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About as complete, smoothly-paced and effortless an introduction to LR3's rather daunting interface as this oldtimer has come across. Continues its predecessor's (LR2) step-wise breezy familiarization with the Lighroom 3 interface to shape a basic - but perfectly sufficient - workflow for busy digital photographers. Easily followed step by step full color screenshots, printed on top quality glossy paper, speed the reader towards a solid grasp of the essentials; helpful tips are provided once you have the basics under your belt. The tutorial is equally helpful to the (nearly identical) Windows and Mac versions of LR3; where the two diverge (as in the file system), unique Windows and Mac screen presentations are treated separately with OS-specific screenshots. Not the least, the focused "Seven Point System" concentrates your time and effort on Lightroom's must-know photo editing strategies, without wandering too far afield.

This book is a Godsend for new users -- less so for intermediate skill level users seeking answers for optimizing speed, when to use 32-bit or 64-bit mode, unraveling buried settings, or troubleshooting performance issues and program malfunctions.


In Short: Expertly paced, easy to follow and richly illustrated starter tutorial for Lightroom 3 -- a bumpless ride for newcomers. Upgraders might find it too basic for troubleshooting.

I buy a lot of tech books but after purchasing this one 3 things really stood out to me, having bought his previous 2 books on same topic:

1) the extensive helps in the back - particularly the framing example and "collag-ing" layouts will be very helpful to people.
2) the generous section on full work process - shooting to prints.
3) Among the best in this book though is on pages IV and V - because software always becomes obsolete, but gratitude stirs the soul. You get a feel for the writers desire to be helpful and not just drop facts - it's written in a running narrative form as he leads you through good processes and organizational strategy.

If you have or are considering purchasing LR 3, this book will save you extensive searching and frustration in self discovering all the nuances with features and their intent. A new user could sit with this book and walk themselves through a complete work-flow - beginning to end and experience all the major functionality of the tool.

Kelby is a readable, entertaining writer, clear and concise but the real value is that he is a working photographer/graphics professional who knows how to do exceptional work efficiently - and that approach saves everyone, including the serious hobbyist whose time may be limited just as much as the working pro.

The money spent on this book will be recouped within a couple of hours use of the tool. A must buy book for beginner or current user - there are that many tips and techniques in it. I found something new about LR3 at least every other page and I've been using the tool for a couple of years (versions 1 and 2). Glad I spent the money.

Don't blame Scott Kelby if his Lightroom ("LR") instruction books keep getting larger. Blame Adobe for adding more and more capabilities to this piece of software. But at least the software hasn't yet become "bloatware". And the new capabilities really do add something to the digital photographer's ability to more easily create art. Unfortunately, the on-line help only works when you already have some idea of the function for which you are looking, so it's not useful for learning LR.

"The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 book for digital photographers" more or less follows the same format as earlier versions. There are chapters on importing images; using the library module to organize images and customize what you see; editing your images with both global and local adjustments; fixing common problems; exporting the images from LR; moving them into Photoshop; editing black and white images; creating slideshows; printing; creating web galleries; and a case study on portrait workflow. New is Kelby's 7 point system for LR, and gone is the case study on travel photography. Pages usually start out with a definition of the task, like "Creating and Using Multiple Catalogs" with step-by step instructions down the outside of the page and screen captures of the related LR window closest to the fold. (Sometimes the screen saves are unavoidably small for people with poor vision, so you might want to keep a magnifying glass handy for detailed examination.) At the end of each chapter are a number of quick tips that will help the user squeeze the most from LR's capabilities. One other change is a further reduction in Kelby's sophomoric humor which some readers will probably find a relief.

The instructions are easy to follow and are ideal for someone just learning LR. The more experienced user, reading page by page, is bound to get bored reading about techniques that haven't changed. It would have been convenient if a page, listing the instructions for new features only, had been included for those folks. Better yet, since LR has become a mature piece of software with many users, it might be time for the publisher to put out something like the old "Up to Speed" books that only showed the changes in Photoshop. (Given that there is no "Up to Speed" book for Photoshop CS5, this kind of help doesn't appear to be in the cards. The publisher will certainly lose part of the business to on-line videos.)

LR now offers so many capabilities that it is not a surprise to see that some are not even mentioned, like the ability to prepare an entire keyword list in a word processor and import it (although to be fair, the inference of this possibility can be derived from the material).

One should also note that that although the use of all of the sliders and buttons is well explained, there is little that talks about how to apply the capabilities to create more artful images. For that, I recommend another book from the same publisher, "Vision & Voice: Refining Your Vision in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom (Voices That Matter)" by David duChemin.

This is an excellent book to learn LR and to keep next to your computer as a reference.

I like the organization, layout and illustrations in Scott Kelby's book. He leads you step-by-step, with illustrations next to each step, through all the major functions of Lightroom 3. I've been able to validate all but one of his activities but that's due to a bug in the new Lightroom 3. Chapter 1 of the book covers "Importing Photos in Lightroom." When following his procedures, which are the same as shown in the Lightroom help menu, the application freezes and no importing takes place. I researched the Adobe Forums and found a thread that started in Jan 2006, which tells me this problem has been going on for some time and Adobe released version 3 knowing it was not fixed. It is apparently caused by the XP and Vista "/3GB option," which has to be removed for the Lightroom 3 import to work correctly. Based on the specifications provided by Adobe my Dell Studio duo CPU 64-bit should have worked OK.

