Strangers Question

Question:
I am just about to buy Photoshop. It is very exciting, but very daunting. Do you have any recommendations for how to get started (books, online tutorials, classes, etc.)? Any other beginners tips would be helpful for me. I know many others already know how to do lots of the basics, but for those of us who are new, anything you want to share is greatly appreciated.


I am assuming since you have used the word "daunting" to describe your photoshop feelings you must be purchasing Photoshop CS4??
There is a program I recommend you buy along with Photoshop and that is the Ron Nickels Pallate (google search: RNDS retouching). This is a VERY easy program that can show ANY one how to use photoshop. For instance let's say you wanted to brighten someones eyes...all you do is go over to "brighten eyes" on the palate and it pick the perfect brush and opacity to "brighten eyes." It's amazing. Every tool has a video instruction that explains (VERY WELL) how to use it. It's amazing. Other than that I have watched a lot of tutorials on Youtube, and that has been really helpful to me, but I am a visual learner. I think there is a photoshop for dummies if you are the kinda person who needs to learn from a text book. Did that help?

What are you using photoshop for?