Photoshop CS5

I usually use lightroom 3 for my editing needs, I recently got CS5 at a really good price, but the program seems pretty complicated, so I'm wondering if there are any good youtube channels or anything similar to learn CS5. I see many videos on youtube on CS5 that aren't really photography related so it'll be really helpful if anyone can give some links.

If you find cs5 too complicated. PM me if you want to sell it.

yjt wrote in post #12195942
I usually use lightroom 3 for my editing needs, I recently got CS5 at a really good price, but the program seems pretty complicated, so I'm wondering if there are any good youtube channels or anything similar to learn CS5. I see many videos on youtube on CS5 that aren't really photography related so it'll be really helpful if anyone can give some links.

I'd suggest joining up at Lynda.com -- they have excellent tutorials there that will get you started. It's a fee service, although they do have a free trial that you can use to try out their "getting started" series. The cost is like buying a good book once a month.

But don't get distracted from your Lightroom workflow because the two are supposed to work together, but it's easy to get so caught up in learning Photoshop that you neglect your overall workflow needs, which is what Lightroom is designed for.

tonylong wrote in post #12196218
I'd suggest joining up at Lynda.com -- they have excellent tutorials there that will get you started. It's a fee service, although they do have a free trial that you can use to try out their "getting started" series. The cost is like buying a good book once a month.

But don't get distracted from your Lightroom workflow because the two are supposed to work together, but it's easy to get so caught up in learning Photoshop that you neglect your overall workflow needs, which is what Lightroom is designed for.

I've seen some nice actions that does Skin tones, and I can't really replicate those in lightroom that's why I really want to learn, because I take mostly portraits

Keep using CS5 ... play with it. Try the menu items. Dicker here. Play there. Read a lot.

When I first got CS4, I figured it had finally happened ... I was too old to learn a new program with so many features. Used it, used it more, upgraded to CS5, liked it more, used it more ... still learning. Now I'm re-editing my earlier attempts and getting better results.

One of the better magazines I read to learn is Photoshop Creative from the UK. Some of their tutorials and articles are online at http://www.photoshopcr​eative.co.uk/

You could try www.plearn.com also. It's an awesome PS site.

I pony'd up $25 bucks for Lynda.com, did the LR3 Essentials Course. Best money I ever spent. It was 29 Chapters and that was just the Essentials. I'm doing the CS5 Essentials now. Then I'll go back and do the next level courses for both. The way I figure, if you're going to spend hundreds of $ for sw, it pays to spend $25 to learn them. The LR3 course is indispensable.

yjt wrote in post #12195942
I usually use lightroom 3 for my editing needs, I recently got CS5 at a really good price, but the program seems pretty complicated, so I'm wondering if there are any good youtube channels or anything similar to learn CS5. I see many videos on youtube on CS5 that aren't really photography related so it'll be really helpful if anyone can give some links.

I've been using Photoshop for years (since before it even had layers!) and I still only know how to use maybe 60% of its features. Do not expect to become an expert any time soon. Library books would be a good cheap way to start, as would video tutorials. Lynda.com has some great stuff, but before paying you may want to see what you can get for free first.

Another vote for lynda.com. I've used it off and on for years for a number of programs, not just Photoshop. It's a monthly subscription that I cancel and reactivate as needed whenever there's something I want to learn or brush up on. They're very well done. Another option is free podcasts through iTunes. I've seen a couple of the same instructors there as on lynda.com, but I have yet to give them a try myself.

There are lots of resources available online, some great and some really bad. One of the issues I have with YouTube videos is that I have found many of them are wannabe tutorial writers and they haven't yet found the right way to do things in Photoshop. This is simply a word of caution but there are also some good ones on their.

I have that the videos at Lynda.com are better than most out there. If you registered a legal copy of Photoshop you get the option of a gift and one of these is normally a complimentary 30 day Lynda membership. The other option would be to join NAPP, it has a large library of tutorials and its membership brings along a number of other benefits.

One thing that I learned early on in Photoshop was that it was so huge that you will probably never master the whole thing. Focus on what you want to learn and don't let yourself get overwhelmed by the sheer size and capabilities of what this program can do. I never took a course but have attended some one day seminars but more in the digital drawing arena than editing photos. You may find that a tutorial is not exactly what you are looking for but there is always something that you can pick up from these, whether it be a way of managing layers to using the brush tool. I spent innumerable hours watching video tutorials and that was what got me to where I am today. I am efficient, not great but I get the job done and do it non-destructively. If you take the time to learn at a decent pace you will be efficient in photo editing in a reasonable time frame.