Photoshop CS2 for the Digital Photographer

Photoshop CS2 for the Digital Photographer Adobe Photoshop CS2 is a high-end software solution providing support and specialized editing tools for digital photographers and graphic artists. Filled with practical, hands-on examples, this course will show you how to apply the professional tools and techniques in Photoshop CS2 that are most helpful to photographers.

Even if you have no image editing experience, you'll be amazed at what you can do with your digital photographs after taking this course.

A patient instructor will work with you every step of the way as you turn ordinary photos into stunning works of art. You'll become proficient at correcting flaws in your images, adding text, and preparing photographs for distribution via e-mail or across the Web. You'll discover how to enhance your images until they're nothing short of outstanding. And you'll gain valuable experience using the uniquely versatile collection of tools that make Photoshop CS2 so popular with photo professionals.

If you haven't yet unlocked all the mysteries of Photoshop CS2, leave your frustrations behind and enjoy the simplified, step-by-step introduction provided in this fascinating and enjoyable course.

Recommended Courses:

Students who enrolled in Photoshop CS2 for the Digital Photographer were also interested in the following courses:

Discover Digital Photography

Secrets of Better Photography

Introduction to Photoshop CS2

Photoshop CS3 for the Digital Photographer

Photographing People with your Digital Camera

Syllabus:

All courses run for six weeks, with a two-week grace period at the end. Two lessons are released each week for the six-week duration of the course. You do not have to be present when the lesson is released, but you must complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.

A new section of each course starts on the second or third Wednesday of each month. If enrolling in a series of two or more courses, please be sure to space the start date for each course at least two months apart.

Week One

Wednesday - Lesson 01

In our first lesson, we'll take a tour of Photoshop CS2. You'll also find out how to download images for use in the class, and we'll start learning the basics of photo editing and enhancement.

Friday - Lesson 02

In this lesson, we'll discuss the many file formats digital images can take and how to use them to your best advantage. You'll discover the difference between saving images for print and saving them for the Web. Then, you'll find out how to make some quick improvements to your photos, including cropping and rotating the images to get just the look you're after.

Week Two

Wednesday - Lesson 03

Digital images come in all sizes! Today, we'll discuss image resolution, pixels, and recommendations on achieving better results when resizing your pictures. You'll learn how to optimize your images for print or the fastest possible transmission across the Internet. Then you'll see how the Crop tool, Options bars, and a 3:2 ratio can change the look of your photos.

Friday - Lesson 04

Photoshop gives you many options for printing your documents, and we'll talk about all of them in today's lesson. You’ll find out how to print your images at just the size you want, you’ll find out how to reduce file sizes with compression settings, and you’ll explore Photoshop's Save for Web feature. You'll also learn a number of handy keyboard shortcuts that are certain to save you plenty of time and effort.

Week Three

Wednesday - Lesson 05

If you’ve ever wanted to create a Photoshop file of your very own to use as a foundation for one of your images, you'll learn how to do that in this lesson. You'll tap into a near-infinite array of color choices and patterns to create a vivid image background. Then, you’ll move a photo onto your background. In the process, you’ll get hands-on experience using Photoshop’s powerful Layers feature to its fullest advantage.

Friday - Lesson 06

Manipulating color is one of the easiest ways to convert an ordinary snapshot into an inspired thing of beauty. In this lesson, you'll find out how to adjust color in your images. You'll also create black-and-white images from color images and you’ll be able to replace one color with another.

Week Four

Wednesday - Lesson 07

Light is the essence of photography, but it doesn't always cooperate. In this lesson, we'll discuss ways to enhance and even create better lighting after you take an image. You'll see how to use Brightness and Contrast to improve your images, then you'll have a chance to work with the histogram in Levels, one of Photoshop's best features for correcting unfortunate lighting and color tones.

Friday - Lesson 08

In this lesson, we'll work with Curves, the one tool all professionals turn to when they need to fine-tune an image or make detailed adjustments. You'll also learn how to hide notes to yourself in your images, as well as how to track your changes. And if you don’t like a change you made to an image, you’ll discover how to use the History palette to restore an older version of the image that doesn’t contain the change. No Photoshop course would be complete without some information on where to go when you need help, so you'll learn exactly what you can do when you get stuck or need more information to complete a task.

Week Five

Wednesday - Lesson 09

Want to remove something undesirable from a photo? In today’s lesson, you'll begin to learn how Photoshop’s powerful selection tools can help. You'll also see how Feathering a selection can improve an image, and you’ll start moving selected objects from one image to another. You’ll also explore the large collection of text tools in Photoshop so you can practice adding text to your images.

Friday - Lesson 10

As we continue our study of Photoshop's selection tools, you'll learn how to create a silhouette image in Photoshop. You’ll also start using some highly creative filters to add color or alter images in interesting ways. You'll also see how the Marquee tools let you select perfect squares and circles to frame and highlight portions of your images.

Week Six

Wednesday - Lesson 11

As we complete our study of the selection tools, you'll work with the Magnetic Lasso tool, Quick Mask Mode, and the many brushes available for detailed and exacting work when you need it most. You'll also have a chance to explore and work with each item on the Select menu.

