How to learn Photoshop?

Learning Photoshop from scratch can be a pain, especially if you are new to this kind of software. And considering the amount of tools it offers, finding the right one you need to use can be quite frustrating.

You can find a bunch of books that will teach you how to use Photoshop, but I think they all have a disadvantage: you should read the book while trying to use the software, or read the book and then try to remember the features you need. I think the new way of teaching how to use Photoshop comes very handy: I’m talking about video tutorials.

Learn Photoshop Now is a 2 hours-long video tutorial that shows the functions of the program in an easy-to-follow, step-by-step way, so that you don’t waste time looking for the menu the book is talking about, or remembering what you have to do to accomplish a certain task. You have the instructions right there on your screen, you can stop the video whenever you want and use right away the information you have seen. I think it’s the best solution to learn this kind of application because you immediately put into use what you have learned, and the easiest way to acquire a new skill is by watching someone else doing the actions required.

Go grab a free video tutorial and learn how to fix a common graphic problem.

Some tips to work with Photoshop

Here are some tips you should use if you are new to Photoshop and photo editing.

1. Work with layers. When you are going to modify an image it can be wise to keep the original on a separate layer, and to add objects on separate layers as well so that you can make changes anytime without starting over.
2. Always save a .psd copy of your document. Especially if you are going to save in .jpg format since it’s lossy and you’d lose quality every time you save the file.
3. Know the shortcuts. If you use a set of tools more than the others, it can spare you some time to know the shortcuts to access the tools.