Scott does an excellent job of covering workflows as well. One chapter I really liked was Chapter 6, "Problem Photos - fixing common problems." I have a lot of landscape photos with backlight problems and without Lightroom it would take a lot of photo-editing to bring out the shaded foreground. He shows how to do this in four easy steps.

And at the end of the book he provides three examples of how he uses his "7-point system" to illustrate how to get the most out of Lightroom every time. He provides three projects to illustrate his 7-point.

There may be some advanced functions in Lightroom 3 not covered in this book, but for the beginner and intermediate user who does not use Lightroom with Photoshop or CS5, this book works fine.

What I like most about Scott Kelby is his ability to structure his books around how the reader uses the software product, rather than than simply documenting the technical aspect of each product feature. He also chooses to write his books in the order of how the reader is most likely to use it. So, one can simply start reading and begin applying new knowledge. He also establishes a great rapport with the reader, speaking in a common voice, and not a technical one. In these respects this Kelby book is no different than previous ones.

In several ways, he has improved his technique. In previous books, he might spend a lot of time, rambling on about some unrelated subject, because I think he likes to write almost as much as he loves photography. Fortunately, he has resisticted this process to the first page of each chapter only. I enjoy his ramblings, as long as he gets down to work after a short break. He also takes a few sentences at the beginning of each section to explain the purpose and use of the particular section. His book covers a lot of territory, and after a few weeks of reading, I am just beginning to learn how much there is to Lightroom 3. In general, I think each new writing, is a modest incremental improvement over the previous book. So at this point Lightroom3 for digital photographers is pretty flawless.

One of the few gripes I have about this book is "Step" approach to basic functions. Firstly not all "steps" are an actual step. In some cases, he simply reinforces or adds more information on the previous step. More imporantly, the Step approach does not lend itself to a quick reference tool. As a user, I find I can follow along and do the process once with the book. The next time, I might remember most of the steps, but need to review others. Unfortunately, I pretty much have to reread the entire section, to find the mini-steps I am missing. I have started to highlight the key points in each step as well as create a label for each step in the margins to help make referencing easier. I think the editor could have done the same thing, to make it less work for the reader. I like the screenshot references, but the detail is pretty small, and difficult to read when needed.

In general, I think that when Scott Kelby first hit the market, he was a bit of a maverick. With this book, he is becoming the standard which his competitors seek to emulate. This book is not perfect, and there is still plenty of room for improvement, but he more than succeeds at making a difficult and technical subject, palatable even enjoyable for the average joe.

Never mind the jokes. They are deadly serious, part of the "personal" marketing approach that sells Kelby's books. They have little to do with humor. Even when they are not working, they are diverting from the daunting nature of the task of mastering LR and give the impression that Kelby is a regular guy and if he can be good at it so can you. Aside from the psychology of its approach, the book is worth every penny for its competent and clear step by step demonstration of how to get the most out of your shots. If you want to understand LR and its ramifications for managing and developing photos, get Martin Evening. He writes in detail and at great length about its features, like an expert geologist describing a landscape. An amazing reference. If you want to get to the summit taking concrete routes, Scott Kelby is your man. Fully illustrated. Quirky by design, but none are better.

I am making the rather painful transition from Adobe Camera Raw(ACR) and Bridge to Lightroom(LR). Yes, all the functionality of ACR is still present, but everything is presented in a distressingly different manner. I studied ACR intensely and have used it probably to a fault, not taking things into Photoshop until absolutely the last minute possible.

This book will help you find all those controls and features. He will even tell you how to rename the files so they include the date, which frustratingly LR does not do automatically.

There are very helpful points like a detailed explanation of how long it takes to download 14 Raw images at various previews:
Embedded & Sidecar: 19 seconds
Minimal: 21 seconds
Standard: minute, 15 seconds
1:1; 2 minutes, 14 seconds

But then there's the workflow, which I don't like. He uses a simplistic pick or reject method of evaluating, and tells you to delete all your rejects. Yikes, with today's inexpensive storage, that really isn't necessary. He doesn't like the star rating system at all. I was taught to use the star system in the old fashioned way the way you would dot negatives in the darkroom. The first round through you select everything you like and give it one dot, or star. The second time you are more selective, and give a second star. I rarely make it as far as five stars, usually three is all in need for the excellent photos to bubble to the top. But the advantage of this method is I have photos to pick from for head swaps, and sometimes I just need to dig deeper into my pile for a photo. If I delete everything but the perfect photos, I'm stuck. Granted he keeps a backup of everything, but I just don't see the need to be throwing things away, or being so black and white.

He also uses this complicated organizational system using collections. I don't see how that is any improvement over organizing by date or event. I heard several speakers at Photoshop World in Las Vegas who say they set up a separate catalog per event, and keep the catalog in the same file/directory as the photos. LR slows down at about 40,000 photos, and if a wedding photographers shoots 4,000 images in a weekend, it doesn't take long to clog LR up.

