Scott Kelby ist Herausgeber des "Photoshop User Magazine", Präsident der "National Association of Photoshop Professionals", Training-Director für die "Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour" und einer der derzeit führenden Seminarleiter. Scott ist Autor zahlreicher Photoshop-Büchern. In seinen Live-Seminaren unterrichtet er Tausende pro Jahr, er weiß, welche Techniken am meisten gefragt sind.

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that’s why the secret power of Photoshop’s channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now.

Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop’s Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn’t a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use  channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets they use to get twice the work done in half the time).

You’ll learn how today’s top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field. There’s a reason there’s always been a mystique to using channels, and why Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today.

You’ll be amazed at not only what you’re able with channels, but you’ll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give you. If you’re ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you’re holding the book that will take you there, and you’re gonna love it! 

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that’s why the secret power of Photoshop’s channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now. Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop’s Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn’t a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets they use to get twice the work done in half the time). You’ll learn how today’s top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field.

There’s a reason there’s always been a mystique to using channels, and why Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today. You’ll be amazed at not only what you’re able with channels, but you’ll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give you. If you’re ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you’re holding the book that will take you there, and you’re gonna love it!

Scott Kelby is President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) as well as Editor-in-Chief of both Photoshop User and Mac Design magazines. Scott also serves as Training Director for the Adobe Photoshop Seminar Tour and is the Technical Chair of the PhotoshopWorld conference. Scott has written numerous books on Photoshop and is the creator of the best-selling Killer Tips series.

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled  
them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that's why the secret power of Photoshop's  
channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now.

Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop's  
Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn't a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step  
project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use  channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets  
they use to get twice the work done in half the time).

You'll learn how today's top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their  
production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do  
dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field. There's a reason there's always been a mystique to using channels, and why  
Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style  
that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today.

You'll be amazed at not only what you're able with channels, but you'll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give  
you. If you're ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you're holding the book that will take you there, and you're gonna  
love it! 

One big advantage Photoshop professionals have always had was the understanding of channels. It was their secret weapon, and it enabled them to do things, and work in an entirely different way than their competitors, and maybe that’s why the secret power of Photoshop’s channels has been such a closely guarded secret. Until now. Award-winning, bestselling author Scott Kelby (Editor of Photoshop User magazine) shows you how to unlock the power of Photoshop’s Channels and really start using Photoshop like a pro. But this isn’t a book of theory and technical explanations, this is a step-by-step project-based book that will teach you exactly how to the pros use channels in their everyday work (Using channels is one of the secrets they use to get twice the work done in half the time). You’ll learn how today’s top photographers and graphic designers employ channels to make impossible selections, to speed their production workflow, to color correct images, to mask images, to create stunning color to black and white conversions, and to do dozens of inside tricks that set them apart from the field. There’s a reason there’s always been a mystique to using channels, and why Photoshop users who understand and use them stay on the cutting edge. Now, their secrets are revealed using the same plain-English style that has made Scott one of the leading Photoshop authors and instructors in the world today. You’ll be amazed at not only what you’re able with channels, but you’ll love the competitive advantage that using channels will give you. If you’re ready to take your Photoshop skills to the next level, you’re holding the book that will take you there, and you’re gonna love it! .

Using Photoshop without taking advantage of channels is a bit like attempting to make a fine recording with nothing but a crummy cassette recorder: You can do so, but the results won’t be very satisfying. However, if you’re new to the world of digital imaging--perhaps because you’ve just found your way to Photoshop after purchasing your first digital camera--you may find channels daunting. With this book, you don’t need to! As you work along with author (and National Association of Photoshop Professionals president) Scott Kelby on the book’s results-intensive tutorials, you’ll quickly discover the amazing things you can accomplish, using Photoshop to separate images into channels so that you can then alter the image’s color and opacity, duplicate it, move it, and more. Also covered are all of Photoshop’s newest channel-related features, including an improved Histogram palette that displays channels in color with a dynamic view of how filters, curves, and other settings will affect tonal range and bit depth.

Überzeugt
dieses Buch erklärt einfach und sehr leicht verständlich das wahrscheinlich mächtigste Tool in Photoshop. Die Känale. Die großen farblichen Bilder und kurz gefassten Arbeitschritte sind wie gewohnt prezise und leicht zu verstehen.

