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Mastering Digital Printing: BOOK REVIEWS: First Edition
Just wanted to say that your book "Mastering Digital Printing" is excellent. Thanks for writing such an informative book. I have recommended it to many of my students and other artists.
Truly Outstanding Book! Digital printing is surely one of the most difficult subjects on which to write--rapidly-changing, multi-disciplinary and inherently technical at times. Johnson handles the subject with great clarity, including concise explanations and strong use of illustrations. I bought this book recently to advance my knowledge of digital printing quickly, but very comprehensively. It served this purpose well. Organization is a strong point of the book--it builds on itself in a way that avoids losing the reader in a morass of technical jargon. Some is unavoidable, but the book navigates the subject wonderfully. I recommend the book without hesitation. -- Jeffrey Makoff, President & CEO, DigitalCustom Group. Inc., November 8, 2003 Your book is an invaluable part of my library! -- Sharon Grimshaw, fine art nature photographer, www.sharongrimshaw.com, July 26, 2003 Harald Johnson has decided to tackle the daunting task of getting together THE master reference work that explains the new digital revolution. He saw that this was a big sea-change subject that needed to be tackled, and he has taken the plunge and successfully produced something that will help to alter the way art is seen and made forever. I love this book and thoroughly recommend that you get a copy right now. -- Colin Ruffell, artist and printmaker, Brighton, U.K., www.crabfish.com, May 22, 2003 The best reference book I've ever owned. RE: Harald's book--I've tried my best to read it straight through, but each page and chapter is so full of ideas that I end up jumping all over! It's the best reference book I've ever owned. -- Pat Thompson, digital artist, May 6, 2003 Anyone who really wants to know the ins and outs of digital printing will learn a lot from this fine read. I know there are many professionals claiming to know it all who would be stunned by the information in this book. It is easy to read and a great reference book. -- John Feld, editor, PC Graphics Report, www.pcgraphicsreport.com Excellent book! I'm very, very impressed. Harald does a really great job explaining difficult concepts in an easily understandable way. -- Andrew Darlow, author, Inkjet Tip of the Month Club, www.andrewdarlow.com ...It's a printing classic in the world of digital arts. "Mastering Digital Printing" is useful for all levels of users and in spite of its technical approach, the book is written in a simple, attractive language making it interesting to read and understand. It is supported with the beautiful pictures helping users to get thorough with the subject. Truly a great road map towards digital printing. -- Atul Thakur, editor, Inside Graphics, www.insidegraphics.com, May 1, 2003 The Right Book at the Right Time! Harald's done a terrific job of reading our minds: he addresses all the digital printing questions and concerns that plague today's photographers and printers. If you don't find the answer in this book, you're probably asking the wrong question. There are lots of digital books that we like. This is the book we need! --Dan Burkholder, photographer As a gallerist, my hope was that the book might provide some help with a better understanding of the underpinnings of these new technologies and something of a base of information to build upon for our collectors. Let me say that you've done that in spades! What I could not have anticipated was that you would do so in such an easily readable, even fun, way. -- Paul Eric Johnson, director of photography, Wohlfarth Galleries There's really nothing like this book, er, encyclopedia. It's comprehensive but it's readable without getting clammy. The sidebars are interesting parenthetical remarks (that addressed every yeah-but-what-about that occurred to us as we read the main text) and the illustrations really do show you what he's talking about. It isn't evangelical but a balanced, sober discussion of the ins and outs of printing digital images by someone who's been doing it a while. Harald knows what to sweat and what to forget. -- Mike Pasini, Editor, The Imaging Resource Digital Photography Newsletter, Feb. 21, 2003 Required Reading for UCLA Extensions Class, May 9, 2003. I am teaching a course at UCLA Extension's Graphic Arts Department called "Mastering Fine Art Printing" and this is THE textbook that we use. With the release of this book, I now have a solid reference point for the material that I present in the course. I'm glad that Johnson has included the many facets of fine art printing because so many people have no idea that a revolution is taking place in the fine art community. This book provides a great starting for both beginning and advanced printmakers. Johnson's exhaustive research and insight make this book a must-have for anyone wanting to take their fine art printmaking to the next level. There is plenty of practical information that is easy to follow, and it will definitely help your ability to create great prints. -- Andrew Behla, Instructor, UCLA Extensions, Mastering Fine Art Digital Printmaking course, www.behladesign.com A must have reference, January 30, 2003. I've got tons (literally) of books on digital imaging, color management, Photoshop, color