All of that being said, it is a great reference book to find what you need to know, especially if you are switching from ACR, because you probably already have the skill set, now you just have to get back to doing it without thinking. I just don't like his sometimes simplistic, sometimes too complicated workflow. But maybe you already have that part figured out!

I don't know what it is about Scott's style, but the book seems like an easy / quick read, but manages to convey a huge amount of information. I have the two previous versions, and Scott has managed to improve an already great product, especially with the collections of killer tips. I learned on the 2nd version to read the book from cover to cover, even though I'm an experienced Lightroom user: there are shortcuts, tricks and workflow ideas embedded throughout the book.

Scott takes a highly technical subject that could be mind-numbingly presented and makes it a fun read with plenty of ah-ha moments, and in a single book that works for beginners and experienced users. The format is to take example photos and use the processing of those to cover specific Lightroom functions. The photos Scott uses are available on his website so you can follow along, and he does some amazing things with the photos--my favorite being his manual processing of a black and white photo conversion compared to Lightroom's auto convert function. Awesome difference, and he explains why the differences improve the photo.

Bonuses include the chapter intros that read like Chuck Lorre end credits, a cool gray card at the end of the book, and lots of settings for imports, print layouts, etc. that can be used to jumpstart your own custom settings.

If you've invested in Lightroom, pony up the $30 or so for this book--it'll pay for itself in productivity improvements.

Q) What's the best Lightroom (LR) book to have if you're stranded on a desert Island?

A) The one with the most pages; if you're stranded on a desert island then you'll want to use those pages for kindling.

Now, if you want to know which is the best book for helping you deal with LR then the answer is... It depends. I'll illustrate that by comparing this book against the well written and extremely popular Adobe Lightroom 3 - The Missing FAQ - Real Answers to Real Questions asked by Lightroom Users. The reason for this is that they represent the Best-of-Breed in two different approaches to writing about LR.

Scott Kelby has written a great many books on various flavors of Photoshop and LR. It them he provides explanations of how things work and then gives very clear, extremely detailed examples (recipes) of how *he* uses them. As he is also an accomplished photographer, following his recipes can lead to successful results.

Victoria Bampton, the author or the "other" LR book, has spent a lot of time collecting questions from other photographers. This book is a well organized compendium of those questions along with clear and complete answers.

So, which is approach (and book) is best? It depends. (Weren't't you paying attention a few paragraphs ago?)

If you don't have an established approach to processing your images (work flow) then the Kelby book gives you both the work flow and instructions in one way to implement it. In his LR book that naturally focuses on LR but also includes recipes for Photoshop where appropriate.

If, however, you already have an established work flow and just want to know what all the buttons do, or need specific answers to questions that come up while you're using LR then the "Missing FAQ" might be more helpful. (Also, with the FAQ book you get the added bonus of being able to download a full electronic copy. That means you can have access to all 480(ish) pages of information wherever you are. That is a real handy feature.)

There is, of course, considerable overlap. The FAQ does discuss work flow, albeit in a stepwise fashion. This book provides answers, albeit without the convenience of seeing the questions.

Bottom Line: If you can, get both (I did). You won't be disappointed (I wasn't). If you've never dealt with managing and developing digital images then get the Kelby book. If you want to know how to efficiently apply methods you already know (or think you can figure out on your own), using LR, then the Missing FAQ is probably your best choice.

Author Scott Kelby, an accomplished commercial photographer and renowned PhotoShop expert & lecturer, is extremely well versed in virtually every aspect of Lightroom 3. So this book is a great source of information about how to best use this latest version of Lightroom. But sometimes as I'm trying to find the answer to a question, I want to scream, "Stop with the jokes and entertaining stories Scott, and get to the point"!

Scott's presentation style is friendly, breezy and unique. This helps separate Scott and his book from so many other "how to" manuals. But, there are times I wish he's cut to the chase with an outline or bullet points to explain how to get LR3 to do what you want it to do!

I've read a number of Kelby's books now and I'm not sure I like his style all that much. (He's not all that funny -- and he knows that. He's just having fun.) But I have to say that the books really are pretty darn good! This book in particular was extremely helpful.

I am pretty new to editing photos, having relied primarily on Picasa until now. I bought Lightroom not even knowing exactly what I was getting, other than that it was supposed to be the best. And it is. But it is not all that intuitive. Enter this book. It taught me from start to finish everything I needed to know about using Lightroom. It walks through every stage of the process -- from importing, to developing, to exporting, to printing or publishing. I learned a great deal and now feel very comfortable with the program. I didn't expect it to be so easy.

I have to say that this book is not the be-all-and-end-all. There are two things it does not do well -- and doesn't pretend to. First, it is not a catalog of all of Lightroom's features. It gets you started on most of the features, but it isn't exhaustive and it doesn't detail all the options of the features it covers. You'll need another book if that's what you want. (And I did get another such book!) But, at the same time, it offers the kind of tips that you are unlikely to get in a complete catalog. Moreover, the complete catalog is usually a better reference than learning guide.

