Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:22 pm Post subject: Brand new to Photoshop
I just ordered Photoshop CS2 from Amazon, and it will be here tomorrow. Tell me, where do I start? I have never used it before, and I figure I need a starting place. Help me out?
First of all, welcome to photoshopforums and the world of Photoshop! I think you'll find it quite enjoyable.
Your starting point really depends on your destination. What is it you'd like to do with Photoshop? The possibilities are boundless. Photo restoration? Special effects? Hilarious photochopping? Digital painting? Web design? Something else altogether? If you tell us, we can provide more specific advice.
Here's the very basicmost knowledge you need for any of these purposes. When you're in Photoshop, go File>New... to bring up a dialog box. This box has information about the new document, including size, resolution, and background color. For now, leave all the defaults and hit OK. A new blank image should appear.
On the left side of the screen, you should see a tall, thin toolbox. This is covered with icons, and each one represents a different tool with different capabilities. A few of these are the Brush tool, the Move tool, and the Zoom tool. Some tools have small triangles next to their icons; click and hold for a moment to see even more related tools.
One of Photoshop's most important features is the layer. A layer is basically another image that lies on top of any layers beneath it. By default, a layer is totally transparent--in other words, it doesn't do anything. But when you paint on it or paste images into it or add text or whatever, you can use the Move tool to move the layer around the document. This is very important if you want to have independently editable areas of your image.
Can you provide more information about what you want to do? Then we can give more specific advice. _________________ Interested in showcasing your special effects or learning some new ones from the masters? Check out PSFX!
Joined: 08 Jun 2005
Posts: 864
Location: Jersey, Channel Islands, UK
Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:54 pm Post subject:
Yes, what exactly do you plan to do with photoshop, we cant really give you the first place to start unless we know what your planning to do with photoshop, as its such a huge program, with endless options!
If your looking to learn some cool effects and how to use all the tools correctly, i would suggest taking a look at the help section, by opening photoshop, and then selecting help, and selecting an option from the drop down menu photoshop cs2 gives you, i personally am at a basic > medium level of photoshop (my work isnt bad, but by no means outstanding) and ive got to the stage im at, from alot of tutorials on the web, and a few downloads form a great site to learn photoshop and other programs (probably the best tutorial website out there)
Basically, if you want to learn the basics, have a look at the help section built into photoshop cs2, then have a look at some online tutorials, and experiment and play, until you feel comfortable with all of the tools inside photoshop, and if you encouter any problems along the way, your at the right place, as im sure the helpful and knowledgable people of these forums would be glad to help!
Okay. That's a good way to start out with Photoshop.
Digital photos have some unique benefits and disadvantages that make working with them interesting. Many digital photos are very noisy--they have an ugly graininess. Photoshop CS2's filters can take care of that pretty easily. But color correction is a more subjective and more artistic process. There is no "Correct Colors" button in Photoshop that magically pops all the colors to the correct brightness, hue, and saturation. You have to use options like Levels, Hue and Saturation, and Curves to get your images the way you want them. Areas of the image can be blocked off by using Adjustment Layers with Layer Masks.
You'll learn all of this once you start delving into the mysteries of Photoshop. Don't be put off by the somewhat steep learning curve. The best thing about Photoshop is this: as your talent and experience grow, the program seems to expand to fit all your needs. That's what makes Photoshop so great for users of ALL levels. _________________ Interested in showcasing your special effects or learning some new ones from the masters? Check out PSFX!
I’d recommend... either a good tutorial book (there are many) or a class at a community college. Online tutorials are great, but they tend to focus on “special effects”, not the fundamentals of Photoshop. Get a good grasp on the basics- that will be your foundation to anything you want to do with Photoshop.
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Just kidding!
