10 Steps to Improving Your Photoshop Skills
Dec 27th in Techniques by Steven Snell
Photoshop is an incredible tool for graphic design, but there is certainly a lot to learn for new designers, and there's always more to master for those who are already experienced. If you're currently working as a designer and looking to improve your skills, you probably find that time is a major constraint to improving your abilities.
If so, you'll need to develop a plan to improve your skills step-by-step in the time that you have available. If you're an aspiring designer, you may have no idea where to start in order to achieve the level of success of some of the Photoshop masters that we see online. In this, article we'll look at ten steps you can take to progressively build your skills using resources that are readily available.
I am a web designer and freelance blogger from the U.S. I maintain a few blogs of my own including Vandelay Design and DesignM.ag. In addition, I’ve written for blogs such as Freelance Switch, Freelance Folder, Smashing Magazine, Most Inspired and several others.
1. Follow Tutorials
PSDTUTS is obviously focused on providing excellent quality tutorials for readers. Like PSDTUTS, there are a growing number of other websites and blogs that regularly publish Photoshop tutorials. All of these sites are valuable resources for improving your skills, whether you're looking to develop specific skills or just looking to improve in general.
In order to take advantage of the tutorial sites that are available, subscribe to a few that you like the most so you don't miss out on new posts (you may also want to bookmark other tutorial sites in case you want to find them in the future). With the amount of content that is published, you'll never be able to work through each tutorial, and you're unlikely to have an interest in all of them anyway.
Try to get in the habit of picking one or two per week to attempt on your own. For most of us, learning is much easier when we're actually doing something ourselves, so working through the tutorials is essential rather than just browsing through them. If you use Google Reader you can star the tutorials that interest you the most so you'll be able to easily find them when you have some spare time.
About six months ago Collis published a list of his favorite tutorial sites, which included: Tutorial9, PS Hero, Tutzor, PhotoshopStar, Tutorial Dog, Abduzeedo, PhotoshopGUIDesign, Worth1000, Digital Grin, and Photoshop Support. In addition to Collis' list, PSD Learning, PSDFAN, PhotoshopTutorials.ws, and Photoshop Essentials are also good resources.
2. Experiment
The best way to learn anything new is to experience it for yourself. While following tutorials can be incredibly helpful, you should also take some time to just experiment on your own to see what you can create. You can try to apply things you have learned from tutorials, or just experiment with things you're not familiar with. Photoshop has so many different functions, features and settings that you'll really need to become familiar with them in order to understand their potential.
Free form experimentation can open up your creativity and help you to get more comfortable with Photoshop. In order to ever be able to put the lessons you learn from others into practice in real world scenarios, you'll need to be able to do some experimentation and adaptation. There may be some tutorials that teach you exactly what you need to do, but more likely they'll teach you a skill or technique that can be used on your own projects, but you'll need to adjust it to fit with your particular needs.
When working with experimentation, find something that works best for you in terms of learning new things. I like to work with large images by experimenting with wallpaper design because the large canvas size opens up all kinds of opportunities and you can take it in just about any direction that you want.
3. Start with the Fundamentals
There's so much to learn with Photoshop and so many possibilities that it is essential to get a firm grasp of the basics and fundamentals before attempting to move too far along. Like anything else, the foundation of your Photoshop knowledge is critical to the end result. If you're new, rather than trying to follow along with advanced tutorials, take some time to get familiar with the basics before anything else.
Elite by Design published an excellent three-part series a few months ago on How to Master Photoshop in Just One Week. Part one of that series starts with some tutorials on all of the basics of Photoshop, including the interface, the tools, shortcuts and more. Having a solid working knowledge of these items will make it much easier when you want to work on something more complex later. Part two of the series covers such topics as typography, web components and photo manipulation. Part three covers more advanced tutorials.
