The last time we saw the “#1 Photoshop Fan,” he was camped out all night waiting for the release of Photoshop CS5… Now he’s back (in the funny video below) and helping launch a new contest to find Adobe’s “Next Photoshop Evangelist” – and if it’s you, you’ll win a new copy of Creative Suite 5 plus a paid trip to Photoshop World in Florida next March, including the chance to demo your work at the conference, roundtrip coach airfare, lodging, and meals.

To enter: “Upload a two-minute Photoshop video tutorial demonstrating why you should be the Next Photoshop Evangelist. Your video must use Photoshop CS5, a new Photoshop CS5 feature, and, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Photoshop, incorporate the concept of ‘20′ some­where in the final image. Have fun!”

If you need Photoshop CS5 to use for the contest, you can easily download the fully-working free trial for 30 days. For choosing a new feature to use, see the list of new CS5 features for Photoshop (and all other products).

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We’ve previously covered 14 hours of free video tutorials for Creative Suite 5, plus three hours for Lightroom 3 – so here’s a chance for Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements… Below the experts share how to get started, the basics of the programs, new features, plus their favorite tips and techniques. Most of the lessons will work for either version 8 or 7. All together there is five hours of free content, spanning over 50 chapters.

The majority of the videos were produced by Lynda.com, which is another excellent source of online tutorials (some free, some paid), and just released a new app for software training on the iPhone.

If you need a copy of either Elements product for your work, just download a free trial.

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If you missed your calling as a 19th-century post-Impressionist painter, here’s your second chance… Adobe recently released the fast and free Pixel Bender Plug-in for Photo­shop CS5, which adds new image processing algorithms (filters or effects) in a hardware-independent manner. There are dozens of free filters available, including one for an oil paint effect. Pixel Bender also runs cross-platform in After Effects and Flash, so all filters and their behaviors are portable among various Adobe products.

Installation of the Pixel Bender Plug-in is easy, provided you already have Photoshop CS5 installed. If you don’t yet have Photoshop CS5, you can just download the full 30-day free trial. The Pixel Bender Gallery is initially populated with 13 filters that come with with the plugin. The one we’ll focus on today is the OilPaint filter, with two video tutorials below demonstrating detailed examples of its use. The tips and techniques shared will help you use the tools to turn an ordinary photo into something special – “makes a great gift!”

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Over the next six weeks Adobe is launching a new series of in-depth online seminars to learn the best and get the most out of some top CS5 products, including InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Flash Professional…

The presentations are 90-minute live “deep dives” with Adobe product experts where you can get firsthand detailed information on the new features of these releases, see demonstrations, and get direct answers to your questions. All sessions are from 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM ET on upcoming Tuesdays, and will be presented in English:

Deep Dive: Adobe Illustrator CS5
Tuesday, July 13, 11:30am – 1:00pm US/Eastern
Complimentary Registration

Deep Dive: Adobe InDesign CS5
Tuesday, July 27, 11:30am – 1:00pm US/Eastern
Complimentary Registration

Deep Dive: Adobe Flash Professional CS5
Tuesday, August 10, 11:30am – 1:00pm US/Eastern
Complimentary Registration

Deep Dive: Adobe Premiere Pro CS5
Tuesday, August 24, 11:30am – 1:00pm US/Eastern
Complimentary Registration

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Adobe recognizes that many people use both Lightroom and Photoshop, and so is offering a special deal whereby you can save 30% off Lightroom 3 if you purchase it together with Photoshop CS5 in any form. This means if you buy Photoshop CS5, Photoshop CS5 Extended, or any CS5 suite edition (which all contain Photoshop), you’ll get 30% off Lightroom when you buy them at the same time.

And it works for either buying the full version or upgrading from an older version, for either product… So if you are upgrading Photoshop, but buying Lightroom for the first time, you’ll get 30% off the price of the full version of Lightroom (e.g., off of $299/€249/£198). No promotion code is required to activate the discount, and it is valid worldwide for all Adobe Commercial store customers (Education and Volume purchases are not eligible).

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If you’re weighing whether to upgrade to Photoshop CS5, or just want to see the best of the new features, Adobe’s got a free new seminar series for you… Digital Imaging Evangelist Julieanne Kost just gave a one-hour online session (now available on-demand) highlighting at least 10 good reasons to become a Photoshop CS5 believer:

Top Ten Reasons to Upgrade to Photoshop CS5 — Watch now

Photoshop CS5 is packed with features that save time, and helps you create images with the desired impact. Easily make complex selections. Remove any image element and see the space fill in almost magically. Paint realistically. Create stunning HDR images, remove noise, add grain, and create vignettes with state-of-the-art photo­graphy tools. Seeing is believing.

This is the second in the What’s New in Photoshop CS5 eSeminar Series. The first was given last month by Photoshop Product Manager Bryan O’Neil Hughes of Content-Aware Fill fame, and is also available for on-demand replay:

Adobe Photoshop CS5 for Photographers (1 hour) — Watch now

See how Photoshop CS5 gives photographers a set of breakthrough tools to help you refine your images and get superior results faster than ever before. This seminar highlights key features and the reasons why photographers should consider upgrad­ing to Photoshop CS5.

