Modern Photoshop Color Workflow The Quartertone Quandary, the PPW, and Other Ideas for Speedy Image Enhancement

Dan Margulis has been a pioneer in advanced color correction methods for many years, but it has occasionally been hard to gain access to his knowledge. This is in part because the pace of his discoveries has accelerated with increases in computational power. His earlier books were state-of-the-art, but the state of the art has kept changing as new approaches became computationally feasible.In this book, Dan generously shares what he's learned over the last 2 or 3 decades. As an added bonus, there is a companion web site with many informative videos. Beyond that, he has made available--for free--a Photoshop plug-in that takes the tedium out of his approach.It still requires that you use your brain, however--it's just that you can use your brain to think about what the photo needs, not to think about how to execute complicated techniques. The only somewhat challenging parts are the initial adjustment of color using curves ("so that there is nothing obviously wrong with it") and possibly the subsequent contrast enhancement. After those are done, there are a number of tools and actions that can be used with ease, sometimes just to see what happens. The final results are usually big improvements, sometimes spectacularly so.Dan's approach is unorthodox. For example, he suggests that the user aim to spend no more than 3 minutes on a correction. If additional time is available, he recommends developing another correction rather than spending more time on the first one, and then to blend the best of both for the final correction. One of the videos on the companion web site blends 8 separate such corrections, and the final result is superior to any of the individual corrections. I have been practicing, and though I don't quite have the speed down to 3 minutes per image, I am definitely beginning to understand the virtues of the multiple-corrections-then-blend style.The book itself is delightfully written. Dan is extremely literate and his writing combines wit with technical detail, suffused with intelligence. It is a very enjoyable read. He has structured most chapters so that the first half tells you the basics and the second half provides extensive technical detail, and he invites readers to feel free to skip the second half if they just want to learn the main aspects of the approach. The second halves definitely get technical, and will repay repeated readings. But the first halves are considerably less demanding yet packed with useful information, especially if you are eager to try out the techniques to see what they can do.I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the state-of-the-art in color correction.

I have to add my voice to the nearly perfect "5s" Dan and his book have received!If you want to "get it", all of it - color, post processing, Photoshop, etc., - then his book is for you. I am self-taught in these subjects and photography, and have long since forgotten how many books, articles, posts and video tutorials I've read and watched - long since. None of them are as important and essential as Dan's Modern Photoshop Color Workflow.... even though, as I think Dan would freely admit, the book is not for the faint of heart or dabbler.Furthermore, I've not met Dan, but I have corresponded with him via email. He is immanently available and very helpful.Good reading,GuyPS The extensive videos that come with the book on the book's website are worth the price of admission.May 19, 2014 review:The Modern Photoshop Color Workflow... is the most important book about photographic post processing and Photoshop in print. If you want to comprehend photographic color, post processing and the intelligence of Photoshop or the intension of any exceptional converter/processing software, you will discover it here. If you want to know color and how to proceed with your vision for it in Photoshop and not just complete memorized schemes, this is the place. Virtually all of photographic Photoshop is included in just minutes of processing time -- and when to do what you want nearly down to the pixel level.The book is the Dan Margulis PPW workflow and philosophy. The philosophy is fascinating and mind opening on its own, like finding something completely familiar that you didn't know had always been with you. The workflow of the philosophy and its accessibility stirs the philosophy to life. It's worth reading just to see it.This is my second review, having recently finished the book and begun again with Photoshop more as a master of it than a mere user. The superlatives written in these reviews about Modern Photoshop... are true.All of photographic Photoshop, save niches like 3D imaging and cloning, is in the minutes-long workflow. You will know Photoshop, color management and post processing because Dan reveals them. I don't know where else you can find this knowledge or its power for creativity.

Note: I am not a professional but rather an amateur photograph in seek of knowledge :)I have read Dan's Professional Photoshop 3rd Ed. first and then Photoshop Lab Color before reading this book so the comparison with those other books is unavoidable.First off I enjoyed reading this book and I found it rather interesting, so I do suggest buying it.If you already know and despise Dan's style, ignore this review and don't buy it of course.That said, I still have some mixed feelings about it, mostly derived by having read his other books and viewed a few videos online.I really liked the workflow approach of this book, where the chapters follow the suggested order of the workflow steps (including a summary at the end of the boook).What I didn't like as much was the repetition. I feel like there is some degree of repetition within this book - maybe you won't notice and it will be useful to you, but to me it made the book less interesting.The other two books will also explain some topics with more detail so I felt like this book was sometimes targeted at beginners but other times, lacking certain information, to people who already ready his in-depth Lab book.In conclusion: if you manage to read all three books as I did you will end up learning a lot of things. Professional Photoshop could be probably skipped but I strongly suggest reading the Lab book (the latest edition is from 2015, so even newer than this book).Certain things that are better explained on one book, other things are better in the other book, while other times reading about a same topic twice, albeit in different ways, helps grasping the concept.