Well hello all.........I just finally bought PSCS4( extended), have installed it and am so lost as to where to start. Have gone over the tuts it had on the second cd, but am well just not sure where to begin or start. So any help no matter how small is appreciated. Even if i can get a simple thing done id feel like I had made a step.....thanks

I would first decide what you want to do specifically with PS and focus on that. Do you want to create textures, photo-manipulate, images, etc...

 Indeed...as a specific question and you'll surely get at least one, and often more, replies with suggestions as to how to do what you can't figure out.. ...

Really depends on what your motive was for buying it.
There are lots of different uses for it but you first need to say what your interests are and where you hope to go with it.

Photoshopgurus and Gurusnetwork have some great tutorials. If looking for a book Adobe Photoshop CS4 Classroom in a Book is great.

Quote - Really depends on what your motive was for buying it.
There are lots of different uses for it but you first need to say what your interests are and where you hope to go with it.

          I bought it to do some historical restoring of some of the older buildings in the city and along with other older things , factory machines from the turn of the last century. There is a wealth here of old industrial things that are being y passed and forgotten. I also write and would at some given point ant to do illustrations to go with my writings and stories. I also spent many years on the great lakes photographing the interiors and exteriors of many older now scrapped steamers, and alos a great deal of old rail history in and around the area.

             So this is my area of interest and where I will work from and with to start. Hope this has given you some idea of my interests.

                                                                                                     Wryter

 Load a photo and just start playing around with all the menus to see wht they do...you have history so you can always go back to something you did previously in the session if you so choose...if this is your first Photoshop might I suggest reading all the help files so you have an idea what the heck the program does and then if you get stuck you will have an idea what to ask for help with.. ...

Wryter,

The whole foundatation to Photoshop lies in to know how to use Pen Tool. When you are proficient with it return here for your next advice.

I am pretty sure that somebody will say otherwise, there always is isn't it? Don't be led astray, no matter what you shall do you will need to be become an EXPERT with the Pen Tool.

Trust me.

The Pen Tool is extremely important to master. The Pen Tool from the Gurunetwork is very handy in learning the pen tool.

May I suggest a book. I've used these author's books as my reference since Photoshop 3, and still have my Photoshop 3 copy.
Real World Adobe Photoshop CS3 by David Blatner, Conrad Chavez, and Bruce Fraser

No, they don't have a CS4 book out yet, but I have no doubt they will. In the meantime, it won't have changed essentially from CS3.

From the description on Amazon
"Anyone who relies on Photoshop to meet tough production challenges knows that when a new version arrives, especially one as chockfull of enhancements as Photoshop CS3, there's no time to fool around. You need to get up to speed on it, and you need to do so now. This book will get you there. In this copiously illustrated book, best-selling author David Blatner offers shows you how to sharpen your Photoshop production techniques and provides clear explanations of the concepts that drive them. Readers will learn about managing color, correcting colors, capturing images, getting great scans, and more. They'll also find complete coverage of Photoshop CS3's new features: a streamlined interface, nondestructive Smart Filters, a new Quick Selection and Refine Edge tools, improved Curves, automatic layer alignment and blending, and more. Throughout, the emphasis in this book is on efficiency: the timesaving tips and professional shortcuts that will allow readers to solve their everyday production challenges creatively with Photoshop CS3."

For me, these guys are the best in terms of learning Photoshop in terms of actual working conditions.

May I suggest a video course? That is the fashion nowadays you know. And Lynda.com makes the best ones IMO. And the best teacher at Lynda is Deke McClelland..(notice that I didn't mentioned IMO this time :)

Lynda.com Photoshop CS3 One on One The Essentials
Lynda.com Photoshop.CS3.One-on-One.Beyond.the.Basics
Lynda.com.Photoshop.CS3.Extended.for.3D

These ones are the ones you need. Just find out who you will have to murder or sleep with..!

Classroom in a Book by Adobe Press is the first place I would go.

*To:
           LukeA, bobbystahr, ejn, dreamer, vintorix, bonestructure & infoo central, much appreciation and thanks for your timely advice and tips, all taken to heart, all recorded ,and  all on file. Yes vintorix, the " pen tool" is mightier than the sword and what a formidable thing to have to learn, but can see is worth all the effort.

           Cant thank you enough all for this and once i get my feeble mind clear and settled  I will pass on i piece of my work. Again thanks all for everything.............................................
                                                                 Wryter

the " pen tool" is mightier than the sword

haha, very well put, eloquent! :)*

I am glad you have understood! Yes, the Pen-tool is not easy! But on the other hand it is not so difficult as one thinks after the first try! It all comes down to this,

Are you a man or a mouse?

How about a village rat?

Village " rat " eh.....that some sort new  " photoshop " tool......................

Most of them are...

          Greetings all:

                                         So I sent off an enquire recently here asking about Photoshop and received several valuable replies which I have tucked away for furture use.

                                      So now I'll give  you an update on my slow but steady progress.