Second, IMHO, it's not a book for seasoned experts. What do I know? I'm not a seasoned expert, so take this thought with a grain of salt. But I don't think I'll be buying the next version of this book when Lightroom 4 comes out. It's great for getting you started, but I don't think it would offer too much to an established veteran.

This book describes the time saving and organizing part well with lots of tips. However in some cases, the content should be enhanced to list useful plugins, particularly those that save time. Who nees the section on how to switch between PS and LR to do borders when you have a plugin like Mogrify [...]
Another example is the Facebook plugin, which has been integrated into the latest LR update.

In many cases experienced photographers will not need detailed steps on how to tweak a picture by adjusting luminance, exposure, brightness etc but will be able to figure out intuitively, however the content will be useful for others.

I liked the section on monitor calibration and the fact that its importance has been underscored.

The book is a joy to read however with so many funny accounts at the beginning of the chapters.

One of the key aspects to the success of many of Scott's books (Photoshop in particular) has been his step-by-step approach. Sadly, with his latest Lightroom 3 book, it is also the reason that is just a mediocre book. In fact, Scott even comes out in the opening section Seven Things You'll Wish You Had Known Before Reading This Book with the following comment:

"If you've read my other books, you know they're usually "jump in anywhere" books, but with Lightroom ... I recommend you start with Chapter 1 and go through the book in order."

For his jump-in-anywhere books, the step-by-step approach is quite effective, however, the step-by-step approach becomes overly redundant here in that it actually detracts from the continuity of this book. Another major problem with the step-by-step formatting in this book is that the Steps have no description except the number. In fact, the pages only refer to the Chapter, so you have no idea if Step 5 is referring to the second, third or forth topic. You end up going back and forth between pages and the TOC a lot to figure out where you are and what the steps were. Scott's good friend Matt Kloskowski's new Layers book uses the familiar step-by-step approach, but Matt gratefully includes descriptions for each step making things much more readable.

My other gripe with the step-by-step format in the Lightroom book is that there are topics that are more readily suited as just a pure discussion section without any steps, but you will often find Steps where not needed at all. Most topics have a short intro (sometimes humorous which I do enjoy) and then go to the steps. IMHO, it would work much better with some of the more critical stuff pulled out of the steps and included in a more descriptive discussion section. Some aspects just don't belong in the Steps. Well, enough with the books formatting.

After reading through this book, I found myself asking if this book was written for me, after all the title says it is for Digital Photographers. Often, I felt like it was targeted more towards Professional Digital Photographers, especially folks who do this for a living in a Photography Studio. That is fine, but I don't think a lot of non-professionals are as concerned about stuff like the new LR3 tethering support that the book devotes a huge amount of space to.

The real meat of this book is in the Chapters which cover the Develop module (after all, that is Scott's forte). However, I will say that there could have been a little more substance on some of the new LR3 Dev features such as improved Noise Reduction and Gradient Filter tool. I think one of Scott's challenges is that with has huge media empire, he hardly has time to really keep up with all the latest features added to new product versions. So for example, his discussions of NR and Gradient tools are very simplistic with minimal insight or guru-type tips.

With the heavy emphasis on Develop, the other topics about Lightroom are not as well covered. In fact, the whole Workflow is oriented mainly around the Develop module when it really should include more of the others as well. The Library module coverage has little substance on some of the more critical areas such as Keywording, Metdata, Filtering, and Smart Collections (not much more than what you get with the Adobe Lightroom help topics). One could easily write a whole chapter on the power of working with Metadata/Keywords and Smart Collections (and Published Services).

When an author writes on a certain topic, there are often common scenarios that folks want to know about. It is unfortunate that many of these scenarios are not addressed in the book. For example, how does one easily get content into their mobile devices (e.g., iPhone and iPad) and for that matter iPhoto. Noted Adobe evangelist Terry White says that this is one of his most commonly asked questions. And on this topic, Scott could have covered it nicely in the Published Services to Hard Drive section. For many folks, that would have been worth the cost of the book alone.

Another example is on the subject of creating slide shows, folks often want to use multiple songs, have slide transitions (e.g., Ken Burns effect), incorporate video. OK, LR3 does not support this, but it would have been nice if this book mentioned some of these issues and pointed folks to other resources. And another common scenario left out is how to add GPS metadata to your images (assuming your camera does not support it).

The chapter on the Web module primarily covers the process of doing a very simplistic web site using the supplied template, but it would be good to discuss in depth more of the pros and cons of the Flash and HTML templates. For example, the Flash templates are nice, but won't work on iOS devices. And while the HTML templates work on iOS devices, there are issues with the generated code (i.e., you load a new page for each image, which is very inefficient).

The book does a very good job covering integration with Photoshop, which is another positive for this book. I think it would be nice to also add some more emphasis on Photoshop Elements as I know a lot of Lightroom users choose Elements.

Overall, this is not a bad book, especially with the strong Develop module content, but I guess I have some reservations when I read the book described as:

"The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers is the first and only book to bring the whole process together in such a clear, concise, and visual way."

