drg Loc: Portland, OR

I realize that in order to move my photography to the next level I must learn to use photoshop. I currently use LR 5 for my PP. There are many sources to learn PS both free and not free. What sources can my fellow hogs recommend in learning PS for photography? Obviously, I would prefer a free source but I am not opposed to spending a reasonable amount of $ to improve my PP skills. Thanks.

Greg

dirtpusher Loc: tulsa oklahoma

EstherP

How 'bout this one?
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/photoshop_cs5_help.pdf

or this one?
http://helpx.adobe.com/pdf/photoshop_reference.pdf
EstherP

Bobbee

I ran into Julie in a video just the other day. Good presentation. How I ran into her is how I have learned Photoshop on a noral basis. I did take a couple of CD classes and read one or two books. Photoshop Cafe coes to ind that I picked up at the PDN Photo EXPO. That was great. But, open up photoshop. Go to the left and right click on one of the tools. Get it's nae and the go to Google and type 'Photoshop CS6 <tool>'. You will be surprised how any videos are out there and how uch you will learn. All is free.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Yes! Excellent and free. There are hundreds of YouTube videos available, but many are junk.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Excellent! That's over 1,400 pages of instruction for free. They should be included with the program.

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

I would have to ask you what your definition of "the next level" is. Granted, Photoshop is so much more powerful than Lightroom that comparisons are hilarious, but if all you're doing is cropping, dodging, burning, etc.--the standard things that photographers do to their photographs--Lightroom is all you need. If you're needing to combine pictures, remove part of a picture and insert it somewhere else, etc., then yes, head on over to Photoshop.

I have spent the last 1½ years moving all my work from various programs to Photoshop. Those other various programs are Corel Draw, Corel PaintShop Pro, Corel Photo-Paint, Word 2010/2013 (has some great picture frames!), Image Resizer, Lightroom.

My work involves blogging for which I often need to alter pictures to create graphics to convey an idea, so Lightroom couldn't satisfy my every need. Photoshop does.

As an example, the picture below of two sets of stairs was just dying to have an instruction sign inserted between them. I did it easily in Corel Draw but my goal since I upgraded Photoshop 5 (yes, the real 5 from the 1990s!) to Photoshop CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6, and CC, is to do everything in Photoshop that I have always done in all my other programs. Once I don't have to upgrade Corel Draw and PaintShop Pro anymore, the savings will go to having more margaritas, er, I mean buying more camera gear.

Bobbee

Esther,
These were really good links. Adding it to my IC.
For everyone else. This is what was in Photoshop Cafe and this release is about 3 years old. It was very good. (again). Has extras on the CD also.

CS5_DigiPhotographers_01welcome.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_02importfromcamera.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_03bridge.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_04bridgestacks.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_05bridgereview.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_06keywords.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_07batchRename.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_08metadata.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_09contact_sheets.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_10web_gallery.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_11psLRintegration.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_12camera_raw.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_13noisereduction.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_14batchCameraRaw.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_15acrGradient.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_16local.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_17acrtargeted.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_18acrFilmgrain.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_19minibridge.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_20gpu.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_21levels.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_22shadowHL.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_23eyedropper.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_24curves.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_25colorcast.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_26lab.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_27cropping.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_28straighten.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_29LensCorrection.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_30autolensCorrection.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_31UnsharpMask.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_32SmartSharpen.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_33highpass.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_34dodgeburn.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_35paintlight.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_36splitND.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_37masksBasics.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_38masksadvanced.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_39redeye.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_40cloneStamp.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_41contentawareFill.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_42spothealing.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_43healPatch.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_44contentawarescale.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_45bodySculpting.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_46puppet.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_47smartObjects.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_48panorama.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_49vanishingpoint.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_50refineedge.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_51colorrange.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_52HDR.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_53HDRDeGhosting.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_54collaging.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_55hdrToning.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_56illustrative.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_57blackandwhitelooks.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_58bw.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_59dof.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_60softGlow.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_61mergeDOF.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_62mixerbrush.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_63iPadInstruction.mp4
CS5_DigiPhotographers_64outro1.mp4

Chuck_893 Loc: Lincoln, Nebraska, USA

Searcher has been trying to promote a free resource right here on The 'Hog, so I've been trying to help by requoting this:

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

Greg, have you considered Photoshop Elements rather than the expensive, full-blown Photoshop? Good way to begin using Photoshop and when you're ready you can always move up. There are many sites and video tutorials available on line, like 'youtube.com', etc. One site in particular I've enjoyed and benefited from is http://www.essential-photoshop-elements.com/. Keep us posted how you're doing.

jimni2001 Loc: Sierra Vista, Arizona, USA

http://www.lynda.com/
This is a great place to learn Photoshop. Check it out. They usually give 2 or 3 free lessons from each course so you can see what you are getting. It is not free but at $25 - &35 dollars a month it is well worth the price.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I was sorry to hear that they no longer sell their videos on DVD. It's just over the web.

charryl Loc: New Mexico, USA

I spent a lot of money on books and watching videos only to have the experience of extreme frustration. Best thing I did was sign up for a class at the local community college.

1066 Loc: England

Here's a link to a guy here in the UK who has won an award from Adobe called Gavin hoey and he shows loads of tutorials on Photoshop and Lightroom, try this for a start:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye2CjUYV-Zs

speters Loc: Grangeville/Idaho

The Photoshop Bible is a very good book for that, it covers nearly every aspect of photoshop - and the book is not very expensive.