output and the like. Few belong at the top of the list but Johnson's book is one that belongs there. It's an exhaustive and thorough book on the subject that many of us needed years ago. Along with the "Real World" series (Photoshop and Color Management), I've managed to use up more than a few yellow highlighter pen's marking up the books for reference. This book should be required reading in all computer graphic classes! --Andrew Rodney, The Digital Dog I finally got my copy of Mastering Digital Printing by Harald Johnson this last week. What a great book! Not only full of everything I have needed/wanted to know but so well written that even I can understand it. :) No kidding. This book has been more help to me than anything I have read thus far and has become the book I drag to lunch with me every day...in my chair in the evening... I start a course at Rocky Mountain School of Photography next week in "Digital Printing," and it will be at class with me. Great writing, and a way of explaining things that is easily understandable. I would recommend it to beginners and advanced users alike, and I intend on giving a copy to a printer friend of mine as it ties in the "old print world" to a new digital world so nicely. --Vicki Dawson, desktop publisher, amateur photographer ...Harald's book has arrived. What an amazing, monumental work. I was unprepared for the scale and depth of this thing. I hope the publisher is pushing this to high school and college campuses as a textbook! Congratulations on an achievement that may have to be adapted to new technologies as they emerge, but that will live and thrive on its merits for many, many years to come. It will, I predict, become the standard in the industry, and its educational/institutional value must not be ignored. --Bobbo Goldberg, digital artist A Virtual Milestone. Harald Johnson's new book seems to me something of a milestone, not only for its prodigious content, but for its very concept. For Johnson has not only written the Bible of digital printing for fine-art printmakers and photographers, but he has also solved the abiding problem of people who write books on technical subjects: currency. More than a simple book, what Johnson has created is a "metabook" which extends its domain into the fourth dimension: time with the added support of both a website (www.dpandi.com) and a lively online discussion group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/digital-fineart). Have I made the book sound stuffy? Far from it! Mastering Digital Printing is written in a personal conversational style which is more like a chat with a friendly expert than a technical manual. It is wide ranging both in breadth and depth, of interest both to beginners and experts. Perhaps the most exciting thing about this new digital printing compendium is the guidance it offers photographers and fine-art printmakers--and there are legions of them--who are fascinated by the possibilities of digital imaging and printing but until now have not known how to get started. Johnson's book now provides them with a clear roadmap, and is destined to make many converts to digital. People who like to know the underlying reasons for things will love Mastering Digital Printing. Each of its eleven chapters starts out with a brief theoretical discussion of the matter at hand, then moves into specifics, in a nice marriage of theory and practice. If you get in over your head, you will be pleased to find that the second part of most of the chapters contains eminently practical how-to information, complete with product comparisons and insider procedural recommendations. These how-to details cover the complete digital printing process, from the choice of appropriate digital technologies for the job at hand, equipment and materials, to image creation and actual printing, whether you do it yourself or send it out to a professional print service. There are also illuminating side trips into color management, the choice of inkjet printers and print permanence. On this subject, Johnson has come up with a delightful non-scientific yardstick, the Granny Standard: Will your digital print conserve its quality long enough for your grandchildren to see it properly? Amidst the at times intense technical talk, Johnson does not forget to show his readers the proof of the pudding, a section which he calls the "Gallery Showcase" which includes digital prints by and brief commentaries on the work of eighteen leading contemporary American digital artists and photographers, a collection of work which fairly represents most of the digital printing techniques and tendencies current today. All that remains to complement this formidable text/reference/do-it-yourself metabook is a rich appendix listing all available resources, including URL's and e-mail addresses, and there it is. --Mike Booth, Director, WorldPrintmakers.com A must have! With Mastering Digital Printing, Harald Johnson successfully presents his subject in a way that is educational, resourceful and entertaining at the same time. This book provides the Who, Why, and How answers to anyone involved in the digital medium, including those just wondering what this digital revolution is all about. Mastering Digital Printing is a definitive work for anyone in the field and is likely to become an enduring standard for years to come. --Ileana Frometa Grillo, a digital artist Highly recommended, this is a useful and up-to-date overview