Adobe Photoshop CC – Essentials Training Course vs Expressive Typography in Motion with After Effects

28+ hours of video covering selection tools, masking, retouching, compositing, typography, colour adjustments, and web and print workflows — enough breadth to take a true beginner through to confident intermediate work. Updated January 2025 to reflect the current Photoshop CC interface. Capped at 4.6 because a handful of reviewers noted pacing inconsistencies between sections and limited coverage of advanced compositing techniques like frequency separation or channel masking.

Daniel Walter Scott holds both Adobe Certified Instructor (ACI) and Adobe Certified Expert (ACE) credentials and runs Bring Your Own Laptop (BYOL), a dedicated Adobe training platform. Reviewers consistently describe him as enthusiastic, clear, and well-matched in pace to complete beginners. The fractional deduction reflects occasional feedback that the delivery can feel slightly over-cheerful, and that advanced learners find the hand-holding unnecessary.

At Udemy sale prices of $12–15 — which occur several times per month — for 28+ hours of content with lifetime access and future updates, the value proposition is very strong. The ceiling is that the list price is artificially inflated, and a small minority of learners paid nearer the full rate and felt the experience did not match the premium positioning.

Projects span logo design, poster creation, social media graphics, and photo retouching — real-world artefacts rather than contrived exercises. Each project ships with downloadable starter assets. The limitation is Udemy's Q&A-only feedback loop: no peer review and no instructor critique of individual submissions. You produce work but receive no evaluation unless you post in the discussion board and happen to get a response.

Covers the workflows a junior designer or freelancer actually uses: masking, smart objects, retouching, layer styles, and basic compositing. Several learners noted they applied skills from the course in paid client work within weeks. The ceiling: the course stops before advanced techniques like 3D, complex channel masking, and Lightroom integration.

15 lessons over 2h32m walk from kinetic-type fundamentals and phrase research through lettering composition, colour, animation, and GIF export. Reviewers praise the clear step-by-step process, though some wanted deeper After Effects technique beyond the ~20 minutes of pure animation.

Mat Voyce — a Top-5 GIPHY artist who has worked with Netflix, Disney+, Adobe, BBC, and Nike — is the most-praised element. Learners repeatedly call his teaching fun, clear, and encouraging, saying he makes you feel you can recreate what he shows.

A one-time purchase (~$34.99, often discounted to ~$0.99 with a Domestika Plus trial) with lifetime access — strong value for a best-seller course. The main caveat is that you also need paid Adobe Illustrator and After Effects to follow along.

The final project — an animated typographic phrase built in Illustrator and animated in After Effects, then exported as a shareable GIF — produces a genuine portfolio and social-ready piece. Reviewers single out the GIF export section as especially practical.

Kinetic typography is in steady demand for social, branding, and motion work, and a working designer reviewer reported the course unlocked a new skill on top of existing After Effects experience. It is an introduction, so advanced motion designers may find it foundational.