I first became aware of Photo Art Studio because of a Groupon offer which announced, "One, Two, or Four 14-Hour Online Photography- or Adobe-Certification Classes (Up to 96% Off)." The offer stated that I could take four classes--a photography class, as well as certification classes in Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Flash, for only $79. The offer clearly stated, "Students will receive their certification upon course completion." I am a college professor who teaches Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Flash, so I thought Adobe Certification would be a good thing to have. And for only $79? Such a deal! I signed up for all four classes and then logged into the Photo Art Studio web site. I saw the video tutorials and assignment files, as well as some sample Adobe Certification test questions. (The sample tests weren't very good, though; the same question was often repeated 2-3 times.) I didn't see anything about Adobe Certification, though, so I E-mailed their support center. The automated response said someone would get back to me in 24-48 hours. When I didn't hear back after 4 days, I decided to call. There was no answer at the company's main number, but there was at the mobile number, so I left a voice mail message. Later that same day, I received a very terse E-mail from Eddie Jani, Photo Art Studio's General Coordinator, which stated: "There wouldn't be a purpose to the course if you are ready to go for the exams. You can simply schedule them through Adobe." This was alarming to me, because the Groupon ad clearly stated that I would receive my certification upon course completion. If I scheduled the three certification exams through Adobe, it would cost me an additional $540. I wrote Eddie back twice asking for futher clarification, but he never responded. In the meantime, since Eddie seemed to be implying that Adobe Certification was not included in this offer, I contacted Adobe to find out if these Adobe Certification classes were legit (which, in retrospect, I should have done before purchasing the offer). I also reached out to Groupon about obtaining a refund. I really had to raise hell with Groupon. First they told me that there was a certificate awarded, but that it was Photo Art Studio's own certification, not Adobe Certification as stated in the Groupon offer. Then Groupon said the offer was only for Adobe Certification classes, not the certification itself. However, when I forwarded them Adobe's response that Photo Art Studio was not authorized to offer Adobe Certification classes, Groupon refunded my money. I don't know for sure if Groupon or if Photo Art Studio was responsible for the misleading wording in the Groupon ad. However, the lack of response from Photo Art Studio is ultimately what leads me to give them a one-star rating. Photo Art Studio should have done something to make this right, such as contacting Groupon to issue me a refund. I feel like they were completely ignoring my calls and E-mails. Caveat emptor. read more

Yes, there are a few errors, and yes the instructor could do with some presentation and editing skills, but I still think this was $39 well spent. (Groupon price) I wanted a relatively easy introduction to digital photography; something to take me from point & shoot to knowing what most every button on a DSLR does and how to use them effectively. I got exactly what I wanted from this course. I couldn't care less about certificates, but having the option is nice. (Depending on the specific certificate, it could mean quite a lot, or nothing at all.) Upon completion, this course awards its own certificate, but also provides students with the information needed to take (and hopefully pass) the Certified Professional Photographer certificate. Only the latter of the two will be worthwhile for any resume or portfolio. (CPP is through a different group and requires its own set of fees. Adobe is also its own group and will also require its own set of fees for the certification tests. Adobe in particular is VERY strict about prices so don't ever assume you'll find a legitimate discount on any of their products, unless you are a student and even then...) As more courses are developed by this instructor, group and/or university, I hope to see more emphasis placed on overall presentation skills (fewer "umm..."s and less jumping through or over slides) and some editing skills. However, the technical and artistic skills needed to advance from a smartphone photographer, to a reasonably decent DSLR photographer are definitely present in the course. My recommendation to people thinking about going through this course: Make sure you're smart enough to think through what is presented. There are not tons of errors, but they are seamless enough that you could be steered in the wrong direction. Taking photos and seeing the results can help students weed out erroneous details. (If you're good with technical thoughts and/or have a fondness of physics, you don't necessarily need to apply photography skills to weed out the errors.) If you're taking a course like this, you are there to learn, so use your brain instead of complaining about theirs so much that you loose an opportunity to grow. read more

If you are starting out and you are looking for a basic understanding of digital photography this is worth $39 Groupon voucher. I've already gotten a better understanding of my camera, a Canon 60D, which I look forward to applying in the future. This 'online course' is comparable to a Youtube series of tutorials organized for you to learn without having to search out specific questions. The amatuer nature of the video tutorials don't give me much hope for getting a valid certification. They signal a guy who's just starting out or someone trying to make a couple bucks off of new photo enthusiasts. We'll see. So in conclusion, I give it 2.0 stars because the information alone makes it worth the $39. But remember, folks, its 39 bucks; you get what you pay for. read more

