what is the best way to learn photoshop?

[The_Traveler]

I think you will get much more out of videos if you already have some knowledge of how to use certain tools.
The strength of PS over LR is using selections and layers to edit various parts of the image.

I learned a great deal from one specific book that gave me a good basic knowledge and running start at everything else. Photoshop Masking Compositing Katrin Eismann.
(I liked the first edition (~2005) much better - if you can find it used on Alibris or Abebooks)

 

[Buckster]

I suggest Lynda.com also. Watch the Online Video Course Photoshop CC Essential Training

You may need to try a few different avenues in order to find what's best for you. Some amount of repetition works best for me; which is why have to rewatch videos so often.

I have Lynda and like it. but I do not like the people who teach you how to do things. some are crazy to long before they have you touch the software, while others start talking like you are a basic student.

if you know a person on there that is awesome, let me know. and I'll give it a try. but all the ones I have tried thus far on there, are not for me.

My favorite PS guru on Lynda for years has been Deke McClelland. His Photoshop One-On-One classes on Lynda changed my Photoshop knowledge and editing life many years ago.

One of my least favorite is Chris Orwig. To me, his teaching style, speech patterns and so on remind me of someone who's teaching kindergarteners how to finger paint. But that's just me. I know a lot of people really like him.

 

[JacaRanda]

I suggest Lynda.com also. Watch the Online Video Course Photoshop CC Essential Training

You may need to try a few different avenues in order to find what's best for you. Some amount of repetition works best for me; which is why have to rewatch videos so often.

I have Lynda and like it. but I do not like the people who teach you how to do things. some are crazy to long before they have you touch the software, while others start talking like you are a basic student.

if you know a person on there that is awesome, let me know. and I'll give it a try. but all the ones I have tried thus far on there, are not for me.

My favorite PS guru on Lynda for years has been Deke McClelland. His Photoshop One-On-One classes on Lynda changed my Photoshop knowledge and editing life many years ago.

One of my least favorite is Chris Orwig. To me, his teaching style, speech patterns and so on remind me of someone who's teaching kindergarteners how to finger paint. But that's just me. I know a lot of people really like him.

LOL, you are right about that part of Chris. "this is a photo of my daughters little friend, she is so cute......"

I like Deke also.
Training tutorials online classes by expert Deke McClelland

 

[KmH]

I hope they learned some in the 3 1/2 years since the thread was started.

 

[Jenny Mehlenbeck]

I'll chime into this one.... I got to teach photoshop classes at my local community college for several years. Mostly older folks and most of them only wanted to correct old photos.... (photoshop can do so much, but this was the most common request.)

Now you CAN learn this program on your own but it's much more difficult than when you have a teacher in the room who can hear someone's loud SIGH and go see where your stuck. But learning from books and tutorials does have problems.
It's how I learned, and before youtube too. But I had free access to ALL the books the college instructors had.

Now, just as an example of what hell you can go through.... had a book with a bunch of neat projects with step by step instructions.
Follow any of those exactly and you WILL learn stuff. Until the writer makes a mistake.

Case in point.... some long winded graphic thing.... I get to step 13.... "Now drop image." HUH? NO GLOSSARY in ANY BOOK had "drop image" in it. WTH???? It was about 6 weeks and countless books before I finally figured it out.
Very old versions of photoshop had what they called a "floating layer." That was done away with... oh, guessing here, version 5? Ish? Maybe sooner. "Drop image" went away with it.
All it means is deselect. So six weeks of struggle over some writer using the wrong term. A teacher could point to a key and say do this. click.


Anyway... in my classes, and again most of these folks barely knew how to turn the computer on, I'd start off going through basic where are menu's, what are layers, just how to get around. And in the class what I did on my computer was put up on a big screen so everyone could follow right alone. You learn best by doing it yourself right?
After all that, my very first real lesson was simply to take any stock black and white photo, and show people how to colorize it.
I'd start by showing them the hard way. Paint over it in a new layer, adjust each brush in size, fuzziness, opacity, make new layers for this that and the other.... this is just to get folks use to how to use and adjust tools.
THEN... ha. I'd show them the easy way. Paint opaque... then adjust the whole layer's opacity. Every single time I'd do that at least one person in class would say OOOOOHHHHH. (love it.)

After brush, erase, opasity and new layers are understood... THEN I'd start in with cropping tools.... We did silly college images.
(hahaha... one lady took a photo of her X husband and sat him on top of a saguaro cactus..)
Masking is a cool way to select stuff, and later the clone tool.
That one takes some practice to really master. Here are a few photos I'd use with the class.
Artmakers Worlds Photography Retouching service
At some point I'd give everyone a challenge photo but NOT give any instructions how to do it.
I had a black and white photo of a statue, hands holding an orb. Took a color photo of the earth, and said take out the orb and replace it with the earth. Let them all figure it out.
They all knew enough, but sometimes thinking through a problem is better than reading it in a book. Always fun that one.

Here... mind you this is VERY old now, but I started to put together tutorials on my site. Sadly the college put a stop to short courses like mine many years ago. I miss it. And stopped adding lessons. But if anything here helps you, have at it. As long as I already have it up, someone might get some use out of this.

Artmakers Worlds Photoshop tutorials

 

[chasgroh]

...well, if you have some time (this goes for everybody, even if you're good at PS) check out "You Suck at Photoshop." Some olde software, but, boy, great entertainment; and, as a bonus, the guy is reallyreally on it and you'll pick up some trix. Here's a link to my favorite episode:

 

[Jenny Mehlenbeck]

OH AGREED!!!!! Highly agreed. Just the entertainment value alone this is worth watching. And he DOES go into some cool techniques, not really a class but wow it's great. (Forgot about this series.... thanks for posting it.)

 

[rosess]

When I first decided to tame this giant, I bought a book. I remember Photoshop was then at a version CC! I discovered some basics, at least I spent about 8 hours long! That was interesting to start my Photoshop journey! A journey or help where something begins!

 

[Original katomi]

I had to translate old wet darkroom film and paper methods into digital photoshop. I found that some of the camera magazine show and tell videos were a lot of help but as others have said use PS/PSE play with it try out ideas rem to copy the pic before you play lol there is still a huge amount of stuff in My PSE9 that I don’t use:because as yet I have not needed to. I had to learn layers because I do panoramic images. Same for a lot of other tools I learnt as I needed to, looking up one topic at a time so I was not swamped by the info out there.