Advice on tutorials

[lana]

I am BRAND NEW at photoshop... its clearly not a "user friendly" program LOL - not something you can dive into and figure out on your own
Do you have any advice on tutorials and books that I can get to make it an easier learning experience?
I have Photoshop CS4 on a mac

One quick question.... I just got this program and I have gone on youtube and have completed some tutorials... etc - It seems that some of my tools arent working... Do I have to "setup" my tools before using them?
Example: it wouldnt let me "feather" the edges of a pic or use the brush on a tutorial.... Im sure its a rookie issue and I just havent turned something "on" etc....

Any help or advice would be GREATLY appreciated

Thanks in advance
Lana

 

[MikeMc]

Find a brushes tut on here or you tube

 

[ibclare]

I would say that you just don't understand the tools yet. Unless there was something wrong with the way you installed the software, it should be ready to go. Now, if you're using a pirated version, all bets are off.

As for tutorials or books, I haven't had a book since PS5, but there are good books and they're great for reference when google isn't useful. Adobe can be hard to follow, but still useful. I would wait and see what is recommended by users here.

I advocate lynda.com for users at any level. They have hours of very clear and easy to follow videos for each subject and level. Very useful. I signed up after using Photoshop (sporadically) for over ten years. They cost about $25 a month if you don't get their image files, $35 if you do. But even if you subscribe for one month, if you apply yourself in that time, you will be amazed at your advancement.

A student of PS must start with the basics. It may seem boring at first, but it won't be long till you're proficient enough to start using them for your own enjoyment. But if you don't know what each tool does and what the main menu items are all about (and don't worry about trying to learn those all at once -- big bite to chew), you may as well go use Paint in MS Office. Oh, not to dis your efforts at all, and not to say Paint doesn't have its virtues. But you will agree it ain't Photoshop, lol.

There are for instance, at least 4 selection tools and further tools for refining those selections. You'll want to know those for making renders, applying adjustments to selections, making layer copies or cuts of a selection, and so forth.

Good luck. You'll be fine. My 3 +1 P's of PS: practice, patience, perseverance, and play.

 

[smoke]

Iana :frown: what does 'not user friendly' means? it's not like being a chimp, buying iPone or whatever it's called and only knowledge needed is to know difference between stone and banana....
what you where saying is: -I want to build a rocket but math and science books are not so user friendly as 'Pokemon training for Dummies '.
toil, patience - this is what you need for beginning....

 

[ibclare]

I agree with you smoke, of course. But I don't think lana meant that she wants to open a program that says "click here." Have you ever opened brand new software, like I did when I first opened Illustrator, seen the blank canvas and wondered, what next? what first? It isn't user friendly if you haven't worked with that sophisticated a program before. Let's not discourage her. I know that wasn't your intent but to me it came off a bit harsh. No insult intended smoke; I had to learn diplomacy in writing too! Especially once I became a mod here. Tough kinda learning curve for mouth-off me. (no smart-alec comments iDad!)

So, if you have any book or specific tut suggestions, this is where to make them. I know Inkz has some books he could recommend. Lana, I also forgot about psdtuts.com. They have a wide variety I believe.

 

[besmirched]

I can recommend Photoshop CS4: The Missing Manual (Paperback) by Lesa Snider. I have the cs6 book and it's very good.

 

[Paul]

Most shoppers reckon that cs4 was the ground breaker in shop, so your off to a good start

 

[smoke]

I agree with you smoke, of course. But I don't think lana meant that she wants to open a program that says "click here." Have you ever opened brand new software, like I did when I first opened Illustrator, seen the blank canvas and wondered, what next? what first? It isn't user friendly if you haven't worked with that sophisticated a program before. Let's not discourage her. I know that wasn't your intent but to me it came off a bit harsh. No insult intended smoke;

non taken. just stating a fact. More friendly version would be the one which reads your minds - what you imagine as final result and does it itself [:
no offense Iana. my diplomacy is still developing... hard to fight sarcasm .....
Lesa Snider is pure gooood. She does not use any complicated words or terminology while explaining complicated things. Had some luck to view free live online classes..

 

[MikeMc]

Go to the library....Mine has the "Dummies" for PS...I bought it for CS5....I also have Scott Kelbys books.....I read the 3 or 4 times...and they sit 3 feet from me now.

 

[mehend]

Scott Kelby's books really helped me too.

 

[blogfreakz]

I suggest, watch more tuts in youtube, or if you have some budget for lynda.com online tuts go for it..