Demystifying Photoshop

I have searched earnestly for a series of tutorials on Photoshop and have spent literally thousands of hours being led on wild goose chases by people who confuse rather than enlighten. I've purchased courses, subscribed to freebies and devoured YouTube videos but have still not found a series which is both sequential and not either confusing or frustrating. Either they miss out vital steps, digress or jump all over the place. Today it took me a while to track down how to deselect a tool. Not many people who create tutorials know how to dumb it down to the simplest form and this is what learners need. Another frustration with PS is the constant software updates which means that the tutorials are always put of date. Then there's the annoyance of the unpleasant voices many demonstrators possess.

I thought it was worth noting some of the really helpful tuts or links I've uncovered which may be of use to future learners or a method of personal revision. Layers are the basis of the PS program and if you don't have a grip on how they work, you're pretty much sunk.

Vince Opra is so far one of the best at explaining the basics. So much knowledge in one so young.

1.  PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL FOR BEGINNERS 2022

2.  ALTERNATE PHOTOSHOP BEGINNER TUTORIAL from Learnit Training

( lengthy but worth the watch as the presenter has a pleasant voice and exercise images are provided)

3. PHOTOSHOP LAYERS: A BEGINNERS GUIDE FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS

(Christopher O'Donnell has a great voice and also provides a practice pack of images)

4. PHOTOSHOP TOOLS EXPLAINED  ( easy listening with Josh McDarris)

Workflow In Photoshop

Was directed to the Tipsquirrel site from a post on Focus. Discovered a great tutorial - Start To Finish Workflow which is generally about workflow but specifically about using textures. Picked up so many hints about Raw, Tools and workflow from this simple tut. Thanks Gavin Hoey .

Rating Tutorials

With the plethora of tutorials on the Net it can be both time absorbing and challenging to wade through the chaff to locate the gold. I found some great Photoshop Effect Tutorials which can be downloaded as PDF files at Photoshoproadmap. The only gripe I have is that shortcut keys are always used for the steps and I like to also know from which menu the options are available. I would also appreciate having the purpose of the steps explained. Having said that I experimented with a "Ghost" effect and was quite pleased with the results.

Another technique I played around with was the 'ghostly image effect' which I'm afraid was a little beyond me at this stage due to the countless layers involved and having no idea why I was completing each step. However I was reasonably happy with the effect I achieved and which I think I can manipulate in order to create some scenarios using the images from St. John's Orphanage at Goulburn

Love the oil painting effect using the Pixel Blender plugin

and again - a great tutorial for this plugin

Another site which has a comprehensive list of tutorials is SLR Photography Guide which link I have placed here rather than in my bloglist due to a request from the owner.

Photoshop Tutorials

Having purchased CS5 some months ago and being cognisant of the fact that it involves a gigantic learning curve, I'm attempting to locate some basic tutorials for newbies to make it possible to launch the learning.

 An article - Setting Up Preferences 

 What is Adobe Bridge

Setting it up using mini bridge

Photoshop CS5: Set-up and Color Management -- Part 1

  Photoshop CS5: Set-up and Color Management -- Part 1b  

  Photoshop CS5: Set-up and Color Management -- Part 2

 Photoshop CS5: Using Curves - Color Correction - Part 1 

Photoshop CS5: Using Curves - Color Correction - Part 2 

  Install Photoshop Plug-ins 

Image Editing by Chip Philips

How to create a fake Grad Filter effect using PS

Rescuing Exposure Using Layers

Creating multiple exposures

Resizing Images

Saving an image

Photoshop Filters

A core site from where I collated the following links:

An article - getting started with Photoshop        

Open Edit and Save in Photoshop

Beginners Guide to Adobe Photoshop

Bridge is going to be your best friend

5 common myths

Layers in Photoshop

Selection Tools

How to use and create brushes

A beginners Guide to Masks

Blending Modes

How to remove backgrounds

Positioning Subjects

Removing Objects from an image

Image Merging to create panorama images

 How to Avatar yourself 

Noise Reduction

Selective Colouring 

Using Puppet Warp to move an object

New features in CS5 - remove an object (content aware)

Replacing a Sky (masking out)

An alternate 'Replace The Sky'

Blending Textures

Photoshop CS5: Correcting Perspective Distortion with the Transform and Warp Tools 

Tutorials recommended by the St. George Photographic Society