How hard is photoshop?

[WhereEaglesDare]

Ive been thinking of getting into photoshop but ive been scared that it will just drive my nerves crazy and I wont accomplish much, how hard isit really.  I am fairly good at MS paint and using it to alter images and such...

[ninjasquirrel]

Have you looked at Gimp?
It's a free version of photoshop that can use many of the same brushes, textures, etc and it's always evolving. It's not that bad to learn, you just have to put a little time into it.  I just started using it about 2 months ago and am digging it.  Just hop onto youtube and go through some the of tutorials people have posted on there.  Much easier to learn by watching it be done then by reading it! I'm sure photoshop would be the same as far as the tuts go.
Main thing when learning either is save different versions as you go along in case you mess up too much and can't undo that far back.  Also, once you understand the layers properties and how to use layers, you are set to go.  Good luck with it!

[Blanka]

Depends on what you want. If you want to make classic sideart (vectorstyle) then using photoshop is like making holes in concrete with a screwdriver. Totally the wrong tool for the job.

[Malenko]

photoshop is easy, getting good with it isnt.

[opt2not]

Depends on what you want. If you want to make classic sideart (vectorstyle) then using photoshop is like making holes in concrete with a screwdriver. Totally the wrong tool for the job.

Not necessarily, you can make your vector graphics in photoshop. It's more like making holes in concrete with a nail and hammer -- It can still be done, it'll just take you a heck a lot longer.

[Frigo]

I've been able to make some BASIC stuff using Photoshop like custom CD covers and what not. A lot of the advanced stuff is well over my head, and I'm just too busy to learn it right now.

[djfunkshun]

I strongly recommend the "Classroom in a Book" for learning anything that has to deal with Adobe. Be it Illustrator or Photoshop, you really can't go wrong with these books. The small local college I went to basically taught us out of these books. Once you get going it isn't really that hard.

[drventure]

photoshop is easy, getting good with it isnt.

Well said. I still scratch my head every time I spend time with photoshop, and end up firing up Fireworks and getting my image finished (yeah I know, fireworks sucks, but what the hey!)

Gimp just made my eyes bleed, but that was several years back. Maybe it's better now

[Marsupial]

I've been using photoshop for about 10 years, and still have stuff I can't do with it.

It is NOT an easy software.

but without being "good" at it, you can already achieve great things.

You can slowly learn to use it, and enjoy it, and become better at it, and enjoy it more, and become more better at it...

[Necroticart]

My advice is to focus on the basics. Learn all the tools first then experiment. also learn the layering system as part of that look into layer masks and always important keep similar layers grouped and keep in mind with Photoshop your imagination is the limit along with the file size hope you have lots of ram.

[apfelanni]

i m using photoshop 6 for a decade now and i think its 120 % nuub friendly . i never checked a tut or book for the basic funktions . new ps versions drain a lot of pc resources , so i try 2 avoid em . if u work with pixel artworks u wont find any better.  

[Necroticart]

While version 6 is not as resource hungry it's also antiquated and does not have any of the tools that most would deem necessary. My advice is to get nothing lower than CS2 also keep in mind the older versions did not offer 64 bit support a must for any serious PS user.

[patrickl]

I don't understand that people say Photoshop is difficult to use. What's so diffcult about it then?

I have to admit I have been using it since version 3, but I also used other bitmap editors and I can't see anything that would make Photoshop more difficult than any other program.

[Blanka]

i m using photoshop 6 for a decade now

I got version 6 LE with one of my scanners. Amazing how good it still is today, even under modern windowses. After 6.0 LE they went to Elements, which sucked big time for the first iterations, and only recent Elements gets similar and slightly better than 6LE in some areas. For example, 6.0 LE had 16 bit support. Elements did not have for a long time.

On my Mac I bought a full CS1 PS one time, and that one too still does all I need (I have to admit I threw in Nikon Capture NX2 for the best RAW processing for my camera, better than even CS5 does).