I think I was using Photoshop 4 when I decided that it was time to stop fooling around and really learn it. I was really struggling. So I got a real book. It was Deke McClelland Photoshop 5 Bible if I remember. I started at page 1 and went all the way to the end. After doing that, I really felt that I had an understanding that I didn't have before and the program seemed easy. That was such a great feeling! So get a really good comprehensive book that tells you why you do things rather than just to do them. Ben Willmore is also an excellent teacher and has several books out. CS4 has so many changes from earlier versions that it's important to only get books that deal with the new version. Deke also has a CS4 Bible out.

Having said that, yes, the learning curve is fairly steep but it's amazing how quickly things seem to make sense. I can't use Paint Shop Pro without wanting to scream and end up closing the program very frustrated because I can't do the simple things that I can do in Photoshop, like resizing and moving a selection before it's placed, moving things on a layer just with the arrow keys, using arrow keys to change highlighted values including the brush rotate value that makes rotating a breeze, zooming in and out with Ctrl + or -, etc. So many seemingly simple things that become invaluable when using every day and are almost unconscious. Can you do them in PSP? Haven't been able to figure out how.

If I were learning this version of Photoshop, that's what I would do. I never tried to learn the program using the manual and use it now just to look things up that I've forgotten. Sometimes it helps having the gentle hand of someone who really knows how to teach you to use the program even if that's in book form.

Good luck with Photoshop. I think once you really get used to using it you'll see how absolutely elegant it is in comparison to anything else. And learn as many keyboard shortcuts as you can. They are absolutely necessary for some functions and overall make working in the program a breeze.

And another thing. If there's one way to do something in Photoshop, there are at least 10 other different ways to accomplish the same thing. So you can really tailor the program for your specific needs. And Jack's right. Nobody knows everything...except maybe Russ Williams. What's great is finding out how to do something after years of using the program, or an easier way to do something that I've been doing for years.

Sorry if I was long winded. I just love Photoshop.

More:  http://www.photoshopdaily.co.uk/  This is a pretty good site.

Now, anybody here know how to use Collada to export out of Poser Pro and into CS4 Extended? I don't know what options are right and what size increase I need and why my exported figure shows up with a big, blank empty screen! I really just want to be able to work on textures so don't need rigging, etc. But it ain't working. I'll so see about asking in another thread.