I know your probably sick at looking at Photoshop questions having bought two aids already but I bought a practice exam from ebay for only $10 which was pretty well written and helped me a lot. Just search "Photoshop cs3 practice exam" on ebay.
Don’t feel too bad. I failed the Photoshop ACE by 1%. Yup 1 lousy percent. My issue was the wording of the questions. Like all ACE tests, the way questions are phrased is horrible and they can be interpreted in a couple different ways. I disagree that it’s either "you know it or you don’t." I think it’s more "You interpret the question as intended or you don’t." In addition the Photoshop ACE seems to cover MUCH more than just Photoshop. When I took (and passed) the Illustrator ACE, the test covered Illustrator and that’s all. Wish the same were true for Photoshop tests. Adobe really should have a Bridge ACE test if they want to test people on that application.
Bridge CS4 is now such an integral part of the whole Suite that it has become the equivalent of the airport Control Tower; and I feel that it is essential for anyone who wishes to be considered an Adobe "Expert" to be thoroughly informed and conversant with the operation and functions of Bridge.
Thanks for the posts, yeah I thought I was fairly familiar with the Bridge application, it just that even though after using the application for a countless number of hours, doing the prac exams, reading the help file the ACE test springs you with a question like: How do you save a search term query in bridge?. At the time I had no idea! Just hope theres not too many more suprises when I retest.
I disagree. I realize you a "fan girl" for Bridge. But it’s WORTHLESS here. And it is NOT part of Photoshop therefore the Photoshop ACE test should NOT encompass Bridge. If Adobe wants to test on it, create a Bridge ACE test. I could see Bridge included in the Production ACE test, but not the single application tests.
I have never had any interest in entering competitions or for "Awards" of any sort. I have enough junk in my house already without cluttering it up with useless (and plug-ugly!) gilded plastic statuettes and framed certificates!
But frankly, if you don’t know Bridge CS4 thoroughly, in addition to Photoshop CS4, you should not hold "ACE Certification" for Photoshop CS4 in my opinion because a considerable number of the operations which were formerly handled by Photoshop are now handled or managed through Bridge.
Yes, I do know that you can still load, and use, some optional old plug-ins and scripts from CS3 but few installations will have them and they will, almost certainly, not be included in CS5.
Well I have no use for Bridge, never have. Adobe can keep throwing features into it and removing them form the applications, then maybe they’ll move something I do use. But to date, everything they’ve moved has been for photographers or end users (like web galleries). None of which matters in a production/web building workflow.
But don’t you think that a certified ACE might have to advise and instruct photographers and end users (like web galleries); as well as those in a production/web building workflow?
Being certified isn’t about instruction. It’s about knowing an application well. There’s nothing about ACE that qualifies you to instruct others and nowhere is that used as a promotion for becoming certified. In fact, if you are instructing there is the ACI which requires both the ACE and a teaching credential of some sort.
Therefore no, I do not believe the Photoshop Certification should include anything a separate application handles, regardless of what that separate application may be. Essentially, it would be the same if you went to take the Photoshop test and they threw in 5 or 6 questions about Indesign. After all, if you’re working in print you’ll need to know how Indesign and Photoshop work together. Now, how correct would that be for those that never use Indesign?
I simply feel that single application ACE tests should be just that, about the single application. Throwing in other applications is simply wrong. If they want to incorporate multiple applications then it’s shouldn’t be "Photoshop ACE." It should have some other name, such as "Digital Photography Organizations and Manipulation ACE."
Of course my opinion means nothing. It’s exceptionally unlikely Adobe will ever change things.
Actually I have never seen the point of taking those ACE tests anyway except for personal satisfaction.
ACE wouldn’t carry much weight with me if I was considering a candidate for a job because I would be much more concerned with the quality of his portfolio.
I would actually EXPECT someone who told me that he was an ACE/Photoshop to have a thorough grasp not only of that program but also a good understanding of the ancillary programs in the Design Suite AND of Press requirements also!
