Aesthetically speaking, this book is beautiful – inside and out – which is as it should be, since it deals with the art of photography. The covers are glossy and beautifully designed, the title font choice reminiscent of a DSLR viewfinder. The next thing that one notices is the detailed Table of Contents. A good TOC is a must have for a good instructional book, and a great TOC, one that breaks topics down to their essential line items and makes it easy to find just what you’re looking for, is a joy to behold.

The TOC shows one more thing: the authors were thorough in their writing. They set out to discuss the art of RAW conversion with the tools currently on the market, and by golly, they accomplished it. Each chapter is well put-together and it deals with the topic at hand. The writing is focused and easy to understand. The illustrations are plentiful and do a good job of helping to explain the more difficult concepts.

The first two chapters are dedicated to preparing the reader for implementing a RAW conversion workflow. The next six chapters discuss the features of the RAW converters currently on the market. Finally, the last six chapters teach the reader specialized skills, such as correcting images in Photoshop, doing batch RAW processing, the new DNG format, photo metadata, custom camera profiles, converter calibration and RGB to B/W conversion. A wonderful glossary is included as well, explaining specialized terms.

Whether you are a skilled photographer knowledgeable about using RAW images, or a hobbyist who is just getting to know the RAW format, this books is great, because it will help you find out why you should shoot in RAW, and, more importantly, how to manipulate these images once you’ve transferred them to your computer. Yes, RAW conversion packages for both major desktop platforms (Mac and PC) are discussed, in relevant detail, no more, no less.

If you read this book, you will gain a tremendous amount of knowledge about RAW photography, and you will know how to use the features of the RAW format to your best advantage. In the end, your photos – your end product – will be much better for it.

This book is a must-have. Not only does it deal with a unique subject, about which little quality information is to be found in print or on the Internet for that matter, but it also does it thoroughly and skillfully.