I'm newly interested in old family photos, and want to learn to restore them.

I'd like to try my hand at it before investing any money. As such, I've downloaded the 30 day trials of Photoshop and Paintshop pro. Since I've never worked with anything more than MSPaint before, many of the terms you use here are foreign to me. (Burn, healing, masks, layers, etc.)

Can you recommend a good beginner's guide or such to help me find my footing?

This site has a lot of beginner level info, it's based on Photoshop 7, but much of it is pertinent to newer versions.

http://www.arraich.com/ps_intro.htm

Also read through the Tutorial section here at RetouchPro, there's an awful lot of very good information on all sorts of topics.


If you want some good reading material, try Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann, may be a bit advanced for you at this stage, but it really is the retoucher's bible.

This site has a lot of beginner level info, it's based on Photoshop 7, but much of it is pertinent to newer versions.

http://www.arraich.com/ps_intro.htm

Also read through the Tutorial section here at RetouchPro, there's an awful lot of very good information on all sorts of topics.


If you want some good reading material, try Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann, may be a bit advanced for you at this stage, but it really is the retoucher's bible.

Thanks, I'll check it out. I've looked at many of the retouchpro tutorials, but most of them seem to assume some level of knowledge with photoshop, and I'm starting from scratch. As such, even the tutorials are over my head. :)

My 2 cents...

You can buy the new version of paintshoppro (11) for less than $75. This is an excellent program for the money and will let you get your feet wet before you begin investing a lot of money. The key word around this forum is "practice". I have been at this since 2003 and I am just scratching the surface....so much to learn, but with patience and "practice" you WILL get better. I often ask some pretty basic questions, but there is always someone out there that will give me advice. I'd also advise you to go into your local book store and look at the books that discuss digital photography, photoshop and paintshop. If you find a book you like, then buy it and begin trying some of the techniques. Do the basics first before you and eventually you will begin trying new concepts. Also be willing to experiment.

skydog makes a good point in reference to paint shop pro. the learning curve is much easier. when you get some of the basics down and are feeling more comfortable with things, why, just graduate yourself up to photoshop.

the downside with that method is that most tutorials and helps are going to be in photoshop and they just dont always translate into Paint Shop Pro. still, a lot of folks do use psp.

another good way to get up and running is to simply post an image you want to work on. ask questions and then try out the answers you get. if you dont know the terminology and the tools, ask about those as well. just be prepared for the eventual 'read the freakin manual' :) most of the answers are in the manuals both Paint Shop Pro and Photoshop provide. they also have a lot of answers on their respective web sites.

also, i've found it's a good practice to not take on too much at once. learn ONE thing and learn it well and you'll find yourself teaching rather than just learning. the basics are the key. learn the tools and what they do and you'll find that even though you've never done a particular thing before, since you know the tools you dont even have to ask about a technique.

and one last tip; if you find yourself just totally stuck on something, be a bulldog. dont just go past it and take on something new. you'll find yourself taking that 'easy' way out time and time again until you've gone past so much that you know little more than when you started. that thing you never learned and got stuck on will haunt you till the day you die. be a bulldog; get it unstuck. get it unraveled. look up words in dictionaries even if it's just online dictionaries. it's surprising how effective that can be at times.

Hi Aurock,

.. and if I haven't done it yet, welcome to RetouchPRO!! :pleased:

I'm a self-taught biiiig Photoshop fan... but I don't want to advertise... :wink:

In addition to the great advices you've already received, I'd like to suggest that independently of what software you decide to buy, take your time to read the help files ... they are really the very first enormous help for getting familiar with the different Tools, their 'names' and, basically, what they can be used for .... Look for beginners/newbie Tutorials and begin experimenting following them step by step ... and, whenever you feel lost or in doubt ... just yell ... someone will always be here to help you!!!

Hope this helps... :happy:

If you want some good reading material, try Photoshop Restoration & Retouching by Katrin Eismann, may be a bit advanced for you at this stage, but it really is the retoucher's bible.

Thanks, I picked this up tonight at the local B&N, and so far it's really a great read. Compared to the other books I looked at there, this one seems to give a lot of info on why you use certain things, and starts relatively simple.

You're welcome.

Glad you liked it. Katrin has a nice informative style that's easy to get on with, most here have got a great deal of benefit from reading it.