A must have book
This is the second Scott Kelby photography book I have purchased from Amazon. As a beginning photographer who is also learning Photoshop CS3 I have found Scott’s step-by-step instructions very easy to follow and extremely helpful in improving my images. I have been using the chapters "Channels & Better Colour" and "Sharpening with Channels". Save yourself time and agro - purchase this book. Too many books I have purchased over the years, assume a certain level of knowledge and leave blanks in the middle of instructions. This is not the case with the two Scott Kelby books I have purchased to date.
The first Scott Kelby book I purchased was "The Adobe Photoshop CS3 book for Digital Photographers" and it too provides step-by-step instructions.

Whether you are a beginner or professional you will find tips and shortcuts from Scott Kelby books that you did not know before.
Pauline D, Queensland Australia

Kelby does it again!
I’m a big fan of Scott Kelby’s books, and have bought most (if not all!) of his Photoshop and photography ones over the last few years.

I had used channels in a very basic form before picking up this book, but now I’m hooked! Scott explains the uses very well, as always, and gives some great examples too. All the images can be downloaded so that you can work through the book, rather than just read it.

I think my girlfriend’s comment was "...I take it you like that, seeing as you’ve not put it down since you got it...", which I think says it all!

Once again, a brilliant book by a brilliant author. Highly recommended. Thanks Scott!

A great introduction
I like the way Scott designs his information, it makes it easier to absorb, and skim through if I already am familiar with it. Full of to-the-point tutorials, I learned a lot from this book. Also, he freely plugs other authors who give more in-depth teaching, which I appreciate since his books are not ultimate "Bible" type works. His goofy humor is featured in the intro to each chapter, barely worth a chuckle most of the time, but at least he’s not an unbearable ego maniac schooling the unwashed masses like Dan Margulis. Recommended.

Usefull guide for photoshop channels
Like most of Kelby books very usefull guide and very easy to understand. Even if you only know a little of english like me. Recomended

The photoshop channels book
Excellent: Easy to understand, detailed, great for beginner’s to the advanced. I learn something new every time I open this book.

Very accessible style and many useful tips
I never really knew what to do with channels in Photoshop. I knew they were there, but I didn’t really touch them. Since getting this book, I seem to spend most of my time delving into the channels palette. If you spend a lot of time post processing your photographs, I think you will find many useful techniques, whether it’s making masks and selections, sharpening more successfully, or improving colour and contrast.
A particularly intriguing part of the book is the part about working with the Lab channels, and if anything, this is the part I have found most useful. So it’s a bit of a shame that he barely touches on the subject and spends most of the time in the RGB channels.
Anybody who uses Photoshop regularly but perhaps not so expertly, like me, will also pick up plenty of other tips and tricks to get things done. Just following some of Scott Kelby’s recipes will give you an insight into parts of Photoshop you might not otherwise have reached.
Kelby’s style is unrelentingly joke-ridden. I can forgive him for trying to make the subject more fun, but the jokes get in the way a bit when you’re trying to follow a complex series of instructions. Despite this, the book still comes across as friendly and accessible, written in plain English, or at least, plain American.
Of all the books about Photoshop I’ve bought and read, this is probably the most interesting and has been the most useful.

A solid grounding in the use of channels
Scott’s style of writing in this book becomes a little overbearing at times, as he tries to be amusing at every turn of the page. That makes it rather hard to read the book a second time to review things one may have forgotten.

Having said that, Scott doesn’t write as if the reader is an imbecile, and the pace of the book is good. Scott clearly explains each step required to use channels and if you follow along you are amazed at the end of an exercise how much you have accomplished in a short space of time.

Because of the large number of screen shots, the book can be easily read without sitting in front of the computer, which is handy if you want to read it on the plane or over a beer at the pub.

I therefore recommend the book for people with a variety of skills in the use of Photoshop. That ranges from anyone who knows what a layer is through to an advanced user.

Accessible, concise information
Scott Kelby uses an easy style to get the information he wants to present across to the reader. It may not be for everyone but it made the material more accessible for me. I was able to quickly absorb a lot of information. I read the entire book first and now I am going back and doing the excersizes. I have been using Photoshop for several years but I have not used channels until now. Recommended.

