Photoshop World Las Vegas 2012
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Choosing classes

Posted September 24, 2009 by Web Editor | Comments (3)

Over the last few weeks I’ve seen a lot of calls out on the web from first time and even multiple-time Photoshop World attendees, asking for help in choosing the sessions they should go to. While this is just my advice, it helped me last year, and its what I’ve done this year.

Go to the Photoshop World schedule website and take a look at all the sessions (there’s over 75 of them!). The folks at NAPP have organized the various sessions into related groups called tracks like Lightroom, Design, Photography, Techniques, and Photoshop Fixes. Now think about what you know and what you would like to learn more about.

  • If you are a fairly new Photoshop user and want to learn more about what you can do with the program, look at the Photoshop 101 or the General Photoshop tracks. On Thursday there are 3 classes that will show you a little of everything, including masking techniques, layer styles, automation features, and the recommended order for retouching faces (Painting with Photoshop 10:45, Work Faster with Smart Objects and More 12:00, and Retouching Faces Step-by-Step 6:15). On Friday, you can learn the Top 10 Things You Should Know in Photoshop (9:30) and quick and easy fixes for common problems in Photoshop (Fix It in Photoshop 8:15).
  • Heard a lot about Lightroom or InDesign but not really sure what all the fuss is about? LightRoom Basic Training (Thursday 10:45) and Introduction to InDesign (Friday 10:45) will give you a look. I sat through the LightRoom session last year, and this year, I’m looking at the InDesign one.
  • Maybe you have been using Photoshop strictly for touching up photographs and would like to get a little more creative. You can take a class in Photoshop Creative Effects (Thursday 10:45) or learn how to turn pictures of pets and wildlife into paintings (The Art of Animal Photo Painting – Friday 8:15).
  • For the working professionals who want to improve their productivity, you can attend sessions in the Techniques and Productivity tracks, with topics like Image Compositing for Advertising Illustration (Saturday 11:00) and integrating Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign together to simply your work (Creative Integration and Photoshop Friday 9:30).

While you are looking through the schedule, take a piece of paper, and write down the session name and starting time if it interests you. Don’t worry about having multiple classes at the same time though. One of the nice things about Photoshop World is that you can change your mind whenever you want during the conference about what session you are attending. You are not locked into a set schedule.

Once you have your list of classes, download Dave Cross’ Photoshop World planner and start entering in the classes you are interested in. Have two at the same time? No problem! You can enter one as a second choice. After you finish choosing your sessions in the planner, you may still have time slots free. See what’s available during those times and if it interests you, add it in. If nothing interests you (c’mon nothing?!) then you have some time to relax, socialize, grab something to eat, check out the Guru Award entries, or just put your feet up.

Now, save the planner, and print it off for your trip, or download it into your PDA or phone. You are ready to go. Hope this helps you a little!

- Ed Pflager is an IT Professional working in Business Intelligence, an MBA student, and an amateur photographer and Photoshop user. You can see more of his ramblings and some of his work at www.edpflager.com

Posted in Classes, Pre-PSW Planning, Thoughts on PSW

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