Best photoshop CS book or DVD ...

[SabrinaDionne]

Well I did it, I have stepped into the world of photoshop and I am so proud. Now I have a ton of questions and my first is ...
1) Whats the best learning book and or DVD out there in Your Very Honest Opinion.

Thanks,
SabrinaDionne

[weemannie]

I can thoroughly recommend the Total Training DVD series. I have them for CS2 Premier Pro and After Effects, and they are first class.

[scottbergerphoto]

Adobe Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
Real World Adobe Camera Raw by Bruce Frasier

[SabrinaDionne]

Thanks you so much.
I have the book you speak of Scott by Scott Kelby and yes it is a great book. However I want more ...lol. I will check out your other suggestion as well.

WEEMannie : could you tell me the company that handles these DVD's?

Smile :-)

[vjack]

Adobe Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
Real World Adobe Camera Raw by Bruce Frasier

I have both of these too and would second the recommendation. Adobe Photoshop CS2: Classroom in a Book is decent but not enough in photography for me.

[NeoDude]

I second the Total Training recommendation. Website can be found here (http://www.totaltraining.com/)

[Scottes]

Real World Adobe Photoshop CS2 by David Blatner & Bruce Fraser should also be excellent - their CS1 version was most excellent. This one and Kelby's book are my two favorites - this one for info and real meat, Kelby's for getting things done quickly.

Martin Evening's CS2 for Digital Photographers (or something like that) looks very promising. His older books were excellent but I don't have this one.

[SabrinaDionne]

Thanks everyone for the info. Keep it coming!
Amazons search engine is burning right now!
I found the Total Training DVD series and they look promising. This is good for the "show me" side of learning. And I love books for a quick review.

[Pelao]

Martin Evening's CS2 for Digital Photographers (or something like that) looks very promising. His older books were excellent but I don't have this one.

Mine arrived the other day. Excellent.

[RAitch]

I have the "Enhancing Digital Photography With Adobe Photoshop" videos from www.lynda.com and I think they are the best videos/training/books out there.
http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=116

Everything is geared to improving photos. It's a photographer training you how to use Photoshop to create/enhance images. Isn't that what we all want?

There's a complete list of videos on the page plus some sample downloads... I've watched them all about 3 times. Incredible... way better than the Total Training series which I originally thought was the best.

Careful, the CS2 videos are typical to all the other normal books/videos... just on using Photoshop... not on using Photoshop to specifically enhance images as a photographer.

[Mernya]

Martin Evening's CS2 for Digital Photographers -I've got it. It's decent.

[PuR HART]

I would have to say after watching hrs of the Total Training videos Deke is amazing at what he does I really have liked the lynda.com series that they have also

[tim]

Adobe Photoshop CS for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby
Real World Adobe Camera Raw by Bruce Frasier

Seconded.

[JakeC]

Google- If you don't mind sitting by the PC. Sure DVD's and books are great when you're offline but there is a wealth of knowledge available on the net. Sites like The Luminous Landscape (http://www.luminous-landscape.com/), Photoshop Cafe (http://www.photoshopcafe.com/), Outdoor Eyes (http://www.outdooreyes.com/editingindex.php3) etc etc

My bookmarks are my ultimate photography bible

[RAitch]

Books are one thing, but watching great videos (I have to plug the Lynda.com ones again) are WAY better. You don't have to study something and then try to duplicate it... these videos have a guy explaining things to you as if you're both in front of the computer together.

Now, I'm not talking about all of the Lynda.com videos... just the one specifically for photographers and photoshop. I've seen another set for advanced photoshop techniques that was a little silly... and basic for an "advanced" set.

Anyway, reading books is time consuming and they try to teach you methods in Photoshop... which is great and all, but the Lynda.com videos (http://movielibrary.lynda.com/html/modPage.asp?ID=116) show you techniques that can be used for improving photos. It's presented by a photographer... to photographers that want to fix their photos and be creative.

(just as an example...)
Instead of explaining each of the blend modes in detail (like books or other videos) he'll show you which layers help improve photos and how to use them.
Like create a curve adjustment layer and change the blend mode to soft light or overlay to boost contrast. Play with opacity.
Or... copy your image, boost the saturation and apply a gaussian blur. Then change the blend mode to colour.

It's a great "course" and it's fast to go through. That's where I learned most of my "advanced" techniques that I still use today.

[RAitch]

... and it looks like there's a free 24hour pass on their site. I'm not sure what that gets you... but hopefully free videos for a day.

http://lynda.com/freepass/cs2/

[Bob_A]

I have a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby and have found it to be a great reference. The edition for CS is also very good.

[jlw82]

Katrin Eismanns (spelling?) books are great! For more avdanced users. www.photoshopdiva.com (or .org). Great books! I will get Martin Evenings books this week, aswell scott kelbys book for photographers.

[SabrinaDionne]

Thank you all so much. I have started with the first suggestion ... Total Training. I have them on DVD and then I am off to Lynda.com and will let you know how the two compare if they so do. I am so excited. Wow, you know photoshop is such an awesome assest;to think I ever did without it!.
Keep smiling,
Sabrina

[RAitch]

Thank you all so much. I have started with the first suggestion ... Total Training. I have them on DVD and then I am off to Lynda.com and will let you know how the two compare if they so do. I am so excited. Wow, you know photoshop is such an awesome assest;to think I ever did without it!.
Keep smiling,
Sabrina

Make sure you get the right Lynda.com version. The CS2 one is different.
I liked the Total training videos... but found the lynda ones better... I totally recommend them (as you can tell).

I've seen some other Lynda.com videos that weren't as good... kind of annoying actually.

You'll be happy with both training courses though... I've learned from both of them. I think these videos are the best way to learn. Books are good, but seeing somebody do it right before your eyes is much more effective.