May 1, 2000

Total Photoshop is a Video training course by Deke McClelland. Who is Deke McClelland? He's the guy who has written the Photoshop Bible, Photoshop for Dummies and Photoshop Studio Secrets. Deke has won tons of awards and is a sought-after presenter. He is definitely an expert when it comes to Photoshop and it shows.

Deke makes a statement that Photoshop 5 is the best reason to buy a computer! I agree, it is such a blast to manipulate things to do whatever I want (I do mean images). Sure it's a great tool to do some heavy-duty workloads, but it sure is great to have fun while working.

No matter how great or full featured a program is, the operator (you), are still the key factor and many people find Photoshop a daunting program. If you are new to Photoshop or just new to Photoshop 5, these tapes have something for everyone. I consider myself an Intermediate user and I found an impressive amount of new things in this first series. More importantly, I found ways to save tons of time by working smarter that before.

Total Training Photoshop is a 3 series set of video tapes. The series are broken up into 6 or 7 video tapes each making it easier on the budget. Of course you can always buy all three series at once and save big time, but I have to say that after viewing Series 1 it is well worth every precious cent spent and every valuable minute used. The time I have spent viewing and participating in this course has been some of the most productive hours of training in which I've invested. With an exceptional visual training course such as this available there is no excuse for anyone to not be proficient in Photoshop in a minimum of time. Pair this with your favorite Photoshop reference book (I'm sure Deke could suggest a few) and the sky is the limit.

Sometimes when you really like something it can be difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is that makes it stand out. After watching Series 1 two times I finally put my finger on EXACTLY what the highlight was for me. Sure I love the humor, the depth of content, it's thorough and engaging presentation but there was something more. Then it hit me; it's the "realness" the spontaneity of the whole thing. Deke, as he is demonstrating, might discover something he said was not exactly correct, so he tries it again or in a different way and discovers something new or a better way. If he remembers something important to tell us, even if it was missed in his schedule he teaches it anyway. We get to see him experiment and try things out much the way we do in our own work. It's like watching someone talk to himself as they work on a project (I don't know about you, but I talk to my computer all the time). Now don't take this wrong it's not the mumblings of a deranged computer geek (well, maybe sometimes— just kidding!) The teaching is superb and detailed, always following an extremely logical pattern.

We'll be looking at the very first series, so if you are new to Photoshop this is definitely the place to start. But if you are just a casual user this is still the place to begin as you reinforce and add to your knowledge. Each of the three series will be reviewed on their own merit. Series two and three are under review now, so I will give you a short preview at the end of this review. That way those of you who are ready to dive in can see some of the great topics and get started now. But I can tell you this, Dekes style is the same throughout, and he has plenty of "Style"!

A Quick Reference Card is supplied as a thoughtful addition to assist you in finding just what you are looking for amongst the diverse topics covered. It lists each tape, the major topics, where to find it on the Videotape and how long the section is. Then there is the CD which comes with the series. Here you'll find all the images you need to participate in the training.

Another notable feature of this course is that Deke gives you the keyboard commands for the Mac and for Windows throughout. There is also an icon for a Mac only feature or a Windows only feature as well as the verbal explanation.

Deke says that there are no incomprehensible topics just incomprehensible teachers. Bravo-well put. Not being an Adobe employee or on their payroll in anyway, Deke is free to give his very strong opinions on what he considers good or bad points within the program

Let's join our comprehensible host in Video 1 of Series 1. Grab your Cappuccino (or your preference), no cookies, you'll be too busy to eat, your TV/VCR remote controls and have your CD which came with your videos ready and lets learn how to make Photoshop sing.

Page 2 - Overview of first 7 Tapes in Series 1

Series 2 & 3 outline

Copyright 2000, Joyce Evans, All Rights Reserved