Ann Shelbourne: But don’t you think that a certified ACE might have to advise and instruct photographers and end users (like web galleries); as well as those in a production/web building workflow?
I’d tell them to use iView (or whatever it’s called now) or Lightroom. And why does Bridge not catalog fonts (Adobe’s historical second product)?
Neil Keller: …some folks do better solving real-life problems than they do with formal tests.
and
Ann Shelbourne: ACE wouldn’t carry much weight with me if I was considering a candidate for a job because I would be much more concerned with the quality of his portfolio.
I agree. I saw one of these test a while ago and it made no sense. I (we) pretty much knew how to do many things with the Adobe apps, but not the way that was approved by the test writeres. So those test writers (and their pro-advisers) would not get hired by our agency. It’s super that someone tries to document the way a tool is supposed to be used, but often there are actually better ways.
I’ve been interested in getting ACE certified for while, but have reservations based on what Scott is saying.
Sure I can learn up all the subtle ins and outs of Bridge if I need. In practice Photoshop itself is a HUGE subject which I really feel the a wothwhile exam should cover in detail. And by detail I mean real detail, things like shortcuts, best practices full features. What worries me are these pointless and unrelated 1 in 200 users questions I’ve heard about.
Are there any sample tests online?
Does the test cover Camera RAW, Configurator, All the Extended features as well as Bridge?
"Bridge CS4 […] has become the equivalent of the airport Control Tower"
Given that the vast majority of airports (even busy ones) have no control tower and work just fine without them, I think your comparison is (unwittingly) spot on :-).
Note: I use Bridge on a daily basis and am quite happy with it. But just as I’m not fazed as a pilot when I fly into an untowered airport, I’m very aware that I could quite happily access my digital assets from Photoshop using different workflows and tools that ignore Bridge without any problems at all (and do so, on a daily basis). Bridge is no more an essential part of Photoshop in general than control towers are of aviation in general.
The exams test your knowledge of the application for which you sit the exam, not other applications in the Creative Suite, though you may get the odd question about preparing an image for InDesign, for example but that’s not the same as being tested on how to use InDesign. If you sit the Photoshop exam, then expect to answer questions on Bridge, Camera Raw and Device Central because they are all bundled with Photoshop.
Adobe publish an Exam Prep that lists the areas that you will be tested on. You can use it plus the application Help to prepare yourself, or you can use a commercial exam aid (we sell them for almost the entire Creative Suite), or a combination.
"Just wondering if anyone else out there can give me some advice that will help me get over the line next time."
There is an art to self study. Instead of relying on the questions in an exam aid to verify whether you have the required knowledge, you should ask yourself whether you know the "area" the question is testing you on (the false choices can be just as helpful at pinpointing your knowledge, or lack thereof, as the true choices). This way, you will be better prepared when unexpected questions pop-up "in the real exam" or they are couched in different scenarios or language.
If you don’t know Photoshop to an expert level (what that is can be debated ad nauseam), chances are you will fail. The exam aids can only help to prepare you, much like a trainer: you must have the body and the will to begin with. In other words, know Photoshop fairly well to begin with and not just the areas you use and have the will to "crib" knowledge. For example, if you are a website designer, you may never look into offset printing or processing camera raw files but the exam will expect you to know how to output CMYK files and process raw files using Camera Raw, etc.
"Will I face different questions in the retest?"
Yes. Very unlikely you will see same question twice but it can happen.
"How long do I have to wait before I can retest?"
There is no time restriction as far as I am aware.
"How far away is the CS4 exam?"
I suspect it will be released in the early part of the new year now.
"Are there any sample tests online?"
The free Exam Preps include some sample questions. Our demo exam aids contain approx 15.
"Does the test cover Camera RAW, Configurator, All the Extended features as well as Bridge?"
The Photoshop CS4 exam won’t cover Configurator (late addition) or Photoshop Extended features. It will cover Bridge as that is part of Photoshop but not as heavily as it did in the Photoshop CS3 exam.
