LA graphics programs – illustrator, photoshop, indesign, autocad

[Grace Ng]

Thanks for all the response! I’ve subscribed to Lynda…going though the basic 8 hr photoshop tutorial now (on my day off) – trying to be productive but clearly procrastinating on this website… 

 

I think I will also order the book that Jason mentioned as source of reference after I get the basics down.

[David Barbarash]

I’d save your money on the book. You’ll get everything you need from the online tutorials (of which most are free) and the book really doesn’t have anything specific to LA’s, it just uses landscape-y type pictures as examples. Buying that book would just be a duplication of what you’ve all ready covered after you’ve figured out the basics.

 

I’d stay far away from the CAD stuff on Lynda.com by the way. It leaves a lot to be desired…

[Gordon W. Perkins]

I think it really pays to have a robust understanding of the program and its tools before trying to specifically learn its application in the profession.  You need the full toolbox so that you are not limited to just set tasks or processes.  I hear that Lynda.com is a great place to start.  I have not tried their tutorials, but colleagues have given it high marks.  As for its uses… endless.  Simple photo manipulation, 2D rendering, 3D rendering, editing hand renderings to incorporate changes, overlay of hand renderings on photos, scene composition, and page layout to name a few.  There was actually a great webinar on LAND8: Photoshop Perspectives with Bradley Cantrell.  You should see if you can buy that in archives.  It also demonstrates the 2D-3D bridge which is a nice skill to have.  – Good Luck.

[Gordon W. Perkins]

Sorry missed the previous post with Lynda.

[mauiBob]

The fee is insane! You can take most, if not all of those programs through your own university or local community college. The Art department usually offers such courses for undergrads. I learned Photoshop, Illustrator and a host of other softwares thru my Art department at Univ of Idaho.

Autocad in 2 weeks? Please don’t make me laugh. Autocad the 800 lb gorilla. After 14 years of Autocad, I still learn new things on it from time to time. It can’t be fully mastered, certainly not in 2 weeks along with those other programs. The introduction they give you can be self-taught by reading the book ‘Autocad for Dummies’. Order of importance as a landscape designer (my personal opinion):

1. Autocad

2. Photoshop

3. InDesign

4. Illustrator

[Grace Ng]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks for all the response so far! love the helpfulness of everyone :). So, I’m going to be working till mid August, and will be spending 2 hrs a day commuting to and from work on the train and want to use that time productively.

 

While I will be doing the Lynda tutorials on the weekends, and maybe afterwork – are there any books that I can read (on the train) to learn and then practice in the programs when I get home? or is this generally a bad idea – to use books to learn photoshop or autocad are kinda pointless? Thoughts on the ‘for dummies books’?

 

 

[David Barbarash]

Unless you like something written to the lowest common denominator, I’d avoid the “For Dummies” books.

 

Reading a “how-to” book without being able to try it out never worked well for me. It was hard to retain the knowledge or understanding of what I read when it came time to actually do the work and I’d end up consulting the book all over again. Read for knowledge on the train, read for technique when you have a chance to practice.

[A. Zevi Thomas]

Hello!

Personally, If you’re concern about the cost, I will suggest you forgo the class and explore the free or lower cost resources online, such as:

Adobe TV, YouTube, Cadeeze, Vimeo, Lynda.com/cs4

In a two-week course all you probably get are basic commands and tools.

Hope this helps…

Z-

 

[Anonymous]

You are telling me I can teach people Photoshop and illustrator and there is a willing demand of people to pay me 1200 dollars. I am in.

[Grace Ng]

haha, i can send you my class email list – offer your services…$1200, such a ripoff! that’s a city university for you – milking you for every penny.

[Anonymous]

Look, I learned photoshop and illustrator and everything on my own. But when you start your program they will focus on hand skills first. But if you are creative and keep up to date with industry standards. You can really take off. But its not hard. I suggest picking up those photoshop or illustrator magazines that teach you simple tutorials. They exposure you to all those little buttons that eventually you will be able to combine them to your usage. Don’t spend money on people who will waste your time. Its just a tool, not an end all. I combine hand and digital to help craft a great look.

[Lana Merrill]

I’m a good self-learner so my way of going about learning new things is http://www.lynda.com >it does have a monthly cost but the tutorials are AWESOME (versus free ones around the internet). I HIGHLY suggest this site. It additionally has a vast amount of tutorials for different programs.



For indesign – I would start out with putting a simple image board together of plants you like, places, etc. This can teach you pretty much how to make a kick-ass board that you’d show a client at an initial meeting. Just play around with layout and colors. Add a title block and you’re set.

 

For photoshop – I would start out with the “Essentials” of any of the Adobe programs and move on to bigger things. To have something to work with, start by simply saving b/w landscape plans/planting plans and doing basic renders (filling in colors, playing with layers and layer options). Then go into sketchup and make a basic perspective of ..something like a streetscape – I think easiest to start to learn scale and perspective (import a building, throw in a few sidewalks in sketchup and export as jpeg) After that putting in grasses, trees, people, cars, play with shadow and lighting, etc.

 

Illustrator I would work with last – It’s great for after you know AutoCAD and photoshop. You can import CAD documents into Illustrator and render plans (the basics like buildings) quicker because it picks up the linework.

 

Just play around – all the programs can be a lot of fun 🙂

[Lana Merrill]

You can easily add trees by clipping out backgrounds of images and such. Here’s a great site that has the trees ready.

 

http://www.howardmodels.com/0-tree/DecidiousTreesFull-112103/index.htm

[Anonymous]

I think its annoying they have that little plot of land apart of the tree in the clippings.

[Lana Merrill]

I agree – but it’s quicker to use those and brush that out than it is to start from scratch… What do you usually use?

[Author]

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