Foreword

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Fantastic Four

Capture the Sun

Artificial Lies

Home Field Advantage

Print the Image

Presenting the Image

Torn Curtain

Two-Minute Warning

Fun with Dick and Jane

1  Welcome to the Digital Darkroom

Back to the Future

A Shot in the Dark

Don’t Go Near the Water

Permanent and Temporary Storage

The Monitor and Merrimac

Monitor Checklist

Rocket’s Red Glare

Out Here in the Real World, and I don’t Mean MTV

Operation Swordfish

Riding the Resolution Carousel

Good Resolutions

Trading Places

The Bottom Line

2  Tools of the Trade

Candid Cameras

How Many Megapixels are Enough?

Digital Film

How Fast is your Memory Card

The Big Three

Real World Testing

Scanners

Pick a Scanner; any Scanner at all

Scanner Slang

Keepin’ it Real

Duck Soup

The Importance of Being Earnest

Hub Cap World

Memory Card Readers

Real World Tests

The Mouse that Roared

Just What I Need

3  The X Files: Don’t Fight the Future

The Ipcress Files

I am a Camera

The Gang that Couldnd’t Shoot Straight

Crossing Delancey

Lost in Translation

Revenge of the Sith

4  Before Opening Raw Files

Getting Started with RAW

I’ll be Back With You in a Byte

Should I Work with 16- or 8-Bit Files?

Eight or Sixteen?

Space: Not Necessarily the Final Frontier

Other Voices, Other Options

EXIF 22

Perfection?

5  Working with RAW Files

Lets Get RAW

The 800-Pound Gorilla

What’s New Pussycat?

Show Workflow Options

Crop Size: Does Matter

Resolution: of the Matter

Settings? Not More Settings?

The Adjust Tab

And Now for the Rest of the Story

The Detail Tab

The Lens Tab

Calibrate, Calibrate, Dance to the Music

Converting to Black and White

Transfers: Gateway to Photoshop

Baking a Batch of Chocalate Chip Actions

6  Opening the Software Toolbox

Send in the Clones

What Kind of Computer?

How Much Does it Cost?

Image File Formats Handled?

Does it Accept Photoshop-Compatible Plug-ins?

Using Digital Imaging Software

A Peek Inside the Toolboxes

Painting Tools?

The Magic Wand

7  Understanding Layers

Layers of Creativity

The Layers Palette

Adjustment Layers

Simple Use of Layers

Two Faces of Japan

Speed Thrills

Making Collages and Mosaics

Create Collages

8  Traditional and Non-Traditional Tools for Digital Methods

Retouching Tools and How to Use them

The Band-aid Tool

Traditional Tools for Digital Methods

Burn and Dodge

The Cropping Tool

Lighten/Darken

Levels and Curves

Brightness and Contrast Control

Non-Traditional Tools

Unsharp Masking

External Solutions to an Internal Problem

Sharpness vs Blur

Digital Blur and Soft Focus

9  Power Tools

Photoshop-Compatible Plug-ins

Enhancing that Image

Manipulating Images

Where There’s Smoke There’s Fire

Film Grain vs Digital Noise

Moonstruck

Photoshop Actions

MAC OS? Windows? Doesn’t Matter!

This is a Recording

Commercial and Freeware Actions

10  The Monochrome Difference

In Camera

Black and White with Color Filters

In-Camera Color Effects

I Can Do that in Photoshop!

The Digital Difference

Channel Mixer

Monochrome Power Tools

It was a Dark and Stormy Night …

The Duotone Command

11  Making Photo Quality Ink-Jet Prints

Ink and Paper Compatibility

Printing in the Real World

Practical Color

Monitor Calibration

Output Solutions

Ink and Paper

Alternative Inks

Black and White in Color

The Print Button

Get to Know Your Printer Driver

A Personal Test Print

Ink-Jet Paper Choices

Print Longevity

12  Preparing Images for the Web

The Pixel Parade

The Machine that Goes Ping

Save for Web

Web Tips

JPEG 2000

Tools of the Trade

Photo-Sharing Websites

Other Websites

Cybertheft

Basic Protection

Embed Protection within the File

Take Action

Glossary

Index