"After all if you see "Adobe Certified Expert, Photoshop" what part of that lets you know that the Expert also knows Bridge and Camera RAW well enough to be qualified as an expert?"
Merely that both of the applications you mention are part and parcel of Photoshop. Therefore, you are expected to know them IF you wish to pass the Photoshop ACE exam. If you don’t, then you can ignore them without any consequences, other than an impact on your workflow.
Bridge can be a great timesaver. Let’s say you have 500 images in a folder from a shoot but you only want to resize 50. How do you do it from Photoshop? Answer: with great difficulty. In Bridge, you can select them visually and then use the Image Processor or Batch command. You can’t really call yourself an expert if you don’t know such time saving features of…Photoshop.
But.. let’s say you NEVER have 500 images that need resized. Bridge is pointless.
Bridge is also included with Illustrator, Indesign, Dreamweaver, Flash, etc… it’s a completely separate application and not specifically part of Photoshop. It’s a virtual software paper weight they throw in with everything to try and get it marketed. In addition, they have started moving common actions/script to Bridge because, I feel, they are realizing that it IS pointless. So they’ve got to move some of the basic stuff to that paper weight in order to say it has new features. It’s not as though you can’t write an action in Photoshop and batch that still. You can.
I’m not saying Bridge doesn’t have it’s uses for a certain user type, but it’s not the be-all-end-all Adobe want’s it to be. 20+ years with Adobe products here and not a single use for Bridge anywhere. Yet, I can easily answer the questions regarding it. It’s not an addition to the test, it’s an annoyance. If it’s 100% possible to NEVER launch Bridge but use Photoshop every single day for hours a day. And again, if it’s a separate installation, separate launch, separate process, separate splash screen, separate menu items, possible to launch independently from the Photoshop… Then Bridge is not "part of the application." For example, Camera Raw contains none of these separate items.. therefore I do feel its part of Photoshop, whether you use it or not. Camera RAW is dependent upon Photoshop running. Bridge is not.
And there is a 30 day waiting period between retests.
What if you need to assist a client that does have 500 images to resize? Isn’t the ACE certification supposed to let others you know everything related to the application and that’s why you got ACE certified? Just asking, I admit I don’t know a thing about the certification process.
In the past, I’ve found your posts very measured and helpful but this one is so out of character! Why such an aversion to Bridge?
Adobe haven’t claimed or want Bridge to be the be-all-end-all, as far as I am aware. Adobe don’t throw resources at something for nothing. Each minute is accounted for. If it’s included with other apps, you can be sure the decision wasn’t taken on a whim.
While it is possible to never launch Bridge, I do all the time because I deal with images mostly and I need to see them visually and sort them visually before I work on them. I also need to find specific images at times before working on them using specific search criteria. It’s not possible to do that using Photoshop, or create an action that will allow me find images. Have you tried batch keywording 5-10 images in Photoshop? And I don’t mean apply a template. Cannot be done. In Bridge, I can select as many images as I like and then use the Metadata panel to add the keywords.
The processes that have been moved to Bridge make sense because it is easier to make a web gallery, for example, using a visual file browser to gather your assets before including them in a web gallery. The Output module is far from perfect but that’s another thread.
To get back to the ACE topic, Bridge is not a separate installation. There is no option in the installer to exclude it. So it is part of Photoshop, just as much as Camera Raw. Photoshop interacts with Bridge (see File menu or Application bar). Granted it may be limited but it is interaction nevertheless.
"Let’s say you have 500 images in a folder from a shoot but you only want to resize 50. How do you do it from Photoshop? Answer: with great difficulty" – there are actually other ways to do this which are equally efficient, including droplets accessed using the operating system.
Photoshop is so HUGE that concentrating heavily on bridge in the ACE exam can’t do anything other than detract from the exam in other areas- Sure Bridge has its uses, including previewing, filtering, and as a file launcher. Sure it should be included superficially in the PHOTOSHOP ACE exam, but its still an add on, basically an advanced file browser.
