Easy Digital Negatives: Historical and Alternative Photography Paperback – June 21, 2014

Good book, definitely a basics, but still good. Sadly part of the new "Print on Demand" scourge. As such, print quality is blah and I expect that the book wont hold up to much use based on my previous PoD experience. Image quality is however far higher than the previous PoD book I received (So this is way better than "terrible" quality), but this one comes with roller marks on nearly every single page up until 35, at which time I suspect somebody finally bothered to check the output quality or whatever Lexington is calling it. When I was in printing, we'd actually scrap the defects (that's what we would call the first 35 pages of this book) and then provide a defect free print to our clients. I did try to erase one of the marks, but the printed text came off first. I can't believe things like this even get sold as a book, it's like the pulp fiction days (not a movie reference, real pulp fiction). If you think you might need this book, it will probably at the very least give you some ideas of things you might want to try. I would recommend buying this book, but if it's doable, go to a real book store and buy it as a real book.

I will be taking an Alt Process course next fall and wanted to get a head start, so I purchased this book. I read it in one sitting. Readers who are proficient in Photoshop will agree with the word "easy" in the title. My only problem with the book is with the opening section, "Workflow. " If you want to see what I'm talking about, go to Mrhar's web site, where this section is reproduced in its entirety. The section reads more like a collection of disjoint concepts than a presentation of steps in a process. For example, there is a step called "Standard Printing Time." Since the author is describing a workflow, it would be more appropriate to call it "Determine the Standard Printing Time." Of course as you delve deeper into the book the Workflow section will begin to make perfect sense. But as it stands, the Workflow section is not particularly helpful in giving a reader who is new to the subject an overview of the process.

I hate to try and assign stars, so please don't pay attention to mine... This book is interesting and helpful. I don't think it qualifies as "Easy" however. If you follow all his steps there is a lot, and I mean A LOT of calibration and testing involved. I'm sure if you do all these things you'll end up with a good result. For me calibrating a scanner and monitor was just overkill. That said, there's still a ton of useful info here. I'd been trying to make negs using only black ink. Switching to color helped a lot. His method of determining optimal exposure worked for me. I found the downloadable gray scales useful. I'm making cyanotypes using the "New Cyanotype" chemistry and am discovering there are so many variables I'm going crazy, but this book is helping me get closer. It's very step by step, but to me lacks a clear overview of some steps, instead it jumps in with details a directions when I'm not sure where we're going or why. Still, it's helpful and I'm glad I got it.

As of June, 2014 this is the most up to date volume on the subject and it's very complete. Using PhotoShop it takes you through the steps necessary to produce negs dedicated to any particular alt. photo process. My own interest is gum printing and I made very useable negs with this workflow. The author provides downloadable step wedges, etc on his website to use with the routines described in his book. I've been a gum printer for many years and I found useful info here.Should be a useful reference for many years.

This is an informative book with good instructions.

It's exactly what I needed to be able to make e.g. cyanotype images from my digital negatives. Excellent, clear and very practical.

It is alittle over my head. I think I can create the same negatives in three easy steps! Good for someone with alot of photoshop and digital experience.

Well written and easy to follow.

I am really conflicted as to how to review this book and how many starts to give it. It gets a 3 as contains a lot of information and background, and it has been written intending to help people on the step to achieving good negatives......but.....it is anything but easy to read and flips around from place to place, using different terms for different parts of the process in different places. I have been trying to make sure that my negatives give the processes a fighting chance of being usable, but I found myself scratching my head and exclaiming 'What?' out loud more than once. If you know enough about alternative photo processes the concepts may be familiar to you and you may be able to sort out the important bits. I hope I have eventually, but it was much harder work to do that than the book title suggests. Sorry, I really wanted this to be better.

This is the definitive manual for producing digital negatives for alternative photographic techniques. It's not easy. You require a good familiarity with Photoshop for a start. It's immensely detailed but, as a beginner, I'd have appreciated a short explanation of the purpose of why what is being explained has to be done - and not just assume the reader would know.

Easy it is not. This book is incredibly technical and not for the faint of heart. The downloads from the website don't work for me either. There are other books on the making of digital negatives which are much easier to understand.

Excellent book for those interested in the subject matter...

Book is not complete. Missing pages from 27-90. It is made like this.