Frustrated tying to use a Layer Mask

I use CS3 and lightroom. Lightroom gets more use than Ps these days.

Also I've made all the mistakes starting out too...... 5 years on and I still make them

EOS_JD wrote in post #3643175
I use CS3 and lightroom. Lightroom gets more use than Ps these days.

Also I've made all the mistakes starting out too...... 5 years on and I still make them

Hey, there's a market for "for dummies videos"!

I've mainly not used layers or selections to-date because (besides not knowing how) separating something from it's background is just so difficult. Short of 1 hour of tedious pixel selection, it looks terrible.

That's why the new Selection and blending tools on CS3 really leaves me excited! It finally fits my impatience! This Auto Fit feature is really what prompted me to move to CS3 - and finally take time to learn layering.

So far; I've watched about 2 hours of these Adobe flash tutorials and demos on CS3. Most of it's gone over my head so I'm starting out again, but seeing what's possible is IMPRESSIVE!

Anyone know a good Photoshop CS3 book (or tutorial set) that will get me up to "Level 2" in 150 pages or less? The more big pictures and fail-proof instructions the better. Sometimes I feel like the Adobe Help screens are written by someone who already knows, for someone who already knows (at least the fundamentals). They could REALLY use more hot-links to underlying concepts and elaborations. Sigh ... I'm sure I'll appreciate the brevity after I learn the basics from a 3rd party book.

RE: My Kubotu Actions problem - I was too hasty installing it and apparently, they require proper installation of the entire package, including Tools presets, whatever that is (and I don't think I want to know).

Total Training and Linda.com do great video tutorials.

Scott Kelby writes great books. I have Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers. I'm sure there's a CS3 one out now.

EOS_JD wrote in post #3648926
Total Training and Linda.com do great video tutorials.

.

I think it's lynda.com

you're right Roy

Not true.
See post # 14
A question about sky

Elements Mask plug-ins
http://graphicssoft.ab​out.com …elements/p/laye​rmasks.htm