About the course

08 July 2010 10:19

What you’ll need
Digital Camera
Card reader
Good PC with plenty of RAM
Internet connection
Photoshop Elements 7 or 8
Optional: Photoshop CS3 or newer
Optional: Lightroom 2 or newer

Why Photoshop Elements?
We’ve all heard of Photoshop, so you may be wondering why it’s not the main focus of this course. Well, there are two very good reasons for this. Firstly, Photoshop CS5 costs around £640 rather than £80 for Photoshop Elements 8, which is clearly out of the reach of many. And secondly, Photoshop is overkill for the majority of photographers. Sure, Elements is a trimmed-down version of Photoshop, but is still capable of seriously advanced editing. Its few shortcoming can often be overcome with a bit of experimentation and know-how too. What’s more, even if you do outgrow elements within a few years, you’ll be eligible for a hefty discount when upgrading to Photoshop. In fact, this discount currently covers the costs of Elements altogether so you can’t go wrong. This icing on the cake is that the handling and tools are virtually identical between the two packages too, so moving between the two is a synch.

How we’ve structured the course
Each module has been carefully balanced to bring you both beginner and advanced advice a way that’s logical, progressive and easy to digest. To simplify the learning process, we’ve separated the content into four distinct types of information, which makes the course easier to navigate and understand.

Key skills
This is where you’ll find the practical information and step-by-steps that will guide you through the main techniques you need to master. Practice these and cast them to memory, to become proficient at editing and enhancing your pictures.

Expert tips
There’s always more then one way to complete a task in software and our aim is to teach you only the best techniques. However, if there are additional ideas that are worth considering, our experts will reveal their advanced working practices so you can benefit from their in-depth knowledge.

Understand…
In the ‘Understand…’ panels you’ll find technical information and background reading related to the topics being discussed. These will help broaden your understanding, making the principles easier to remember, and ultimately give you the tools to deal with different situations that don’t quite fit our step-by-steps.

Crossover techniques
Some of the best software techniques require consideration right from the point of capture. So you don’t miss out, we’ll cover off essential camera skills so you’re able to take advantage of all the modern digital workflow has to offer.