Photoshop question..........

smalls · Mar 13, 2008

ive had photoshop cs2 for a while and basically all i use it for is to resize and rotate photos. whats the best book for beginners that i could get that would really teach me how to use photoshop. there are millions out there but i want to hear from others whats the best.

just a site suggestion, a photoshop section would be cool to have on here as well. (i hope i didnt miss it, if i did im sorry in advance)

Big Mike · Mar 13, 2008

You might want to look at 'Photoshop (CS2) for Dummies'.

As you said, there are many, many books on Photoshop. I've browsed through several of them in book shops. It seems that many of them are rather general in nature and just have the basics...which might be good for you. I think that for a more experienced user, most books (that I've seen) are just too basic.

Maybe hit your local library and see what they have. There are some difference with every new version of Photoshop...but the basics are the same, so even an older book might still be helpful.

smalls · Mar 13, 2008

is what i have. awesome ill check it out, ive seen it at barnes and noble but i read a review on thier website and it sucked. like i said i would rather get info from here than on thier site. thanks for the info!!!!! ive also looked at tutorials on youtube. i never thought about that until i read another post on here. man i have been living in the dark ages, lol.

youtube is like ebay, if its not on there you dont need it

danmass · Mar 13, 2008

Or you can accumulatively gain knowledge by running internet searches as needed. If you see an effect in a photo you like, you can run a search to try and find tutorials which will teach you that same effect. The biggest problem you might have is trying to find a way to describe the effect you see so that the search results point you in the right direction.

For instance: just recently I wanted to find out how many photographers get that beautiful eye color to pop out in their photos. So, I ran a search for "eye color enhance photoshop" and got:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=eye+color+enhance+photoshop&btnG=Search

"Photoshop" is the key word in all of my searches so that the results point me towards that program. If you find a tutorial that is really easy for you to understand, than you can either print that tutorial out and create your own "book". Or you can easily bookmark the tutorials and organize them by tutorial type (this is currently my method).

I find this way to awesome because:

1. It's free.
2. It's not a lot at once to try and remember PLUS, at least for me, I learn a bit better when I'm actively interested in the knowledge I pursue.
3. It's clutter free (I don't own a bookshelf).

Hope that helps. :mrgreen:

Mystwalker · Mar 13, 2008

I have Photoshop Elements but read "how-to" books written for Photoshop CSx.

Kelby (can not remember first name) has a "how-to" book that walks you through the basic steps.

Very easy to understand for beginners (like me).