CLPEX Chat Board

There is a new book out there by George Reis, aimed towards Forensic Professionals who use Photoshop. The title is "Photoshop CS3 for Forensics Professionals". The ISBN# is 978-0-470-11454-4.

I haven't read it cover to cover yet, but can tell you that it is a breath of fresh air for any forensic person who uses Photoshop. It covers a wide variety of topics from setting up preferences in PS, to image clarification, to using the new video features in CS3. Its very easy to read and written like a 'how to' guide.

And dont be scared by the title if you don't have CS3. Most of the content of the book will apply to users of CS2 and CS also.

Andrew Schriever
Target Assets Protection Forensic Lab

I have it on order, looking forward to plowing through it!

It's currently under $40 ($59.95 cover) at Amazon.com - just copy and paste the ISBN in their search box. I received my copy yesterday, but haven't had a chance to browse it yet.

It's good to hear that most of it applies to CS2, since many agencies can't afford to have the newest software when it's released (we still have CS at our personal workstations).

Just browsing through the index, and looking at a couple chapters specifically, I'd say that the majority of the book will pretain to CS and CS2.

Obviously the video features of CS3 described in the book arent in CS or CS2, so those wont apply. CS and CS2 dont allow you to view JPEG or TIFF images in the Camera RAW dialog, so a part of that chapter wont apply.

But a large majority of the rest of the info can be used on earlier versions of PS. The menus in earlier versions may look a little different from the photos in the book (and the photos all look to be from the Mac version of PS, imagine that George!), but I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book for those running pre-CS3 versions.

As the author of this book, I can probably clarify a few issues.

I wish the book didn't have "CS3" in the title, as almost all of the techniques in the book can be done with earlier versions of PS - many going back to version 4.

That said, there are also some techniques that require additional software, or can work more efficiently with additional software. In these cases, I tried to include free methods when possible. For instance, in the section on pattern removal, I show two methods of accomplishing this - one with the Ocean Systems plug-in, ClearID, and one with the freeware, NIH Image-J. For frame averaging, I include a technique that is unique to Photoshop CS3 Extended, but also a manual method that can be done with versions going back to at least version 6, and also include a free script for automating the task, written by Jimmy Schroering from the North Carolina Bureau of Investigation. I know that the script works with CS3 Standard and CS2 - I don't recall if it has been tested with earlier versions.

At any rate - you all know where to get hold of me, and I'm more than happy to clarify any issues if I can. Feel free to post here or to contact me off-list if I can help with any imaging issues, etc.

George