20 October 2006

I have used Macromedia Fireworks for quite a while and was lulled into thinking that the two programs were fairly similar and that only hard core graphic designers used Photoshop...

But when I started working at the church I quickly realized Photoshop was the standard so I ordered it and for the past few days I've been messing with the program to see what it can do.

I bought a book (How to Use Photoshop CS2 Visually), I watched the hour video that came with the software on the latest and greatest features, and I began the process of finding online tutorials for specific design tasks.

But nothing prepared me more than meeting with Dustin Maust (one of our resident photoshop guru's) for one and a half hours of hands on training. Zero to Sixty in no time flat. Tips, tricks, shortcuts and overall design theory from his point of view. Priceless...

I can't believe how powerful this program is! If only I had the opportunity to learn this in college. I'd be light years ahead of the game today. But I didn't, so I'll put in the time now and hopefully learn quick!

My biggest requirement is the ability to use Photoshop CS2 and Flash seamlessly (as was the case with Fireworks and Flash). With the recent merger (Adobe and Macromedia) hopefully future versions of the two programs will follow suit to the point where you can drag-and-drop right from Photoshop into Flash :)

I can't wait to see what the future holds.