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Download This Topic Previous topic Next topic	Help me learn illustrator/photoshop...PLEASE!
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Grayson Mendenhall

Visual Guru

Joined: 17 Dec 2006

Posts: 59

Location: The Durham Herald-Sun, Durham, NC

Posted:
Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:06 pm

Can anyone out there suggest some good resources for learning Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop? There are so many books out there (most as thick as a phone book) and I'm trying to get some feedback from some seasoned vets. I've also looked into those Total Training videos but I don't really have the scratch to drop $400 on three DVDs.

Hook me up

John Zhu

Maestro

Joined: 12 May 2004

Posts: 275

Location: Durham, NC

Posted:
Sat Feb 03, 2007 5:38 pm

If you're looking to learn how to use the basic functions, try Lynda.com. It offers online training videos for all sorts of programs. I've been using their Flash tutorials and have found it to be quite good. You can subscribe on a monthly basis ($25 a month) or pay (I think) $300 for a whole year, depending on how quickly you think it'll take you to grasp the program. The good thing is that you're paying for access to the entire site (ALL of their software tutorials), not just photoshop or just illustrator.

As for Photoshop books, a good one for beginners is the ol' reliable Down & Dirty Tricks for Photoshop book by Scott Kelby. It teaches you how to do various "tricks" but at the same time, it's written in such a way that someone who doesn't know photoshop can learn a lot about the program just by following the steps. Once you're more comfortable w/ the basics, I'd recommend checking out Bert Monroy's "Photoshop Studio" and "Commerical Photoshop". They not only teach you about photoshop, but also show you the kind of thinking it takes to produce a good photo illustration.
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Grayson Mendenhall

Visual Guru

Joined: 17 Dec 2006

Posts: 59

Location: The Durham Herald-Sun, Durham, NC

Posted:
Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:43 pm

Thanks for the quick reply! Where in Durham do you work, The Indy?

coffeymaker

Juke Box Hero

Joined: 19 Jul 2004

Posts: 37

Location: Post-Tribune Merrillville IN

Posted:
Sat Feb 03, 2007 8:03 pm

If you are looking for books, when I first started using photoshop, I was given the Adobe Photoshop: Classroom in a book. That book was fantastic. It comes with a CD. That was back when photoshop was known as 3.0. Today, Adobe has two classroom in a books . First, the basics and then the more advanced stuff. I would definately start there. Learning the basis is the most important thing.

Second, when it comes to illustrator, of course, there are the classroom in a book series but I haven't checked them out. I recommend start with creating locator maps, from scratch. They are simple and straight forward and not that difficult to do.

Fisch

Secret Agent

Joined: 23 Mar 2004

Posts: 83

Location: Seattle Times

Posted:
Sat Feb 03, 2007 9:26 pm

I'll second the Classroom in a Book series. That's how I first started learning photoshop and illustrator.
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"We all know a really snazzy design can cover up the crappiest of content."

mcnaughton

Newbie

Joined: 23 Jul 2004

Posts: 1

Location: Syracuse, NY

Posted:
Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:02 pm

I'd also suggest checking out Adobe's DesignCenter at
http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/
It's searchable and there are a lot of good html tutorials with pdf downloads, so you can print 'em and keep 'em. These are mostly useful if you have specific questions (like what can I do with the gradient mesh tool).

How much do you know already? Are you just starting out with these programs? Because part of the hard part at first is getting your head around what the software is intended to do; though AI, PS & InD have similar interfaces, they're really different in what they're meant to do, and that's a big part of getting off to a good start.

I'd heartily second the recommendation for Lynda.com -- and check our her books. I've gone through heaps of different "teach yourself" books, and hers have always been among the best for me. Her approach is kind of general, but that's what you need at first.

After you start feeling comfortable with PS & AI, you should look at the Wow! books. They run about $50 new each, but I think they're really valuable. They're basically a bunch of step-by-step tutorials on how to do dozens of things you'd spend the next 10 years learning. I have 'em both and periodically pull 'em down and browse, to see what new techniques I can learn.

I also lend 'em to my students so they can get a taste.

Good luck!

Autumn Heep

Contributing editor

Joined: 01 Apr 2006

Posts: 161

Location: Syracuse (Yes, we get a lot of snow), NY

Posted:
Sun Feb 04, 2007 8:16 pm

Check out iTunes too.

Lynda.com has some Photoshop and other program video tutorials. I haven't looked at them, just letting you know they're there.

Searching Photoshop brought up a bunch of pod and videocasts if you wanted to wade through those.

After becoming acquainted with the programs, I found Scott Kelby's "Killer Tips" to have some great advice for simplifying and speeding up workflow and other "hidden" secrets, like creating the super palette in illustrator. Barnes and Noble has all the CS2 killer tips books for $36, they're $26 a piece, so it's a deal.

Linda De Rosa

Tiki Lounger

Joined: 09 May 2006

Posts: 10

Location: Strasburg, Va.

Posted:
Sun Feb 04, 2007 11:18 pm

I second the iTunes suggestion. I am buying a iPod this weekend so I have been loading up on Podcasts and there are a bunch on photoshop. I haven't looked into any illustrator ones, but the few photoshop one's I've seen seem pretty good.
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Ashley Dinges

Contributing editor

Joined: 03 Sep 2005

Posts: 109

Location: University of Michigan

Posted:
Tue Feb 06, 2007 3:00 am

Grayson Mendenhall wrote::

I've also looked into those Total Training videos but I don't really have the scratch to drop $400 on three DVDs.

We used these to train a whole college paper staff during a switch to InDesign in mass training sessions. They're pretty good, but not worth the money if you're paying for it yourself and only using it for one person.

Also, a tip if you don't feel like dropping any money, and it may seem really obvious but this is what I did: If you don't know a program at all, first do all of the tutorials that come with it. I first learned Illustrator just by sitting down and reading the manual and doing all of the tutorials. Then I picked up tips later from other designers or online tutorials.

Of course you don't learn about all the features from them, but it's a really good, cheap place to start.

Richard Bruns

Newbie

Joined: 06 Feb 2007

Posts: 1

Location: Napa CA

Posted:
Tue Feb 06, 2007 11:55 am

Hi
This is what I have done/am doing. Largely self-taught, and very inadequately, I started taking classes at a nearby Junior College ($20/credit unit plus text books). I have successfully learned InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator and Acrobat. I am currently taking Advanced Photoshop. Next semester I will be taking advanced InDesign and Advanced Illustrator. The instructors are (1) masters degree holders (2) successful freelancers (3) Adobe Certified Experts (a requirement made by Adobe who supports the program with marvelous discounts and other perks). Every day that I go class I return to my job with new information on how to do it better. The downside - it takes awhile to get through a semester. The upside, knowledgable real-world instructors, inexpensive instruction, discounts on software (for educational/student qualified, $399 for CS2!), and an imposed discipline that fits into my work-schedule high volume deadline schedule. It works very well for me; it might for you.
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