A must for photo compositing, but not much else.
I’ve had Katrin Eismann’s book Photoshop Masking & Compositing (VOICES) for about a year before finally seeing this in a bookstore. I had read several unflattering reviews of it, and one positive one which sparked my interest in it. That review mentioned it offered advice about channel masking Eismann’s didn’t. This proved true.

Esimann’s book, although a superb one in its own right lacks one method of using channels for mask which is completely essential: combining channel masks. She does cover it, but for some reason the way in which she does is either completely baffling or a different and unnecessarily complicated method of doing it.

Kelby’s book here covered that method with good detail and without any confusion. I bought the book for this reason alone.

There is other information in it which is useful as well most notably, keeping an object’s original shadows. But for anyone not interested in using Photoshop for composites, this book has almost no, if any value.

Most of the complaints I see in other reviews of this book are about Kelby’s lack of explaining the settings he uses. This can be easily overlooked if you have a good understanding of most of Photoshop’s adjustment features. I personally was easily able to fill in the blanks Kelby left but I can definitely see how a beginner would be completely lost reading about setting blend slider settings and using the displace filter.

My only real complaint is Kelby never goes into much detail about anything. He says what things do, and how they’re done in as few words as possible. Esimann on the other hand goes into nearly pornographic details about every topic and concept she mentions. A combination of these two books is all one should ever need for masking and compositing in Photoshop.


The bottom line:

If you’re familiar with Photoshop and are serious about photo compositing, buy this and Esimann’s book immediately. If you’re still learning the program and have only a passing interest in composites, you’d be far better off looking for something else more tailored to your interests because it holds almost no value otherwise.

Channels Wow! Factor
Having little or no experience of using channels, I found this book opened up a new dimension in using photoshop CS2. I have enjoyed immensely going through this book, the step by step tutorials is excellent, easy to follow and written in a language that is suitable for beginner, and intermediate user. A very good reference tool, a must for anyone wishing to progress in using photoshop. If I could give it a 10 out of 10, I would. Scott Kelby, is a super writer, I like his style, the technique he uses simplifies the technology, making it an enjoyable experience. This book definately deserves the Wow! factor. Thanks Scott!

a very good start
This is a very good start to understanding what photoshop’s channels can do to improve your photographs. Be prepared to give up a lot of your spare time revisiting old photographs that you will want to rework. After this book, if you want deeper understanding, follow Scott’s advice and buy Photoshop LAB Color by Dan Margulis.

Wonderfull, Don’t waste money on magazines.
I first browsed this book in an expensive book store and within minutes realised again that Scott Kelby is second to none when learning Photoshop techniques.
If channels remains as just another mysterious area within Photoshop then this book will transform your use and understanding of of channels and how to utilise them when making selections and masks of your photos. Difficult selections become much more simple when using channels and enhancing the selections becomes so much easier.
The book is easy to follow and even the sample pictures are available as free downloads for you to use when following the techniques outlined.
Start at chapter 1 and you wont go wrong, miss out the early chapters and you will definately miss out overall.
I am a big fan of the Big Man and recommend this book without hesitation, buy it on amazon, save money, save time, become a better photographer, I did and want to spread the word. So don’t delay buy it today. Sorry I might be taking this a little too far.
Dave, Glasgow.

Photoshop Channels so much fun to use once you have discovered how to use them accordingly !
I found this book to be incredibly useful to me not having much knowledge on how to use channels in Photoshop.... defenately gives you so much more possibilites to expand your range of creativity and use of Photoshop may it be on your digital camera pictures or digital creative images of your own. I found this book to be very practical and not just "theoritical", it’s fully illustrated with "tutorial" examples on how to use the type of channels depending on the result required in your image(color change,fast selections,sharpening, contrast.. and so on and that all with the use of channels)...which does help you work more efficiently and faster! and you can even download the examples of this book’s tutorials (website link given to grab the images to work on) and follow the tutorials step by step on your own computer. I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more on the subject.

Best $20 I have ever spent
I am a Graphic design student and consider myself in the upper amatuer catagory, before reading this book I knew how the channels worked and how to make basic masks. This book shows you how to make very complex masks very quickly, as well as grayscale conversions, spot colors and much more. Very easy to read compared to other books. Bar none the best $20 I have ever spent.