On the subject of fundamentals, PSDTUTS has some resources including: A Comprehensive Introduction to Photoshop Selection Techniques, Tools & Tips: Photoshop Actions, Tools & Tips, Smart Objects and Smart Filters, Tools & Tips, Photoshop Brushes, and 30+ Useful Resources for Improving Your Photoshop Efficiency.
4. Participate in Groups and Get Feedback
After you've learned by following tutorials and you've done some experimentation on your own, it can be helpful to get feedback and constructive criticism from other designers. There are groups of graphic designers all over the place that can be excellent sources of feedback. PSDTUTS has its own Flickr group for this purpose and a number of other design blogs have their own groups as well. Additionally, there are hundreds of Flickr groups for designers that are not associated with a specific blog or website.
The PSDTUTS Flickr group is very active with over 11,000 items and 4,000 members. Groups like this are great places to share your work with other designers who are also interested in improving their own skills. You can get involved by providing feedback to others on their work, and you'll likely get more of a response on your own work. If you're interested in a place where you can comfortably share your experimental work to continue the learning process, try some Flickr groups.
Other Flickr groups worth checking out include Abduzeedo, Go Media, Fuel Your Creativity, My Ink Blog, and Design Shard.
5. Blog about Photoshop or Design
If you're attempting to improve your abilities with Photoshop, blogging on the subject will help you to stay active in your pursuits and it will force you to keep learning. Working on the content for your blog will be an excellent educational experience. Not all blogs are run by experts on the subject, in fact most probably are not. Many blog readers enjoy following a blogger who is truly developing along the way, and many of your readers will be going through similar situations in their own learning.
Once your skills have developed to a certain point you may also want to look into the opportunities available to write for other design blogs. Many of the larger blogs pay writers for their work, and blogs of all sizes are open to free guest posts in exchange for a link back to your own blog. While writing for your own blog will allow you the freedom to work on developing any skills that you like, writing for others will push you in other ways. In most cases, if you're being paid for your posts, it is going to have to be quality work in order to get published. This means that you'll need to keep stretching yourself and learning new things in order to develop the content. It can be difficult to write for other blogs, but it's a tremendous growth opportunity if you're willing to put in the work.
PSDTUTS accepts unsolicited article/tutorial submissions, and a number of other sites are also actively looking for writers. Other websites and blogs that are looking for graphic design content include GoMediaZine, CreativePro, and SitePoint.
6. Subscribe to Online Galleries
Online galleries that display exceptional work by various artists are an excellent source of design inspiration. This inspiration will come in handy when you're looking to experiment on your own and create impressive results. Galleries are great because you can quickly browse through a large amount of items, plus you can subscribe to get constant updates and you'll never lack inspiration.
There are galleries for all different kinds of purposes. If your work in Photoshop is primarily related to web design, you may want to subscribe to a few web design or CSS galleries. Some of the top web design galleries include Best Web Gallery, CSS Mania, CSS Drive, and CSS Elite. If you're focused on other types of design you may want to look for galleries that specialize in that particular aspect. Some good examples are Design Flavr, UCreative, FAVEUP, Logo Pond and Design Snips.
In addition to online galleries, social networking sites that allow members to post a portfolio can also be outstanding sources of inspiration. They can be a resource for posting your own work in addition to viewing the work of others. Top sites in this category include Behance, Carbonmade, and deviantART.
7. Find an Expert to Follow
Regardless of what field you're in, following and learning from an expert can be incredibly beneficial, and graphic design is no different. If you hope to become a standout designer, why not find someone that you admire and pay close attention to their career and their work? Fortunately, being in a field that is often closely related to technology, it's easy to find experts online and get exposure to their work, read their blog, and read interviews with them.
PSDTUTS frequently publishes informative interviews with accomplished designers. These interviews provide insight into their lives and their careers that may help you some way in your own work. If you already have someone in particular that you admire, subscribe to their blog if they have one, find them on social networking sites, keep and eye on their portfolio, and just generally keep tabs on their career.