I guess if your job means that you spend 50% of each day sifting through images, then Bridge helps you. One thing seasoned Bridge users are missing is that there are now huge operating system advances using OSX (large icon previews, quick view, labelling, file info for example)- its possible to do things very efficiently and in some cases more quickly this way too. Spotlight is also useful beyond what might be expected.
Mark, I used to reason like you when Bridge 1.0 came around (CS2). Much has happened since and Bridge has come a long way since. Did you at all have a look at what it can be used for in CS4? Sure, OSX (Leopard then, not Tiger), can do a lot, but it cannot add meta-info to images or rename files in a batch process, or import from camera cards, and a lot of other things that Bridge CS4 can. I advise you to have another look at Bridge cs4. As for its connection to Photoshop it is an essential part of it for many things and of course a natural part in an ACE exam as I see it. It works very close with Photoshop in many respects.
I actually use Bridge CS4 a fair amount, but only for certain tasks – mainly because the intitial preview building can be "cup of tea" time. I think I’ve also done most of the homework on it, though I will look again at your recommendation.
"or rename files in a batch process" – there’s a script tucked away in the OS, which allows you to simply control click on any non-consecutive files for conditional renaming. As well as more powerful freeware renamers. Fair enough, I don’t often use a digital camera, but was under the impression that there was pretty good OS software for import from camera cards.
I don’t know which camera you have, but I find Bridge CS4’s "Get Photos from Camera" (meaning Card Reader) is infinitely superior to Nikon’s own Transfer application.
To those claiming there is a 30 day wait. There is not. You can take it again the very next day if you wish. I know because I did it, granted I went to a different facility the 2nd time b/c they had an opening at a convenient time.
As far as the Bridge debate. It all depends on what you do for a living. For those who embrace Adobe’s integrated workflow, and dabble in several multimedia programs, Bridge is a phenomenal tool. If you work in a creative team environment, using multiple programs, it’s a great asset.
But if you are just a casual user, or serve a specific PS function or role, then there may not be a need for you to utilize all the features. The ACE exams aren’t really tailored for this type of Photoshop user.
We are talking about a PHOTOSHOP EXPERT exam. Which means knowledge on the features/functions of Photoshop, and how it integrates with other programs. To include preflighting for web and print. So this debate about it being a separate program is moot.
In reference to these credentials helping with the job hunt. Yes they do. But as mentioned earlier the local 9-5 sign shop could care less, a larger corporation/professional environment will take it into consideration. Just don’t think this waters down the importance of a good portfolio, because it doesn’t.
Just to establish where I’m coming from: I am ACE/ACI – PS CS3 & AI CS3 and working on InDesign and Acrobat next for the Print/Design Expert rating.
Also it should be mentioned that like all tests, the questions need to come from a frame of reference. This is part of any exam validation.
The Help Menu is the most concentrated resource for those answers. You may find questions that are more contextual and not verbatim quotes…you still have to know your PS.
Classroom in a Book is a good starter book, but it’s just that, an intro book.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Photographers, by Martin Evening (CS4 version is out too) is a good resource if you are not a photographer and need more insight on Camera RAW and photography principles.
I did 85% on CS2 and was very disappointed. Every question that offered a correct answer was correct. Some just had 4 wrong answers or I didn’t get what’s asked, although understanding all the words. I’d prefer the questions to be come clearer, instead of the required % constantly dropping. It becomes more and more of a guessing game what they might have thought is correct. Does LAB go from red to green? No but let’s see the other answers, if they are "wronger", it might be the right one. I learned so much useless crap for the test (and I don’t complain about that, just saying), then you don’t even get a chance to find out if you really know how to use the app. So many interesting questions come up in the forums everyday but no such useful information is checked in those tests. Also I noticed quite a few mistakes and missings in the exam learning files. In InDesign there were even cases where the exact same wrong answer was in there twice (for the same question). They live of us idiots who always have to prove ourselves. I already see me learning for the CS4 test, idiot!
