PS/LR newbie question

cab.in.boston · May 27, 2010

As indicated, I am a total newbie with PS. I ordered and received CS5 Extended and LR2 a couple of weeks ago (before my student eligibility expired). Since then I have installed them and opened them a few times, only to be completely overwhelmed and not have any clue how to even get started. I've searched around a bit for PS tutorials, but many of them are of the type of "How to do X..." and seem to assume already some working knowledge of the software.

The sum total of my experience is that I've used LR3 Beta a little bit since it was released, but really haven't even done much there.

I'm looking for recommendations for "kindergarten-level" PS tutorials, either online or if anyone has recos for a good book or two that could take me really from absolute zero to at least understanding how and/or why I would want to do certain things. I'm talking at the level of "go to File menu, select X..." along with a very basic level of explanation about why, so I can build on that. There are many books out there, I would appreciate any testimonials of which ones might be good for my level. I thumbed through "Photoshop CS5 for Dummies" the other day, but it mentioned that it only briefly touches on the Extended version, and recommends "The Photoshop CS5 Bible," which is not yet released. I'm just not sure if it matters if I get a book aimed specifically at Extended, or if any PS CS5 book is fine (I'm guessing it would be, since I'm a long way from utilizing any additional capability in Extended). Is a Dummies book is the best way to start, or are there others that provide a better understanding of what/how to do things? And also examples/instructions on how/why to use LR would be great, too. I saw a book about LR2 for Photographers, that seemed like it might be good, but I'd like recos if anyone has any.

I've heard nothing but great things about how these programs work together, but I'm simply overwhelmed with all the options/menus/etc. I don't know ACR from Bridge or anything. I'd like to understand what I'm doing, develop some kind of workflow, and improve the final output quality of my shots, but I feel lost right now. I'm sure once I learn just a little, I'll be able to work from there.

Please help me help myself.

chrisjohnson · May 27, 2010

Probably you don't like my advice which is to take a course with a real teacher and a group of fellow students.

It depends a bit on your theoretical knowledge of digital photography, but there are often several ways to do things and the programs are complex and rich.

These are not programs to learn by spending 30 minutes on the net reviewing videos - especially CS. You need hours of practice, a coach, some friends in the same boat, and some personalized structure to your learning. You might even enjoy meeting other people with the same passion and challenging your approach.

cab.in.boston · May 27, 2010

goldenballs wrote: »

Probably you don't like my advice which is to take a course with a real teacher and a group of fellow students.

It depends a bit on your theoretical knowledge of digital photography, but there are often several ways to do things and the programs are complex and rich.

These are not programs to learn by spending 30 minutes on the net reviewing videos - especially CS. You need hours of practice, a coach, some friends in the same boat, and some personalized structure to your learning. You might even enjoy meeting other people with the same passion and challenging your approach.

I have no problem at all with your advice. My wife and I have discussed doing exactly that... at some point. I just finished grad school and would love to take some courses on something fun and interesting like photography rather than what I've been studying for the last 3 years, but we have a 3 y/o and a newborn coming in June, so the opportunity for a course at a local school probably won't come for at least another year or two. But we get the mailers from the local community college, and they have courses in photography and PS, and I definitely want to do that when I can.

I fully realize that these are very advanced applications and I don't expect to come close to mastering them with 30 minutes on the net, as you say. I just am looking for something to get me over the "holy crap there's so much there, how do I even get started" hurdle. A book or three that I can read, try examples, and at least see how to get started would really help. I'm not afraid of just jumping in and pushing buttons, but I'd like to have a little bit of knowledge of why I'm doing something. My technical and theoretical understanding of digital photography is quite a bit better than my actual "skill" at it, I just need something to help build up my confidence to get started.

I have several photog friends who have a fair amount of experience with this stuff, and I've had lots of conversations about it, it's just hard to find time to have those conversations when actually sitting in front of a computer and working on PS (see 3 y/o and newborn comments above

). It's something I want to get at least proficient at, I don't have any misconceptions of mastery in minutes, I just have to be realistic about how I approach it. I was hoping to get some helpful pointers from the peanut gallery on how to do so. Your comments are certainly appreciated, and I do want to take a course or two on this, but that's just not practical at this moment.

Art Scott · May 27, 2010

Look for adult continuing education courses....a lot of times these are free thru a local University of Park Board.......
just did a google for Photoshop beginner tutorials and got this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Photoshop+beginner+tutorials&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

have you looked at linda.com (or is that lynda.com.....hmmmm can't remember at the moment...............

