Which course first?

[sakura]

Hello,

I've had Elements 4 for several months now and have just begun putting the time in to learn about it. I've checked a hundred books out at the library and am wading through them all, which is actually slowing the process down considerably. :)

Thought I could really benefit from taking a course or two, and I just don't know where to start. I've got a lot of experience with the organizer, though I do not feel very organized at all. I'm looking at the Layers, Workflow or Organizing courses. Choosing the layers course is a no-brainer since I know next to nothing about layers. Can anyone give me some more information about the content of the Digital Photography Workflow and Organizing courses? The descriptions are a little sparse on details. I'm not sure what level of experience they are aimed at or what the content of the courses is like.

Would love to hear from anyone who's taken them. What level were you at when you started and did you find the information helpful?

Thank you!

--Kristie

[Bayla]

Hi Kristie,

I took the course in the order they were available, ie Workflow, Retouching, Layers. (Didn't take the Organising course) Having said that if I were doing them now I would definitely take the layers course first, followed by Workflow & Retouching.

Layers are the backbone of Elements & once you have a working knowledge of layers and how they work everything else falls into place more easily.

The Layers course can be taken by complete beginners through to experts, & everybody has benefited from it. Even Wendy, our resident Elements guru, took the Layers course (though I suspect she could have given it herself!) I've gone over the Workflow course since taking the Layers course & got far more out of it because of my new found knowledge.

If there are any problems you run into whilst taking the course there's always a friendly face on this forum who will be more than happy to help you out.

Hope this answers your questions a wee bit.

Bayla

[Wendy]

Hi Kristie ...

I agree with Bayla ... I would suggest the layers one first to get a grounding in layers, then the Workflow one and then the Retouching one :)

All of the classes are excellent and I am sure that you will benefit from them ...

Wendy

[Dorrie H.]

I have taken all the courses offered thus far, and I concur completely with Bayla and Wendy. As for the Organizer couse, if you are getting along okay now with the Organizer, then this course will probably not benefit you too much. Don't get me wrong, it is still a good course and certainly worth $20.

Dorrie

[sakura]

You've all given such good advice! I would not have considered taking the layers course first if it had not been for all of this input. I'm going to follow your suggestions, skip the organizing course and start with layers.

Now can I plumb your brains for just a little more wisdom? What books do you think complement the courses best? If any of you feel confident enough that you could put together a total Elements curriculum, I'd be interested in hearing what parts of which books you would use in conjunction with the online courses.

Also, I recognize that there's a certain amount of psychology and philosophy that go into the creation of great images. So I can see the need to develop my ability to recognize and create good art at the same time as working on the technical side of things. Any suggestions for resources in this area?

Thank you!

--Kristie

[Wendy]

Hi Kristie ...

I don't think that I would get a book at this stage ... I would do the layers course and then go for a more advanced book rather than a basic one.

I rather like Scott Kelby's writing style, it suits my way of learning so I would suggest one of his :)

Wendy

[Dorrie H.]

The Missing Manual by Barbara Brundage is also good. You can get it for either ver. 3 or ver. 4.
I do agree with Wendy that I would hold off on the books for right now and concentrate on the online course here and the many video's in the subscribers area.

Dorrie

[ncsu67]

I am also a newbie considering my first course...probably Layers, based on the above. Can someone tell me how the courses are presented? Do I watch a segment, then go to PSE4 and try it myself, or is it an interactive type thing? Is there text to print out for future reference, etc?

[Wendy]

Hi ...

The online classes are Videos ... you also get the images and a PDF of the class. So you are able to follow the stages of the lesson and try it out on the same images ...

They really are good ... :)

Wendy

[Bayla]

Kristie,

I think 'The Missing Manual' is a good one to have from the beginning, an excellent reference book for PSE. I also have two Scott Kelby books - 'The Photoshop Elements 3 Book for Digital Photographers' (There's one for 4 as well) & 'Down & Dirty Tricks', but I think you'll get more out of them once you've taken the courses.

Bayla

[sakura]

Thanks for all your comments! I have lots of library books on PSE 3 and 4 floating around at the moment. They are fun to flip through, but so informative that they're actually overwhelming to start with. All the books you mentioned are on my wish list at Amazon.com. I will certainly be purchasing one or more somewhere along the way. Looking forward to getting started on the layers course after this weekend!

--Kristie

[ncsu67]

Another book I really like is "Photoshop Elements 4 one-on-one" by Deke McClelland. Has a DVD included with 2 hours of instruction.

[Norm F]

I really enjoyed the Layers course and learned a lot. I took the Workflow course first because the layers course wasn't available then. That order worked well for me bacause I think i learned a lot about various tools which was probably helpful as I took the layers course. I think I got more out of it having had a pretty good overview of the various tools from the Workflow course.

[sakura]

Norm,

That makes sense, and that's exactly what I was thinking at first, too. I suppose there are advantages either way you do it. Thanks for your input, I'll consider it.


ncsu,

I have the Deke McClelland book you mentioned, as well as PSE 3 for Dummies, which was also written by him. The books are so different, but so good! I think the fourth Dummies book was written by a different author.

--Kristie