sharpened... well basically everything you need to do to your images so that you can print them, post them to the web, etc. And, then you turn to this book and it shows you cool ways of putting the finishing touches on them, the little pink or blue bow if you will.
While there are some very cool "finishing touches" in this book I find a lot of repetition as well. For example in section two entitled "frames and border effects" I find several dozen different ways to add a fancy border to your image. While boarders are nice and all I would have hoped for a little more diversity.
On the plus side even the many different flavors of frames and borders are educational. They may all be similar (frames and borders) but they use different Photoshop techniques. Things like layer masks, quick mask mode, creating custom brushes and much more, so even if the frames and borders are similar what you learn from them goes beyond that, I like that aspect of it. However, in the end we have a book that I feel could have been better severed had there been more diversity in the "finishing touches". For this kind of book do we really need 28 different types of frames and borders?
Chapters:
Section 1: Key Concepts
- Layer Masks
- Quick Mask
- Define Brush
- Define Pattern
- Strokes
- Free Transform
- Filters
- Blend Modes
- From Illustrator to Photoshop
- Adjustment Layers
- Blending Options
- Layer Styles
- Threshold
Section 2: Frames and Border Effects
- Applying a Filter to a Layer Mask
- Displacement Mapping to a Layer Mask
- Dry Brush Painting on a Layer Mask
- Making Your Own Brush
- Making Your Own Brush with a Pattern
- Painting Along a Layer Mask's Path
- Smudging Along a Path
- Extracting a Border
- Extracting a Border and Burning the Edges
- Getting that Painted-On Look
- Inserting a Shape from Illustrator
- Inserting a Shape from Illustrator as a Smart Object
- Scanning in a Shape
- Applying a Filter to a Stroke
- Applying Filters to Shapes
- Painting a Border
- Painting Along a Path
- Painting and Smudging Along a Path
- Using Borders from Illustrator
- Defining a Border Brush
- Defining a Threshold Border
- Drawing Your Own Border
- Gallery Print
- Layer Style Border
- Building Frames - Version 1
- Building Frames - Version 2
- Two-Photo Effect
- Creating Borders with Stock Photos
Section 3: Color and Artistic Effects
- Making Colors Pop with Curves
- Making Colors Pop with Apply Image
- Burned-In Edges - Version 1
- Burned-In Edges - Version 2
- Burned-In Edges - Version 3
- Spotlight Effect
- Lighting Effect
- Gritty Extreme Contrast Effect - Version 1
- Gritty Extreme Contrast Effect - Version 2
- High-Contrast Fashion Look
- Convert to Black and White - Version 1
- Convert to Black and White - Version 2
- Convert to Black and White - Version 3
- Mostly Black and White with a Touch of Color
- Color Tint - Version 1
- Color Tiny - Version 2
- Make It Old
- Gradient Map
- Split Toning
- Infrared Simulation
- Selective Blurring
- Soft Focus
- Slide Mounts
- Creating a Filmstrip
- One Photo, Two Sizes
- Photo Grid
As you can see from the list of contents above there is quite a few similar effects and I think that is a shame, the ones that had one or two versions could have been combined in to one and most of the frame and border ones could have also. Is this book right for you? Only you can decide that. Only you know what is and isn't of value. Was this book of value to me? Yes, there are a few effects in here that I really like and I am glad I know how to do them and do them correctly.
There are some good things about this book. Like I said above each of the techniques use different tools and so they act as practical lessons so you can learn while you put the finishing touches on your photos. The book is in full color and has lots of screen shots and sample images, in fact each technique besides being step-by-step has each of the steps visually documents with either a screen shot or a sample image so it is very easy to follow along and understand what is being done and how. Plus there are lots of tips included as well. Also, each technique starts with a little description of the technique and they tell you the key concepts involved in the technique.
More than anything I see this as a learning book. Yah, you may find the techniques useful for your photos but more importantly you will learn how to use some of Photoshop lesser known and more advanced features and you get to learn while having fun. This alone makes the book well worth while, even if it isn't as effect diversified as I would have liked.
