Retention Levels of Online (Such

Retention Levels of Online (such as PhotoShop) Training Tutorials

Online tutorials are today widely and freely available, to anyone at all who is interested in picking up a new skill or new knowledge. Persistence and plenty of patience would be the general requirements for the learner, and even so, it is a moot point whether an individual actually learns whatever he needs through such online tutorials. (Sol; Tachibana, 1998a) Take, for example, the online tutorial offered by Adobe Photoshop: in its introductory page, entitled, "What is Photoshop?" The writers talk about how Photoshop is today one of the most popular programs available, for people who want to create and modify images for the Web. The easy availability of the program: it is available on a large array of platforms, including Mac and Windows, to UNIX, and the fact that the program has an extremely intuitive user interface, and also the most complete set of tools, in addition to the maximum number of reference books for the user all combine to make Photoshop one of the most popular programs, which offers tutorials online. Research has revealed that Photoshop is one of the most popular programs, as far as web designers are concerned, as well. (Sol; Tachibana, 1998c)

Photoshop can be used to change or 'alter' images like photos, artwork, or others of the same kind, can be used to change the mode of image compression, and can also help a designer to create an image right from scratch. (Sol; Tachibana, 1998b) Adobe Photoshop has 'video tutorials' sold for a price online, which cover Version CS2. The videos can be played on either a PC or on a Mac, and detail easy to follow methods of instruction, and are in general meant for either the beginner, or the intermediate learner. The advertisement purports that the training videos are so cost effective that the learner would be able to master a full and complete application of the program, for a mere fraction of the cost that he would incur if he were to enroll in a real classroom. Furthermore, according to the advertisement, accelerated learning, as well as high retention levels would be the results and benefits of purchasing the online Photoshop tutorial. (Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials online Training Courses)

The website 'Online Adobe Photoshop CS Training Course' gives away a free trial run of the Photoshop CS, for those interested. This would perhaps be a cost effective and one of the fastest ways to learn Photoshop, because the learner would have the benefit of logging in online, from his home or place of work, and begin his training sessions, which would be conducted by a team of the world's leading experts on the program. (Adobe Photoshop CS, try for Free) The NAPP or the National Association of Photoshop Professionals runs a website for its members only, in which the members would be able to avail of various Photoshop resources, and also get in touch with other Photoshop users from all across the world, to share views and designs with each other. This site also sponsors free Video Tutorials of Photoshop, and runs free weekly tutorials for its members. Photoshop news, Photoshop tips, actions, plug-ins, an online member's gallery, job bank, free Photoshop tech support, and so on and so forth are some of the special features of the site. (Member Benefits, Photoshop User)

This is one of the numerous testimonials that users and learners of Photoshop online tutorials have given: according to one individual, it may indeed be quite a difficult proposition to try to learn Photoshop by oneself, alone, through a tutorial, for example. Persistence and patience would therefore be needed in plenty to finish a course successfully, and the first step towards achieving one's goal of being a Photoshop professional, therefore, would be to think about which option would be the best. Everyone today wants to learn things faster than before, and no one has time to spare. Technical training would be of great advantage in such situations, and it would be good to remember that a Photoshop tutorial would in fact act as the means towards a specific end, so that the learner would know that he would have to really learn it if he actually desired good results.

This individual also stated that he had researched the topic of the widespread availability of online Photoshop tutorials, and discovered that there were at least 13 different mediums of Photoshop training available at the present time, and the best bet for the learner would be to get fully informed about all the options, so that he would be able to make a better and a more informed choice, and therefore, create and build up more interest in the tutorial, so that he would be able to persist till the end. According to this writer, the Internet is chock full of sites that advertise free training for Photoshop users, but, he said, be warned that most of these are in actuality, simply 'clone sites' that do not really teach the user to be a professional Photoshop user. (How to achieve your full Photoshop CS and CS2 potential) At times, Photoshop professional give demos on the Internet, to advertise their new products, and one such was the live demo by John Penn II, of the CS3, on the WWDC Show. (Goodman, 2006))

Photoshop offers several free online video training materials for those interested, and 'Mark's Photoshop Tips' is one such. Meant for a layman, Mark promises to teach one how to create special effects, photo albums, and so on, at no price at all. (Mark's Photoshop Tips) Another group of Photoshop professionals have gotten together, to conduct an online tutorial, for six/seven weeks, at a nominal price of U.S.$42. Called 'Janee's Tutorial', this group promises that the tutorial will be great fun, and that the learner would be able to use his own creative ideas while learning. Although the classes will not be 'easy', persistence is the key, states Janee. Yet another tutorial, this time free, is offered by Photoshop professionals, and some of the lessons offered are deeply interesting as well as useful for the learner. For example, the site teaches the user how to create a 'cube' using Photoshop, available at Website: http://www.photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/3d_cube/3d_cube.htm. In a series of eight short steps, the teacher walks the user through the transformation of a simple square into a designer cube. The site lists many more such useful hints for a learner, and if he were to use these freely available tutorials, he would be able to achieve a sense of using Photoshop successfully to create excellent designs of his own. (Tutorials)

Photoshop Force.com, rightly termed 'a designer's goldmine', is a treasure house of information, available free, on Photoshop, and how to use it to gain the best optimum results. Web designing, graphic and text effects, custom brush sets, etc. are all a part and parcel of the material available on this site, in addition to full PSD downloads of the tutorials, and of the layout designs. (Photoshop Force.com) Planet Photoshop is yet another site offering extremely valuable information and helpful tips to the learner, or to the Photoshop professional, like for example, the tip on how to create a 'sparkling object', and the user is guided through a series of easy to follow steps to create a sparkling tooth for an individual. (Planet Photoshop)

Tutorial Kit is a website meant for users of all levels of skills, so that the user would have readily available to him, the exact effect or technique that he was looking for, with inputs from professionals from all across the globe, with updates every single day. Special effects, tools, basics, animation specials, and photography are but some of the tutorials offered. (Welcome to Tutorial Kit) One site, Beckham Digital, available at http://www.beckhamdigital.co.uk/onlinetuts/addsky/addsky.htm. shows the user how to remove an ugly patch of white sky forms a photograph, and replaces it with the image of the sky from another picture. (Beckham Digital: Add a new sky) ReEm88 is a site that talks about Reem, and is full of designs created using Photoshop, and inspires the new user to try out some of these creations on their own. (ReEm 88)

These are some of the Frequently Asked Questions about Photoshop Tutorials: what is the best place to star to look for a good Photoshop Tutorial? The answer is that Photoshop runs an online Help program, and also offers the user a free PDF of Chapter 1 of Photoshop CS for Windows or Mac. This chapter reportedly covers the basics of the program. Another user needed free photographs for his web page, and another, free fonts, all of which Photoshop offers free to its users, and for online tutorial learners. (Photoshop, FAQ) The benefits of training tutorials are numerous, whether they are taken online, or purchased through a CD. If a learner preferred to use a CD, he would have the advantages of a higher quality of audio and video files than those undertaking online training courses, and in addition, he would not have to face the costs of the Internet connection. On the other hand, online training tutorials offer the user a great many more benefits. For one, the user would have instant access to hundreds of other users, and can share his views and even his designs with them. Secondly, he would have access to constant updates of his training materials, and study at his own pace. (Online Training Library, benefits)