A Bit Eclectic

Recently I have had the urge to learn Photoshop. I have always seen it as a powerful yet untameable beast. I have tried fiddling with the software before and got nowhere. There were just too many features and I didn’t even know the basics.

Awhile ago I heard about the site Lynda.com, which provides video tutorials covering a large range of subjects. The videos are led by some extremely talented professionals who really know their stuff. They peel back the various layers of the software, moving from the basics to more advanced techniques. The provide the viewer with numerous real world examples and teach tricks and shortcuts along the way.

Each subject (like Photoshop or Web Design) has multiple sets of videos that allow you to focus on specific topics and skills. Each set is then composed of many shorter videos that walk through the software. The short video format allows you to skip topics that you already know and cover a subject over many days. You can easily leave off on one video and pick up the next whenever you have time.

Lynda.com offers a couple free videos on every topic. However, to get the real benefit you should move up to the subscription plan for $25 a month. This is an outstanding price considering how much material is covered.

I am currently working through the Photoshop for Photographers and Creative Photographic Technique tutorials which are led by Chris Orwig. He does an excellent job of introducing ideas and techniques as well as reinforcing them throughout the trainings. If you have ever wanted to learn a piece of software I suggest giving lynda.com a look.

Adobe has been releasing a ton of neat things lately.  The newest addition is Photoshop Express, a web based photo editing application.  It may be one of the most powerful yet simple web apps that I have seen so far.  To top it all off, it is absolutely free.

Photoshop Express provides users with 2GB of free storage where they can upload, organize, edit, and share photos.  Once uploaded, you can change the photo’s titles, captions, descriptions and other information.  The can also be organized into albums which can be shared with friends and family.

That is all neat, but the real power is the editing.  With Photoshop Express, you can edit any photo that you have uploaded.  There are tons of options ranging from cropping and saturation to hue adjustments.  When I say powerful, I am not implying that it is comparable to Photoshop CS3.  It isn’t anywhere near Photoshop and isn’t trying to be, but it is still great for what it is.

The interface is great.  In editing mode, you select the action you want to perform on the left hand side.  Then at the top, you can move a slider to change the adjustments.  Alternatively, there are a row of thumbnails above the slider showing the affect on the photo.  As you hover over these thumbnails, it demonstrates these affects on the actual photos instantly.  To apply the affect, just click on the thumbnail.  All of the editing in non-destructive and can be changed any time.

Photoshop Express will really shine with consumers.  There are many people who want to jazz up their photos but are scared off when it the answer is Photoshop.  Photoshop Express makes it insanely simple and cheap for these users to get in on the action.  Adobe has done a great job at providing these users with a place to store, edit, and share photos.

My feeling is that this will become Adobe’s gateway to future Photoshop purchases.  This will help get people’s feet wet and make them desire more power that Photoshop can deliver.  None the less, it is a great web application to have available for those quick and easy edits.  Oh, and did I mention that it’s free.

Here is a photo that I tweaked in Photoshop Express.

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