Photoshops capabilities, too numerous to ever learn?

I want to be able to add a white border to my pics b4 sending them for printing. and some I would like to add the name or year in the lower corner. How is it done? My mother tells me I can do it in PS but I cant seem to figure it out. I have an older version (6.0) and it was a hand me down with no books. I think I want to upgrade to Elements 5.0 (is that considered an upgrade?) if anything to have the manuals, that or i need someone over my shoulder helping me out. An recently another member designed trading cards, but I dont understand HOW!? I am so confused. Its enough to want to get out of photography!!

In PS apply a layer style to the layer your image is on , click on the little F icon , second from the left at the bottom of the layers palette , and select Stroke , in the stroke settings select your color and check inside so the stroke is on the inside off your image , you can adjust thinkness and opacity and blending .

As to your name select the text tool and type your name ,,, if you want to right your name select the brush tool and a small brush and right it on its own layer so you can scale it and change colors etc .

Rod

Just try to think in layers. Like sheets of transparency with a little bit on each one. Some layers are pixel data, some layers are modifiers. Once you learn where everything is it makes a little more sense. Figure out where the filters are. Then figure out where the layer styles are. Then blending modes, then what each tool does, then play with the text tool and paragraph palette. The point here is to familiarize yourself with each part of the program first. Then you will be able to put the pieces together and come up with what you want. Photoshop put at least 3 ways to do everything. It's about being creative.

Start with the basics and go from there as you are comfortable. It takes time for it to sink in if you are completely unfamiliar. There are tons of tutorials out there to learn from. I suggest taking the time to educate yourself. You can also go to the library for books on it.

Yes it is possible to learn everything Photoshop is capable of. Don't, however, think that you can just read a book and have it just like that.

On another note...Photoshop is not photography...but it can make you look good.

Photoshop 6.0 is pretty old - and with the release of Photoshop CS3, Adobe have set limits on how many versions back you can upgrade from (I think it's three versions back).

If you can still find a Photoshop CS2 upgrade, I believe you can upgrade your Photoshop 6.0 to CS2, and you may then be able to claim a free upgrade to CS3 from Adobe during this transitional period to the new version via Adobe's post-announce upgrade policy (see here). If that's possible, it may be well worth doing; there's quite a bit missing from Photoshop 6.0.

Your window of opportunity to do this will soon be gone if it hasn't gone already; I can't remember exactly how long the post-announce period in which you can usually claim a free upgrade to Photoshop CS3 from Adobe if you buy Photoshop CS2 lasts (it may be almost over - check with Adobe Customer Services), and I suspect the supply of Photoshop CS2 upgrades is drying up fast.

Don't buy a Photoshop CS3 upgrade; Photoshop 6.0 is too old to qualify that upgrade (I'm pretty sure a Photoshop CS3 upgrade needs you to start with Photoshop 7.0, CS or CS2). If you can find a Photoshop CS2 upgrade and can qualify for a free CS3 upgrade from Adobe, you may be able to finish up with the full version of Photoshop CS3 (retail value over $600) for somewhere around 1.5 times the cost of Elements. Even if you don't use much of the power straight away, there's no doubt that Photoshop CS3 is a stunning application; in many ways it's significantly improved from CS2.

There's just one warning - if your copy of Photoshop 6.0 was used by its original owner to qualify for an upgrade to another Adobe application, it shouldn't have been transferred. For example, now I've upgraded Creative Suite 2 Premium to Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, I can't give away the older suite - the Creative Suite 3 licence agreement says that if I do so, I no longer have a valid licence for Creative Suite 3 (see the Licence Agreement, paragraph 5). In fact, I wouldn't want to do so - as if I did, I'd have to give up some of the fonts that are in Creative Suite 2 but not Creative Suite 3.


If you had a recent version of Photoshop, you could use Mike's Framer. It's written by POTN user Mickle. Whilst there is an Elements version, it lacks all the power of the version for the full version of Photoshop, as Elements doesn't have scripting.


There's no printed manuals supplied with Photoshop; you get a pretty comprehensive help system in the application, together with the same information in a PDF manual. However, that's not "how to" information; for that you'd need a book on Photoshop for photographers.


Elements is a cut down version of Photoshop with quite a bit of functionality missing - though you may never miss it. Certainly it would give you some more modern capabilities like Adobe Camera Raw, but not the full functionality of them. I'm pretty sure you still don't get a printed manual, and certainly not detailed "how to" information. For that, you're best advised to get a book written by the likes of Scott Kelby or Martin Evening.