of the field. The 400-page book features a chapter on image permanence entitled "Not Fade Away: Print Permanence." The book includes print permanence data for a variety of printers from Wilhelm Imaging Research, Inc. --Henry Wilhelm, Wilhelm Imaging Research Subject Mastered! This new book represents a uniquely detailed description and explanation of digital printing technology as it pertains to the world of fine art and what might be termed art photography. For artists working with digital technology as their chosen medium, this work provides more than sufficient explanation to enable the artist to intelligently work through all the issues involved with digital printmaking and digital output technology. Whether the artist is doing (or wants to do) his own prints, or is looking at a commercial digital printmaker, this work provides the understanding to do either or both with a rational, thought-through approach. And furthermore, this book offers a wealth of detail and information for others, be they collectors of fine art, commercial printmakers, or others in the fine art community, most specifically including museum and gallery personnel. And to photographers of all description, it provides a fine understanding of the new digital printing processes, and their uses in the various levels and types of photography. All around, a hugely useful book. --John Shaw, Publisher, Printhead.net; former Managing Director, Digital Printing & Imaging Association "Mastering Digital Printing" is a book whose time has come, but it is also a time whose book has come. Digital tools have already effected the way many of our artforms are produced and appreciated and many who are working in digital art and subsequent digital fine art printmaking realize that a critical mass has just about been reached that will have a far reaching effect on the way we make, market and distribute Art of the future. One could begin at page one of "Mastering Digital Printing" by Harald Johnson and by the time you close the cover know everything there is to know about the history, tools, theory and practice of making digital art prints. It is a book both for beginners and for filling in those weak areas that even an expert digital artist may have glossed over in these decades of development. The text points out drawbacks, as well as, advantages and it is both highly technical and friendly to read. In the end, "Mastering Digital Printing," leaves the reader standing exactly where the Art is; poised at the brink, ready for explosive growth, following a rich and varied beginning. As we know, things will change wherever there is evolving digital technology at hand, but this book will always be significant for the history and reliable background that it imparts on this far ranging topic. If you are interested in Art you should know what is in this book. --JD Jarvis, a digital artist and writer An Essential Book for Printers! Harald Johnson has prepared a fantastic book. It is comprehensive in its scope; packed with information on photographic and fine art printing from the desktop to the highest end service bureau. I greatly appreciate the organization of the book as well as how Mr. Johnson anticipates the readers concerns by providing complete definitions and cross references throughout. I highly recommend this book for everyone with an interest in understanding digital printing as well as those wishing to master their own printing. --James G. Respess (jim@greenflashphotography.com), an artist and fine art printer Anyone who has ventured seriously into creating digital art sooner or later stumbles into the uncharted sea of printing. Once an artist has finally created his or her masterpiece on the computer, they must contend with a vast array of new printing technologies, image management software (sometimes called RIP), and different ink types and substrates to produce their final print. Until now that process has remained a complete mystery to all but a few. But at last Harald Johnson has come forward with his new book Mastering Digital Printing to explain the process from the basics to the complex. Perhaps what I like most about the book is that is not just a technical manual, but really goes a long way into addressing head on some of the issues that are raging in the art world today regarding digital artwork. Things like what the difference is between a digital reproduction and digital original, and what a Giclee print is. These topics really shed some light onto some controversial and often overlooked issues. On the technical side he does a very deft job of delicately explaining complex terms such as printer resolution, dpi, and lpi so that even a beginner can start to get an adequate grasp of the subject. This is a book aimed at artists, not propeller heads. And while his coverage of the different printing technologies may be a bit more information than most artists want, it is never less important when one is considering plunking down $300 or more for a print based on those technologies. He also does an outstanding job of explaining scanning and what artists really need to know about sending out work to be scanned, or scanning it themselves. Finally he address two important issues for the professional artist, permanence and substrates. While some of the this does go into the deep end, it provides necessary and often overlooked information that seems to be cropping up more and more at art shows and galleries. All