When a product becomes so popular that the product name is being used in everyday conversation, we call this a “household product.” Photoshop is a clear cut example of this, as designers commonly use the verb “photoshopping” and variants of this verb in normal conversations. This just proves that Photoshop is going to remain the king of graphics editors, and learning it is vital to one’s success.
One can only edit graphics as well as they can use the Photoshop interface. If you’ve never used Photoshop in your life, you may consider looking at a few video tutorials on how to navigate throughout the program. Only after learning the tools and interface should one continue to go onto learning more advanced graphics editing techniques.
The average Photoshop tutorial is going to teach the user how to use several different Photoshop functions- mostly in editing graphics. If you are new to Photoshop, it’s recommended you find more basic tutorials that show users which tools do what, and how to access them via keyboard shortcuts. For intermediate users, learning about Photoshop filters and editing techniques is going to improve one’s skill set.
If one is looking for a more complicated tutorial, they should seek tutorials that require many different skills to complete. The best example of this is the web designing and coding process, in which a web design is created and must be translated into HTML or CSS. This process can easily take hours to do- and only skilled Photoshop users will be able to complete it with proper optimization.
The best place to find good Photoshop tutorials is to take advantage of designer resources, forums, and directories that spell out everything designers need to learn to get their entry into the designing industry. Social networking applications such as StumbleUpon allows designers to “stumble” onto new designing resources they may find of interest. As most will agree, this is one of the best ways to get into the practice of becoming a better web designer.
Photoshop is an expensive product. In the old days it was common to shell out hundreds of dollars for the product. New times have brought new prices, and the Photoshop suite can be bought for much less. If you are currently enrolled in a university as a student or if you have a business need for the program, discounts can be obtained to soften the blow of the price tag in question.
Closing Comments
It’ll be a long time before anyone could ever hope to compete with Photoshop- if it happens at all. And because Photoshop is the leader in their industry, it’s important to learn Photoshop over competitors. After all, it’s nice to be able to get a job where others can’t simply because they didn’t take the time to learn how to use a program.