Innovative, clever, and insightful - a tremendous book.
Whether you’re a casual Photoshop user or a seasoned veteran, Scott Kelby’s Channels book should be one of your favorite Photoshop resources.

Channels are an often-overlooked Photoshop palette where your image’s color info is stored as separate grayscale components (an RGB image, for example, has a Red, a Green, and a Blue "channel" in this palette). But Scott demonstrates far more than simply manipulating color information. He shows you techniques for sharpening, noise reduction, creating "impossible" cutout selections, color correction, compression optimization, and more. The uses for channels that you will find here are unique and innovative enhancements of Photoshop’s capabilities. This book shows you such a range of possibilities that you simply cannot avoid finding something that you could really use for your artwork.
And it’s accessible. It’s a truly enjoyable book to read due to Scott’s unique mix of tongue-in-cheek humor and down-and-dirty power tips that will have you understanding Photoshop in ways you never thought you would. (Good ways).

Because of the wide range of techniques offered and the skill levels encompassed, I recommend this book to almost anyone using Photoshop today.

Excellent book, poor style
This is an excellent book on all things Photoshop channels. All of the tutorials are very easy to follow and I’ve learned a great deal. The book is filled with numerous excellent techniques for improving your pictures and easily dealing with what I once considered to be major problems.
The only downers with this book are the author’s approach throughout which tries to be funny but sadly, ends up being childish and irritating and, worse than that, is the cringe-making Acknowledgments section - Yuk!
Ignore those 2 aspects if you can and you have a valuable Photoshop resource.

One of the best and most useful Photoshop books!
I’d had this book saved on my Wishlist for many months but I put off buying it because of that first review (I’ve been burned by Photoshop books before). The person who wrote that review must be on some serious medications because this book is worth every penny.

Working with Photoshop channels was always a very intimidating task. I’d played around with them, but never seemed to make things happen as I wanted them to happen. Not anymore.

I’m just about through this book, and while I won’t claim I’d be able to explain to anyone else how channels work, I can damn-sure claim to know how to use them.

Also,if you’re tired of spending hours in quick mask mode, you need to buy this book. You’ll not only make masks in a fraction of the time, you’ll make better masks.... no, that’s wrong, you’ll make GREAT masks.

I’m kicking myself for letting that first review make me put off this purchase for so long. This book is trememdous!

I really don’t get the bad reviews. This book is immensely helpful.
Where on earth did the person who wrote the bad review get the idea that you couldn’t use the information?

This book has been a revelation for me, and it’s easy to read. I have been using it in practice for my portraiture and art prints. It’s awesome! If channels have always been mysterious to you and you want to master them (they are an amazingly versatile way to deal with lots of color and contrast issues)... this is the book to get.

I have been a designer using Photoshop for many years, so I’m not the "amateur" the featured bad reviewer seems to think would be the only person who would like the book. That person is also insulting the many photographers who have moved to digital from film and are getting up to speed on digital processing.

I’m not afraid of channels anymore. I am glad I got the book.

Wow

I love scott kelby books , simple english written , powerful examples.



Good work Mr. Kelby, High recommend.

Yep, an excellent book
I’m an amateur digital photographer who deals with noise (used to be called grain in the film days), glare, sharpness (formerly focus), and other foibles. Photoshop CS2 has ways to address many of them, but using channels is a superb and subtle method for those difficult tasks that keep an image from being perfect. Using Scott Kelby’s book has heightened my awareness of what is possible to quickly use in channels. His examples are excellent, and it is easy to explore the range of any given setting he suggests. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires to improve his/her digital imaging techniques. This is not a fix-all book but is a book to add to your library. It is an easy read and a very good reference book. It is NOT the definitive technical dissertation on the theory of channels. Many other books cover that esoteric knowledge. This is a hands-on, step-by-step manual written by a master of digital imaging.

Photoshop users can learn about channels
A fine book on the Photoshop function called "channels," different from "layers" but almost as esoteric. Far too technical to describe here, the book was a great help to me in learning channels and how to manipulate them to produce every better photos. If you’re a Photoshop nut and don’t know everything you need to know about channels, here’s the book!

