DVD Review : Photoshop Essential Training

Regular readers of TipSquirrel.com and certainly those that follow TipSquirrel on Twitter, will be aware of Stuart Little and A Little Photoshop. In the first incarnation of this blog I would report on what interesting stuff I’d found, Photoshop wise, on the internet and of course, Stuart appeared regularly.

A trainer from Scotland Stuart has taught at Ayr College, Photo Training Overseas, Fujifilm, The Master Photographers Association and The British Institute of Professional Photographers as well as producing a range of DVDs, actions and podcasts.

It’s the latest in this range of DVDs that’s to focus of today’s post. The Little Photoshop’s CS5 Essential Training.

Overview

As the name suggests, this DVD looks specifically at Photoshop CS5 and its array of new features and is aimed at those that have used previous versions of Photoshop. Starting with a ‘fresh install’ Stuart demonstrates how to set up CS5 and, perhaps more importantly for those already familiar with the software, how to import Actions, Presets and other Settings from previous versions.

Now that we have Photoshop as we’d like it it’s time to explore all the great new features over a seventeen chapter course (there are actually twenty-one movies included on the DVD including ‘Introduction’ and ‘Bonus Tutorial: Storybook Album Designer’).

Introduction
Setting Up CS5 and moving all your Actions, Presets and other Settings
Layer Improvements
HDR Pro
HDR from a Single Photo
Selection Improvements
Puppet Warp How it Works
Puppet Warp For Retouching
Real World Applications for Content Aware Fill
Mini Bridge and Bridge CS5 Guide
All Things Camera Raw 2010 (2
Presets and New Content
Lens Correction
Rule of Thirds Cropping and Straightening
Painting Improvements
A Dozen Little Quick Tips
Storybook Album Designer & CS5

Style and Content

The tutorials themselves come as a screen grab in HD and as such are very clear. Stuart’s presentation style is ‘laid back’ and considered but not lacking in the ‘its just you and me in the room’ feeling. What you wont find is a quick look and on to the next thing, Stuart is keen to explore each feature, in depth.

This considered approach to each subject makes this DVD a reference publication as much as a teaching one, as each movie is self-contained and does not require the viewer to have followed a set of previous tutorials.

How and Where to Buy

This DVD can be bought from alittlephotoshop.com and for the first time The Little Photoshop are making a DVD available for download.

The price of £49.50 compares favourably with other DVD productions available to buy online. Keep a look out in our Facebook group and Twitter stream for discount codes.

In Conclusion

I understand this won’t be everyone’s ‘cup of tea’ but for those looking for a way to get up to speed with CS5 and to have a reference for when, inevitably, you find a use for the Puppet Tool but can’t quite remember how or can’t quite grasp why people are raving over Mini Bridge or Content Aware Fill, this is right up your street.