Customer Reviews

Learn Adobe Photoshop CS4 by Video: Core Training in Visual Communication

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I've watched a lot of videos on using Photoshop and I think these are among the best I've seen for teaching the basics. The lessons are presented clearly and they are easy to understand and follow.

The author doesn't inject a lot of his own personality into the videos, which I think is okay since the focus is on a clear presentation of how to use the software. I thought his video on using "Curves" to be one of the best I've seen.

Here is a basic list of the index showing the 10 major areas and the number of videos in each.

1. Getting Started with Photoshop (27 videos,)
2. Image Editing Concepts (9 videos)
3. Importing and Organizing Images (14 videos)
4. Tools (1 video, 1 interactive Toolbar)
5. Making Selections (10 videos)
6. Layers and Masks (19 videos)
7. Color Correction and Retouching (14 videos)
8. Working with Type (7 videos)
9. Preparing, Saving, and Printing Images (7 videos)
10.Color Management (4 videos)

I think 19 hours of video for this price is a VERY GOOD DEAL!

I use Photoshop. I had CS3 and upgraded to CS4. The biggest problem with Photoshop is the same thing that makes it so great -it is so darn powerful! If you are familiar with PS you know what I am taking about.

I bought a training book on how to use it and the thing is larger than the Austin phone book (no joke). PS has so much to offer that it is hard to know where to start.

The beautiful thing about this video is that is does not try to teach you how to take better shots or guide you as to what makes a good photo. That is another topic all together. Rather this video shows you what is available in PS, where the stuff is located and how it works. The instructors do this one time through and then they move on. It is up to you to figure out how to make it work for your situation. I like this method a lot. They cover a lot of ground fast and then it is up to you to discover how to use it for your own personal situation.

It is a lot like giving you a detailed map to all the hot spots in NYC but then leave it up to you to find your own adventure.

This is a great introduction into PS. It is by no means exhaustive because there is just so much you can do with it. Get one of those PS Bible books and you'll see what I mean. The nice thing is it is relatively inexpensive (let's see CS4 Extended is $990 and this user guide is $39 - do the math) and you will learn something new within a few minutes of watching it; I did.

I know that I will be going back to this video guide many, many times over the next few months and my photo's will be all the better for it.

Buy it - it is money well spent if you are serious about learning the essential skills for your PS software investment.

Adobe Photoshop CS4 is the industry standard for a full featured creativity suite in digital photography. If you are serious about digital photography then sooner or later you will probably be tempted to try it. However, learning to use its numerous features can be a daunting task. I have often attempted to translate the words of some dense instruction book into something that resembled a working Photoshop feature only to give up in sheer confusion. This was usually because of a lack of clarity or because there had been a subtle change in a Photoshop feature that the author was unaware of. Photoshop's more advanced features can be particularly frustrating to learn. I've often hoped for an easier, more merciful way to learn the more advanced techniques. I think I may have found it.

The Learn Photoshop CS4 Video contains some 19 hours of visual instruction. It is clear, concise and to-the-point. Logically organized, watching these carefully designed videos (I watched each one twice) I found myself passively assimilating information that reading the attached, rather slender 120 page instruction manual then fortified and solidified. I was able to turn to the actual suite with greater confidence, making fewer errors and working with much increased speed. Each video and its accompanying section in the manual really did induce improved precision with much less groping in the dark when using Photoshop's more interesting features. The book is very clear and includes a fascinating and rather lengthy section on Copyright law that is probably a little over optimistic for amateur photographers like myself.

The video instruction provided hands-on experience with using Photoshop that made learning faster and that was often fun to complete. Occasionally, I had to repeat a section that I found a bit opaque. A second viewing was usually sufficient to clear-up my confusion. One of the key features was the ability to transfer a selected video to my iPod. This gave me much needed flexbility, especially when repeating a lesson. The Watch-and-Work mode enables you to shrink the video into a small window while you work Photoshop. I found this feature extremely helpful. Each lesson with your accompanying work is given its own file, keeping everything well organized. The video player remembers where you left off even if you don't, something that can easily happen if you take a hiatus from the training program.

I enjoyed using this instruction program immensely. If you find Photoshop as arcane as I frequently do, you will consider this video instruction set a blessing if not a necessity. I strongly recommend it.

I've had this video training course for a little while now. I've held off on writing my review until I had a chance to go through the entire package and see what it had to offer and my final consensus? It rocks.

