How to Learn Photoshop
Start with a simpler version of Photoshop., Get help from Adobe., Look for other online tutorials., Take classes online., Take classes in a brick-and-mortar setting., Get an instructional DVD., Read a book.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Start with a simpler version of Photoshop.
If you have never worked with Photoshop before, or with any graphic editor more sophisticated than the one bundled with your version of Windows or MacOS, you may want to start with the hobbyist version of Photoshop, Photoshop Elements.Photoshop Elements is geared more toward the photography hobbyist than the graphic designer, offering a simpler color management system, no detailed soft-proofing, and fewer plug-ins than Photoshop.
It can, however, help you learn some of the basics of Photoshop and decide if you want to move on to the professional version. -
Step 2: Get help from Adobe.
Because Photoshop is one of Adobe Systems’ major programs, Adobe has a vested interest in making sure its customers can use Photoshop to do the things they bought it to do.
Accordingly, Adobe offers a number of online tutorials for Photoshop at its websites https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/tutorials.html and http://www.photoshop.com/learn. , Just as most of Photoshop’s plug-ins are produced by third-party vendors, there are a number of tutorial websites by other sources than Adobe Systems.
Some of those tutorial sites are listed below.
Many offer all their tutorials for free, some offer some tutorials free and charge for others, while still others charge for most of their content:
Good Tutorials.
A free site.
Kelby One.
Kelby One charges for most of its tutorials, but you can preview the subject matter being taught in a given tutorial before you pay for it.
Most of its classes deal with using Photoshop to enhance digital photographs.
Lifehacker.
This how-to website includes a page described as a complete guide to Photoshop.PhLearn.
This tutorial site focuses primarily on the photographic effects you can produce in Photoshop.
It is the brainchild of Aaron Nace, a respected name among photographers.
Photoshop Café.
A free site.
Photoshop Lover.
A free site.
Pixel 2 Life.
A free site.
PSDBox.
A free site.
Tuts+.
A free site.
You Suck at Photoshop.
Although each video is focused more on entertainment than educational content, you can still learn quite a bit about Photoshop from watching a number of episodes – and laugh at your mistakes in the process. , Many colleges and universities, particularly community colleges, offer online classes in a number of subjects, including Photoshop.
There are also a number of online-based institutions that offer online Photoshop classes and tutorials.
Some resemble classes; some resemble educational television classes.
Lynda.com offers around 300 Photoshop courses and more than 17,000 tutorials.
It charges a monthly subscription fee for its classes.
Like Kelby One, you can get an overview of a course’s content before you pay for it.
Creative Live offers popular instructors and displays both a catalog of previous classes and announcements of upcoming ones.
They also devote one week a year to Photoshop classes.
Unlike Lynda, Creative Live’s classes are free.
Photoshop User TV is backed by the same people who back the Kelby One tutorial site.
You can search through the list of classes to find the one that addresses the aspect of Photoshop you wish to learn more about. , If you like being able to ask questions to a human being and have the time to attending, Photoshop classes are available through your local community college or private training institution.
You can also sign up through organizations like Ledet, who arrange for instructors to visit your city when they receive sufficient demand. , If you don’t have reliable Internet access or ready access to classroom instruction, you can find instructional DVDs on Photoshop, particularly if you want to learn more about retouching digital photographs with it.
The Digital Photoshop Retouching series on DVD includes instructions from experts such as Julia Kuzmenko and Krunoslav Stifter. , While the above options are primarily devoted to demonstrative and hands-on learning, if you enjoy learning from a book, you can do so for Photoshop.
The ‘’Classroom in a Book’’ series features authors such as Katrin Eismann and Scott Valentine.
Carrie Beene’s ‘’Real Retouching:
A Professional Step-By-Step Guide’’ gives specifics on photo retouching with Photoshop. -
Step 3: Look for other online tutorials.
-
Step 4: Take classes online.
-
Step 5: Take classes in a brick-and-mortar setting.
-
Step 6: Get an instructional DVD.
-
Step 7: Read a book.
Detailed Guide
If you have never worked with Photoshop before, or with any graphic editor more sophisticated than the one bundled with your version of Windows or MacOS, you may want to start with the hobbyist version of Photoshop, Photoshop Elements.Photoshop Elements is geared more toward the photography hobbyist than the graphic designer, offering a simpler color management system, no detailed soft-proofing, and fewer plug-ins than Photoshop.
It can, however, help you learn some of the basics of Photoshop and decide if you want to move on to the professional version.
Because Photoshop is one of Adobe Systems’ major programs, Adobe has a vested interest in making sure its customers can use Photoshop to do the things they bought it to do.
Accordingly, Adobe offers a number of online tutorials for Photoshop at its websites https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/tutorials.html and http://www.photoshop.com/learn. , Just as most of Photoshop’s plug-ins are produced by third-party vendors, there are a number of tutorial websites by other sources than Adobe Systems.
Some of those tutorial sites are listed below.
Many offer all their tutorials for free, some offer some tutorials free and charge for others, while still others charge for most of their content:
Good Tutorials.
A free site.
Kelby One.
Kelby One charges for most of its tutorials, but you can preview the subject matter being taught in a given tutorial before you pay for it.
Most of its classes deal with using Photoshop to enhance digital photographs.
Lifehacker.
This how-to website includes a page described as a complete guide to Photoshop.PhLearn.
This tutorial site focuses primarily on the photographic effects you can produce in Photoshop.
It is the brainchild of Aaron Nace, a respected name among photographers.
Photoshop Café.
A free site.
Photoshop Lover.
A free site.
Pixel 2 Life.
A free site.
PSDBox.
A free site.
Tuts+.
A free site.
You Suck at Photoshop.
Although each video is focused more on entertainment than educational content, you can still learn quite a bit about Photoshop from watching a number of episodes – and laugh at your mistakes in the process. , Many colleges and universities, particularly community colleges, offer online classes in a number of subjects, including Photoshop.
There are also a number of online-based institutions that offer online Photoshop classes and tutorials.
Some resemble classes; some resemble educational television classes.
Lynda.com offers around 300 Photoshop courses and more than 17,000 tutorials.
It charges a monthly subscription fee for its classes.
Like Kelby One, you can get an overview of a course’s content before you pay for it.
Creative Live offers popular instructors and displays both a catalog of previous classes and announcements of upcoming ones.
They also devote one week a year to Photoshop classes.
Unlike Lynda, Creative Live’s classes are free.
Photoshop User TV is backed by the same people who back the Kelby One tutorial site.
You can search through the list of classes to find the one that addresses the aspect of Photoshop you wish to learn more about. , If you like being able to ask questions to a human being and have the time to attending, Photoshop classes are available through your local community college or private training institution.
You can also sign up through organizations like Ledet, who arrange for instructors to visit your city when they receive sufficient demand. , If you don’t have reliable Internet access or ready access to classroom instruction, you can find instructional DVDs on Photoshop, particularly if you want to learn more about retouching digital photographs with it.
The Digital Photoshop Retouching series on DVD includes instructions from experts such as Julia Kuzmenko and Krunoslav Stifter. , While the above options are primarily devoted to demonstrative and hands-on learning, if you enjoy learning from a book, you can do so for Photoshop.
The ‘’Classroom in a Book’’ series features authors such as Katrin Eismann and Scott Valentine.
Carrie Beene’s ‘’Real Retouching:
A Professional Step-By-Step Guide’’ gives specifics on photo retouching with Photoshop.
About the Author
Barbara Hill
Enthusiastic about teaching organization techniques through clear, step-by-step guides.
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