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1. 

   Arnejo
   March 21st, 2010 - 07:25

   I own other books by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis, in my opinion, this one falls short of the standards she set in the past, please, more advanced material in the future publications. Beyond Digital Photography: Transforming Photos into Fine Art with Photoshop and Painter
   Rating: 3 / 5
2. 

   A. C. Protas
   March 21st, 2010 - 08:23

   I was under the false impression that the book would use the two programs – Photoshop for preparing and printing the “painting” and Painter to actually “paint” the photo. Anyone that has spent time with the programs understand the strengths of these programs and primarily use them as stated above.

   However, this book pretty much covered both as “painter” books. Perhaps I should have used my local Barnes and Noble to preview the books but I didn’t and just went by what I could find on the internet – my bad! But I was hoping the book was advanced enough to guide me to the strengths of each program in turning my photo’s into paintings.

   As well I’d like to include I was shocked to even receive the book. The free shipping took almost 2 weeks and when I received the book it had no wrapping on it whatsoever. The only way they could find out where to deliver the book was a small receipt slip with my address inside the front cover.
   Rating: 3 / 5
3. 

   Allan D. Wyatt
   March 21st, 2010 - 09:58

   This book is written primarily for amateur photographers who would like to apply artistic effects to their pictures. Authors Threinen-Pendarvis and Jolley use Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop in their training methods, and rightly assume that you own and have a working knowledge of these programs, since they are both named on the book’s front cover.

   There are certainly some interesting and innovative painting techniques covered in this book, and Ms. Pendarvis clearly shows her mastery of the Painter environment. Although Painter was originally created for artists painting on a blank canvas, it is a wonderful program for those who wish to paint their photos, and the author shows various techniques for doing so. Of course, Painter is an extremely deep program, and no single book could ever come close to showing all of its possibilities, but this introductory volume provides a solid starting foundation to the Painter world.

   However, this is clearly not a book for beginners, which seems odd, since that’s who the book was supposed to be written for. If you’ve just learned the Painter environment, and have need of proper step-by-step instructions, with all picture files properly included, this is not the book for you. Not all instructional pictures are included, at least one is substituted for with another file altogether, and on at least one occasion, what was supposed to be a RAW file was included as a jpeg, so that the author’s instructions for development in Photoshop Camera Raw cannot be followed.
   
   Far worse, the author has a tendency to step over herself, in a manner of speaking. There are times when she gives confusing instructions, forgetting that beginners may not know what she’s talking about, and she occasionally gives painting instructions that the beginner cannot hope to decipher.
   
   What all of this means is that for those people who are fairly experienced with Painter, the book can be interesting, but bare beginners would be far better off first buying Jeremy Sutton’s introductory video to Painter, and then purchasing Martin Addison’s “Painter X (or Painter 11) for Photographers.” The last thing that any beginner would need is to purchase “Beyond Digital Photography” without having at least a fair amount of painting experience under his belt. This is a beginner’s book that is generally unsuitable for beginners. How the authors and proofreaders, who had four years to prepare this book, couldn’t see the obvious has left me scratching my head. In truth, they need to pull this book from store shelves and give it a major overhaul. That would be prohibitively expensive, so any beginners who buy this book should do so with the understanding that there will be sections that will be beyond their capabilities.

   
   Rating: 3 / 5
4. 

   M. Media Studios Inc.
   March 21st, 2010 - 10:11

   I’ve just added this to my daily amazon authors page: “We have a great book for you. Please checkout “Beyond Digital Photography.” It delves into Photoshop and Painter. We work with this stuff daily. We go back to Photoshop 2 and Painter 1. It’s tough to show us new techniques. Cher Threinen-Pendarvis (a favorite of ours)+Donal Jolley have gone places we have not visited. It’s not a quick page-through; you really need to delve into the text to absorb all of what’s there.” In “Stoppees’ Guide to Photography and Light: What Digital Photographers, Illustrators, and Creative Professionals Must Know” we have chapters on Painter and Adobe Camera Raw. We’re So impressed with Cher and Donal.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. 

   Karen E. Cohen
   March 21st, 2010 - 11:57

   As a professional digital artist, I know that there is always more than one way to skin a cat. Pendarvis and Jolley have done an excellent job of presenting challenging exercises and providing solutions. Their choices might not always pose the most challenging situations possible, but they do always provide the most elegant and efficient solutions.

   Advanced beginners all the way to professional Photoshop and Painter users can benefit from some (but not all) that this book has to offer. And that is as it should be…a decent review and maybe a new slant for more advanced people, as well as some new and (in some cases) very impressive things to learn for everyone.

   Anyone who can’t find several new things to learn in this book should probably be writing their own. In fact, there’s one Photoshop tip alone about masking groups and applying effects that’s more than worth the price of the whole book because the results are so extraordinary.
   Rating: 5 / 5

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