I know we are all excited to hear the new announcements from Adobe. I’m very excited for Photoshop CS3. However, let’s not forget about the other REALLY AMAZING program for us photographers, Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. I received my copy of Lightroom about two weeks ago and I have to say it’s everything the critics are saying and more. From the organization of your photos to the web gallery options, Lightroom really is the workflow solution I’ve been looking for, and I’m sure you have been looking for it as well.
But what would new software be without training. Yes, we all learned something from the “playing around method.” However, if you are like me, and need some formal training here are some resources I used for training.
NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals): First, if you don’t know about this site / association and you are a Photoshop user you are missing out on one of the most powerful tools we can have as Photoshop users today. Not only are they the “ Everything for Photoshop Training Site” but also they have started a Lightroom Learning Center. The Learning Center contains training and tips that are really hard to pick up by “playing around” with the program. It also contains a list of the hottest features as per Scott Kelby. Now some of the Learning Center areas are free but to get the full experience you have to be a NAPP member for $99 a year, which gets you a huge amount of benefits. NAPP has also started a Lightroom Killer Tips Podcast which can be found at www.lightroomkillertips.com .
Lynda.com, www.lynda.com: For those of you who may not know, Lynda.com is training site for almost every professional computer program out there today. And yes they have a basic training course for Lightroom. Like all their courses, the Lightroom course is broken down into small 2-10 minute videos that I can view when I want therefore allowing me to learn at my own pace. You can pay $25 per month or $250 per year to unlock EVERY training video they have in their library. So if you only want to learn Lightroom, pay the $25 watch the videos, then cancel your membership. Learn what you need to when you need to.
UPDATE: Thanks to another PPS Author Dennis for pointing this out. Lynda.com offers a FREE 7 DAY TRIAL. This is amazing!!!! I would highly suggest taking advantage of this so very nice deal.
Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers: This JUST started shipping the other day so I don’t have a review of it. But, it’s written by Scott Kelby. He is an amazing author and Photoshop instructor. So I basically guarantee that this book is going to be a great reference for Lightroom. You can pick it up anywhere books are sold for about $39.
Well I hope you all learn everything you can about Adobe Photoshop Lightroom. It really is an amazing program. I’m sure we will be posting new tips with Lightroom.
Lightroom is available for a Free 30-day trial. So download it today and start having fun with it.
Until Next Time;
Jarrod Michael