Written By T. Michael Testi
If you have seen the Adobe Photoshop CS3 One-On-One book review that I did back a while ago, you will have some idea what all of this one-on-one stuff is all about. The Photoshop CS3 One-On-One training video's from Lynda.com are like the book on steroids. If you buy the DVD it contains over 30 hours of one-on-one training. Because it is available online in three parts, I am going to break my review into the three individual reviews that correspond with the online training system.
For Part I, Photoshop CS3 One-On-One: The Essentials contains 8.75 hours of video training covering nine lessons that will show you all of the essentials of Adobe Photoshop CS3 as taught by Deke McClelland; the award winning author and Photoshop Hall-of Famer. Exercise files accompany the tutorials on the DVD as well as with the premium subscription which will give you all you need to learn the fundamentals of Photoshop.
Lesson one, "What Photoshop Can Do" (39 minutes), begins by taking a tour around Photoshop CS3 and introducing you to what Photoshop can do. You will learn about combining images, adjusting colors, cloning, adding layers, cropping, sharpening and adding text to an image. This gets you familiar with how to use Photoshop and some of the basic techniques that are used regularly.
Lesson two, "Setting Up Shop" (75 minutes), continues on with learning fundamental techniques used in Photoshop while working with images. In this lesson you will learn to open images, how to work with the zoom tool and how to use shortcuts. You will learn about the Navigator palette as well as keyboard shortcuts, modifying shortcuts, organizing palettes, saving your workspace and how to set your preferences.
Lesson three, "The New and Improved Bridge" (60 minutes), introduces you to the Bridge. This lesson guides you in the basics of managing files. Here you will learn about rotations, ratings and labels, how to manage thumbnails, how to move, copy, and delete images, batch renaming, and how to customize and save the workspace. You will also learn about the loupe, compare and stack features as well as previewing images in the slideshow.
Lesson four, "Basic Color Adjustment" (50 minutes), gets you into real Photoshop work. Up till now you have been learning how to get around in Photoshop, now you will learn how to use it. This lesson is all about color correction and manipulation. You will learn things like, what is color balance, how to use the Variations interface, correcting color cast, and fading an adjustment. You will learn about primary colors as well as their compliments. You will also learn about hue and saturation.
Lesson five, "Shadows, Highlights, and Midtones" (85 minutes), takes you into the shadows, highlights and midtones of images. Here you will learn of brightness, contrast and luminance. You will learn of the Auto Commands, histograms and channel by channel adjustments. You will take your first look at both Levels and Curves dialogs.
Lesson six, "Image Size and Resolution" (37 minutes), is all about pixels. You will learn imaging fundamentals and how pixels relate to images. You will work with the image size command, interpolation as well as scaling an image down or up.
Lesson seven, "Cropping and Straightening" (33 minutes), works at framing your image to get it into the proper layout. If it is angled, you will straighten it. You will also learn of perspective cropping to make angled shots look straight.
Lesson eight, "Making Selections" (57 minutes), will show you one of the more important techniques in Photoshop, especially if you want to do photomontage work. That is, the use of selections to cut something out of a picture. Here you will learn to use the Magic Wand tool, Quick Selection tool, Marquee tool, Move tool and Lasso tool to make your selections. You will also learn how to use Refine Edge to preview a selection.
Lesson nine, "Replacing, Retouching, and Editing" (81 minutes), will teach you all about cleaning up an image. Here you will learn how to remove red-eye, clean teeth, remove plaque, heal blemishes, and patch spots. You will use the Color Replacement tool, Dodge tool, Sponge tool, Patch tool, Toning tool as well as the Clone Source palette to make your images picture perfect.
It is obvious that McClelland has been doing this for a while and is very comfortable with teaching Photoshop. His style is entertaining, natural, and never hurried. He takes you from one point to another keeping attuned to the task at hand, but never, never falling into staleness. He constantly shows you tips and tricks that make your use of Photoshop an easier and more enjoyable experience.
You can get Photoshop CS3 One-On-One: The Essentials two ways. One is as part of the DVD training package Photoshop CS3 One-On-One with Deke McClelland and the other is part of the online training experience at Lynda.com. The DVD Training Package is $149 USD and contains all three complete training packages:
• Photoshop CS3 One-on-One: The Essentials
• Photoshop CS3 One-on-One: Beyond the Basics
• Photoshop CS3 One-on-One: Advanced Techniques
The online training Photoshop CS3 One-On-One: The Essentials comes in three flavors. Monthly at $25 USD/month gets you all of the videos that are available online (approximately 21,811 videos on 318 topics at this time). Annually at $250 USD per year or Premium at $375 USD per year which get all the videos as well as all of the exercise files. Take note that the exercise files are not included with the monthly or annual subscriptions. They are included on the DVD and Premium subscriptions.
I can highly recommend Photoshop CS3 One-On-One: The Essentials as the perfect training program for the individual student, as well as the college or vocational teacher looking to supplement their educational materials. It would be of tremendous benefit to the professional looking to upgrade their skills. You can also try out the first lesson for free at Lynda.com.
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