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Upgrading from PSE to CS3

TanukiTanuki Registered Users Posts: 184 Major grins
edited May 20, 2008 in Finishing School
Well, I finally bit the bullet and purchased CS3. I felt that I was squeezing just about everthing possible from Elements, including workarounds for layer masks and channels, so it was time to upgrade to get access to curves, color spaces (other than RGB), actions, soft proofing etc. Now I'm looking for a good resource for learning these new features. I browsed some popular Photoshop books at the bookstore, but couldn't find what I was looking for. Most of the material in these books was a rehash of what I already know from my experience with Elements. I wouldn't mind if it were simply a matter of skipping the first few chapters, but it wasn't that simple. The new information is interspersed and integrated into the lessons, and I found it difficult to keep my attention focused on the material when so much of the information was a rehash.

I am wondering if one of the online resources might be better for my situation, since I can browse more interactively for the information I am looking for. Or I could just continue on my current path of trial and error using the built-in Photoshop help functions.

Has anyone else upgraded from Elements to the full version of Photoshop after feeling like they had already become proficient with Elements? I would be interested to know how you handled the learning curve. Can you recommend a book or website?

Regards,
Mike

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    GwagDesignsGwagDesigns Registered Users Posts: 158 Major grins
    edited May 18, 2008
    I would definitely look into getting the book by Scott Kelby, "The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers. you can find it on amazon for about 30 bucks.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321501918/ref=s9subs_c2_at1-2871_g1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=12KAPE1ZGV8FHVVDBK0Z&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240301&pf_rd_i=507846
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    JayMitchJayMitch Registered Users Posts: 21 Big grins
    edited May 19, 2008
    I also upgraded from Elements to CS3 fairly recently, and I can tell you what I did. It seemed to work pretty well.

    1) I got and worked through Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS2.

    2) I got and read RealWorld Photoshop CS3.

    Now, I have some reservations about Kelby's book because he rarely explains WHY you do what he says you should do. But, working though his very specific examples gave me an overview of CS3 that made Real World Photoshop make a lot more sense than it otherwise would have.

    Real World Photoshop is pretty encyclopedic and detailed. I just started plowing through it, but skipped over or skimmed some material I thought I already know pretty well or that didn't apply to what I do.

    BTW, you have to read pretty far into Real World Photoshop before it evens starts to talk about Photoshop. It starts out talking about color theory, which for me turned out to be very useful. If you already know all that you can skip over it.

    Good luck,

    Jay
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    TanukiTanuki Registered Users Posts: 184 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2008
    GwagDesigns wrote:
    I would definitely look into getting the book by Scott Kelby, "The Adobe Photoshop CS3 Book for Digital Photographers. you can find it on amazon for about 30 bucks.

    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321501918/ref=s9subs_c2_at1-2871_g1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_r=12KAPE1ZGV8FHVVDBK0Z&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=278240301&pf_rd_i=507846

    Thanks. I'll take a look at that one.
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    TanukiTanuki Registered Users Posts: 184 Major grins
    edited May 20, 2008
    JayMitch wrote:
    I also upgraded from Elements to CS3 fairly recently, and I can tell you what I did. It seemed to work pretty well.

    1) I got and worked through Scott Kelby's 7-Point System for Adobe Photoshop CS2.

    2) I got and read RealWorld Photoshop CS3.

    Now, I have some reservations about Kelby's book because he rarely explains WHY you do what he says you should do. But, working though his very specific examples gave me an overview of CS3 that made Real World Photoshop make a lot more sense than it otherwise would have.

    Real World Photoshop is pretty encyclopedic and detailed. I just started plowing through it, but skipped over or skimmed some material I thought I already know pretty well or that didn't apply to what I do.

    BTW, you have to read pretty far into Real World Photoshop before it evens starts to talk about Photoshop. It starts out talking about color theory, which for me turned out to be very useful. If you already know all that you can skip over it.

    Good luck,

    Jay

    Thanks for your suggestions. You've got me interested in the Real World Photoshop CS3 book. I was pretty happy with Real World Color Management, and I'm hoping that the Real World Photoshop series is just as good.

    Mike
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