Christmas reading included two great books this year: ‘Photoshop Pro Photography Handbook: The Photography Professional’s Handbook of Post-production for the Digital Age’ (by Chris Weston and Adam Juniper), and ‘Dont Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability’ (by Steve Krug).

The Photoshop book is a major revelation, for someone who has been using Photoshop for three years, largely self-taught. Having recently resurrected my interest in photography (I had a darkroom in the 80s), the book looked like a good way to learn a few new tricks. I wasn’t disappointed.

The book taught me how to use Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop to organise and process average images quickly, to produce something impressive, making heavy use of clear examples. I learned how to deftly fix imperfections in exposure and composition, without hours of painstaking effort and frustration. Highly recommended.

Less impressive, but useful nonetheless, is the Web Usability book. Much of the book was common sense that any web designer would have picked up with experience, trial and error. However, like lots of things which seem obvious, many of the observations made produced forehead-smacking moments from this reader.

Like any subject, the time and effort spent on exploring and documenting an unusual subject matter has created a valuable new language and way of looking at something previously taken for granted. Krug identifies page elements which subconsciously guide surfers around a website, and replays the tiny incremental thought processes involved in making decisions, which can either please or frustrate them.