If you don't have anyone in mind at this point, pay attention to work that you like in Flickr groups that you visit, see what stands out to you at design galleries, or find a particular tutorial writer that has a style which you appreciate. In some cases you may be able to get in touch with this person through their site or through profiles on networking sites, or you may choose to just quietly watch and learn from a distance.
8. Read Design Magazines
One of the downfalls of being in a field that has so many resources available online is that it's easy to forget about all of the great offline resources at your disposal. While browsing through designer portfolios and subscribing to online galleries are great sources of inspiration, you may be missing out by not reading any traditional print magazines.
In addition to the inspirational aspect, articles in design magazines will often be a little bit different than the type of content you'll typically find on blogs. If you want a well-rounded educational experience, find a few design magazines and see what appeals to you. Of course, each magazine will have a slightly different focus or approach, so look around a little bit to find a good match for your interests.
Just a few months ago You the Designer published a list 10 Amazing Graphic Design Magazines over a two-part series (see parts one and two) of magazines that are worth a look.
9. Try to Replicate the Work of Others
One proven way to learn is to attempt to replicate the work of other designers. I'm not suggesting that you rip off other designers by selling this work or taking credit for it as your own (which unfortunately is all too common, especially online). What I am suggesting is that in your own experimental work that is meant just for learning purposes, take an exemplary piece from another designer and do your best to duplicate it. If it's just used for your own educational purposes and not sold or re-distributed it is perfectly acceptable. Also, unless you change and personalize this design dramatically, do avoid placing it in your portfolio.
In my own effort to learn web design I used to start with a finished product from another designer and attempt to achieve the same layout or some other aspect of the design. This was a valuable learning experience that helped to see how I could accomplish things that worked in real world scenarios. The same thing can be done regardless of what kind of design you're working on. For example, find a few album cover designs that you like and attempt to re-create them.
By doing this you're working towards the goal of creating a design that already has proven to be successful as a finished product. In addition to hopefully learning some new techniques in Photoshop, you'll also pick up some general principles of good design that can be carried over to any work that you do.
10. Participate in Design Competitions
Once you've become pretty comfortable with your own progress in learning Photoshop, you may want to challenge yourself and have some fun at the same time by entering a design competition. In most cases there will be some potential prizes and you'll be motivated to push yourself towards your true potential. Plus, you'll often be able to see the work of other designers in the competition, which can provide you with some inspiration, and can give you a way to gauge your own skills and progress.
While the goal of entering a contest may be to win something, you'll still benefit just by participating. It will give you the opportunity to create something specific for the purpose of being judged by others. In some cases you may receive some valuable feedback and you may get to see where you stand in comparison with some other designers.
PSDTUTS has run several contests in the past, including the solving poverty button design contest, the AudioJungle wallpaper contest, and the Flickr group contest. Other blogs such as You the Designer have had design contests as well.
What's Your Learning Strategy?
What do you do in effort to learn more about Photoshop and graphic design in general? If you're an experienced designer, what approach helped you to get to where you are today, and what do you do to keep learning new things?
Subscribe to the PSDTUTS RSS Feed for the best Photoshop tuts and articles on the web.
User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Glory December 27th
Whoa, thanks!
( )It’s useful!
Casper Thomsen December 27th
Awesome list.
I’ve been using photoshop for a long time, and tutorials are really great to help one to open up for a new way of creating a speffect or anything like that, widening ones horisont a bit.
I can recommend everyone to try and texture a 3D Object. Creating all kind of textures from scratch really gives you a whole new understanding on how to combine reference photos, filters, colors and fixing them using the different tools photoshop gives you.
( )rizzy December 27th
Can someone gift me Photoshop for the Holidays.
( )http://twitter.com/rizzy81
Alex | Kolakube.com December 27th
I just got Photoshop CS4 for Christmas, and I have been looking all over to increase my skills (because I had used PS in the past). I briefly skimmed over this post for now, but I am going to come back later because I can see a lot of great stuff in your post.
Thanks Steven.
( )mcneebs December 27th
many great tips, and more i should be following myself.