I hope that for his Lightroom 4 book, Scott is able to address some of the layout issues to make it more readable. I would also recommend that he coauthor it with MattK as I know Scott's ability to stay up to speed with new product versions is challenging and only compromises on the quality of the book when he goes it alone.

Clearly the author has listened to what users of Lightroom want to know and has set out this book in a clear and detailed way.
If you are new to Lightroom or have limited knowledge in it's use then this book is a must.
Another must is to purchase it through Amazon as the discount (plus free P&P) makes it an excellent bargain.
A disk is not supplied with the book but there are links to the website if you wish to download some of the photographs to use with any of the adjustments described in the book.

Mr. Kelby seems like a cool guy and all, but I'm having trouble following along with this book. I've been losing my mind just trying to do the beginning organizational stuff. I find myself reading the same sections over and over again because...I don't even know. I think I need it to be more direct and to the point. If he trails off somewhere for a minute (his musings are entertaining, but...), then I have trouble getting back to the point. I almost lost a couple of my albums because I tried to follow the steps and something didn't go right. The more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. This book was definitely not helping me in that situation.

However, I am very thankful for some of the tips, and especially the suggestions for getting great free presets (Matt's presets are awesome!). I've been figuring out a lot of Lightroom 3 on my own now, and I am a huge fan! I use it more than Photoshop now. I haven't read the entire book yet because I haven't needed it for printing or slideshows yet.

I might end up ordering "the other book" to make sure I'm getting the most out of Lightroom, but I don't know what that book is like, so it might not be that great, either. I'm a fan of "the other Photoshop book", but I wanted to give Kelby a try for the Lightroom book. I think it would be best to go to the bookstore and flip through the two most popular Lightroom books to see which one is more your flavor...

When I first got this book, I read it cover to cover. Since then, I continue to refer to it regularly when trying to recall a certain approach or tackle a new challenge with my photo processing using Lightroom 3. Scott Kelby is amazing in his ability to simply and succinctly guide you through the most basic and most advanced tasks in Lightroom 3. Kelby's guide will teach you all that you need to know to use this application effectively and efficiently. An excellent and essential book for Lightroom users.

I wouldn't have bought this program without this book. It takes you through everything you need to know about this program in way that makes it accessible and fun to follow. The keyboard shortcuts alone are worth the price of the book. I have never been let down by any of Scott Kelby's books on photography or software training. This book is highly recommended for anyone who wants to make the most of Lightroom.

I bought Kelby's book as a way to plan my transition from using Photoshop Elements for many years to Lightroom. It has been an invaluable resource. I would have been lost without it.

Lightroom is remarkably capable but it can also seem a bit overwhelming. I've used Kelby's book both as a learning aid but also as a great reference. Most of what Lightroom can do is touched on in the book in one way or another. In fact, because I read this book, I've been able to teach a few things to friends of mine who haven been using Lightroom for years. All of a sudden I'm an expert! :)

Here's what i really like about the book:
-- it's comprehensive. It covers it all
-- it's easy to read. It's full of screen captures and pictures. Must've taken a lot of work to do this.
-- it's helpful. It not only tells you how things work, it tells you how to apply them. Kelby gives concrete example of what-to-do-when and shows exactly the steps he goes through in organizing and adjusting photos. This is REALLY helpful. He tells you how Lightroom works, but more importantly he tells you how to make it work for YOU.

The only caution i will offer is that Kelby approaches photography from a professional photographer's point of view, so he talks a lot about organizing your photos by "shoots," and how to show pictures to clients, etc. Some of that advice doesn't apply to the average "prosumer" who just wants a powerful product to manage photos but doesn't sell them to clients. However, that advice won't hurt you. If you use it to just understand Lightroom's organizational capabilities and then apply them to your workflow in the way that matters to you, you'll be fine.

Initially I balked at the price of the book, but when you see how big it is and how many full-color screen shots there are, you understand why it's priced this way. But having read it a few times, i now think it is worth every penny. It is now my reference guide to Lightroom, and i use it all the time.

I bought this book after going to a bookstore and physically sampling other books. This one stood out as the clear winner.

Bottom line: if you're learning Lightroom, get this book.

Kelby's book on Lightroom 3 is what I needed. It's practical...easy to read/understand...and have already picked up and implemented several of his tips. I haven't completed the book yet...just getting to the point in the book to create better photos. The first portion of the book deals with the architecture of LR3...organizing, cataloging, rating, etc. This can be a daunting task before you get to working with digital photographs. However, he does make a good case of organizing your media first which makes everything else in the process/flow work to your advantage. Would recommend this book to nearly anyone who wants to improve their work flow and make the digital outcomes even better.

Scott is a great author and writes so well that it's easy to understand how to do the things he mentions in Lightroom. This book should DEFINITELY be your "go to" book if you want to learn the in's and out's of Lightroom.

The ONE thing I found missing...

I wanted to use my catalog on many different computers and there was no place in the book to reference how to do this. It talks about syncing, etc. but nowhere does it tell you HOW to do this. The answer I got from an email from Scott was to store your catalog file on my portable hard drive where ALL my images reside and tell Lightroom to use that file on all my computers. Solution provided, issue solved.

