Photoshop World, Days 2–3: More Cool Sessions, Surprises

If you haven’t already, read my coverage of Photoshop World here.

HIGHLIGHTS

The trade show. It didn’t seem as large as it had in the past, but there were some really neat products out there—it makes you realize the creativity of everyone working hard making products in this industry. Media Lab, creator of SiteGrinder 2, was on hand—and Tom Summerall was so busy demoing the product for attendees that I couldn’t say hi. One company who had an unusually large presence was Microsoft, who wasn’t showing any products but had their name on one of the trade show theaters. I thought that was cool, but will anyone ever embrace Microsoft as a company devoted to creative professionals? A notable absence from Photoshop World was Apple, the company that puts out Aperture. I have to assume that the conference was so heavy with Lightroom seminars and promotions (at almost any given time, a Lightroom session was going on somewhere), Apple either didn’t feel it was worth it or was not even accepted (or allowed) into the show. Lightroom is just getting off the ground, and I and others thought Photoshop World was used to promote Lightroom as well as CS3.

Dan Margulis. Dan has taught at Photoshop World since 2004 when I first attended, and he is still at it despite ramping down his involvement in the Photoshop community. Photoshop World is (I think) the only event Dan speaks at anymore, and he is not going to be publishing his books regularly anymore. For whatever stupid reason, the organizers stuck Dan in a tiny room and it got so crowded people had to be kicked out due to the fire codes. It was like Woodstock—even though we had large ballrooms devoted to other instructors. Despite all this craziness, Dan’s sessions were excellent—he elicited the most applause and “oohs and aahs” of any other instructor, by far. I think a lot of attendees were yearning for the hardcore skills that Dan could offer—really advanced sessions were hard to come by at this Photoshop World.

Fay Sirkis and Painter. As far as I know, this is the first time Fay Sirkis taught at Photoshop World. Fay is the pre-eminent photo-painting artist out there today, and she showed us some basic and advanced Painter skills over two sessions. She’s a brash Brooklyn wiseguy, but she was a lot of fun and also taught us all a lot.

OPINIONS

Photoshop CS3 is raising a lot of questions. Attendees I talked to didn’t see a lot of need for the specialized tools available in Photoshop CS3 Extended, and most would buy it only because it will be bundled with most CS3 suites (which is how many creative pros buy their software). They also weren’t sure how Photoshop CS3 Extended would fare against other professional imaging software out there that already serves the specific niches CS3 Extended is targeting. For instance: some wondered why Photoshop CS3 Extended would offer DICOM and medical imaging capabilities when there was (probably) software already available in that field that could do the job without all the other extra Photoshop tools. No one I talked to had any inside info on what medical professionals use for medical imaging, so these notions may be incorrect—but the questions are there for now.

NAPP wasn’t prepared for such a large crowd. Overcrowded rooms and disorganized events drove me crazy. I think they did an admirable job, but the event sold out and I think it stretched NAPP’s resources to the limit and beyond. Next year they’ll have to hold Photoshop World in Central Park, NYC, and use the NYPD to staff it.

This event could easily use a fourth day. There’s so much to learn and attendees would dive into Photoshop World for a full week if they could. Right now it’s only three days plus a half-day if you take a pre-conference workshop, but I know people would do another day if they had the chance.

Sessions are getting less advanced and target the prosumer photographer. Most classes are for photographers and seem targeted for beginners or intermediate users. As for the Photoshop courses, only Dan Margulis’ sessions were for hardcore users. I am to the point that I am not sure I would return to Photoshop World because I know most of the tricks and techniques being explained. If you are new to Photoshop World it would be a mind-blowing experience, but if you are an alumni of the event or use Photoshop at a high level already, you get much less out of the sessions.