Thank you Laurie A, . God bless you! read more

I am taking the Digital Phography course, also purchased through Groupon for $39. Here is an email I just sent to them after taking just the first 2 lessons: To whom it may concern, (I'm sure there's only one person there anyway) Well I purchased your Digital photography course through Groupon. I gotta say I'm pretty disappointed so far. Are you a one man operation? Is the guy that is narrating the course the only person in the company? Because I'm appalled at the number of errors after just 2 lessons. Did you go through the course and try to correct any errors before releasing it? Because the narrator (notice I didn't say instructor) is a f***ing idiot! All he does is basically read the Powerpoint slides, and frequently quickly skipping over some slides that are important, I have had to rewind the videos a bit then hit pause to see the slide. Why put the slides in the presentation in the first place if you're going to just skip over them? Very amateurish!! Then the "instructor" misspeaks lot of time, pauses frequently like he is unable to follow his own train of thought and correcting himself, and like I said, mistakes galore! I didn't bother to write them down when I came across them but I can tell you there are plenty! I've gotta say this course is VERY amateurish. This course badly needs someone to QA it and then have you go over it and fix the many mistakes. Any reputable "University" would have done just that, so I gotta think this course was made by some Asian guy living in Canada, operating out of his apartment, creating a photography course and trying to pass himself off as a college professor. Pretty sad. One can only hope that the course will get better as I progress through it. The first few lessons are things I already knew, so hopefully the later lessons will actually teach me something useful to justify the $39 I paid. Frankly I'm thinking a good book would have been a better use of my money. At least a book would have likely been proofread and any mistakes fixed before being released. What a concept, eh? So yeah, this course is a scam, VERY amateurish, full of mistakes. After sending this email I did a Google search on this "University" and found these reviews. I also wish I had seen these reviews before buying the course. Very disappointed and disgusted that there are such scams out there. Unfortunately you can't sue them because they do release a product, there is no recourse if the product sucks. read more

I have been taking the Photo Art Studio Digital Photography. I bought the group on for 39$ so I figured it was a win, win situation. I will agree with the other posts on here about the module videos are boring and there are mistakes in his reading them. however that said, they give you all the Modules to download and read yourself, you do not have to watch the video and the information is very informative. The assignments are great and it forces you take more photos. This is by no means a make up for a college course but if you are looking just to sharpen your skills and learn more for 39$ you get your money worth. read more

I've been wanting to learn photoshop cs6 for a very long time. I didn't want to spend a lot of money and found a good deal. People spent a lot of $$$ for courses like this and the content for this course was great and I know a lot more about photoshop than I ever did. The instructor was very well informed and even if you have no knowledge of photoshop (like me) he makes it very easy to learn and does an excellent job explaining things. Customer service did take awhile to get back to me at first when I registered but that was probably because they were very busy. They did eventually get back to me with the info I wanted and I am very happy with this product. I want to take the digital photography course. I took it at a local place and they did a very poor job but if the online course is anything like there photoshop it will be much better. I highly recommend this if you want to learn. I don't know what the bad reviews are for. For the money you spend you get great info. If you are already an expert at the product then don't take it. If your a beginner or intermediate guy like I was it is well worth it. read more

Thank you, Laurie, for your in depth review. I was wondering about the Adobe certifications, also. The Groupon states, "...for one online certification program in digital photography, Photoshop, Web Animation (Flash), or Web Development (Dreamweaver)" It continues making statements about certification programs and receiving certifications. It is disappointing that Photo Art Studio does not clarify whose certifications will be earned. At the very least it is misleading, so I will look elsewhere for a more "upfront" company to deal with. Thanks, again! read more

This is such a rip-off - completely unprofessional quality, boring to the point of painful (e.g., 30 second pauses in the training videos that could have easily been edited out). Don't waste your money - you can find better resources for free online! read more

I bought the Groupon for the digital photography course. I am an experienced amateur photographer with film but have been overwhelmed by the functionality of my DSLR so it sounded like this class would be a good guide to help me better understand how to take advantage of the DSLR in ways I already knew to do with film. So I did anticipate a lot of this would be too basic for me (exposure, depth of field, lenses, etc.). But I figured for this price, just learning more about the DSLR stuff would be worth it. And it might have been if: 1. The instructor had one iota of experience in teaching....god awful. Tons of pauses and tripping on his words and correcting himself and just generally no idea how to speak much less teach. He could use a Groupon for public speaking course. 2. The content was anything more than just stating basics that you could get form a cheap crib sheet on camera dials and buttons. Total waste of my time. Even a beginner would find this a waste because what substance there is (and there is some at the beginner level) is taught so poorly that you would do better just speed reading the manual. read more

Glad I read these comments before purchasing. If y'all are interested in photoshop or photography classes check out jessicasprague.com - Ive heard really great things about her classes and will be signing up for one soon! read more

