Creative Digital Printmaking: A Photographer's Guide to Professional Desktop Printing

While searching out another photography book, I stumbled upon this one and bought it on a whim. What a revelation! I am totally thrilled with the book, the authors' writing, and the info - both aesthetic and concrete - inside. I've had several print b/w darkrooms - bathroom affairs that I've loved - but no longer have the space. I really have missed the print-making experience. Thus Creative Digital Printmaking opened new and exciting doors to me. Even better, it clearly explained how to handcolor digiprints, something I'd done with my b/w images, but never imagined I could do with a digital print. The book's instructions and explanations are masterful - clear and concise, yet full of exciting techniques. While the book takes the reader on interesting creative journeys, Airey also focuses on the concrete, such as how to calibrate a monitor and the best way to scan a negative or photograph. The combination works. So do the excellent photographic examples. If you have the urge to make digital prints that last and ones that resonate with and excite viewers, this book will guide you on your way. I can't recommend it highly enough.

You can spend weeks following web users groups that discuss specific papers, inks, printers and combinations of archival inks and papers etc. You can subscribe to numerous artists' magazines. But in this book, you can save yourself months, because of Theresa Airey's practical information and lists. The book not only helps photographers looking for quality in printing but it also gives people who hand tint photos good advice with the current lineup of digital materials. From the applications standpoint, I like that this book takes readers from basics to difficult, creative projects. The listings for companies, websites, papers and other media are excellent. To Amphoto Books: Please give us more from this talented and extraordinarily helpful author.

For those who endeavor to perfect fine art digital printmaking, this is the book to read. It is a "how to" and so much more. The book covers paper, ink, techniques, hand coloring and the practical application and intereaction of all of these variables. The book is cogently written and elegantly displayed. It is a must for anyone's library who wishes to expand their horizons in the digital printing arena. Ms. Airey is a master of her craft and it shows.

I am one of many photographers who has been investigating the new opportunities emerging in the digital world. Like the author, I am using Photoshop and a digital printer (Epson 3000) to create prints of my work which bridge the gap between 'art' and 'photography'. This book has lots of valuable information that will help guide those of us interested in this new frontier. Of special interst to me are the chapters on papers and inks. There are considerable 'third party' alternatives to those provided by the printer manufacturers and the Ms. Airey has experience with most. Also included are many examples of both the author's techniques and those of other artists who have already 'set sail' on their own voyages of discovery.