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Sorry to say... nothing about photoshop is easy for beginners! That being said, I think it is a great program to learn to use. Sorry I can't help with specific links, I usually start with a project and then google the question I have until I can find the right answer. What kind of things are you thinking about doing? The one major tip that I have is to NOT try to use photoshop for anything involving text. It destroys text, I made this mistake early on. Illustrator is made for text projects and is also handy to learn to use. It took me less time to get used to Illustrator than to Photoshop.
Is illustrator a completely separate program that I have to purchase?
<---sorry not that up on this stuff!
Yes, Adobe Illustrator is made by the same people and you have to purchase it. There are pirated copies all over the place. If you are a student, or a staff or faculty member at a school, you can get the education discount through apple - that's how we got ours. I think it was around $250 for both Illustrator and Photoshop. But if you decide not to do it, you could try power point or Word for the text documents, I've seen other bees do that. I'm actually not very good with either of those programs. :) Illustrator is the best. Just don't use photoshop for text - you will definitely notice that it looks pixelated and not good at all. :) Hope this helps.
Out of curiosity what is it you are trying to do? There are a lot of tutorials out there for lots of different things (like text looking like grass, gold, whatever) that you probably don't need. Maybe we can narrow it down to some tips that would help you get started if we know what you are working on.
The deal with Adobe products is that Photoshop is used mostly for editing and manipulating photos, Illustrator is mostly used for illustrations and manipulations of illustrations and text for logos and things, and InDesign is your layout program for setting type and putting it all together. Each program has its strengths and weaknesses.
Photoshop is not the best place for type because it does things based on raster technology (pixels used to build the image) where Illustrator uses vectors (mathematical curves that scale so that you can make something tiny or the size of a building without it ever looking fuzzy).
All of these can be purchased separately or together in the Creative Suite. They are of course, really expensive.
Basically if you are working in photoshop and want to print something you need to make sure it is 300 DPI (printer prints 300 dots per inch) to insure the best quality. There is more to it than that but again, let me know what you are working on and I can be more specific 
DesignerBee and Shelliduke thanks! Wow, I know nothing! I am trying to create monograms, tags, stickers, "will you be my bridesmaid" cards and labels. I just want to get good enough so I can make cute things on my own that look professional. I can buy gifts for people and make my own personalized, custom labels etc....
Thanks!!!!
For what you want to do, I would highly recommend Illustrator. You can get a free 30 day trial on their website, and if you have a couple of computers, that should get you by for long enough to either make most things or decide you hate it. :) I had never used Illustrator till 6 months ago, and I made: programs, Thank You cards, escort cards, welcome letter for OOT bags, addresses for all of the envelopes for the invitations, signs for our chairs, sign for the guest book, sign for the bar with the different types of wine and drinks, sign for the photobooth... A lot of signs, I guess. Anyway I really enjoy the program and am glad I bought it. If you know anyone in education, as I mentioned before, I highly recommend you ask them to buy CS4 through the Apple website - it is only $250 or so and you get full versions of the programs DesignerBee mentioned. I'll have pics in my gallery in a few weeks, and hopefully some DIY tutorials! Good luck!
Hi,
shelliduke is right! Illustrator is your best bet! That is what I'm using to create all my DIY stationary, menus, invites, std, labels etc...I'm sure you can get "Adobe Creative Suite for Dummies" at a book store, it's great for beginners! Just make sure you get the latest version of Illustrator (CS4), it has so many great features! Good luck!
illustrator is easier I think! Just go to youtube and type in what you want to do...such as "change backround of illustrator"
I agree with the above and if you plan to go any deep on them, lynda.com is my favorite place for online tutorials :)
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I am trying to learn how to use photoshop and get some ideas.
Three Thoughts:
1) Any good links to online photoshop tutorials (free)
2) Pictures of photoshop diy projects that you have worked on that aren't too hard for beginners?
3) Suggestions?
Thanks!!!