Expert: Candice Anderson - 5/2/2006

Question
What I am fighting with now, is this photoshop, I have adobe photoshop cs2.  I have been through tutorials.  I am trying to figure out.
1.how to build logos
2.how to build backgrounds
and some other stuff, I don't want to get TOO deep in graphic design, just enough to do anything I need with websites, I want to build a background with cabinets, but I have to learn how to use photoshop cs2 first, where do I start.

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Followup To
Question -
I am a web designer, coder, programmer.  I have recently shyed away from my career to study php, mysql, and a host of other things.  I have come to the end of my training and realize I am a veritable suckfest of graphic design.
I want to simply be able to create banners, logos, backgrounds, manipulate photo's and other things of this nature.  Right now I am thinking of my new website.  I have had this idea in my head but don't know how to bring it into light and I think photoshop could do that for me.  I want to be able to create a picture for use with the overall theme and background of my site, especially for my portfolio, a place with like cabinets, that I can work on putting the stuff I need into those cabinets, in a specialized format I am unsure of what I am wanting to achieve.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Answer -
Alright,

I may be thinking too visual on this one.  Are you wanting your website to literally have cabinets in which you pull your files from. (thats awesome!)  

if yes, what you'll need is this and flash. Now, I will admit, I am to webdesign like you say you are to graphic design :), so translate this to your knowledge.  

in photoshop, make your cabinet background.  if you want the cabinets to open or anything or have anything inside, these will be seperate files.  Save them as a .jpg or psd in 300 dpi. These will be the files you can go back to.  Then take the same files and save them as 72 dpi (under image, image size) and go to file, save for web.  To make your doors open, if you want them to open, make those in flash. Then stick all of this in dreamweaver or however you do webstuff and there you go!

if this is totally off, i  will need clairification as to what you want to do ;)

Answer
hey there,

sorry for the long delay, ah work.

the best to start is the beginning, lame I know. But it seems like you a brand new at this. There is a magnificant series of books called Classroom in a book. All adobe products are in this book.  They will tell you how to do EVERYTHING.  Start here. in the mean time:

www.photoshopcafe.com, AWESOME TUTURIALS

and www.sxc.hu

this is a free stock exchange site. find your self a cabinet picture and start finageling with it. play with the filters, the colors, all of it.  If I were doing this, I would make the cabinets out of a picture that I took and then edited.

let me know if you need anymore help!