Lessons
Lesson Info
Bridge vs. Lightroom
So now, let's get into an introduction to Photoshop. This is where, if you ever want to read throught a Photoshop technique or watch a video about Photoshop that's not an absolute beginning one, this will get you started. I'll show you how to do things like open files, save them, navigate around your document in the Photoshop interface. So, the main thing is, we're gonna learn the big picture before we get into the details of Photoshop. Now before we even really open Photoshop though, I wanna talk about where I'm gonna be viewing my images before I open them, 'cause I'll have to be able to compare multiple images and decide which one's worth opening. And I'm gonna do that in one of two programs. Not in Photoshop itself, but in either Adobe Bridge or Adobe Lightroom. Bridge comes with Photoshop, so if you have access to Photoshop, you should be able to download Bridge for free on Adobe's website or through the Creative Cloud app that you use to update Photoshop. The second program you c...
ould use would be Adobe Lightroom, and Lightroom is different than Bridge in that it's a cataloging program. Cataloging means that if I end up viewing any images in Lightroom, those are images that it's gonna keep track of, so even if I don't have the originals with me later on, I can still view those images and organize them. But anyway, let's look at the difference between the two programs so you can get a sense for when might I use one versus the other. So first off, Adobe Camera Raw is what we're gonna use to adjust images when we first open 'em up. And, Adobe Lightroom has the same functionality as Adobe Camera Raw when it comes to adjusting pictures. So if you ever see me do something in a screen that I call Adobe Camera Raw, and you have Lightroom, you could do it there instead, because the names of the adjustment sliders will be identical. Then, both Bridge and Lightroom can display the contents of a folder, and we're gonna use that to preview our images, so we can see nice, big previews before we end up opening them. But Bridge is gonna show files that Lightroom would ignore. And that would be, Lightroom is only gonna show you images, that means photographs or things that are similar to photographs. If I use Bridge though, I can see illustrations from Adobe Illustrator, I can see page layouts from InDesign, I can see PDF files, and other content that would be totally ignored by Adobe Lightroom. And therefore, if I work with a lot of Adobe products, I might wanna end up using Bridge whenever I'm not doing my photographs. And I'll use Lightroom when I wanna look at my archive of all the photos I've captured. But Lightroom catalogs your photos, and that means you're not gonna just point it at a folder and see what's there, that's what Bridge does. Instead, Lightroom, you have to import your pictures. When you import 'em, it doesn't actually put them into Lightroom, in that it leaves them in the original locations, wherever you wanna store 'em, it doesn't force you to change that. But the main thing is, it creates thumbnail images in large previews that it stores in a catalog file. That makes it so I can disconnect the big hard drive that contains all my images. I have one that contains over 200,000 images that's at home in Florida. Well, I didn't bring it with me. And I can still view all 200,000 pictures. And that's only because Lightroom cataloged those files and it stores preview images of what they look like. Bridge isn't capable of that. Bridge can only show me images that I can have active access to when the hard drive that contains the originals is attached to my computer. But that's one of the reasons why I choose to organize my images in Lightroom, because I can view those images even when I don't have the originals with me. So, Lightroom has the potential to completely replace two pieces of software that I'm gonna be using during this class, and that would be Adobe Bridge and Adobe Camera Raw. Anytime you see me in those two programs, know that if you own Lightroom, I might end up using it as an alternative. But, anytime I have non-photo files, or I'm working with files that are not my own, they're not files that I'm ever gonna wanna look at in the future, instead, a friend just brought up some images, wants me to glace at 'em and maybe do a quick fix on them, and after that, I'm never gonna wanna see 'em again. Well, I wouldn't want those kinds of images to clutter up my Lightroom catalog. And therefore, I would use Adobe Bridge temporarily just for those kinds of images. So just in general, if you own Lightroom, feel free to use it anytime you see me in Bridge or Adobe Camera Raw. And I'll show you what Camera Raw is once we get onto the lesson about that. Then, something you should be aware of before you get into Photoshop, 'cause you're gonna see me doing things in Photoshop that might be different than the way you accomplish things, if you've already been in there a bit. So there's always more than one way of doing things in Photoshop, and you don't have to know them all. Instead, you wanna find the one method that you're comfortable with. And it might not be crazily inefficient, because you don't wanna be goin' too slow in Photoshop, but the main thing is, you first find comfort. Then, if you only use Photoshop every once in a while, let's say once or twice a month, then most of the time, you're gonna do the manual method for things. That means if there is a menu you need to go to at the top of your screen and choose something, you'll manually do it with your mouse. But if you use Photoshop daily, all the time, then you wanna get more into efficiency, and because if you use a feature five or 10 times a day, then you're gonna start concentrating on learning keyboard shortcuts. And so I'll usually share with you both the manual method, for those that are not gonna remember keyboard shortcuts, and then I'll feed you the keyboard shortcut. And that will end up making it so you might wanna review the videos if you're new to Photoshop. The first time going through, you're just trying to get a feeling for where everything is located, and you're doing everything manually. The second time through, you've gotten used to the manual method, and then you can speed yourself up with the keyboard shortcuts. But over time, the goal usually is to discover the most efficient method for doing something so you can be quick in Photoshop and to find the method that gives you the highest quality. And it takes time before you can end up discovering that, so you start off with what you're comfortable with, but in the end, you end up with what's best.
Class Materials
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Ratings and Reviews
Pierre-Marie OUDOT
I really enjoy to get this update of the PS course. If we still have the "easy to teach" Ben's touch, the new approach per main topic is more easy to access". Nevertheless, I would strongly suggets to provide a general Table of contents (Topic/lessons) to be able to get back in the appropriate lesson when needed.Thank you and congrats
Alan Humbard
I found this class okay with the exception of some of the individual chapters incorrrectly titled. Example would be the last says Lightroom instead of Photoshop. He also speaks at nuke speed. I'm guessing Creative speeded up to make the class shorter but I don't think it's recommended for all ages.
Corinna Huerta
Ben's style is easy to follow and he goes into depth without going in so deep that you lose him. I have been watching Ben's classes for several years and never fail to learn something significant from each class that I watch. Highly recommend!