How to Learn Photoshop

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: August 29, 2019

Photoshop is the pre-eminent graphic design software application for Windows and Mac OS. Its raster and vector graphic editing capabilities are supplemented with various plug-in programs from Adobe and third-party vendors.^{[1]
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Research source} Photoshop can be a difficult program to master, but there are several methods you can use to learn Photoshop. This wikiHow describes some of the beginner-friendly ways you can learn how to use Photoshop.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Using Photoshop Elements

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Open your Web browser and go to Photoshop Elements' website. You'll find more info about Photoshop Elements there, along with different bundles of the software.
- If neither of the bundles is in your price range, it's recommended you try using GIMP, a free photo-editing program with many of the same features as Photoshop.
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Log in to your Adobe account. Just click the Sign In tab in the top-right corner of the page and enter your Adobe ID with your password.

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Download Photoshop Elements. 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.^{[2]
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- Photoshop Elements is geared more toward the photography hobbyist than the graphic designer, offering a simpler color management system, no detailed color features for colorblindness, 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.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Using Adobe Systems' Online Tutorials

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Go to the Photoshop website. This is where you can find more information about Photoshop and access its support page.
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Click on the Learn & Support tab. This will direct you to the Support page for Photoshop.
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Click on the Tutorials option. 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.
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Select a tutorial on the topic you wish to learn. A good way to narrow down your search is to type in terms related to what you want to learn in Photoshop.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Using Other Resources

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Research other online tutorials. 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:^{[3]
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- YouTube. If you type in the topic you want to learn in YouTube's search engine, you'll find a variety of tutorials available.
- 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.^{[4]
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- 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.
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Research online Photoshop classes. 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.
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Research in-person Photoshop classes. 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.
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Get an instructional DVD. 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.
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Read a book. 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.