STAY AWAY! I became aware of Photo Art Studio through Groupon. Registration was easy but I encountered difficulties downloading the trial software. Called then number several times over several days and always got the recording. Sent several emails but never a reply. Contacted Groupon who managed to get Photo Art Studio to email me. It was a canned reply about registration problems. I have requested a refund (yeah, right) from Photo Art Studio and Groupon. It is not surprising to find scam or valueless online training. It is surprising that Groupon is aware of the problem provider and does nothing about it. As with everything else Groupon is now added to my beware list. Shame really. read more

Okay, I never took the course. But I'm going to give it 4 stars. That's fair, right? Most of the 1 star reviews are people who have admittedly not taken the course. That's not fair and shouldn't be allowed! That is really dishonest. At least take the course before you trash it! read more

I took their photography certification course and learned a lot about my camera, photoshop, and how to take the best type of pictures. Yes, some of the videos are quite boring to sit through, and I did find times, when he was describing something on photoshop, that I found a shorter way to achieve the same results. However, I did feel like I learned a lot, and I did receive my certificate in the mail a couple of weeks later. read more

thank you... i was going to do this but read these reviews and desided to save my money! thank you for taking the time out of your day to help others read more

I almost bought this groupon for my boyfriend who has fallen in love with his new fancy camera. Thank you so much to everyone who has posted and warning others how terrible the course is. I think Groupon should give everyone who bought this groupon from them refunds! :) read more

First and foremost, I agree with all of the aforementioned comments, but I must say, that we all have to start somewhere. The biggest lesson is, you get what you pay for and currently, although I bought the course for 4 classes at $79 and after already having trudged through Elements 11, I have learned more in one course than I did with 11. Did I really think I would learn enough to be thoroughly proficient, NO, but I can now edit my body of work and build a basic website and what did really think I'd get for $79. My real issue with this guy is that I still have to buy the software to meet my needs and that I would have had to do, anyway! read more

I bought the Photoshop Groupon for $39 even tho the reviews were not very good. I noticed that the complaints were mostly about not getting an Adobe Certificate. I wouldn't expect an Adobe Certificate because I know Adobe doesn't do things that way and I didn't care about that. I wanted to learn how to use tools and procedures in Photoshop. This set of tutorials is a BIG time commitment. I have completed the first 6 lessons and have learned a lot. I've taken some previous Photoshop classes, but I think anyone could learn from these lessons because to me they are very clear. Well worth my $39. read more

This "company" is a disaster. Virtually non-existent customer service, numerous unreturned voicemails and emails, amatuer video tutorials, unfulfilled promises, etc. DON'T waste your time or money. If you want quality instruction try KelbyOne, lynda.com, video2brain, etc. Less than $79 will buy you a high quality tutorial DVD that you can view over and over with no internet access. The rating should be 0 stars. Live and Learn. read more

I was just checking this class out on groupon....and for the last few days have been thinking I would purchase it...Thank you for all the reviews! You just saved me $39. I did start at their FB page and they only had like 48,000 people who "liked" them and they have not posted anything in months so right there I thought that was a red flag! Im moving on! Thanks! read more

I'd like to be positive in any review I write online, but frankly I'm speechless at how ridiculously awful his courses are. I say "his" and not "their" because it's one person only. The photography course was so bad, I wouldn't have followed it if it were free on YouTube, let alone paying for it (but unfortunately i did). It is so poorly made, including the fact that he uses a cheap camera, and you can hear the auto-focus suffering trying to focus, and you can actually see his reflection but he didn't realize that...I can go on and on, but the bottom line is, I promise you that you can get anything on his courses for free on YouTube done by professionals; he is certainly not a professional. Save yourselves the money that some of us have already spent. read more

Bought the deal from groupon - A teenager could've done a better job presenting the materials. I am sorry, but I am just being honest. And no, this is NOT a great deal from groupon. Time was wasted trying to see of the materials will improve and no it does not. And certificate? I would be embarrassed to even admit that I purchased this!! I will be requesting for a refund. There are sooo many errors in the materials and the presenter just reads off of the slides 90% of the time. The videos cannot be played on ipad. How can there be so many errors on something that you paid for? Negative for groupon for allowing such bad company in their site. I am not even active on yelp but here i am. Save your money, buy a book instead. read more

I am self-taught on Adobe Photoshop and thought this online course, offered through Groupon, seemed like a great opportunity to more carefully and methodically go through the program and perhaps enlighten me to aspects I hadn't been utilizing, offer short-cuts, spur my creativity, etc. If only I'd found these reviews first. Now I'm definitely going to try and get a refund. I spotted mistakes right off the bat, in the very first lessons. How is it that I could know more than this guy who's making money selling this shabby course?! And YES - this is the most deadly boring waste of time you can imagine. Horribly, unbearably BORING! You or I could video ourselves "teaching" something claiming it's somehow "official" and I guess Groupon doesn't have the resources to verify it's integrity, therefore allowing anyone, like this guy, to simply cash in. But Groupon makes money too, right? We're the losers. read more