PhotoshopSecrets CS3 For Digital Photographers is contained on a single DVD that runs over 6 hours and is available either as a DVD, or as an instant download. It is aimed at new and relativity inexperienced Photoshop users, but even more advanced users will walk away with many new techniques. The author goes over the basics in 43 lessons that will take you on an in depth tour of Photoshop CS3. I have provided a complete listing of the lessons included in this training at the conclusion of this review. For my review I will summarize the areas of instruction as they are presented in the training.

Lessons 1-7 cover working with Adobe Bridge. In these lessons you will learn how to import all of your photos directly from your digital camera, and process them for use in Adobe Bridge. You will learn how to get around in Bridge, how to use its sorting features, how to add keywords to aid in searching and tagging. You will learn how to rename your photos all at once. You will understand what metadata is, and how to make it serve you, as well as other shortcuts to make your use of Bridge more efficient.

Lessons 8 – 11 introduce Adobe Camera Raw (ACR) and what you can do with it before you ever get into Photoshop. In these lessons you will begin by learning how the pros use the new ACR within their workflow. You will learn to edit multiple images with one stroke, as well as how to edit JPG and TIFF images. You can use ACR to retouch your images non-destructively, as well as applying techniques such as split-toning, sepia and grayscale to add creativity to your portfolio.

Lessons 12- 27 show you how to correct your photos with a wide variety of techniques. You start with opening up shadows and restoring highlights and then, using the eyedropper, you can begin to add luster back into dull images. You will then begin to work with curves and understand what they are for and how best to use them.

Next is color correction for making the color look right. You will again use curves to correct color casts and make your images look right. For the hard to fix images, you will learn about Lab Mode and the power it contains.