Photoshop for a newbie?

should i dive into photoshop? its a big risk if i don't get on with it..... i could buy an imac for the price of the software licence!!!!!

or should i go for something like Apeture for half the price?.... is it half the product? i wonder.

by the end of summer i'd like to be able to produce amusing pics where people say 'that must be photoshop'..... rather then great sensitive tones of red in a sun set..... you know what i mean?

I would download the photoshop demo from adobe's website to see if is really something you need. You could also check out photoshop elements, basically a slimmed down version of photoshop, and maybe more of what you would want.

They have a demo for photoshop elements:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelmac/

Downloading the demo is an excellent idea.

If you find the learning curve a bit too steep, you might want to look at Adobe Elements and build on that and move on later in a couple of years to Elements big brother, Photoshop.

It depends on what your needs are. If it's just to be able to tweak your photos and images, Elements might just fit the bill. If you intend on using it in a more professional orientation, then yes by all means, think Photoshop all the way.

elements has a great price...... and yes that seems all i want to do. but can't help feel elements duplicates in storage and sharing what i get from iphoto and .mac.

(sorry for the delay in my response but subscribed to thread and didn't get email notification.)

I can also recommend photoshop elements being a great starting point for someone wanting to get into photoshop.

Photoshop elements has MANY of the features that the fully priced photoshop has, but doesnt have some of the high end features not really needed for those starting out.

~~ TS ~~

Oh? I'm surprised, because last time I looked it worked just the same as Photoshop did but with some stipped down features and Photoshop doesn't do duplicates.

And with an Intel-based Mac you would be better to go with CS3 as it runs natively on them than with the CS2 version which runs under Rosetta emulation. Same goes for Elements 4, you would have to wait for Elements 5 which I was told is just around the corner (the Windows version just came out). If the version were out, you could give it a try but it's only available for Windoze for now. Too bad.

Just found a customer review on the same page you linked which i think sums it up quite well.

It is designed for people who want to manipulate photos but dont need the full power of CS2. In that, it works.
If you get photography magazines, 90% of the lessons and tips work in Elements.

Click to expand...

~~ TS ~~

And if I were you, joyseeker, I'd PM schweb or post in the Suggestions/Comments/Site Support forum about this "thread subscription/email notification" thing not working: you are the second member I read in M-F that noticed that doesn't work properly.

Elements can also be had for free with software bundles that come with items such as Wacom Tablets and Monitor Calibration tools. Never hurts to look at some of those if you had plans on getting them to see if it comes along...why pay for something your going to end up getting for free anyway. Puts the price of that other item down $100.

The Wacom tablet I picked up a couple months ago came with Elements, and there was something else I purchased some time back that also came with a copy of Elements in it.

my notifications are still not working but just had to say i went to my local apple shop today and bought a copy of elements. the shop said apeture and elements are 2 different products.... the former is for workflow and storage of photos and the later for manipulating them...... which is what i want..... works with iphoto i gather...... we'll see.

learning curve now but will post something i've knocked together here.

ps: no upgrade path for elements here in europe.

I think you will like elements, from what it sounds like this will be what you want/need. Let us know if you have any problems with it.

i can't say i'm happy and confident yet but here's the first clumsy go at what i wanted to be able to do.



i find the help centre and the user guide could be better.... but if this is what photoshop looks like its going to be worth the pain to get inside the logic and methords.

back now to more pain and frustration.

I probably use it about as well as a 6 year old uses Windows Paint.

infact whoever wrote the user manual is putting me off.

joyseeker said:

infact whoever wrote the user manual is putting me off.

Click to expand...

What's a manual?

"i find the help centre and the user guide could be better.... but if this is what photoshop looks like its going to be worth the pain to get inside the logic and methords."



I feel that the missing element when folks get PS for the first time is that they would save considerable time and frustration if they would get a hold of a book that teaches the basics. Now, I know that with PS Elements 5, a book may cost about half as much as the software, but if later you decide to go for PS CS3, which has a much greater learning curve than Elements 5, a book would smooth the learning experence immensely at a fraction of the cost of the program.

Good luck. Nice picture.

Roger said:

Now, I know that with PS Elements 5, a book may

Click to expand...

I purchased Elements 4 from the apple shop..... but i see a version 5 out...... anyone know the difference and if its worth a fuss? i am making slow progress with 4 which i must say feels old in the way it does things.

the 'extract' tool is slow and unpredictable..... but fun when it does what i want.

photoshop for dummies here i come. ;D

The difference is Elements 5 will run natively on your Intel-based Mac instead of under Rosetta emulation like with Elements 4. This should greatly improve speed and stability.

Look up the Adobe website, they must have an upgrade special price for you. At least I hope they do.

joyseeker, if later you get Photoshop CS3, consider this...




A good starter- book for PS CS3 is "Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Photoshop CS3 in 24 Hours: 24 Proven One-Hour Lessons" by Carla Rose and Kate Binder. When I first started with PS6, if I had gotten Carla Rose's book I would have saved much time and grief. There are other good starter-books, too, but I just like her easy-to-understand-way of teaching. Then when you get the basics down, you can go to the Internet and find a gazillion, free PS tutorials which you will then be able understand and use.

You should look for alternatives

Adobe Photoshop is really a king in graphics, but probably you can get cheaper solutions. Usually you will not need all the features of Photoshop.

I can recommend to try Gimp at the beginning as Gimp is from the open source world and it is really a mature application.