New to photoshop

[Kristenmc]

Hey everyone.
I am new to this website, it looks very helpful! I have been taking pictures for about a year now. I don't know alot about photoshop at all. I tried downloading GIMP and trying to learn it but I haven't done too much with it. My birthday is coming up and I think I am going to get a photoshop program, I just don't know which one. I do alot of sports photography but would also like to get into doing some portraits. I want to get into photography more seriously but need a good beginner photoshop... any ideas?

[Swampy]

Hi, Kris. Welcome to RetouchPro! Explore and Enjoy!

I'm not sure what you mean by a beginner photoshop. PS Elements is the watered down version and has many of the features of PS. It has many of the same features as PS although they are in a different user interface. If you are serious about advancing yourself then PS is the better (but more expensive) way to go.

There are many good free tutorials on the web for learning. Just google "Photoshop tutorials". For $25 a month (last I checked) you can access all the Photoshop lessons you want 24/7 at Lynda.com. If you go this route, be sure to cancel your subscription once you've signed up or they will bill you in following months until you do cancel.