Think V4' s eyes are bad? Take a look at V3. They're really wonky. Daz can't seem to get it right.

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.

Another thing...just switched to CS. The update has given it some needed energy! Just noticed that you can now select all in the Preset Manager by hitting the first block and then Shift-hitting the last.

Yippee!!!! I'm making Pat files of all my fabric textures and hitting each block to select was getting a tad tedious.

And something that I've not seen before. Was playing with making gems with custom shapes and selected my shape, applied a Gausian blur and got blur and a bevel. Is this new? Kind of a happy thing because it saved me a step.

It does everything! I kept PSP around just for Tubes. Then I realized that I had the Pattern Stamp. Duh...........

Does anyone know which plugins absolutely don't work with CS 2? I set a path to my P7 plugins folder and then opened CS2 again and it's giving me grief. Opens but not without throwing nasty dialog boxes my way and it very grumpy.

And...look at the prices of refurbished tablets. My first Wacom was refurbished and it was just like new! And cost considerably less.

On another subject...does anyone use the airbrush pen and, if so, what do you think?

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Try this...go to Material Room and unhook the top transparency link to the trans then hook it back up again. I was going crazy with hair becomming invisible after applying a mat to it. Tried every setting and couldn't get anything, cartoon, etc. to make it show. So started fooling around with the shaders. Detaching and re-attaching made the hair show. A pain to do but this worked for me. Must be a bug.

Sorry...duh, just realized that the graphic is clickable. Getting better and better.

Well a super big thank you for this one! Even with all the expressions morphs already in the characters, I'm shaving off at least 10 MB. Doesn't seem like much for one, but if you like to save complete figures the savings add up. Figures load faster too!

Can't read the graphic so can't see what it says. I know there's a way to save to the last folder opened. Is it possible with this?

I just love these things made by talented people that make life easier. And so generous! Thanks!

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Yes, please! A neutral figue that can be taken in many different directions. But it would have to be very good. None of the garbage that exists now that has to be corrected with postwork. I'm so tired of fixing bicycle tire shoulders, awful armpits, huge feet and hands and too small heads. It must be possible to create a figure that doesn't have to be fixed all the time. And wonky eyes. What's with all these eyes that are crosseyed? I find myself using Jim Burton's figures over and over again because they bend! It's not a plug, though he's very good, it just shows that it's possible to do. And maybe your cage thingy for morphing? Throw on the cage and start morphing instead of injecting. Don't know anything about this stuff, just thought of it. And...over at Polymage they have heads that have wonderful expressions. Elle, Eszter, Unity all have great expressions built in. So this would be on the wishlist for a new character. Some way to have that without it becomming huge. Well I got off track. Just my two cents.

I'm going right now to buy. I always do several separate renders so that I can composit and fuss as much as I like. But it's always one at a time. GlowWorm sounds fantastic! So I don't have to dread rendering the same scene over and over again just to get separate elements? Very cool.

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That's so cool! Did you make the furniture and everything before importing the figure? Or is this a PZ3 rendered in Carrara? How long did it take to render? I think I tried a demo a while back and liked the interface which is a big deal with me. Just never got any further. But I love what you've done!!!