                     I discovered color and some basic idea on how to use it. have redone the same building 7 times now but have noticed that with each time I do there is an improvement, small mind you, nay minute if at all but still is progress. I have also learned how to tinker with backgrounds, erasing them, dodging, blurring them, lil steps, but steps for sure. What else...............oh yes the "Pen Tool", mighty sweet device that is I'll tell ya. Must have read and reread it over 4, 5 maybe 6 times and you know..................no worky??......but then again maybe it's in the wording there is a hidden code I have not received just yet, feels a bit like De Vinki here, but will sort it out one fine day and drop it on all your laps.

                       Anyway thats my progress report for now and am sticking to it.............................will be back with further trials and  who knows what.............winks.......................Wryter

Quote -
Wryter,

The whole foundatation to Photoshop lies in to know how to use Pen Tool. When you are proficient with it return here for your next advice.

I am pretty sure that somebody will say otherwise, there always is isn't it? Don't be led astray, no matter what you shall do you will need to be become an EXPERT with the Pen Tool.

Trust me.

I agree, the pen tool is fundamental. But also have a look at learning to use levels, curves, channels, the dodge and burn tools and of course the brush tool if you plan to do a lot of photo restoration.

Much obliged for the advice 10th Way, the " Pen "  tool it is, and yes it is a tricky device one must master eh....shall plug on and in time will get it.always has.always will.....................................Wryter

The Pen Tool is fundamental????

I've been using Photoshop for years - (and am by no means an expert) yet I've managed to get by without even knowing what the Pen Tool is.  Nobody ever mentioned it to me before.  Not even when I first began coming here to ask for help.

I wonder what the heck it's for???  I'm gonna take a look at those links now, see what all this fuss is about.

Hiya Wryter, nice to see new blood around.  Do you write just non fiction?

Same here, I used photoshop for the longest time before I discovered the pen tool, don't think I was doing that bad without it.  It's mostly when I draw that I find it very useful but there are plenty of projects I use photoshop for and don't have to use the pen tool at all for them.

Yes, without a doubt, I feel the pen tool is a must know feature which can open up a whole new world in using Photoshop. I most highly recommend reading the gurunetwork tutorial that Dreamer101 posted above "The Pen Tool". It is by far one of the best I have ever read concerning this aspect of Photoshop. In fact it is the same link I was going to post here until I saw that Dreamer had beaten me to it. Practice, practice, practice!

I feel the learning of the pen tool is a very important necessity to the Photoshop graphic artist, designer, photographer and the CG tech in general and many people minimize its importance. I’m therefore posting some tutorials and a video on its use hopefully to help expand on it. If you have other tutorials that you feel are beneficial and should be added please post them for the collective good. Not knowing how to handle the pen tool doesn’t mean you are Photoshop challenged. You can go a lifetime never having to use it. But knowing how to use it is a step towards mastery.

www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-cs3/pen-tool-tutorial/index.html

www.photoshopessentials.com/basics/pen-tool-selections/

www.melissaclifton.com/tutorial-pentool.html

www.youtube.com/watch  <-You Tube Video

www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/tutorials/0402-23.html 

Enjoy!

                          Well ladies what can I say, again the offering of help has been great and I very much appreciate it all, and the websites that where posted all great help. Have done some work on the pen tool so far and hoo boy, talk about exacting, steady hand there is required, so have made  many flubs and expelled curse words and  all but the climb is slow, but each step is a step gained, slow but gained. And yes " Fran on the Edge" I write smutt, why cuz I can....lol and just for the fun of it but i also write other stuff to when required.

                      Anyway much thanks for the advice and sites to explore so figures by the time the world ends according to the Mayan calendar in Dec 2012, I'll have made some progress..........winks.........again much thanks.........................Wryter

Ladies???

Well I know I'm a Lady, but is everyone here?  Some might be Gentlemen.

You write smutt?  I never mentioned such a thing, I just wondered if you wrote fiction or non-fiction or both and what.

I've written quite a few things over the years but never been published, (butI haven't really tried very hard,) my current writing is a dissertation on the influences and 'cross polination' of eastern and western animation. And the last big thing I wrote was a Police Procedural novel and the last thing I wrote recently was a smidgin of poetry to go with an image which correlates to the film I will be making next year.  For which I am about to write the screenplay...

So I wondered.  That's all.

Why does the pen tool need a steady hand? can't you undo the last bit of mistake and try again? or do you have to start again all the way back at the beginning?

Actually, I would think you don't need such a steady hand because you can move (with the direct selection tool), add or delete anchor points once your path is drawn.

Interesting.

Why don't you watch someone who know how to use the pentool and then decide if it is necessary with a steady hand or not?

Using the Pen tool in Photoshop (Miku)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSdd_lFbxgw

:)

Arthena,  I use the pen tool in photoshop plenty exactly because my hand isn't that steady and it helps me draw curves that are much nicer then they would be if I were trying to make them freehand with the paintbrush.   Once the path is drawn, I have the possibility to move the anchor points and play with them or add or delete them if I want to so that the lines and curves I want to make are really nice and exactly where I want them to be before I stroke the path.  What I said wasn't meant as an insult and in no way means that if you use the pen tool, you don't have a steady hand, it only means that the pen tool sure helps those who don't have a steady hand to make nicer curves and precise drawings.