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Total Training Masters Collection: Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2, like Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, is beautifully produced, with clear explanations and thorough demonstrations of some of Photoshop CS2’s advanced features. But while I can wholeheartedly recommend Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, I have some reservations about this new Masters Collection.

Total Training Masters Collection: Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2 is hosted by Deke McClelland, who also hosts Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2. I’ve written at length about Deke in my reviews of Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2 and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 Unleashed, so I won’t repeat myself here. There may be no one more qualified than Deke to host a Photoshop series with the word “Master” in the title, and Deke is in top form in this training.

The production, while still polished and professional (like all of the Total Training programs I’ve seen), eschews the costumes and Laugh-In-like schtick. There’s no Leonardo Dekevinci to guide us.

This time Deke takes us into the digital darkroom, beginning with a brief Prologue on Setting up ’Shop. Deke offers a few setup tips not covered in Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, along with an advanced set of Deke’s keyboard shortcuts. Most of this will be familiar to viewers of the previous program, but it’s a necessary first step to make sure everyone is in synch.

The rest of the program is divided into ten sections (you can view the complete Course Outline here and some sample lessons here):

1. Advanced Levels and 16 Bit
2. The Bridge and Camera RAW
3. The Wonders of HDR
4. The Art of Sharpen
5. Adding Blur and Removing Noise
6. Mixing the Perfect Monochrome
7. Duotones, Spot Colors, and Gradient Maps
8. Advanced Retouching Techniques
9. Vanishing Point
10. Smart Objects

There are no locked bonus lessons. Instead, the program includes a free plug-in from Digital Anarchy called Texture Anarchy.

There’s a lot of good stuff here, to be sure, but as I watched each lesson (yes, I watched the entire program before writing this review), I began to have mixed feelings. As always, Deke’s explanations are clear and thorough, and peppered with useful little tips. But there are two problems:

First, if you’ve already seen Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, you’ll have numerous experiences of déjà vu. With few exceptions, there’s very little that’s really new in the Prologue or the first five sections. It isn’t until we get to Mixing the Perfect Monochrome that we’re in entirely new territory. The last two sections also repeat information found in Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2 (the section on Vanishing Point goes beyond the previous training, but the lessons on Smart Objects don’t cover much new ground).

Second, there is a fair amount of theoretical explanation in some of the lessons (such as the difference between 8 bit and 16 bit) or lengthy demonstrations of important, but basic, ideas (such as why you should select Use Distributed Cache Files When Possible). All of this is good to know, but not particularly well suited to video. I’d rather read this kind of advanced information in a book. Video training, I think, is better suited to the demonstration of skills and the intricacies of problem solving. In fact, some of the best parts of the program, such as the techniques for using Levels to perform very accurate color correction, are probably more easily gleaned from the pages of a book (you’ll find a very similar way of working described in a few pages in Scott Kelby’s Adobe Photoshop CS Book for Digital Photographers).

There’s still a lot to like about Total Training Masters Collection: Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2, but calling it a “Masters Collection” may raise your expectations a little too high, as it did mine. In Deke’s closing comments, he says, “It’s always tricky to attempt an ‘advanced’ series because the potential topics are endless and what’s advanced to one user might be old hat to another.” That’s true. It is a challenge, and I think this program falls a bit short, in part because it tries to be too beginner friendly.

Here’s what I’d like to see in a Masters series. Call it the Over the Shoulder series. Take me out of the studio and let me look over the shoulder as a variety of outstanding artists work on real projects. As an intermediate Photoshop user, assume that I already know the basics and don’t need tool by tool demonstrations, that I’m not as interested in lengthy theoretical explanations. I’m interested in seeing how a real artist thinks, creates, solve problems. Put the theoretical explanations in an Appendix, if necessary.

If you’re a beginner, or even an intermediate Photoshop user, you won’t go wrong with Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2. It’s a well-rounded introduction to the program, and will give you a thorough overview. But if you’ve already purchased that program, you’ll find a lot of redundancy in this Masters Collection. If you haven’t seen that program, have a good basic understanding of Photoshop, and like video instruction, you’ll probably be satisfied with Total Training Masters Collection: Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2, though you may find the $150 price tag a tad steep for what you get (this program needs to be part of a bundle).

But don’t take my word for it. Total Training offers a 30 day money-back guarantee. You can order a free sampler CD containing over two hours of video training or click here to view some sample tutorials from their lineup of programs.

Bottom Line: Total Training Masters Collection: Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS2 includes some great stuff, but if you’ve already purchased Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS2, you won’t find much bang for the buck in this DVD.
From: Total Training
Price: $149.99
Platform: Macintosh and Windows