Why You Shouldn’t be Afraid of Photoshop
Trust me when I say this. When I first got into web design, and in-turn photography—I wanted to avoid Photoshop at all costs. It was terrifying, I thought it would be the most confusing, mind-bending experience imaginable. For years I had seen what people could do with it and it became this tool I thought I could never wield. So much so, I convinced myself “I don’t need it, my work is good without it.”
Don’t do that.
It’s really not a program you need to be afraid of, and you can pick it up quickly—especially today.
Here’s why you shouldn’t be afraid of Photoshop
You Already Know What You Want to Do
When you are working on a project—whether it’s a landing page, menu, or anything else—you have a design in mind, right? You have a goal you’d like to achieve with the visual on your page, you just don’t know how to get there.
Believe it or not, you’re really two-thirds of the way there.
Take a photo for example that you want to toss onto your homepage. It’s a beautiful image…but it has an annoying trash can in the background. You want it gone, but aren’t sure how to do that. Well, if you can believe it, you’re NOT the first person to have been here (Hi, I have).
Once you know what you want to do, all you really have to do…is look! Unless you’re doing some sort of new-age monumental work the likes of which the world has never seen…you’re going to find a tutorial online—likely with a walkthrough.
So don’t let your ideas hinder you, use them as a tool to get where you want.
Believe It or Not, Photoshop Is Actually User Friendly
As strange as this may sound…Photoshop actually is pretty user-friendly.
Over the years, I personally feel Photoshop has gotten a bad rap on how difficult the interface can be, and truth be told…it can look a little intimidating, which is on Adobe, not you. But in reality, once you know what hotkey does what, it’s actually a fairly simple setup.
For instance, the paint tool paints, eraser erases (wow!), and the selection tool…selects things!
Yes I know, this is a WILDY over-simplified way to demonstrate what Photoshop can do, but if you simply toy around with the program, you’ll actually begin to notice that it’s all fairly straightforward, something which I believe they have worked on over the years.
Best advice? Download a photo…and just spend a few hours seeing what you can do with it. Blur things, cut things, and even change colors. Experimenting is easy.
This brings me to my next point…
It’s Pretty Simple to Experiment With Techniques
Experimenting with Photoshop is stunningly simple, and you don’t even have to worry about losing your work.
With some other programs, it can feel like once you make an edit, it’s permanent. The photo is now black and white, or someone’s face in the picture is distorted and you don’t know how to get back.
With Photoshop, they have a built-in history tool that can help you move back in time to before you made those wonky transformations. So get busy! And just start editing!
There Are Plenty of Other Artists Willing to Help Out
Finally, you must remember that this is 2022 (as I write this). So use other tools to your advantage when you get stuck. Nearly everyone I have spoken with has learned Photoshop and the rest of the Adobe Suite online…literally. YouTube videos, tutorials, and even blogs. With the internet in full swing, and so many creators online who love showing off their skills, you’re going to find the tutorial you need, even down to WEIRDLY specific problems.
People love showing off what they can do, and love even more making how-to videos…or blogs like this one.
Here are some great online resources to get you started:
Put down the stress ball, and take a deep breath. You really don’t need to worry about the difficulty of Photoshop, or how hard it may be!
When working in web design, it’s best to know all the best ways to complete your design, and this is more than likely going to require you to make a pit-stop in Photoshop land, embrace it! We all have been new to this program, but I promise you it will make your final product MUCH better, and learning the software isn’t as difficult as it once may have been.
Take it step-by-step, and think about what your end result should be. From there, find out how to make the magic happen, and you’ll get there in no time.
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