It would be a frustrating experience trying to adapt a book for the 'full' version of Photoshop to Elements; if you go for Elements, get an Elements book. The only way you'll find a Photoshop 6.0 book now is second hand; Photoshop 7.0, CS and CS2 have all been and gone on the way to the current Photoshop CS3.

David

I agree with David on CS3 instead of Elements.

chloeosmom wrote in post #3271795
(is that considered an upgrade?)

Depends really. PS6 will allow you to do anything PSE 5 does, except opening a CR2.
PSE misses a few things I would not want to miss.

Then again: PSE does offer a few 'quick and easy' adjustments that would take more time in PS6 (or CS3).

Al depends on what you do with it. I'd take PS6 over Elements any day. YMMV.

www.lynda.com Check that out, they have a ton of video tutorials you can watch and a million different programs including PS

Tankyou all for your help, I did purchase Elments, but havnt opened it yet. Not sure if I will return it as I do have the trouble right now of not being able to edit my RAW data, that is very frustrating. I will do some surfing today and see if I can find (if I understand right) an upgrade to CS2 from 6.0. and then find out if the update from CS2 is still avaliable to CS3. Correct me if Im wrong, but thats where Im gonna start today.

If I can get a CS2 upgrade (which I have found at buydig.com for $160, double $ Elements,and at Office depot for $150) will it be ok to stop there if the upgrade to CS3 is no longer avaliable til I can afford it?

CS2 will still be a worthwhile update from what you have. It's all any of us had (other than a somewhat dodgy Photoshop CS3 beta, which I believe has now expired) until a month ago when Photoshop CS3 shipped.

In other words, assuming you have the complete serial number for Photoshop 6.0 (which you may need to enter when you install Photoshop CS2 - be aware that, at least in recent versions of Photoshop, the number on the splash screen omits the last four digits), I'd go ahead and purchase the Photoshop CS2 upgrade.


Once you have Photoshop CS2 installed, contact Adobe and ask about a "post announce" upgrade free of charge to Photoshop CS3. If you want to know whether or not that is going to be possible, contact Adobe before purchasing the CS2 upgrade. I'm 99.9% sure your Photoshop 6.0 will qualify the upgrade - if you want confirmation, ask Adobe (but make it clear you're talking about a Photoshop CS2 upgrade, not a Photoshop CS3 upgrade kit for which Photoshop 6.0 is not a qualifying product).

Even if you can't get a free "post announce" upgrade to Photoshop CS3, you'll have Photoshop CS2 to use (and the possibility of picking up some Photoshop CS2 books on close-out, or second hand, as shops and users ditch them for Photoshop CS3 books), and you'll have the option of upgrading to Photoshop CS3 (or later) in the future. If you don't upgrade to Photoshop CS2 whilst you still can, you won't be able to upgrade your Photoshop 6.0 in the future because of Adobe's new upgrade policy. As you've probably realised, buying Photoshop outright is about four times more expensive than upgrading an older version.

David

When you decide which software you want to keep check out this site for framing:

http://homepage.ntlwor​ld.com/pooternerds/Fra​mer/index.html

Well, I ordered the CS2 upgrade..$157.49 later. Thank you to all of you for your help. you have no idea how much it helped. It takes a load off my mind. so maybe by next weekend I will be editing.

You can go to YOUTUBE and sign in, and do a search on their sight for photoshop. There are a bunch of tutorials there to watch SOme of them are really helpful

well seeing as you now have cs2, this is how i make frames/borders.
image -
-canvas size
then pick your colour and measurement used, mm, cm's or inches and type in how thick you want the frame. you can do a small one in black then a larger one in white if you so desire.
One thing to remember is you should know what size you wish to print the final photo at and crop accordingly before you add the border. I prefer 7x5 inches so i crop at 6.5 and 4.5 inches, then in canvas size, change the measurements to 7x5 with appropriate colour of border.
Sorry if this is hard to understand as i am crap at explaining things easily lol
btw i understand you can do all of the above with pixels but i find this easier but each to their own

chloeosmom wrote in post #3282783
Well, I ordered the CS2 upgrade..$157.49 later. Thank you to all of you for your help. you have no idea how much it helped. It takes a load off my mind. so maybe by next weekend I will be editing.

Definately check out Mike's Framer below now. It works great for CS2.

In2Photos wrote in post #3280453
When you decide which software you want to keep check out this site for framing:

http://homepage.ntlwor​ld.com/pooternerds/Fra​mer/index.html