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Knowing how to make a good mask is one of the most important things you can learn to do in Photoshop. With accurate masks you can completely control the placement and movement of all the elements of your image. The techniques shared in these new videos will help you get the most out of the new masking capabilities in Photoshop CS5… And when you combine them with the new content-aware fill feature to magically fill backgrounds of moved or deleted objects, well then you’ve really got something.

The first video is a two-part playlist, New Masking Basics: Get up-to-speed with the great new masking tools and techniques in Photoshop CS5, to quickly and easily create professional quality masks.

The second video, to the right, also plays in two parts – New Advanced Masking: Learn some of Photoshop guru Russell Brown’s favorite methods for masking out the background from a really difficult image.

The third and final video is Advanced Motion Blur Masking and Blending: This tutorial will get you through the toughest motion blur with flying colors… Also learn some advanced blending tips and techniques.

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Puppet Warp is one of the coolest new features in Creative Suite 5. Think about taking an element of your image, setting some control points, and then “physically” manipulating it in any way that you want. Obviously this works well with figures – you could swing a raised arm to a person’s side in a photo, or make a family shot a little bit tighter on the grouping… But how about other applications, like stretching or winding text or handwriting or a plant or a musical score to create new effects? Or maybe just something simpler like easily adjusting the relative alignment of the different elements in your composition. It could be any­thing really – a lot of new possibilities out there with this feature for superior manipulation of still images.

To get your ideas flowing, we’ve got two new video tutorials below with fundamental and advanced techniques for Photoshop’s Puppet Warp, courtesy of Adobe’s Russell Brown. In the second video, Content-Aware Fill even makes an appearance, working in synergy with Puppet Warp to combine their power. The tips shared below will help you get the most out of these new capabilities, and if you like you can get started with a free trial download today.

For full-screen viewing, click the expand icon and then 480p after pressing play on each thumbnail:

How are you going to be using Puppet Warp? Share your creativity in the comments below…

See reviews of Puppet Warp and other aspects of Photoshop CS5… Or for more great videos on what’s new in Creative Suite 5, check out www.cs5.tv

There are hundreds of new features and functions in Adobe’s Creative Suite 5, but perhaps the most talked-about is Photoshop’s Content-Aware Fill – which allows you to move or delete content and Photoshop will automatically and intelligently fill in the space left behind. We’ve written about it before here with the quote, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” [Arthur C. Clarke]

But does the real feature live up to its advance billing?

While it’s not perfect and doesn’t always do what you hope or imagine (after all, it’s still just a computer), generally in practice it still does amazingly well – and often unbelievably so. And we have a handful of new videos here to illustrate, thanks to Terry White and Russell Brown. The tips and techniques shared below will help you get the most out of this capability.

The first video covers the best new features in Photoshop CS5 generally, including three great examples of Content-Aware Fill in action… The second, to the right, introduces the concept of Content-Aware Rotation – magically filling in the missing parts to the background of a rotated image with Content-Aware Fill. The third one develops the technique of Wire Removal with Content-Aware Healing – easily removing unwanted lines and wires from your images. And the last video shows how to create Content-Aware Patterns – discovering creative ways to accurately control, and create, patterns with Content-Aware Fill.

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So Adobe Photoshop CS5 is finally out in its official release, with over 100 new and enhanced features… What’s the word out there so far? First, a quick summary of what’s new:

 ◊ Photoshop CS5 delivers exceptional power and creative control with the next generation of advanced tools for outstanding image manipulation and superior compositing. It redefines image editing with a strong focus on photography, including breakthrough selection capabi­lities, content-aware fill options, state-of-the-art processing of raw images, advanced creation of High Dynamic Range (HDR) imagery, automated lens corrections, extraordinary new painting effects, and a sweeping range of workflow and performance enhancements that boost productivity.

 ◊ Photoshop CS5 Extended takes it even further, as a superset of tools and features made for professionals who want to push the boundaries of digital imaging. It delivers all the editing, compositing, and painting capabilities of Photoshop CS5 plus powerful new features for creat­ing stunning 3D artwork from selections, graphics, and type with direct control over lighting, materials, and meshes.

And here’s what the reviewers have to say about it:

“When was the last time software changed the way you think and see? Photoshop CS5 will.”
  — John Paul Caponigro, photographer

“Each new version of Photoshop has included many exciting enhancements, but Photoshop CS5 is the most amazing technological jump I’ve seen since I started using the software.”
  — Ira Block, Ira Block Photography

“The Content-Aware Fill feature in Photoshop CS5 got a wow from me when I first used it. It is very good at replacing areas where you would otherwise need to use more strokes and time to clone or heal out a distracting element in a photograph.”
  — Dianne Taylor-Misztela, TM Photo

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