This is a great book and Scott is an amazing person and author!

I bought this book after upgrading from Lightroom 2 to Lightroom 3. I already owned the previous version of the book. Is it worthwhile buying the new book? I enjoy the way Scott Kelby writes. He makes it simple to follow the tutorial and teaches many aspects of the software by easy to use step by step chapters. Very clear examples are provided. His humor isn't always of the highest level but that doesn't matter. It still makes reading the book easier. The new book has about 10% more pages but is thinner than it's predecessor. The paper feels more flimsy. The book is largely rewritten, but many chapters and subject from the previous edition can be found in this book. Off course the many new and changed features of Lightroom 3 are added. There is a very clear description of tethered mode, the completely new import module is covered in the book, the new possibilities of the develop module are described and many other features I haven't yet come across. So yes, I'm happy to have spent some money to upgrade. For me this book is indispensable in my effort to master Lightrooms many possibilities.

Unlike his books for Adobe Photoshop Elements, this book goes step-by-step through Lightroom 3. He stresses that you spend time on the initial setup so that it will work as an organizer for you and will be easy to backup. I like the detailed advice since organization is my main concern now.

"The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book by Scott Kelby is a very good book for those of us using Lightroom who would like to take better advantage of this product. The step-by-step tutorials are very good and the illustrations are helpful. I would recommend this book to anyone who uses Lightroom. Of course, I also recommend Lightroom as a photo editor and management solution.

Step by step guide to using Lightroom 3. Even I could follow. Kelby does it again. Need to take your time and note important processes. Great for reference.

As part of my upgrade from Lightroom 2 to Lightroom 3, I considered Scott's new book a must. It is better than the first one. Easy to ready, clear, concise, and includes great examples. The only criticism I would make is that it is much easier to use this book if you have a wire spiral binding on it. That is easily accomplished by taking it to Kinkos and having them cut off the binding and put the spriral on. With that change, the book is perfect. It is too bad that the publisher chose not to bind the book in this way to begin with. There are lots of useful hints and tricks found in the book, and the writing style is easy to follow and enjoyable to read. This book is a must for any serious user of Lightroom.

A very good book for beginners and professionals. I thought I was just going to learn a little new things here and their boy was I wrong in almost every chapter I learned a new thing that I did not know I could do. I have used lighroom since lightroom 2 and I thought I would know everything about the program. This book was made to make the best way to use lightroom and making it fast rather than taking your time in each picture. I love the way that each section is detailed in how it is use and how to properly use the section in lightroom. Even though I usually learn by trial and error this book is defenatly worth the price.

I've been working in RAW for about two years and the program I've used is Canon's Digital Photo Professional (DPP). DPP is an excellent program and it's free. This past October I participated in a photo walk and afterwards received a discount coupon for Lightroom3. Seeing that this program was very different (more complex) than DPP, I went to the Barns & Noble bookstore and looked at several books on Lightroom3. I settled on this book because of its easy-to-read style, step-by-step instructions and its coverage of HDR (high dynamic range) images starting with Lightroom3 and finishing up in Adobe Photoshop.

The book IS very easy-to-read and covers, in the first chapter, all the neat tricks for creating profiles for pictures and videos, setting up copyrights, etc. It does an excellent job, once you get to the 'Develop' chapters, of taking you through each of the settings. He provides example images on his web site that you can download and use as you go through the book. I didn't do this but I found the 'walk through' helpful.

Lightroom3 is a complex program with far more configurations (and the ability to screw up far more)than DPP. After a while I've found myself using Lightroom3 more and referring to Kelby's book when I encounter issues such as how to deal with manual distortions from shooting at 10mm. That in and of itself has been extremely helpful.

I originally bought Scott's "Photoshop Elements 6" after struggling to work my way through "Photoshop for Dummies" and his step by step approach really got me launched. I recently purchased Lightroom and bought a highly recommended book that while being a good reference book still left me with questions and I went back to Scott's book on Lighroom.I like the way he sets it out and the practical approach. The other books while good do not suit someone initially trying to get to grips with the programs and I find this a huge difference in style. Top marks for Scott's books.

I purchased this book because my workflow was terrible! I used one program to import photos, another one to edit photos, and yet another one to resize them and add my watermark for uploading to the web. I initially downloaded LR2 to reduce the apps I used from 3 and sometimes 4 to just one. However, I found it intimidating, so I stopped using it and resumed my old workflow. When LR3 came out, it received so many positive reviews, I decided to try it again.

I purchased this book during my trial evaluation of LR. I'm only on page 75. Yet, I learned so much that I purchased LR3 and already revamped my workflow. You can tailor so many aspects of this application and this book guides you through the process. I especially like how Scott takes you step by step of a typically workflow. He does not jump around showing you trick after trick. Instead, he gives you a model on how to work and you can modify it to fit your needs.

When I first used LR2, I didn't understand the different modules and what their purpose was. He helped clarify that for me and I see how I can use them as well. This is a great book and people spend hundreds of dollars to learn this information. It's a must have!