Photoshop’s Best Author
Scott Kelby does it again, in his own humorous style! I can think of no other Photoshop author who uses illustration and clear, concise descriptions to demonstrate his techniques.

foto3000
This book will teach you some amazing techniques some of which are pinched with the approval of Dan Margulis, and for all Scott’s faults with the very lame jokes it is worth it for some absolute treasures. And it just took one long day to get through.

The Photoshop Channels Book
This book really explains Photoshop channel for a person not fully technical in the Photoshop Software. It is easily to understand and covers many topics where Channel can be use in the photo editing process.

A must have for any photshop user
Scott Kelby does a great job of demystifying Channels in this book. It is explained in plain english, very easy to understand. The way he has parts of it highlighted makes it easy to go back and reference when you are finished with the book and want to check back on how to do something. I have always thought Scott was a great instructor who makes learning Photoshop even more fun to learn with his great sense of humor. If I could give it 10 stars, I would!

A good tutorial, cookbook style but not very extensive
I like Scott Kelby’s books. They’re simple and easy to follow. It’s weird because I like the simplicity and cookbook style, but at the same time this cookbook style is handicapping in a way. Imagine learning to cook, you could do it two ways. Learn 25 recipes or you could learn about various ingredients, how to combine them to make new dishes, etc. This book is the former, a cookbook. The quite famous book about Channels by Eismann is the latter. So it really comes down to what you want. I love the LAB book but I wouldn’t say it’s easy to read, it’s challenging in fact. So whether you like this book will depend on whether you want a quick cookbook or if you want in depth coverage of the subject.

I found the advertising for istock was a bit annoying, saying they’re great and all one time would be enough. Also the jokes.. well I missed most of them because I’ve learned that with Kelby’s books you automatically skip the first page of each chapter! But it is true that this guy doesn’t know how to be funny.

Overall, I liked this book and it met my expectations, which admittingly weren’t very high. I will probably check out the other channels book to really learn Channels.

Great Reference Book
All your questions (and then some) will be answered.....
This book looks great and is hilarious to read too!

Neat tricks!
The Channels Book got me much further into creative uses of channels than before. The sections on doing trick selections and sharpening were useful, but the one I use the most is how to turn a color image into black and white that really looks great. Photoshop is this generation’s darkroom. With insights from this book the creation of beautiful black and white images is more attainable.

Photo shop channels
I haven’t been able to get very far in this book but I have been able to glance at it and I have found several hints and tips very helpful. This will be the next book in line for my learning tutorial. Scott Kelby is wonderful in explaining how to work with photoshop. I have enjoyed his program Photoshop TV since it began showing on Itunes.

Quite a lot of good information. Poorly delivered.
I had high hopes for this book and, as far as explaining the material covered, most of them were fulfilled... so why does it get only three stars?

Because I thought I was buying a book on a technical aspect of Photoshop (= channels), not a book on lame jokes (and excuses about them such as "sorry, I was drunk when I wrote that intro)!
This is probably the most unprofessionally written book I ever bought on Photoshop (and I started with PS4, so believe me I bought a load) and it’s so irritating that I’m writing my first review here to vent it out.

When it comes to tech details, Kelby is a proper author, explaining from his experience in a clear and easy to understand manner. If you took away all the chapter introductions, and the unnecessary prose Kelby produces, you’d have a good solid book, probably 30/35 pages smaller but well worth it.

Too bad that the author just had to play the comedy card: remember the jolly uncle that is funny for approximately two minutes, while after 10 you are ready to strangle him? Imagine READING it and knowing that instead of learning you’re wasting time!
And I bet mr Kelby laughed all the way home from his editor thinking about how people finally would be able to read and re-read his WONDERFUL prose.

A couple of times throughout the book Kelby suggests other authors, one of which is Katrin Eismann. While on photoshop I’m sure he doesn’t need any tips, I strongly advise him to take lessons from her regarding writing style.

Heavier on Jokes Than Information
First of all, the information that is presented in this book is thorough, concise and easy to follow and understand. It even comes with a CD containing the images used in the book. However, Mr. Kelby, has to realize that he is a "tech-head" and NOT a comedian. Seriously, the jokes/quips he uses in this book are not funny and, often times, annoying. Worst of all, there are far too many of them. If there is a new, updated edition, the comedic commentary needs to be removed.

