The repetition in the title above is not an indication that I’ve started the martini hour early today. Actually, it’s an indication that the current state of the dekeBlog doesn’t allow for the use of italics in the header. Thus, I can’t cleverly and clearly, entitle today’s post “Introducing Introducing Photoshop: Design.” And yet, that is what I’m prepared to do.

Over at lynda.com, today marks the release of Deke’s new course Introducing Photoshop: Design (which will be followed in the next several weeks by more dekeHandshakes to various denizens of the Adobe Creative Cloud). This particular course is designed to take you from square one—as in, never having used Photoshop before—to practical knowledge of Photoshop’s everyday tools for designers. (Gosh, italics sure are useful.)

Sure, for many sophisticated dekeOpolitans, this course will be too basic. But we know darn well that there are people out there, we like to call them dekeOlytes of the Future, who are a) full of creative design ideas b) lured to Photoshop, but then c) abruptly scared away by its sheer complexity and the time it must take to acquire a functional knowledge of the program.

This course is for those who want to get something done, get their hands nice and dirty with pixels, but don’t have time for an encyclopedic approach like Deke’s One-on-One series. It explains basic Photoshop concepts that beginners with a design project need, like understanding layers and selections or how to use the brush and pen.

(Of course, if you do want the comprehensive approach, Deke’s Photoshop CC One-on-One: Fundamentals is the place to start.)

So if you are (or if you are acquainted with) someone who could use this kind of quick up-to-speediness, point yourself (or your aforementioned acquaintance) toward Introducing Photoshop: Design. And if you need a free week at lynda.com to check it out, you can sign up for a trial subscription at lynda.com/deke.