This is a very practical use book and that really makes it shine. I have found other popular LR books to be more reference than how-to books. This book guides you through a great process for using many of LR's features in a logical manner. Plus, many times it explains why you are performing a certain action or correction. Other books tell you what LR can do. Here you learn how to actually do it!

Learning what is taught is simple. The author uses simple language that explains each step and pictures to illustrate every step of the way. This book teaches you many great techniques through practical applications. You not only get the how-to, but also begin to understand the when-to.

After reading I gained not only a better understanding of LR's capabilities, so I don't have to jump over to Photoshop as often, but also practical applications for those tools. My processing became quicker and more painless. I didn't used all the information right way. But over time I really have come to appreciate LR's organizational and processing power.

I haven't read this book cover to cover as it's so long and detailed, but have started to use it as needed to help me understand Adobe Lightroom. It was strongly recommended by my digital photography instructor at Saddleback College. I keep it with me at all times as a reference and I really enjoy the way it was written so as not to overwhelm the beginner and with an eye toward humor and lightness.

This book is excellent for the Lightroom beginner as well as advanced users. Plenty of good tips to get a beginner up and running quickly as well as plenty of Scott's own personal workflow tips that help the experienced speed up and make their workflow more efficient. The organization is great for learning the solution from start to finish that helps teach how you would work with the application in your own workflow. I would highly recommend this book to anyone that is thinking about or has just purchased Lightroom 3.

If you want a highly technical "how to" book that will enable you to get the badly needed sleep that you have been missing -- in other words, you sorely need to get some zzz's --- this is not your book. However, if you want a "how to" book that takes you step-by-step through the paces of a superb piece of software designed to make your photos come alive -- this is it! Scott Kelby uses his well-known sense of humor to make his epistle readable, with illustrations showing you each step along the way, showing you "how to" take each wobbly step. Then, it becomes worth the extraordinary effort that you so graciously expend learning the ropes required to master this product. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom3 is a masterpiece. Kelby's book makes it so! But, you will still must get that sleep you have been missing! This won't help! Sorry!

I am not a professional photographer. But I do have thousands of photos and need a better way to manage them. I also want more control over the digital development of some photos. Until now, I've been using Canon software. After reading many reviews of various software products, I decided on migrating to Lightroom 3. To better familiarize myself with the software, I bought Scot Kelby's Lightroom 3 book and read through it twice before actually using the software. The information density in his book is high but the book is written in an easy to read style. The layout and organization is methodical. Coverage of topics is thorough and often followed by his preferred way of doing things. I found that approach useful as well as his collection of short cuts and tips. To lighten things up, humor is interjected but I did not find it objectionable. Now that I am using the software, I refer back to his book often and it continues to be helpful.

I've bought Kelby books before and really like them. I'm reading this one page by page and loving it. It's excellent. I've been using LR for awhile and have been self taught. I've picked up new tips and found that I'm doing a few things right! Anxious to read the rest. I'm only part way through the Develop module.

I had used Photoshop and/or Elements for years, but had trouble figuring out all the ins and outs of Lightroom3. After reading cover to cover, I understood how and why Scott suggests to do things the way he recommends. Really liked the 7-points at the end of the book, but wouldn't have understood unless I read the individual chapters. I read reviews that didn't like Scott's sense of humor, and that there wasn't a place for that in the book. I found it refreshing, and exactly how he intended for it to be, to give a break once and awhile. I found myself laughing out loud at times! Since reading the book, LR3 has been my primary photo program, from photo transfer thru publishing.

Here is my reaction to the book as a first time lightroom user. This is the third Scott Kelby book I've purchased, although I was hesitant to get it initially because sometimes the author's jokes get in the way of his explanations, and often they're not very funny. This book is different in style and tone. Scott has toned down the joking, and has done something better to place the reader/user at ease: he explains things clearly and in a relaxed way -- moreover, it seems as though he has anticipated your questions, so that when you have a "But what if..?" question, the books seems to answer it. Perhaps this is because Scott has a strong sympathy/empathy to understand the mindset and attitude of a learner, and even though he may be a 'master teacher,' he's not a disciplinarian, and doesn't have a 'my way or the highway' attitude. Another thing I enjoy about the style is that he doesn't present Lightroom as being the magic bullet to solve all your post-production problems. He treats it as a tool--the way a carpenter might explain the various techniques that go into building a bookcase, i.e., make sure your hammer has good balance, check for warping, select a stain that complements your room, etc. In other words,the software is a means to an end--not the end itself.

The visual layout of the book is excellent, which, ironically is not so common among digital photography books. The images are large enough to make sense out when used to illustrate the text. The processes are listed clearly which reduces the chances of hitting the wrong function. (If you've ever tried to learn a 20-step action, and finish up, only to find out you made a mistake at step #4, you know how frustrating that can be).

Rounding out the guidebook are what some authors call 'secrets' or 'hidden' powers--not very good terminology to use when teaching something. It can make you feel like your supposed to bow down before the greater expertise of the writer. Instead, Scott shows you some things you probably wouldn't think of, but which happen to be time savers--like an easy way to see which of you files has the potential to be a good B&W image. It's done in the spirit of sharing, so that makes you want to learn.

