PhotoShop

One could attempt to write pages on what you can do with the product - but others more capable that I have already done so. Borrow books from your library or trawl the net, as there are many clever people out there who can show you better than I.

You can also find movies tutorials and this site is well worth a read - in fact it covers most of the basics with the exception of Layers. Getting to grips with Layers and Adjustment Layers (with/without Masks) is really important because it allows one to go back and easily correct earlier adjustments that you make to an image. You can of course also combine images using Layers, but I rarely do that - it is their use in post-processing images that I really find useful.

One should always bear in mind that every time you change an image you are corrupting the original data and may well introduce noise and other effects, so be careful and frequently check the image at 100%(+) to check it is still acceptable.

Here are a few of the effects of various adjustment features that can be useful - use the menu (on the left) or the links between the pictures to see - I assume you already know about the basic adjustments, such as Levels and Curves.

	Saturation using Lab Color mode rather than using the Hue/ Saturation adjustment
	Non Destructive Dodge and Burn using a Layer
	Great looking Sky rather like a polarising filter

	Just Playing with a bad scan, using AutoColor, Levels, Curves, Hue, Saturation, Brightness and Contrast

I wrote this page at the beginning of 2007 and am now (6 months later) well passed these simple techniques, thanks to Dan Marguilis's Photoshop Lab Color book and the excellent (free) course run by CurveMeister.

If you serious about colour management, then Dan's book is a must - very difficult to read as there is an awful lot of flannel and he manages to take about 10 pages to say what a normal person could convey in a paragraph! Also the layout of the book drives one around the bend with examples not next to the appropriate text. You will need to read it at least 3 times before everything begins to click into place.

I now happily use Adjustment layers, Blend If and Channels to get the Ph-Art effects I want - where Ph-Art is adjusting the colours and tones of an image to emphasis the elements in an artistic manner, following the techniques of the old Masters like Da Vinci and others, to draw the viewer's eye into the picture.