New to Photoshop CS, where to start?

[cindy_w2]

I'm wanting to create my own Web banners, buttons, graphics, etc with

Photoshop, but problem is the software seems so daunting to me. I've tried

searching with keyword Photoshop, but there's just so much info all over the

place. Can anyone suggest a good place to start learning CS, something more

comprehensive and easy to follow. Thanks a lot in advance!

 

Cindy

[jasonsmith]

Cindy

 

Maybe purchase one of the many books available and work your way through it. Once you are comfortable with PS there are a myriad of tips and tricks on the web. It pays to have at least one good reference bookon the shelf IMO.

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

You've selected an intercontinental ballistic missle for a duck hunt. You might want to check out other, simpler programs to do what you're wanting to do. Otherwise as mentioned above, start with one of the many books on Photoshop. Look for books by Scott Kelby, Bruce Fraser or Martin Evening.

[Ed_Ingold]

Photoshop does so many things that it is nearly impossible to sit down and try to learn everything in sequence. What helps is to have a little focus. Pick a task and concentrate on what you need to know to accomplish that task. The key photographic tasks (and Photoshop has many non-photographic capabilities too) are (in my quick estimate): opening, saving (as), levels, curves, cropping, resizing, and resampling. Photoshop also has powerful tools for printing, almost another section.

 

There are some simple tutorials at www.adobe.com, and others you can purchase. Personally, I don't find video tutorials all that useful, but your needs may vary. Adobe publishes a series called "Classroom in a Book" for all of their programs, which will lead you through the principal operations, and includes a DVD with exercises. "Photoshop CS2 for Photographers" by Martin Evening is excellent, as is "Real World Photoshop" by Bruce Fraser. IMO, the "Classroom" book and the Martin Evening book are "must have" volumes.

 

Later on, you may want something broader, like one of the Photoshop "Bibles" for general reference, or something more specialized like "Masking and Compositing" by Katrin Eismann. The sky is the limit.

 

Photoshop is daunting in its power and complexity. However, you quickly become familiar with common operations and pick up added tools as needed. Photoshop is the program to which all others are compared, and often easier to use (and get help for) than so-called "easy" programs.

[roger_kallet]

Re: books. Yesterday at the local Barnes and Noble bookstore, I saw Adobe PS CS2 Class Room In A Book for 30% off, plus an additional 10% off for Readers Advantage card holders. Also, for beginners I like the Carla Rose PS books.

[sknowles]

I agree, you did buy a daunting software package, but it will do anything you want, it just

takes the patience to learn. I bought CS2 two months ago and have been learning it from

scratch, which including learning to use a scanner. I have two books on it but mostly I sat

down and went through the setup, options and tools, if only to get a glimpse of what they

do. Mostly I've learned it by doing (trial and error, lots of errors). I use the books as

reference manuals and try to establish a workflow with an image from slide to final digital

image for the Web and print (printing is another matter).

 

I've found all the books are good with examples and with tips and tricks, but most don't

seem to describe the workflow and simple tasks very well, or describe the process after,

"Ok, I have this image in PS, not what?" A lot of what you need to learn is practice, and I

would suggest working with a few images to find a process that works for you and learn

the tools in PS to do that, and when you're comfortable, you can use the other tools to see

what they do. Remember there always is the history in PS to undo steps or simply quit

without saving and start over.

 

You describe the problem I've found locally, workshops on introduction to PS and CS2.

Not. That's the hard part for people who learn by doing. As for books, I've found Martin

Evening's books for a reference in the steps with explanations. Good luck, it's the never

ending learning curve.

[jim mucklin]

Try the learnkey programs.

[corey_gardner1]

The key to not getting frustrated with photoshop is realizing that you don't need to know everything, just what you want to do. Find out what you want to do and then look for a book that specifically shows you how to do it. There are books that focus specifically on techniques related to photography and others that focus more on graphic design. Based on what you listed I would look for a book on web design and graphics centered around photoshop. The photography specific books won't show you how to design buttons or other web stuff.

[cindy_w2]

Wow, thanks so much guys for helping me out!

 

Realizing I simply could not learn everything (and of course won't need to) because of the sheer size of this software, it makes sense for me to concentrate on what I want to know.

 

I'm not a designer or an artist, just someone who wants to do something creative for her own Web page. And yes I'm more interested in the Web graphics part of CS. I've played around with the TOOLS inside CS to create simple banners. When I see those colorful banners out there, I want to make similar one of my own but at this point realize I'm not able to just play with the tools and create an equally fancy one. Attached is a sample of what I would like to learn to make. For starters, I think I need to learn how to make graphics look 3D, how to add text onto images, how to combine my own captured images with other effects to create banners, and better know each of the TOOLs in CS, and so much more...

[will_hammond]

Cindy,

 

I post regularly on this site and being a Photoshop trainer and having trained nearly 25,000 people over the last 16 years (starting with Display .078a which became Photoshop) I think you are right on track learning the tools first. If you don't start with the tools, you can't do the manipulations to your images. Even if the graphics you want to do are not complicated you still have to learn what the tools do first. Only then would I look into more in-depth functions such as channels, layers and retouching.

 

My personal favorite resource for helping people learn the basics is Deke McClelland's "Photoshop One On One" which comes with a 2 hour DVD that previews what will be covered in each of the chapters in the book. It is like having a live instructor as you can rewind and replay as many times as you like. Regardless of where you will use your graphics, the creation part is nearly identical and Photoshop ships with ImageReady which will allow you to optimize your graphics for the web. What part of the country are you in? Maybe I'm teaching in your area soon!

 

Lynda Weinmann also has an excellent web site http://www.lynda.com which has both on-line and printed resources focused on web graphics.

 

Regards,

 

Will Hammond

 

Adobe CTI Photoshop

 

P.S. Photoshop is the world's most expensive adult video game, it's our xBox. Swap heads, give the dog a third eye and get paid for doing it! :-)

[larry_g1]

I'll add my two cents as well. I was in the same boat you find yourself, even after purchasing a number of books. Just couldn't get past square one (or maybe square two). Then I bought the Total Training video by Deke McClelland. Interestingly enough, even though I had little luck with one of his books, I found his video to be incredibly illuminating and easy to follow. That's what made all the difference for me. Once I got that foundation, I was then able to understand most of the books/articles/websites that had eluded me before. I know this sounds like a commercial for the guy, but it's just an honest response from a grateful (formerly frustrated) photographer!