John K Loc: Old Saybrook, CT

Has anyone other then me find you need a PHD to learn Photoshop? I went so far as to buy the book called (Photoshop for Dummies) it helps a little but some of the terms caused pause to go and look up. Of course I'm using a Cannon Rebel SL1, which I'm happy with an learning more then I expected from a book on the camera.
Any surjections would be of help

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I avoid the "Dummies" books on principal. I'd be ashamed to check them out of a store.

I wonder how many people on earth really know all of PS. I use LR most of the time, and I know enough to do what I want, which is probably 10% of what LR can do. It's the same with PS. It can do a million different things, but is that what you require? If you want to add a person or change the sky, find out how to do that by searching online. Practice the operation, and write down the steps. Now you can do something you couldn't do before. Do you want to know all about PS, or do you want to be able to make the changes you require? They are two totally different things.

kymarto Loc: Portland OR and Milan Italy

Video tutorials help a lot.

GalaxyCat Loc: Boston, MA

I don't want to pay for PhotoShop, so I'm going to download GIMP and see how that works. I tried to use PhotoShop in the 1990's without much success. It is not intuitively obvious. I even took a course in it.

Jaackil Loc: Massachusetts

I want to echo what Jerry says. When you need to know how to do something just google it and you will find him hundreds of tutorials. I find most people who get frustrated with PS do so because they try "to learn how to use it". Photoshop can basicly do everything and then some. The best way to attack it is like Jerry said look up what you want to do as you go along. As you learn a task many of those steps will apply to other situations. Before you know it you will have learnt a lot about PS.

tomad Loc: North Carolina

In my opinion, Gimp is even harder. I've watched many tutorials read much help on Gimp and still can't even get off the starting block. Some of us need a good editor with a simple user interface or guided interface. Does that exist?

solomonv

Don't worry about learning all of Photoshop all at one time. It's a huge and powerful program and you'll drive yourself crazy! Take it in small chunks, start with just learning about the things you would use the most, and then you can expand from there. YouTube is a great resource, and lynda.com is a also a great resource if you have access to it.

I agree with the "Dummies" books. I refuse to buy them just on principle - I may not know how to do something, but that doesn't mean I'm a dummy.
(Although, I had no problem learning how to juggle using the book Juggling for the Complete Klutz.)

Anvil Loc: Loveland, CO

I use Photoshop quite a bit. You don't quite need a PhD, but you do have to get some education.

Way back, I bought Elements. I also bought the associated Elements for Dummies book. I was not impressed with the Dummies book, and that was the only Dummies book I ever bought. Consequently, I never really learned all that Elements had to offer. Fast forward several years. I got on Adobe's CC train. Since I was paying for Photoshop, I was going to learn everything I could. I discovered there are all sorts of courses offered by a variety of folks. Anyone ought to be able to find some education they like. I went with Phlearn, but there are many others equally as good.

You can find a lot of free stuff on Youtube, and much of it is very good, but it helps to have a broad base of understanding, first. You can get that by going with one of the paid courses. It is money well spent, because you will learn things that might otherwise elude you.

srherrmann Loc: Baton Rouge, Louisiana

I have read numerous books, watched U-Tube videos, taken classroom courses and on-line courses before I felt I had a grasp of photoshop. But one doesn't have to learn all of photoshop to edit photographs. Editing is just a "small" portion of the power of the software. Try not to be overwhelmed by it.

crazydaddio Loc: Toronto Ontario Canada

. If I have to go into PShop, no one is having fun. Once I know what I need to do that cant be done in LR, I have a youtube video running side by side and get the job done.....and then back to the cozy safety of LR.

(And I like the new gradient filter mask in LR CC Classic....one more tweak to LR that keeps me from needing to go to PShop)

tomad Loc: North Carolina

^ So if the majority of a non-professional's photo editing can be Lightroom and if it's easier to learn that PS...and if one does not want to subscribe to a monthly paid product should one try a one time purchase of Lightroom 6? Or would a cheaper purchase of Elements suffice...

lesdmd Loc: Middleton Wi via N.Y.C. & Cleveland

Learning Photoshop will depend on what type of learner you are. I do not do well with memorizing a sequence of steps. Some of the video courses I watched demonstrated different methods of accomplishing the same end result. This can be particularly confusing. Eventually, however, the world of Photoshop begins to make sense. I think the key is specifically knowing what you would like to accomplish, finding some sort of instruction, either video or text, understanding what each step procedurally Accomplishes, and finally a good deal of practice. It helps to really like playing on the computer and to have realistic expectations that it’s going to take quite a bit of time to become competent with the software.

Way2slk Loc: Bluffton SC

I really like gimp. Lots of video tutorials.

magnetoman Loc: Purbeck, Dorset, UK

Yep, its a steep curve! I do something similar to that suggested by Jaackil but keep the search to Phlearn.com, where Aaron Nace has free tuts on so many aspects of Ps. Highly recommend. The only problem with attacking things this way is, you become proficient at some quite technical stuff without understanding some of the basics - hence, I'm now booked on a beginners course starting in January!

lamiaceae Loc: San Luis Obispo County, CA

Interesting graphic image, but not very natural looking, if that were the idea. What where you trying to get via Ps?

I agree Ps is not intuitive. I've taken a few courses on it with a master Ps Graphic Designer. Ps was created to be a Graphic Design Program. It just so happens that Photographers found it immensely useful too, so Adobe continued that evolution. It is complex and with it one can create virtually any graphic. Personally I just use it for Photography PP of my images, often most of that in Adobe Camera Raw, I don't always do much in full Photoshop. This is why Adobe created Lightroom and PS Elements with the best features of Ps simplified down. But since I learned Ps CS5 & CS6 I am happy with using Photoshop. But I too only use about 5% of Ps's power! But a bit beyond PSE & Lr. I work in 32-bit mode and like using a pixel editor. But that's me. There are a lot of good Ps, Lr, PSE videos, lessons, and information on the WEB. Much of it better than the printed books. The best is hands-on, live lessons with a "patient" instructor.

Other than a camera manual for reference, I am way beyond needing camera books today. I've shot with everything at least once from 35mm SLR, 6x6cm TLR, 6x7cm SLR, 4x5" View Camera, 4x5" Field Camera, 8x10" View Camera, 20x24" vertical Copy Camera w/8x10" custom reduction back, and 35mm microfilm cameras. Though I do need to refer to my manuals for Digital PnS, and DSLR cameras at times. I've yet to shoot FF digital, medium format digital, or large format digital.