BradfordBenn · May 27, 2010

I have done the online courses and those have worked better for me than just a "self paced" style as I have a schedule to keep with those. I took one through Ed2Go through IUSB and it was about $100 for the class and was better than the books I had. After taking the class, the books and podcasts are a lot more useful for me. I have context and understanding rather than starting at scratch. I have a project and task to complete where as with the books that is not always the case. part of that also depends on how you learn.

I also do recommend to people the Adobe Creative Suite Video Podcast, as the archives are very good for older software, I still have CS3, and goes through applications fairly well. Plus looking around here at Technique and Finishing School has helped a lot.

I have also had good success with "The Missing Manual" series of books for other software.

On a slight tangent, something that might make the learning easier is to determine what you are going to do in LightRoom and what in Photoshop. I know that they have different feature sets and uses, but for instance, I do all my cropping and red eye removal in LightRoom. Could I do it in Photoshop, yes but I have chosen which one to use and have learned how to do that task in one program (yes they are very similar but there are differences).

Hope that helps.

catspaw · May 27, 2010

Book wise, the best place to 'start' is with the Visual Quickstart Guides ! It'll take you through each aspect of the programs and explain the choices and what you can do there. It's a GREAT way to get yourself familiar with them all.

http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Photoshop-Lightroom-Visual-QuickStart/dp/0321554205/

and

http://www.amazon.com/Photoshop-CS4-Visual-QuickStart-Guide/dp/0321563654/
(which is vol 1 and for CS4 - CS5 is too new for there to be one yet but I'd expect it soon).

Check your library too -- these books tend to be popular and available

cab.in.boston · May 27, 2010

BradfordBenn wrote: »

I have also had good success with "The Missing Manual" series of books for other software.

On a slight tangent, something that might make the learning easier is to determine what you are going to do in LightRoom and what in Photoshop.

I saw a Missing Manual book the other day, I'll take another look at that. And yes, I definitely need to figure out what to use which tool for, and develop some kind of workflow. That's exactly what this experiment is all about. Thanks!

catspaw wrote: »

Book wise, the best place to 'start' is with the Visual Quickstart Guides !
...

Check your library too -- these books tend to be popular and available

Thanks for the ideas. I'll look at them. I have checked my library and they have very few PS books, and I don't think they had any for LR.

Art Scott wrote: »

just did a google for Photoshop beginner tutorials and got this:
http://www.google.com/search?q=Photoshop+beginner+tutorials&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a

have you looked at linda.com (or is that lynda.com.....hmmmm can't remember at the moment...............

That google search looks a lot like what I have found in the last couple of days. When I looked at the tutorials, some of them were already above my head, some of them not so much. I was just hoping that some grinners might have experience with some that they thought were good. Of course, most PSing grinners are well beyond the newbie level, so maybe I'm not asking the right questions.

Thanks! I'll look into this linda/lynda website...

colourbox · May 27, 2010

cab.in.boston wrote: »

And yes, I definitely need to figure out what to use which tool for, and develop some kind of workflow.

Short answer - organize and then do as much editing as you can in Lightroom. Your life will be easier this way. Then, when you want to do something that Lightroom can't do, then take the image to Photoshop to finish it off.

Dan7312 · May 27, 2010

It's lynda.com and its $25 a month for all you can eat. You find PS from beginning to end there. It's a great source.

Dan

cab.in.boston wrote: »

Thanks! I'll look into this linda/lynda website...

pathfinder · May 27, 2010

Learning to use Photoshop well, is kind of like learning to play the violin. You must know the basics, and practice the scales, before playing a concert.

To use Photoshop well, one must grok the 10 channels - RGB, CMYK, LAB, and have some idea of what they offer. One must really be able to use curves, selections, and masks. If you can do those things, you can sit down and jam.

I really like Kelby's books for beginners because he just tells you what to do step by step. It is tempting to want to understand what the commands in Photoshop do, but one really needs to be able to 'see' what they do, before the commands are issued, so learning to use them by rote, first, is easier for most of us.

Gets Kelby's "The Adobe Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers" or the version for your PS CS5, and go through at your computer, chapter by chapter, until you can teach it to someone else.

Learn the keyboard shortcuts. Learn the key board shortcuts. Anyone I have ever watched who is good at PS, uses the Keyboard shortcuts. Learn them and use them.

PS/LR newbie question

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