Hi,
I'm a complete newbie to photoshop Cs2 and want to learn it like the back of my hand but am quite confused as to where a good starting place would be as far as educational tools. What I'm really wanting to do with photoshop is work as a photo retoucher in the beauty/glam/fashion industry.

These are my goals and I'd appreciate some suggestions specific to learning BASICS in photoshop as I know I need to gain a good understanding of the program in a relatively simple teaching style that won't go too far above my limited understanding before I delve into the complexities of perfecting skin, masking, compositing, etc.

I've read that Eismann's photoshop masking & compositing and her Photoshop Restoration and Retouching is a great resource. I'm ready to purchase these two books and dive right in, however some folks have commented on the Amazon site that it's not for beginners. Does anyone have any input on these 2 books for me as to whether they would just totally confuse with since my understanding of the basics is so limited? just wanted some advice on those before I go ahead and buy.

Also, any suggestions on interactive dvd's that would aid me in my educating myself on the art of retouching for fashion, high end beauty photography? I'd really like to target getting something specific to this type of retouching.

Thank you thank you thank you, anyone who comments, I appreciate your help!

Kristina

if you're a complete newbie, i suggest the photoshop bible..you have to learn the different tools before you start learning specific techniques...

thank you!

do you have any thoughts on Mark Monciardini's Marks Photoshop Top Secret program? It seems like a very thorough way to learn photoshop through interactive dvd's. Do you feel as though it would be a good buy for me seeing as how I'm specifically wanting to do fashion retouching?
http://www.photoshoptopsecret.com/

i saw those dvd's and they're not bad, but i wouldn't recommend them for beginners..the one thing i didn't like is they used the .flv format for the video as opposed to .mov files which is what Total Training uses, and they also do not supply any type of pdf that can be printed out and read away from the computer...

what's the difference between .flv format and .mov? Is there any benefit over one or the other? What is Total Training? Is that a course you recommend?
thanks again for your responses ;)

.mov is better quality and i can play those with quicktime, flv files used to be a format you could only see in your web browser..Total Training and Lynda.com are both good resources for beginner to intermediate level...

thanks again for your help!