Written by a Comedy Club Dropout
I was really excited when I saw this and had it on my wish list before it came out. However, when I received it as a gift, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning who quickly learns that the race track that looked "super cool" on TV, sucks in reality. Kelby’s writing is just like that toy - he can’t seem to stay on track. What’s even worse, and most annoying, are the juvenile jokes. This book should have been listed under humor (and bad humor at that). If I want funny, I’ll watch reruns of Arrested Development. When I want technical information, I’ll consider a different author. Unfortunately, I can’t change my star rating from a 3 to a 1.

Great Book
If you want to bump up what you can do with PhotoShop buy this book. The lessons and examples are clear, nicely sequential--you can teach yourself at your own pace with this book. Once you have mastered the principles Kelby teaches, you can do all kinds of things with Channels. I really loved this book.

Photoshop Channels is Great!
Scptt Kelby knows his business and knows how to pass it on to amateurs like me. I guess I have avoided working in channels before, but not now.

Good Starting Point for Channel Work
If you’re just learning about channels, and want to learn ways to make your images look better, this book is a good start. Scott Kelby is certainly one of the most prolific pundits in the PS world, and here he assembles techniques from many sources. Explanations are simple, the techniques are tried-and-true, and the writing is not bad (albeit a bit corny). You’ll get a lot better at Photoshop by incorporating these techniques into your workflow. It is indeed NOT meant for Elements users, and assumes use of CS2, although most methods can be used in earlier versions with minor modifications.
If you’re looking for a treatise on the theory behind channels and color spaces, look elswhere (like Dan Margulis’ work). But if you want to avoid the lofty explanations and just get in there and make your images great, this is the place for you.

Great explanation of channels in Photoshop
I bought this book because I was confused about channels. Mr. Kelby does a good job explaining, and showing by example, how to work with channels in Photoshop. I read the reviews before I bought this book and noticed the criticism about Kelby’s "cute" writing style and lack of detail. I bought the book anyway because I wanted the information. This is a good to great book if you want to know about channels. If you already know a lot about channels you’ll probably be disappointed.

Poor description
No part of the description of this item states that the book is only for Photoshop CS or CS2 users. Photoshop Elements 3 (which I have)is a software that is used widely and is still for sale in all software sales locations.

The book is useless to me.

Excellent Book for Intermediate Photoshop Users
"The Photoshop Channels Book" continues Scott Kelby’s well-established tradition of creating Photoshop instructional books that are concise, written in a lively and humorous style, and take the reader right to the heart of processes. This time he delves into the potential applications of Photoshop’s "mysterious" channels panel, something that most people rarely use. While other books touch lightly on the subject Kelby devotes an entire volume to its functionality, and deservedly so.

The book is very well designed in a 1950’s/1960’s TV-channel metaphor, richly illustrated and very easy to follow. Nearly anyone can get something new from it in ten minutes or less. It’s a superb work that should have a long shelf-life as Photoshop continues to evolve.

Great book
In response the previous reviewer who hated it, yes I’m a beginner and thanks to Mr. Kelby I’m finally getting it. Who says that Photoshop’s advanced techniques should be for the Selected few.
The guy knows how to teach. Makes complicated concepts seem easy. The book is very organized and easy to read.
On the downside: He is using a lot of filler addressing some topics that few of us will need.

Photoshop Channels understood
This book explains how to use channels in an easy and practical way. I did not know so much could be achieved using channels and with relatively little effort.

The chapter on Colour to Black & White is very informative in showing various ways to achieve very good black & white images. All easy to use.

An outstanding book and the best I have bought on using Photoshop; that includes other books by the same author.

Info is great....
The information in the book is really great. My problem with the book is that the author goes WAY overboard on "cutesy". His cutesy style of writing often made it hard to focus on content.

Serious Flaw
I was expecting a substitute for the classic "Photoshop Channel Chops" by Monroy and friends. It trivializes the subject with "How to unlock the hidden power of channels ... blah blah.
If you want a better understanding of channels be prepared to wade through a lot of fluff with this one. Infomercial.