It's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it's a great primer--plus I gleaned a few good habits. Here's the good, bad, and good to know:

The Good

* Bite-sized video instruction: It should be clear why video is considered a bonus (great for visual-learners), but the fact that each video is less than 20 minutes (the average somewhere around 10 minutes) means that it's perfect for people with limited attention spans.

* Best practice fundamentals: The course builds on best practices to use while working with Photoshop, especially non-destructive editing.

* Bookmarks: Each video allows you to bookmark specific points for easy reference later.

* Shrink the video and work along: There's a feature that allows you to shrink the video, and it will float atop the other applications, so you can actually follow along with the video. (See a note under the "Good to Know" section about this.)

* Knowledge reinforcement: At the end of each section is a set of quizzes which helps reinforce what you've just learned and highlights areas which require further study.

The Bad

* The narrator's voice: My sister, who happened to be in the office while I was working through the videos, said his voice was "soothing"--it was so soothing, in fact, that it put her to sleep within ten minutes (yes, at a desk). His voice is monotonous--think of the guy from the eye-drops commercial; inconsequential if you're self-motivated to learn what he's teaching--problem if you're not.

* Some of the example files are missing: In certain lessons, when I opened up the assets folder, I found that the file being worked on was missing. You can follow along using another file, but it's a bit distracting if you want to do exactly what's being done in the video with the same file.

* A few of the videos get preachy: For instance, you're told to calibrate your monitor no less than 5 times in 3 minutes during the color correction lesson. (It seemed more like stalling for time while going through a few setting changes than anything else--in that sense, a few of the videos do become redundant.)

The Good to Know

* The book that comes along with the video series is not a stand alone reference. It's more of a notation, highlighting the main points of each lesson. It also has a nice keyboard shortcut reference and glossary of common Photoshop (and photo editing in general) terms.

* Although you can shrink the videos to work along, it's better if you have a high resolution and large monitor because the video can become quite distorted--plus, some video options are disabled and there's no quick way to jump from table of contents to video that I've found (at least, not without enlarging the video).

* Each lesson is fairly superficial. There are some neat tricks in the courses, but none of them delve into the full creative potential--it's more to *show* you what Photoshop is capable of doing with a particular tool or filter, and then leaving the rest up to your own imagination and creativity. Great for beginners, not so great for people who already know the tricks and want something more advanced.

All-in-all, it's a great product. It won't have you creating dazzling special effects like some other video tutorials that I've come across (think Photoshop Top Secret), but if you're brand spanking new to Photoshop, then you can't go wrong with this.

And even if you're *not* brand spanking new, there still might be a few nuggets that you can pick up from the series (I especially enjoyed the sections on selections and using masks.)

I started out knowing NOTHING ! I own about 800 .mobi websites (mobile websites) and I had designers doing the design work for me. It was begining to cost more $$ than I thought to design them and a friend asked me why I wasnt designing the sites myself. He was right. I bought this video training series after failing at learning photoshop from several books and even an online course (which I enrolled in due to my busy schedule). All these methods were slow, tedious and assumed I knew something of photography and photoshop. Ugh!
After buying this video course for about $38 I was AMAZED! After the first few lessons I was actually doing things on my own, and I was AMAZED! And at my own schedule! I am only in Ch. 2 , however, I have not only learned alot about photoshop, but I have learned alot about photo composition and lighting and positioning of the camera so I can even take better photos!! Wow...I wasnt expecting that added bonus!
The instructor moves slowly and is very clear in the instructions. The video clips are around 3-8 minutes in length and there is a file on the DVD that has the exact same photos so you can work along with the video which BTW has a cool feature that shrinks the video and sits in the corner of your screen so you can work in photoshop and watch the video at the same time.
I was so impressed with this video that I have also ordered Dreamweaver CS4 and Flash CS4 from Video2Brain. I figured if the other 2 videos are as good as this video, then I can be a fully functional self supporting web designer in a few months after I have finished all the videos and all for less than $100 !
If your dumb as a rail to this area of technology and need a kind hand to reach out and carry you along (and need something FAST that works around your schedule), then start here FIRST! This is by far the best starting point to get a grasp of the incredible power of Photoshop!

I'm a big fan of software video training. I've spent a lot of money on Photoshop titles, which is easy to do with many of them running $99 and up. It's nice to see a quality Photoshop introduction video at about the same price as a book. To see and hear Photoshop explained touches on our primary learning modes. With a good general Photoshop text all styles are covered.

A lot of thought went into this product. The manual gives timelines for each lesson, so it's easy to find them on the disk. Want to reference RGB color mode? Go to 4:05 to get the info. The lessons are mostly of a good length for memory retention. That means 15 minutes or less. The videos can be reduced in size so you can play them while you are using Photoshop. There's even an small version that plays on an iPod and I assume other video capable players.

