Got my hands on some CS3 action

$249.99 plus tax for the Web Premium versionat the SDSU student store…

Now all I have to do is learn it! My arsenal:

• The Illustrator CS2 Bible from Wiley. I bought the CS2 version because I had a *gasp* pirated version and wanted to get good enough to justify buying the full version. I’m not sure that Illustrator will be my weapon of choice from the Adobe suite but I want to be able to at least edit any vector graphics that I get my hands on. It’s all about being versatile.
• Lynda.com training videos. Some of them came with the software and there are a few free ones on-line. Lynda is only $25/month which is a great deal is you sit down and learn one or two products in a month. Self-paced, professionally created, and they cover a broad range of products. Good deal! On-line learning is underrated right now.
• Adobe help files. I don’t know why I was surprised to find instructional PDFs bundled with this software. Part of me thought that once you bought these, you were on your own. These files are hundreds of pages long and, thankfully, link contextually to the software (meaning you can get help from within the software when you need help).
• Screwing about. I’ve heard/read that just playing with the program is a big part of learning it. I’d say that’s half-true. I’m still using Paint.net at work (and, sometimes, at home) and find it to be very simple, very usable, and functional to about 10% of Photoshop. I don’t WANT to use Paint.net but I know it fairly well and, to be honest, the quick stuff is much easier to do there than in Photoshop. All griping aside, I want to use Photoshop exclusively so I’m trying (desperately) not to even open Paint.net.

I’m finding it tough to just do what I want to do in PS. I’m sure that comfortability will come with time. At least it’s remotely intuitive (GIMP stopped me in my tracks the first 3 times I tried to use it).

It’s photo editing abilities are , to say the least, amazing, even if the drawing functionality is a bit.. convoluted.

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