( )exido December 27th
Very good article or tutorial. It definatly points out new young designers in the right direction.
( )Troy December 27th
This is a quality post!
Regards.
( )Fatal Frame December 27th
Nicely written. I was already doing most of this already. The biggest thing I have trouble with is finding the drive to do something.
( )Saurabh Shah December 27th
cool tips … !!! will follow this …. thanx for sharing…..
( )xQlusive December 27th
Nice tips again. Happy holidays!
( )David December 27th
Some interesting info.
Thanks~
( )Andrija Web Dizajn December 27th
This about the basics is so true. Dont know how many times i’ve been searching for a way to do something, only to find out that its realy some basic operation.
( )Other tips are also great, thanks!
Fredrik Sogaard December 27th
Thanks!
( )Happy holidays!
Matt December 27th
Great article. Thanks a lot.
( )Jeremy December 27th
Great advice. Many times I see especially amateurs only following tutorials instead of experimenting for themselves and/or finding other places to learn from. This usually comes with predictable results: they can do what the tutorial(s) taught, and not much more.
( )Sathish December 27th
Great post…..
( )Saro December 27th
Thanks, i’ll surely take a count for this!
( )starlight86 December 27th
this is definetely the most usefull tips for me right now..thanks!
( )cutt December 27th
this is great !!!
( )Ottaviano December 27th
Thanks, great resource as always.
( )Kris Carter December 27th
Maybe this isn’t a reply but a request? Are there any tips for becoming more familiar with Wacom tablets and Photoshop? I have seen a few tuts on here that touch on it somewhat.. but not on Interface organization, best practices.. etc.
Thanks and great post!
( )afrix December 27th
Very good article, i think too many people is usen photoshop so u have to learn very qucik….
http://afrix99.deviantart.com/
( )dlv December 27th
yes! really cool info
( )nice organization and the ten steps are true
thanks for this post as always
adeux!
Mabuc December 27th
Wow thanks for the information, this is great addition.
( )Naveed Ahmad December 27th
learn and learn and learn and learn after that work work work and work
( )Sanne December 27th
I’m 15 years old, and I can handle photoshop pretty well now. But things like EAMejia which was first in the contest.. I can’t make them. Altought I have ideas enough, but when I’m working on things like that, I just can’t make them as I have them in my head.
I hope this article will help me through that thing. I’m gonna bookmark it!
(sorry, my English is not so good. But I’m from the Netherlands.)
( )Detlef Amend December 27th
Hey Guys,
yeah – there should be communication – but to learn PS you just have to use it! That’s the freakin’ only way that works.
Reading a tut or following some PS-Guru will help you as a beginner. But some day wo may want to do something that’s completely your own.
This is the hard way, and there will be blood, tears and a load of frustration. But it’s the only way to do something more.
Instead of writing a blog or discussing something in a community you could simply open PS and try something else – wait… got some idea comming up! See ya back in PS
//DET
( )h December 27th
yeah, you’re right
( )Arxi December 27th
Great article!
( )PSDtuts rulez =D
Raymond Selda December 28th
Great tips here! Thank you. I’ll be sure to follow most of them
( )Hamd December 28th
Nice!
( )MikeB December 28th
Great article especially to those who are new to Photoshop!
( )Fayeq aLi khaN ~OwneD' December 28th
10x a lot fnd , for sharing such healthy information , Inshallah will follow this article…
( )Josiah Jost | Siah Design December 28th
Great article. One thing I would add is to LEARN THE KEYBOARD SHORTCUTS. It can make you 3x more efficient.
( )ememfrick December 28th
Thank you! This is very helpful! I enjoy following tutorials and experimenting on them on my own as well.
( )ricardo penachi de camargo December 28th
Great Article!
( )Yks!
Corey December 29th
The tip about experimentation is one of the most important. I was always a technical guy who used PhotoShop to slice up images and resize photos and the like. After reading some great articles on this site I started experimenting and playing with different features. I gave myself a project to design a crest for my unit’s last deployment. Using several tutorials, I designed something that has become the envy of several battalions in our brigade.