Friday - Lesson 12

In our last lesson, you'll discover many more new tools you'll want to put to immediate use. We'll discuss Retouching and Correcting tools, and you'll perfect your skills with the Red Eye tool, the Clone Stamp tool, and the powerful Healing Brushes. You'll also have a chance to use Photoshop CS2's new Patch tool as you correct and modify images.

This course includes a knowledgeable and caring instructor who will guide you through your lessons, facilitate discussions, and answer your questions. The instructor for this course will be Beverly Schulz.

Beverly Schulz is a freelance photographer and a graduate of the New York Institute of Photography's Professional Photographer's program. She teaches a number of classes in digital photography and has more than 25 years of classroom instruction experience. Her writing and photography have been published in a number of magazines. She has traveled extensively and participated in onsite photography workshops as well as independent photo quests. In addition to teaching and photographic work, she provides consulting services for digital photographers and clients.

Requirements:

Windows XP or Windows 2000; Adobe Photoshop CS2 (software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins); an ability to acquire digital images with a digital camera, a photo CD, or a scanner; Internet access, e-mail, the Microsoft Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox Web browser, and the Adobe Flash and PDF plug-ins (two free and simple downloads you obtain at http://www.adobe.com/downloads by clicking Get Adobe Flash Player and Get Adobe Reader). Basic computer skills, such as using a mouse, creating and accessing folders, and downloading and saving files will be briefly reviewed in this course, but should be familiar to you.

Please note: the Macintosh version of this software contains several significant differences and those are not covered in this course.

Student Reviews:

"Beverly's teaching style was "right on time." She displayed superior knowledge of the subject and between her and the TA's all of my inquiries were answered in a timely manner. I will be taking more classes from her in the future."

"Course material was excellent in introducing the software features and their use. I was using what I learned on my own photos after completing each chapter. This course worked very well into my schedule which allowed me to finally get into the photo editing I have wanted to do for a long time."

"Excellent course - I feel like it was worth every single penny and I am very confident in my ability to go forward with this software."

"Great and useful class. I would like to have an intermediate class now. Thank you!"

"I came into this class to learn the basic of CS2 and accomplished just that - thank you to both of you for your time, talent, and patience. I look forward to (ideally) an advanced CS2 class in the near future."

"I enjoyed this online class and it fit into my schedule perfectly."

"I especially liked that the Instructor told us what were going to study, thoroughly, concisely,presented information to be studied, summarized what we studied. I have already identified other courses to be taken with this Instructor as she is most professional. Of equal importance is the amount of knowledge that I have acquired."

"I like the way you assume we know nothing at the beginning of the class and the way you always refresh our memories about how to get somewhere."

"I loved this class and will probably take another one!"

"I'm 90 years and 6 months old (can't forget the 6 months!!!) and as you can see I checked "strongly agree" to all the [evaluation] questions. That is the way I felt about your course. I was hesitant at first to take it as I had looked at the printed copy that came with my CS2 and was really at a loss being a rank beginner. I thank you, Beverly and Eric, for your help. I could go on and on raving about how I enjoyed the course and looked forward to each lesson."

"I really liked this course. It helped me understand what I was doing, not just a "click this" and "do that" approach. Hope there's a follow on course."

"I took this course using my Apple computer (OS X v 10.3.9) and found it just as easy to understand commands and instructions as with a Windows platform. Thoroughly enjoyed this course--very helpful as I am a member of a local photography club."

"Thank you very much for this wonderful course. I am walking away with exactly what I wanted - practical knowledge of using one of the most complex (but exciting!) software programs on the market!"

"This class was an excellent and thorough introduction to CS2. Beverly has a way of taking a very intimidating program like CS2 and explaining it in easy to understand language. I am no longer intimidated by CS2 and am looking forward to learning more. I hope to see a more advanced CS2 class from Beverly in the near future. Thank you for this class!!!"

"This course had an outstanding selection of content topics. It gave me a greater understanding of the program while increasing my skill with it, but it did not overwhelm me. The lessons were just the right length and the resources provided are awesome."

"This was an excellent course done by an excellent instructor. I know this was an entry level course for Photoshop CS2, but I would love to see this instructor follow up with a couple of advanced level courses for Photoshop CS2 as well. What a great way to learn a program. Photoshop has always intimidated me to use until now. Now I want more. Bring it on. Thank you."

"This was my first on-line course and I loved it. I have learned so much and am inspired to learn more about Photoshop and other graphic design software programs. The course was very easy to understand and follow - the pace was just right and the instructions and explanations were very clear. I hope you will offer a continuation of this course; I'm really pretty sad that it's ended! Thank you for a great learning experience."

"Thoroughly enjoyed the course even though I thought going into it that it would seem remote without personal contact. Instructor's excellent writing style made it seem that she was there all the time. I thought the exercises were most helpful--seeing what might be a standard and understanding how to get there was good for me. I feel I can tackle many of the problems I have created by taking less than optimal photos with my new digital camera and can better understand how to use my camera as well. Look forward to taking another course with you."

"Very glad I took this course! I was overwhelmed and confused with all of CS2's features, but now I feel confident enough to be off and running! CS2 is my first Photoshop program, and I NEEDED some help."

"Very helpful course to get you beyond the trial and error stage."

"While not new to PhotoShop I did learn something new in every chapter. Helped to fill some gaps in my methods and give a greater depth to the tools available. I thank you for a fine class!"