Is it just me, or do others here find Photoshop very unintuitive ? I’ve been struggling for a few months to try to be fairly proficient in it, looking at video tutorials etc, but still really struggle with it :sick: :sick:
Heh heh, I’m the same. I find Illustrator very intuitive, but for quite a while have found Ps the opposite.
However, I must say that in recent months I’ve decided to try out lots of online tutorials, and suddenly I feel like I’m getting it. The books teach you about the tools, but not really how to be creative (in my experience).
Ultimately, though Ps is a pretty sophisticated tool, and learning to use it well is like learning a musical instrument. It takes a lot of practice.
What sorts of things are you trying to do?
Thanks Ralph, (you sure you’re not my stalker :)) Glad it isn’t just me that finds it difficult, you can see that it is a very powerful programme, but just doing basics seems so blinking difficult :sick:
As for what I’m trying to do, well, undo the last action, making a background black, etc, etc.
Been trying to create a text box, and make the text within that box white and the background white - is that possible, or do I have to create a rectangular marquee tool ? ?
undo the last action, making a background black, etc, etc.
For undo, you can click Control-z to undo one action, or Edit > Step Backward to undo multiple actions (but one at a time). Better still, open the History tab and it shows you a whole list of actions. Click any previous action to undo all those that followed it.
One way to make a background black is to open the Layers palette, click Create new Fill or Adjustment Layer at the bottom > Solid color.
Or go to Layer > New fill layer…
create a text box, and make the text within that box white and the background white
I presume you aren’t trying to do both at once!
If you draw a text box, there are lots of controls at the top of the screen, including a colored box with the text color in it. Click that box to choose a different color. (You can also set the text color in the Text palette.)
As for background color for the text box… now you’ve got me there.
put down a rectangle using the rectangle primitive tool on a layer, put the text on a layer above that one 
Yeah, that’s how I do it, but wasn’t going to rule out the possibility that the text box itself could be colored. You can do it in InDesign. Strange that these suite programs are not more consistent.
Is Photoshop easy to learn ? ?
God, no. It’s driven me insane for over a year. Ralph, what tuts did you find that helped you get past the first humps?
Actually, I highly recommend Jennifer’s SitePoint blog posts.
Also, I’ve lately found that rather than trying to learn everything there is to know (a most daunting mountain to climb) I just look up online tutorials for things I need to do. There’s an incredible number of tutes out there.
For example, recently I wanted to create a torn paper edges effect, and by Googling something like ‘paper torn edge photophop’ I found lots of great tutes—each showing a different solution—and I learned a lot about Ps while getting my question answered.
It would probably help if I devoted some real time and patience to learning it as well…
Yes that’s what it takes, and it’s hard to get motivated. Although, once you try a few tutes and see the great results, it becomes a bit addictive.
Many thanks Ralph and the others here for the help - it’s very much appreciated. I’ve printed off the instructions here for ps.
@ Ralph, I should have said, white text on a black background, you see the agony surrounding PS is starting to make my brain addled
@ SpikeZ, thanks for that will try it now. It seems as though for everything new to be added to an image, you must keep creating layers really.
Maybe it can’t be done ?
I’m assuming from SpikeZ’s response that it’s not. Like him, I just create a box on a lower layer, but I didn’t want to rule out the possibility that there was a better way. I’m also still on CS3, so things may have changed there as well.
Thanks, have tried the helpful suggestions here for the background, by doing two layers, one for the background and one for the text, and it worked, so thanks for that. Although, it would have been quicker to have applied the background color to the text box, but no worries
Been teaching basic and intermediate class’s for adults to learn general computer use, including Word, Acces and Excel, for many, many years, but this Photoshop is proving a very steep learning curve - but it won’t get the better of me, especially with the help of you friendly, helpful bunch helping me out when I get stuck :tup:
I’m only on Photoshop 7 (don’t you know there’s a recession on at the moment ? :)) I may have a chance of getting the Photoshop CS soon - is there any differences in any of the versions from Photoshop 7 onwards ? especially in the easy-to-use / intuitive department
Dez
There are HUGE differences between 7 and CS4, sadly none of them address the intuitivness issue!! To be honest though, most of us only use a tiny proportion of what PS is capable of so once you get used to using the basics then you are well on your way.
Would Photoshop Elements be a better choice for someone just starting out?
This is just my opinion, but it might depend on what you are aiming to do in the end. If you want to make good use of Ps over time, I would just start with the full version. I started with the Classroom in a Book guide, and it’s not actually hard at all to start using Ps right away.
If you are aiming to do simple things, you might even look at a free image editing program.
I meant to jump in on this thread the other day but forgot but I wanted to add my 2 cents.
Photoshop is not one of those programs you ‘learn’ and you are done. It takes years to master it even if you do ever ‘master’ it. It takes time, lots of tutorials, a few books and a whole lot of practice. I have been using it since version 5 AND I taught it at the college level and I still don’t claim to know it all nor do I think I ever will.
Photoshop is a tool that you dig into and just keep using it and practicing and before you know it great things will come.
Everything takes some effort to learn. Its possible to learn photoshop but it takes some time. There are online tutorials that can help. Or you can just pay a graphics designer to create your images for you.