I still don’t see myself as a PhotoShop expert but applying the tutorials from PSDTuts has done wonders to boost my confidence in my skills and encouraged me to try more challenging things and that’s a start.
( )Mike LeBoeuf December 29th
Great article! I have definitely seem an almost exponential jump in my skills in all creative software I use from following these tips almost exactly over the past 6 months.
I cannot stress enough how much following tutorials opens up tons of new techniques and helps me with my creative process.
( )PAnja December 29th
Hey,
I started with photoshop in august, and im allready quite proud of my work. Its nothing compared to the tallented artists here, but there may be some hope for me to get so good, -one day.
My progress is all thanks to the tutorials and images here, but this one will hopefully make me even better
Thank you so much, i have been looking for something like this for a long time at psdtuts!
Sorry about my english, but im 15 and norwegian
( )Weeru December 29th
Trial and error my friends, trial and error. When I learned photoshop about 6 years ago for the first time.. I just went with trial and error since the tutorials wasnt as competent as they are today. Though, I suggest you do NOT do the things they do in the tutorial, rather skim them through 1-2times so you got in your head and.. you got yourself a new technique.
Also, try to remake others work, but obviously don’t start with guys who works within the field – rather random graphics that you find.
Regarding the Wacom thingy… I suggest you learn another software than photoshop for using ‘tablets’. Photoshop got the pen-tool already which is way better for a software like this. Though, you got Coral Painter and such which are amaaazing with tablets.
/Robert
( )Susan Jackman December 29th
Wow, fantastic advise. Thanks!
( )Karol Stofira December 29th
I have to try it and I hope that post will help me…thnx for information…
( )Janos December 30th
Experimentation is good. Play with Photoshop. It should be your favourite game. And if you have no task to do, make some for yourself. Try to think about things what you cannot do, a then think, and make’em!
( )Nono December 31st
You’re right talking about skills. But skills without talent are useless.
And to create and improve talent one must certainly not :
1. follow too many tutorials (once in a while is enough)
they create the illusion of a one-way method and kill the creative process (so you’re right about experimenting)
2. loose time
– on groups and online galleries expecting feedback (feedback form whom ?)
– reading design magazines (just look at the pictures, don’t read them, it’s boring)
3. choose an expert to follow (disciples need masters to stay disciples)
usually, masters choose their disciples, so if you’re not the chosen one …
Just my own opinion.
( )bin-yasir January 1st
wow
( )rchrd January 1st
wonderful!!! I unconsciously did these steps when I first encountered PSDTUTS!!! Actually, PSDTUTS is my favorite of all the tutorial sites I encountered. I’ve already recommended PSDTUTS to my interested friends. Thanks guys!
( )moih60 January 2nd
wonderful..good advices i ‘ll try work with it
THANXX
( )Gerrit January 2nd
Really cool post, thanks!
( )Pedros January 2nd
Very good advices!
I’ve been in the design industry for several years now and my main problem with these steps is the “time factor” . When working for a company you find yourself asking for a 48 hour work day … when you arrive home u want to relax …
This kind of works when you have some free time on your hands so, for the beginners i think you should be self motivated by your work … see other people works… inspirations … try to mix and match different elements ( 3d, vectorials, photos ).
Other thing is … define your work.
One thing i see nowadays is designers that do everything from interface design, graphic design, illustration … That’s great when you have lots of experience, but if you are starting … try to find your “sweet pot” and explore it!
I began doing illutration, then went to webdesign and now i’m doing interface design… ehehe.
I just wished i have more time and fresh mind when i arrived home to go to the computer and start doing some “free style” … but i think that when u start working, you find yourself trying to get more free time off the computer
ehehe
( )Shafeek January 3rd
Nicw Article
( )*nicely categorized,
Hope it will help young generation, ( Photoshop)
chris January 4th
wow excellent tips
for me it is hard to make a web design when you are first timer
it helps me a lot and thank’s for posting
( )Tendy January 6th
That is a really good stuff up there! I always enjoying following your website, and it always inspired me.