My word of advice to anybody who is preparing to take an ACE exam and has never seen one: be prepared to answer questions on parts of Photoshop that nobody uses (or at least, that people shouldn’t use IMO).
I got asked a bunch of questions about animating in Photoshop. Seriously? I was annoyed.
Just because you yourself don’t capitalize on a particular facet of the program doesn’t make it absurd to have questions about it.
ACE exams are not about how skilled you are in applying techniques in the program, but your knowledge base on the different functions thereof.
I myself am not a 3D modeler, nor do I see myself going down that road, however I don’t find it out of the question to be required to know about Photoshop’s growing capabilities with 3D if I am to call myself an ‘expert’ on that particular program.
I didn’t say it was absurd; just that I was annoyed. Mostly because animating in Photoshop is kind of silly because it does it so poorly.
However, I do think that the fact that it asks odd questions makes sense, since the point is that the people that get this certification are "experts". So by knowing the odd ins-and-outs, you’re demonstrating that you know more about the program than the average Joe.
I was simply pointing out that that’s one of the things to be prepared to do: answer things you may not think are relevant and that may annoy you for that reason.
It’s true. And I recommend to go into every single dialog and learn what every stupid little option does, that nobody uses. But mostly learn the help file, it’s were the "writers" get their questions from, buy putting a ? at the end of a sentence.
CS4? No but I might, it’s scary how much people are impressed by a stupid piece of paper saying you’re an expert. I mostly do it to force myself to learn the whole app, but lately they’re becoming quite expensive, especially outside the US. I’d never do a non-english one though, they’re probably adding mistranslations to the whole mess (even the apps are translated terribly).
To those claiming there is a 30 day wait. There is not. You can take it again the very next day if you wish. I know because I did it, granted I went to a different facility the 2nd time b/c they had an opening at a convenient time.
Maybe things have changed. But I was specifically told both in person and at the Prometric site that there is a 30-day wait between retests. Perhaps you merely got around that by going to a different facility.
I failed the first time, b/c I didn’t fully realized the scope of it all, much like Katie said you have to know the ins and outs.
The second time, I simply read the entire Help menu. It took 3 days. Coupled with 2 other books and I fared quite well on the retest 3 days later.
Why the Help menu? Because that’s the ‘manual’ and the exam’s frame of reference. You won’t find verbatim answers, as there are more than knowledge based questions. If you’ve ever studied the hierarchy of learning and understand the ‘synthesis’ level, that’s where these tests are (in some parts).
The Illustrator exam was much easier, as it has limited functions (vector, printing, save for web) With Photoshop there’s SO MUCH. 3d, video, web, printing, raster, vector etc. Probably one of the most difficult exams.
Adobe takes a fee (quite a hefty one?) off each person who takes a test each time that they take it so i imagine that they would be perfectly happy for you to re-appear for testing twice daily?
I fail to understand why anyone would want to waste money, time and effort on ACE certification anyway.
I fail to understand why anyone would want to waste money, time and effort on ACE certification anyway.
Because, as has been pointed out before in this thread, bean-counters love shiny things and pieces of paper with lots of important-looking letters on them, and they’ll sometimes give you more money if you wave those things in front of their nose.
Because I’m military, and a DoD Instructor, I get 50% vouchers, and then the Army reimburses me (as long as I pass).
So it’s worth trying. Plus, as I transition to the civilian sector in a few months, I’m getting great job offers (with the certs being mentioned by the potential employers as a plus)
It’s not like you could just pass it if you don’t know Photoshop, so it does proof that you learned a lot. But a minumum of 60% is way too low, there’s obviously something wrong with the questions, if you have to go that low. Instead they should hire some industry greats and experts to write the tests. Then learning for the test would actually help you in your daily working life.
The 60% minimum is AWFULLY low; I passed it my first try and was rather amazed, actually. I didn’t think that I should have, but I am rather pleased that I did. Retaking it didn’t sound like fun.