This is as 'smooth' a guidebook as you'd want. If you want instead, a treatise on software architecture, go somewhere else.

I am using LR3 since it was released. I bought this book hoping that I will find things I overlooked, "tricks" that are less known.
The book is described as groundbreaking on its back and I expected that...

In a few minutes I had to realize that this is not for the advanced users who are already using LR3. Anyone with a little interest in the subject could learn this the first weekend/week.
It explains the options but you must be new to computers and photography not to know these. Especially if you used a previous version of LR and LR3 wasn't a shockingly new idea to you.
In the past I looked online if I needed a quick solution and/or was lazy to figure it out on my own.
I figured it would be interesting to try a book and to have it in front of me while working on the files. The only problem is that I went trough the book quickly and I'm still hungry...

Still, it's a good book in its category. If you are new to LR give it a try, it covers pretty much everything. It has good ideas and even if you'll only get one good thing from it what you'll use to make your life easier it already worth it. I got a few so I think - while I expected more - it was a good thing that I bought it.

picturesbyme.com

This book starts at the very beginning... before you even install Lightroom3. It goes step by step on how to set up your computer so your Lightroom images will always be well organized. It's definitely a book for folks new to Lightroom, although I have not read far enough into the book to pick up more advanced functions.

This will not be a technical review, so if that's what you want, look elsewhere. This book is very good at demonstrating how powerful LR3 is, and very helpful at providing practice photos to work your way through the lesson format. However, at times, it's more like a cookbook and less like a treatise. The 'student' works his/her way through each demonstration in multi-step examples, but Kelby doesn't take time to explain what different features are for, or why they work the way they do. Okay - sometimes he does, but most often, he doesn't. Just click here, click there, and move on to the next step. I was hoping for more in-depth treatment of, for example, masking in smart objects. I guess it's up to the student to build the conceptual structure in his or her own mind. I am glad I bought the book, if that helps.

After using Photoshop for years (Ver 3 was my first), I finally got Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 a few months ago. After climbing the learning curve on my own for a bit, I bought Scott Kelby's book. It covers everything I need and the information is so accessible. In just a few days, I was a LR3 Power user. (My advice if you're a serious photographer and don't have LR3 yet? Get it and get Scott's book too!)

Just the book I had been searching for. Informs you of the how-to's from beginning to end. Scott Kelby tells you what to do in a vary easy to understand way.

THANKS
Marv

Excellent book - guides you through all the steps in Lightroom 3, which is an awesome program, but also very involved. If you get the program, buy the book!

I needed to upgrade to Lightroom 3 and quickly. My purpose was to learn how to publish my photos to SmugMug web site. I found what I needed and gained much more with the other tools that my previous version of LR didn't have. I believe if you are going to buy a book of this sort, look for the best in the field and purchase it for future reference. The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 Book for Digital Photographers (Voices That Matter)

While I am reasonably well established with Adobe Photoshop CS2, I just recently added Lightroom 3. As I usually do buy a book to accompany a new program, I finally decided on this title due to the many positive reviews read, but especially for a review which indicated that the author is rather energetic with his presentation.

YES he is! While I am still in the early chapters, the presentation, content, photographs, and writing style are great for me. It is a very easy read, with extra tricks included to shorten some of the processes, and some added humor to go right along with the excellent information.

Not only do you get the book, but you also get extra content at his website, including some video learning and photos which can be downloaded from his website so that you may work on the same photo used as an example in the text.

I enjoy Scott Kelby's style enough, that when I finish up with this book, I will be looking for other titles by him to purchase.

Easy one to recommend.

This book is awesome. Scott tells in easy step by step instructions. With pictures. I have learned so much. More than what my teacher taught me.

Whenever I buy a new program I buy Scott Kelby's book on it. This is no exception. I have his Photoshop books going back to CS and, despite his cutsie-poo asides (I merely ink them out), find the content extremely usable. I expected no less from his latest Lightroom book and was not disappointed. I have become competent in Photoshop over the years but found myself confounded by various Lightroom "features." Web searches dispelled a few of them but Kelby's book was substantially more clear. When my old Mac eventually dies and I'm forced to go beyond CS3, I will buy Scott Kelby's current Photoshop CS? books without hesitation.

I love this book. I am new to Lightroom, but thought I had figured it out. This book not only shows you how to do different tasks, but outlines all the shortcuts, tips and tricks as well. In addition, each chapter has a quick tips section at the end. The book has done a good job, in my opinion, explaining some of the whys of certain operations. I highly recommend this book even if you think you know Lightroom.

This book has a wealth on information regarding Lightroom 3, and it is all presented in an easy to digest format. It's great value. If you're a photographer and you plan on using Lightroom in your workflow I highly recommend this book. It's full of shortcuts and configuration tips to help streamline your post-production. My only criticism is that it has been printed on pretty thin paper that will quickly show signs of wear and tear, but I guess it's a decision publishers make to keep the price down so I can't complain about that too much.

Very good book. It will open your eyes to all the features and give you some good photo editing ideas. Comes with a free tear-out gray card, too. Kelby rocks.