in all, this book is a compendium of information for serious digital artists. If all you want to do is produce snap-shots from your inkjet printer, this book is probably not for you. But if you are a professional or serious amateur artist wants to obtain the highest quality translation from the virtual representation of their art work to the physical one, this book is a must. --Steven Friedman, Digital Art Masterworks If you are at all serious about producing beautiful prints from your inkjet printer, you must get Harald Johnson's book, "Mastering Digital Printing." Johnson reveals everything that you need to know to get great results and does it in a very reader-friendly way. From getting an image into the computer, to calibrating your monitor, to understanding why you would possibly need a printer profile, his easy to read style makes sense. A great example is the chapter, "Making a Great Inkjet Print." Johnson explains, in a step-by-step manner, an easy to follow method (workflow) for making the print. There is much more to this book and all of it is excellent. From simple concepts to more technical information: it's all there. Want to know what a printer profile is all about? Ever wonder how paper can be tested for lightfastness at home to simulate years of Aunt Martha's picture hanging on the wall? You'll find it here. We are going to use this as the primary text for our new Digital Printing course at Community College of Philadelphia's Department of Photographic Imaging. Highly recommended! --Stan Shire, M.Ed. Associate Professor and Chair Department of Photographic Imaging Community College of Philadelphia, Adobe Certified Expert-Photoshop I wish I had owned a book like this when I started doing digital drawings ten years ago, but the next best thing is to have it now. It is a engaged and loving explication of the many aspects of digital printmaking, starting with the basic building blocks of a digital image, the bits, bytes, and pixels, and finishing up with curating and shipping the final prints out the door. Along the way it explains the different digital printing methods (with great diagrams to illustrate how things like inkjets actually work), the pieces of hardware you'll need, how to capture and handle your source material (including scanning, digital cameras, digital drawing programs, and image editing), color space and the pros and cons of calibration, permanence, how to do your own printing from machines to inks and papers, and how to deal with an outside printing service if you decide not to print your work yourself. Especially if you're in the latter category, this book is an invaluable guide to an understanding of what's going on technically that will help you to make aesthetic decisions that translate onto paper more successfully and to better communicate with your print atelier. Lastly, the very useful appendices are a gold-mine in-and-of themselves - print service providers all over the USA, suppliers, online groups and sites, books, galleries, print exchanges and more. From the introduction on, the sense of excitement about the blossoming digital revolution is contagious. Fine art printmaking has not had a major new medium since silkscreen, and Harald Johnson does an excellent job of fitting digital prints into the history of printmaking in general. The book finishes up with a gallery showcase that gives an inspiring overview of the kinds of imagery that are being made digitally these days - ranging stylistically from realism to abstraction to manipulated photographs and from methods that rival traditional media to creations that could only be computer art. --Martha Jane Bradford, digital artist The Digital Printing Book You've Been Waiting For. This is a fantastic book whose primary audience would be the digital photographer wishing to make their own prints. The book includes an overview of digital technology and primers on image editing, color management and print permanence. The heart and soul of the book is the section dealing with inkjet printing. This is really the part that makes this book special. Reading it will save you untold hours of frustration as you try to master digital printing. I would include this book as one of maybe three or four books that should be essential reading to anyone trying to learn the ropes of digital imaging and the primary one dealing with printing. --Michael Schwarz, photographer I just got my first copy of Harald (don't call me Howard) Johnson's new book: "Mastering Digital Printing." My initial review can be summed up in one word "WOW!" Finally, someone brings color theory, along with the history and practice of fine-art digital printing in one very comprehensive publication.. The sheer depth of information is just boggling, and the writing is both eminently readable and insightful. Kudos to Harald.. If Gregory George's newest book" "50 Fast Photoshop 7 Techniques" is a Zabar's or the Stage Deli level delight for information and technique "noshers," Harald's book is more akin to an in-depth six-course prix fixe meal at Chez Panisse (current and former Berkeleyites and/or Clinton administration followers will know the reference).. If anyone is looking for last minute Holiday gifts, put this book on your short list for ANY inkjet printer user! --Keith Krebs, founder, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSONx7x_Printers ^ back to top |
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