If your just a beginner I have made a very simple to follow beginners video for you covering some of the basics. I did this for my wife on a Sunday afternoon so you see my mistakes, hear the traffic etc but they will show you the basics and get you up and running quickly.
Click here to watch the video.
Here is the action script for the ebook covers I used in the above tutorial Download here. (zip file 117kb)
If you prefer reading here is a great pdf that will also take you through the basics.
Once you learn the basics our friends over at Watch And Learn Photoshop are releasing a few new products and have also released not one, not two, not three but seven free photoshop video tutorials/tips. Their videos are a lot more professional than my Sunday afternoon effort.
Here they are:
You may already know the basics of the levels adjustment tool, but in this video, Geoff Riggs will show you a neat little trick you may not have known. Using this method you’ll be able to very quickly and effectively adjust the brightness and contrast of your image in a very intuitive manner.
It seems like it would be quite a task to straighten up a picture of an object that was taken at a severe angle. However, Photoshop’s Perspective Cropping feature allows you to do this in one simple step. In this video, you’ll learn how to use this amazing tool in Photoshop.
The great thing about text effects is that they’re usually very easy to reproduce. In this tutorial, trainer Geoff Riggs will show you how to make a steel text effect, and then he’ll show you how to save this effect so that it can easily be applied to other layers in the future.
Colorizing Black and White Photos
Many black and white images can be made much more interesting simply by adding a little color. In today’s tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you how to paint color onto a black and white photo.
In today’s video tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you how to created a quick and easy frame for your photographs simply using the eraser tool.
Non-Destructive Dodging and Burning
The Dodge and Burn tools in Photoshop are great tools for lightening and darkening areas of your images. However, these tools are destructive to your original photograph and can only be reversed using your History panel. In this tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you a more creative and effective way of achieving the same effects without affecting the image layer itself.
Series Preview – Creating a New Document
Today’s tip is an excerpt from the upcoming video series, “Introduction to Photoshop CS 2? by trainer Geoff Riggs. In this video clip, you’ll learn some of the basic options available to you when creating a new document in Photoshop.
When resizing an image in Photoshop, if you use all the default settings, the image will end up with a little bit of a blur to it–hardly distinguishable, but it is there. In this tutorial, you will learn how to customize the way your image is resampled when you resize it in order to maintain the sharpness of the image.
Have you ever wanted a line of text to pop off the page? In this tip, Brian Harber shows a 3D angle effect that will make your text standout.
Who knows where the new style of a single-color (usually red) contrasted with black and white came from? Regardless, Brian Harber shows us in this video the various methods of capturing that vibrant red or other color while desaturating the rest.
In this tip, Brian Harber explores the wide potential in sky replacement and subsequent color adjustment. If you’ve ever had a picture that you loved, but it was unfortunately very cloudy or dull, here’s an easy way to spice up that picture.
There are lots of methods of aging a photo. Instead of just weathering and roughing it up, Brian Harber shows us the basic properties of old photo exposure, and how to achieve the same look in Photoshop. [High contrast, fuzziness, random shadow from flash; no true black; THEN add dust & scratches]
“Photoshop CS2 – Designing with Photos” Preview
In this video tutorial, trainer Geoff Riggs demonstrates several different ways to convert an image to black and white using Photoshop CS2, and discusses the positives and negatives of each method.
Open Type Font Embellishments
Description:
Photoshop trainer Geoff Riggs shows you how to add embellishments and alter the appearance of specific letter pairings for open type fonts.
Tricky Selections
Description:
It’s not always easy to make complex selections in your Photoshop images, but in this tutorial, trainer Geoff Riggs will show you one very effective way to use the highlights in an image to make a selection in order to alter an image.
Cucoloris (”Cookie”) Effect
Description:
A cucoloris (or “cookie”) is a metal sheet with patterns cut out of it, intended to cast patterned shadows on the background (and often the subject) of a photograph. In this tutorial, trainer Geoff Riggs will show you how to achieve the same effect in Photoshop.
Dotted Lines
Description:
Photoshop doesn’t provide any quick means of creating dotted lines, but in this tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you how to create your own customized dotted line quickly and easily, using the paintbrush tool.
Ever have one of those photographs where the sky is too bright and harsh? In this tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you an amazingly effective trick for toning down and recoloring an overly bright sky.
Warping Text with Smart Objects:
There are many ways to warp text in Photoshop, but most of them have their limitations. Some methods allow you to edit your text after warping, but don’t provide full customization of HOW you warp the text. Other methods allow full customization but don’t allow you to edit the text afterwards. In this tutorial, Geoff Riggs will show you a method for warping text that will give you the best of both worlds.