Thank you so much
( )Glenn January 6th
Great article, it’s nice to know that I’m already doing the right stuff to stay on track and get better at what I do. I do have to second Pedros and say that time is the hardest factor to do all this. Especially when you already work in design it’s hard to come home and be inspired some more to do the really cool stuff you would like to do. With work, taking photography lessons, (next year 3D), family, friends, beers,… it’s hard to do all the things one would like to do.
I do have to thank you for all the marvelous links, I already had a lot of them in my bookmarks but still gained a few new ones. Too often designers are scared of sharing their sources, which I think i stupid.
( )hejioshin January 11th
Thank you for suggestions. Great article.
( )Frog January 12th
Pretty straight forward stuff
( )Dj Dev January 19th
good stuff!!
( )i like it very much
andi miswar January 22nd
I’ve been using photoshop for a long time, and tutorials are really great to help one to open up for a new way of creating a speffect or anything like that, widening ones horisont a bit.
I can recommend everyone to try and texture a 3D Object. Creating all kind of textures from scratch really gives you a whole new understanding on how to combine reference photos, filters, colors and fixing them using the different tools photoshop gives you.
( )Baga February 5th
Good article!!!
( )Thanks!!
webinkerz February 9th
Great Info! Thanks for sharing!
( )Kisquian February 11th
Thanks for post it.
I love the graphic design, I´m not a expert, but this site is help me in my progress,,
Sory my english, my languaje is spanish
( )MirazTutorials February 15th
like to see images edited and twirled with exciting concepts that come from no where other than the designers own imagination.
( )Shadolen White February 17th
Thank you so much for putting a logical spin on the design field.
( )I’m a young and upcoming Design student at Madison Media Institute, by the name of Shadolen White.
I appreciate the time taken to write this tutorial.
It has definitely given me a path to follow, in my endeavors to
master my creative talent.
Karloz April 3rd
Thank you!! this article is very important for begginer like me.
Muchas Gracias Steven!!!
Saludos
( )Robertas Pezas April 24th
Interesting article for beginner and for experienced designer.
( )ebook cover designer April 29th
Im actually quite experienced with photoshop, but always knew there was so much more I could do to improve myself. This list is exactly what I was looking for.
Im going to look around those tutorial sites for a start and subscribe to some rss feeds. That will make things a lot simpler..
Great list. Thanks!
( )Web dizajn sajtotekar June 10th
I’ve been using photoshop more than 10 years and I see a lot of great stuff in your article Steven Snell. This is very helpful, excellent inspiration. I like your sistematic approach to divide learning photoshop in ten steps and appending resources to them, fantastic categorized. This is the most usefull advices for me right now I,ve read. Reading, learning and experimenting is the right way for me.
( )Victoria Web June 24th
Great tips on how to utilize and become competent in photoshop. practice is also the key as you can learn a fair amount teaching yourself.
( )saurabh shah July 6th
very helpful article …
( )via sunk July 6th
I´m an absolute beginner and there`s just ….. too much information.
My “discovery” today is – I have to organize all interesting tips/tuts somehow and somewhere – I could easily find and access them.
( )So, I have to change my working/reading habits.
Landscape Photography July 13th
I only recently discovered PSD Tuts… I must say, being able to follow someone elses steps is a great starting point towards learning the techniques involved in a particular project. I guess the more tuts one becomes comfortable with the more techniques they will get under their belt and thus be able to call upon in their own work.
It’s a great way to start.
( )kamal July 21st
Great list and i want to show my CSS showcase too.But many css websites are out there and all are delivering useful informations
( )wrought iron furniture August 12th
Thanks for all the steps, I am sure it will help me get better in photoshop!
( )iSuLk October 30th
nice article very useful. im planning on being a graphic designer..have any tips?
( )