This is way off-topic, but I'm desperate. I also don't have a lot of money. I want comprehensive instruction on Photoshop CS (Ver. 8) on the cheap (book, dvd). That doesn't mean I won't work at it. Photoshop is not for the lazy.

I've taken local courses on Photoshop some time ago, but I get behind in class, do whatever to get thru it, & go home no wiser. It's amazing the expertise where I am. What I'm saying is, I want to go at my own pace.

RetouchPRO has lots of tutorials for specific issues; I want something comprehensive. I'm experienced with earlier versions of Photoshop, but have a long way to go after posting and reading posts on this Website. It's your discussions about my posts & attachments that got me to this point.

I have the printed Photoshop User Guide for CS, but I don't like the onscreen helps the guide refers me to after a brief discussion. Not that they're not informative, I just don't like clicking back & forth, etc. Printing them is out of the question, unless one of you says that's what I should do. (I wonder how much ink & paper I would go thru to print out the entire Photoshop Helps.)

What books and/or dvds did you find helpful, if any? Amazon.com shows Bruce Fraser has collaborated on a book re: Photoshop CS. "How to Gurus" has 2 dvds. These, among others. Who/what, if any, were most helpful to you?

I'd save the money you'll spend on Photoshop CS books or DVDs and upgrade to Photoshop CS3. It will be much simpler to find instructional materials for current software. It even comes with a free month of lynda.com.

check out the library too.

Hi,

We have 3 assistants that we needed to get grounded and functioning in basic-medium Photoshop skills...FAST.

For $25 you can get access to a vast amount of online Photoshop video training material at Lynda.com; in fact over 100 hours worth. And its great material, well made and covers everything from color correction, retouching, compositing, masking, filters...you name it.

When you compare this to the fact that a decent photoshop book from Amazon or Barnes & Noble will set you back easily $40...going with online training at sites like Lynda.com for a measly $25 is a no-brainer.

It may sound like an infomercial...but we run a pro studio and used it, as I said, to quickly train our assistants.

Good luck!
Damien
http://www.digitalsistere.com

I just ordered a CD-ROM from Lynda.com, "Photoshop CS Essential Training," after viewing some samples of the program. Thanks to all for recommending Lynda.com.

Lynda.com is wonderful!