Many people let an unhappy first experience with Photoshop keep them from achieving their full potential. Don't try to learn Photoshop on your own-you'll miss out on the power of Photoshop by never learning to use its full capabilities.

The first time I tried to do a simple job with Adobe Photoshop, I was in for a shock. I had watched Photoshop artists and digital editors create stunning images and visual effects almost effortlessly-or so it seemed to me. One of them invited me to try my hand with a simple Photoshop job. My assignment was to select an object and paint it. What could be simpler? An hour later, I was ready to give up. I was so frustrated that I thought it must have been simpler to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel than to do what I was trying to do without Photoshop training.

The first time I tried to complete a simple job on Photoshop, I did everything wrong. When I was left to do it on my own, I found myself in deep water and I sank quickly. The people peering over my shoulder as they walked by didn't help. That's one of the tremendous benefits of online Photoshop training-no one is there peering over your shoulder all the time, unless you want someone to be there.

I first used Adobe Photoshop over ten years ago. I saw what professional graphic designers were able to do with Photoshop and I was impressed. Although I'm not a graphic designer, I had always enjoyed playing around with simple image editing
programs and I had learned to do just enough to add value to my text documents and presentations.

I was doing all right, but at the same time I was harboring no illusions about the level of the graphic work I was producing-it wasn't anything even remotely close to what some of my friends and coworkers were creating with Photoshop. I had the opportunity back then to sign up for Photoshop training, but I didn't. That was a huge mistake. If I had gotten started with professional Photoshop training ten years ago, I know now that I would have been able to add tremendous value to all my professional jobs and personal hobbies.

It's never too late. I've decided to get serious about Photoshop training. At this point I should be ready for advanced Photoshop training, but I'm not. I know that I've probably been doing lots of simple things the wrong way. That is what happens when you try to learn a deep program like Photoshop on your own. There's only so much you can figure out by trial and error. Inevitably the "shortcuts" you think you've discovered turn out to be expensive wastes of time and resources. As someone once said, "The longest distance between two points is a shortcut."

If you're planning to pursue a career as a graphic designer, you already know that Photoshop training will be a central part of your learning experience. And if you're planning a career as a visual effects artist in film or television, you know how important Photoshop training is to get your first job. But many people don't know that Adobe Photoshop is the design tool of choice for all professionals who work with images-dentists, architects, and archaeologists all depend on Photoshop training to achieve their full potential.

Even if you're an amateur photographer or videographer whose goal is simply to get more out of your photos and videos, Photoshop training is the best investment you can make in your hobby. An ability to get the most out of your Photoshop software will reward you with a lifetime of fulfillment when you learn how to create professional-caliber graphics-whether you need them for your career portfolio or just for an email greeting card to your friends.

Here's what you should look for in an introductory Photoshop training course:

There has never been a better time to sign up for an online Photoshop training course. If you haven't already heard, there's exciting news from Adobe for Photoshop novices around the world-CEO Bruce Chizen has announced that Adobe is planning to put a free version of Photoshop on the Internet before the end of 2007.

Adobe has said that this will not be the professional version of Photoshop. The online edition of Photoshop will be targeted to the huge market of people using file sharing and social networking sites like MySpace and YouTube.

Video is moving online faster than anyone expected. Internet TV channels are already a reality, and the success of YouTube is unprecedented in the history of the Worldwide Web. The announcement from Adobe is exciting news for online photographers, videographers, and hobbyists around the world-the world's No. 1 imaging technology is moving online, and it will be free to use.