How did you learn how to use Photoshop Elements?

[Kendra]

:cry: How did each of you figure out how to use this program. The books that came with the software don't explain anything. I have been fumbling for three weeks now trying to create amazing things with no luck! Layers are the biggest frustration for me. Can anyone send me in the right direction to learn how to use this program?

[Grant]

Kendra

I am not sure how anyone else does it but I am project driven. I hate to just read without doing so for me projects were the way to go. Now when I was stumbling along probably at the stage you are I ran into some books by Gregory Georges his "50 Fast ... Techniques" series. As the title implies there are 50 projects to work thought and I plowed through the Elements one in a week. While they don't explain everything they certainly got me up an running in less than a week. I highly recommend these as a starting point.


Grant

[Wendy]

Kendra,

I well remember thinking that I would never get the hang using Elements ... but you do, first you learn one thing then another and before you know it you are helping others when they get stuck .... hard to believe but give it a few weeks and you will see what I mean.

Now places to learn ... well there are a few and here is one. Take a look at the top of the page and you will see Tutorials, if you click on it you will see some tutorials by Dave Cross on the subject of layers.

Layers sound complicated but they are not really. Imagine layers as a stack of papers ... and just like paper if you cut away part of one then you can see the one below.

Try the tutorials and see how you get on with them but don't forget if you get stuck just ask ... there is always someone here who will help you


Wendy

[Mary]

Have you found the video on the installation disk by Deke McLellan yet? I purchased the Total Training set from them when I started out on PSE2 and I learned a lot.

I also agree that the videos on this site are great!

[MIchael TUlly]

Kendra,I was the same way with PSE3. I bought a book from B and N by Scott Kelby(PSE3 for digital photographers). Now I use PSE3 like a pro.

I would get it if I were you.

Good luck

Mike :

[Chuck S.]

Add one more book to the list: Photoshop Element 3 Solutions by Mikkel Aaland. This is the third edition of a classic; very well-organized, easy to read, good examples and exercises. I highly recommend it.

Chuck

[Jodi Frye]

well unlike everyone else I never bought a book. I just fiddled with the program t'il i started to figure it out...bit by bit. After about 4 months of doing that I found the Adobe forums and from there i would say that I pretty much picked up 3 times more. Once you get the basics down then it just gets pretty easy. I suggest you do buy a book or two. They have helped many people.

[Wendi Karen]

Hi Kendra

I am totally new to Photoshop as well. I bought a book called "Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 - Classroom in a Book", which is the official training workbook from Adobe Systems and it has been a huge help! It is well written, easy to follow with step by step instructions. I found it to be a great starting point for learning the basics of Photoshop for an absolute beginner.

Good luck!

Wendi

[CentrePa]

Kendra,
Like Grant I also found Gregory Georges "50 Fast ... Techniques" early on and tried all of his projects, some of them did not come easy but I learned by doing, rather than by reading.
I bought a few more books after I got Elements 2 but I didn’t have it very long before Elements 3 came out.
I completely gave up on the organizer pretty fast and am only concentrating on the editor.
Now I spend a few hours a week ‘collecting’ tutorials off the Internet of projects I want to try (even ones in Photoshop) and am building my own ‘notebook of favorite techniques. As a result I am using the Elements 2 manual constantly.
I don’t know what the going price for Elements 2 is right now but depending on your money supply, I think it would be worthwhile to consider buying Elements 2 just to get the manual that comes with it even though there are a few tools not covered. I think my level of frustration would be unbearable if I didn’t have a base manual to refer to. But then I also have to deal with my poor declining memory.
Jane

[Foxhound]

I guess I'm doing it the old fashioned way....enrolled in a "distant education" course

Last March or so I enrolled in "Digital Photography, the complete course" offered from the New York Institute of Photography

www.nyip.com

They take you from the absolute beginning of digital camera's and then take you step by step through Photoshop as it applies to photography. Unfortunately, they teach using Photoshop 7 so I've had to make a few work arounds to get thus far in the course. I still have quite a ways to go but they've taught me so much that I feel extremely comfortable with PSE3.

It's kinda expensive but they are detailed in their teachings. It was worth the investment !