Is it complete and in-depth? Not really, but for an introductory course, that's a good thing. There's enough theory and context so you can actually use Photoshop but not so much that most people will get bogged down. 19 hours is a good length. The basics are well covered, and it will take most people many times that long to actually get through the lessons as, (if you're anything like me) it's often necessary to repeat a step to really get it. That's where the lesson timeline in the guide is terrific.

I was originally put off by the instructor's lack of polish. He obviously hasn't produced a lot of training videos. But the material is adequately explained and I remember that while videos by Lynda or Kelby Training are generally more smoothly narrated, they also cost a lot more. And the content is there and the DVD is a good value.

There was time when "training" meant either pouring through user manuals and workbooks or hopping a flight to a city far away to sit in a class for 3-5 days and gossip for fellow "students" from around the county. Today, training is taking on a whole new face -- and I'm happy to say that this software makes great use of video technology to bring the class to you in interesting, helpful ways.

Let's start off with what you won't learn from this -- you aren't going to learn how to take great photos, or how to take a picture and create a dazzling photograph worthy of hanging in museums around the world. This software is meant to teach you the ins and outs of Photoshop CS4 and what all the commands are for, common uses for doing a set of tasks, and how to navigate your way around the program. In short it doesn't tell you WHEN to use a command, but merely teaches you what the command is for. Which is why I like the program -- it teaches you to fish, it's on your own to figure out what type of fish you want to catch.

Through various video lessons and workbook like assignments you will learn Photoshop CS4 at your own pace. You can choose to jump around a bit if you want, or follow the entire course through lesson by lesson. The instructor in the video isn't the most dynamic person I've ever seen, but they do a good job of teaching you in a manner that helps you learn as you go.

I'm no expert on Photoshop by any stretch of the imagination, but after having gone through this training I feel my ability to use the program has improved greatly and I feel comfortable using it for everyday tasks and getting things done right the first time. With my dual-monitor setup for some of the more complicated things I am attempting to do I find it very helpful to have the video up on one monitor while I actually perform the task on the other.

Great training and a good price -- if you want to learn how to use Photoshop I highly recommend you check this out. It's a heck of a lot better (and more interactive) than a book!

Take the time to go through all the videos as if you were attending a class, take notes, and practice things as you watch them, and you will be as familiar with PS as someone who's been using it for long time.

The pace at which this guy goes is impressive. His thoughts are very organized as if he's reading a script.

This book is definitely an excellent place to start. Once you're done with it, you know a lot. However, if you are eager to learn more about PS, pick up a comprehensive book (at least 600 pages). If you pick up a 200-300 page book, you will find very little new to you.

I use Photoshop. I had CS3 and upgraded to CS4. The biggest problem with Photoshop is the same thing that makes it so great -it is so darn powerful! If you are familiar with PS you know what I am taking about.

I bought so many photoshop training books but this is far more better than some of them (no joke). PS has so much to offer that it is hard to know where to start.

Here is a basic list of the index showing the 10 major areas and the number of videos in each.

1. Getting Started with Photoshop (27 videos,)
2. Image Editing Concepts (9 videos)
3. Importing and Organizing Images (14 videos)
4. Tools (1 video, 1 interactive Toolbar)
5. Making Selections (10 videos)
6. Layers and Masks (19 videos)
7. Color Correction and Retouching (14 videos)
8. Working with Type (7 videos)
9. Preparing, Saving, and Printing Images (7 videos)
10.Color Management (4 videos)

I think 19 hours of video for this price is a VERY GOOD DEAL!

I will strongly recomend to buy it

Videos are an EXCELLENT way to learn photoshop. You are receiving information from both a visual and an auditory channel, which makes it more likely you will retain it, plus you are actually tracking every move the trainer does to achieve a certain effect. A book can only provide a series of screen shots, which while helpful, is not the same.

Obviously, 19 hours of video are NOT going to provide a comprehensive look at Photoshop (Kelby Training videos, which I have now subscribed to, has hundreds - maybe thousands - of hours of Photoshop training on every possible Photoshop function), but it will provide enough information to get a new user started.

The DVD/book covers basic photoshop skills such as setting up your space, making selections, layers and masks, color corrections, and so on. I have experience with Photoshop Elements and have only just started using PS4, so I found the sections on making selections particularly helpful.

I would not rely on this as my only training material, but then, there isn't a single product I know of that can stand alone as THE only training manual/product you will need. This product will be a valuable addition to any photoshop training library.