Beginners photoshop- where?

[Anaglyph]

Hey guys,

I'm new here and I was wondering if there's any good beginners photoshop course I can take. I have photoshop 6.0 and I'm saving up for a tablet, but I don't really understand a lot of the stuff I see professionals do in photoshop- like getting realistic cloud effects without using the filter > render > coulds doohikey.

An online course will be preferable, but anything will do... what's the most common method of honing down your understand and talent with photoshop?

[fanficbug]

http://conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=47859 This is a great thread on painting in photoshop, and there's even a second one too. ;)

[Elwell]

A lot of the tutorials and courses on digital painting won't be directly applicable to Photoshop 6, because the brush engine was totally changed with PS7 onward.

[Anaglyph]

Damn. Exactly how expensive are the newer versions?

[Elwell]

Pricey, unless you can qualify for an academic discount. You can sometimes pick up a bargain on older versions, though, and like I said, anything from 7 on will make a big difference.

[Anaglyph]

There's no way to upgrade PS6? :/

[Elwell]

There's no way to upgrade PS6? :/
I'm not sure how many versions back Adobe will upgrade from, your best bet is to contact them. If you can upgrade, it's around $200.

[Anaglyph]

Yeah, I'll do that. Thanks, though, I appreciate the advice.

Any other websites that teach photoshop I should know about before I invest in PS7?