Why Learn Photoshop?

Adobe Photoshop is probably the most widely known program within the Adobe Creative Cloud. In fact, you’ve probably heard or even used the term “photoshopped” many times before. But have you ever explored all of the things the program can do? Contrary to what the name suggests, Photoshop is not just for photographers. This versatile program is used in an array of industries, from graphic design to marketing and advertising.

Here, you’ll learn more about the types of careers that benefit from skills in Photoshop and how learning to use the program can enhance your professional life. Regardless of your overall goals, learning to use Photoshop is a valuable and impressive skill to add to your resume.

What is Photoshop?

Photoshop is a software program available as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud. Its primary functions include editing, enhancing, and creating digital images from scratch. The program has a wide range of impressive capabilities. Creative professionals across nearly every industry can use Photoshop to design anything from graphics for social media, logos, and the interface of an entire website!

You can use Photoshop to adjust lighting and colors and to create a single image from your favorite components of existing photos. The program comes loaded with plenty of retouching tools, enabling you to remove anything you feel makes your image less than perfect. If you’re scanning a physical photo into the program, you can edit it to remove stains, tears, and wrinkles. Photoshop also contains rudimentary animation capabilities, meaning users can create GIFs with the program as well.

Read more about what Photoshop is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Photoshop?

Photoshop is the industry standard software for photo editing. The program can make virtually any adjustment you can think of, and you can add or remove almost anything you want to create your perfect final image. For example, photographers who work with large groups will often use Photoshop to make a composite of several images; this way, they can combine the best photo of each individual into one picture.

But Photoshop is used for so much more than enhancing images! Graphic Designers frequently use the program to design logos and advertisements for their clients. Because the program allows users to combine multiple images, designers in any industry can use Photoshop to quickly demonstrate how a proposed design would appear on a product. This helps their clients get a clear picture of the final product and quickly make changes, saving both time and money.

It’s also commonly used in web design. Although you can’t code a website in Photoshop, you can use it to create mockups of interfaces, backgrounds, and graphics that designers will add to a website later. Photoshop also contains powerful image compression tools, ensuring the images on a website are clear rather than pixelated. Web Designers can also use the program to build the layout of a website, though other tools are more capable of creating a responsive design.

Careers that Use Photoshop

You might wonder what types of careers await you once you’re comfortable with the ins and outs of Photoshop. While any career will require more than one skill, proficiency with Photoshop is an excellent stepping stone toward landing a variety of creative jobs. Here are just a few areas you may find yourself working in once you’ve become more familiar with Photoshop:

• Graphic Design: These professionals are responsible for designing images that quickly communicate a message or establish a brand to their viewers. These images are usually enhanced or entirely created with Photoshop. Graphic Designers can either work freelance or work for one company. Their work can be seen in various places, including company logos, social media campaigns, and digital and print advertisements.
• Digital Design: This career path often gets confused with graphic design. While both roles contain similar elements, Digital Designers tend to work with more dynamic designs, such as animation, 3D modeling, and interactive pages. They use Photoshop to add effects and combine images to convey a message about their client or business.
• User Interface (UI) Design: People in these roles create the interfaces for mobile applications and websites. These professionals use Photoshop to make their designs more appealing by creating static images and simple animations for the product they’re working on. UI Designers focus on creating products that are both visually stunning and accessible for anyone who uses the app or visits the website.
• Web Design: Those who are comfortable with Photoshop and possess strong technical skills might enjoy working as a Web Designer. In combination with stellar coding skills, Web Designers use Photoshop and other design software to create visually pleasing images that have been optimized for display on the web. Web Designers can also use the program to create simple animated GIFs and website mock-ups. This allows them to easily edit their designs without sifting through lines of complicated code.

Build a Foundation with Photoshop to Learn More Design Skills

If you’re after any of the careers mentioned above, proficiency in Photoshop alone likely won’t be enough to set you on the right path. However, learning the ins and outs of Photoshop can be a perfect first step before branching out to additional design programs in the Adobe Creative Cloud. This combination of software is often considered the gold standard in creative professions like graphic design, animation, and user experience (UX) design. Adobe programs are designed to work together; their interfaces are somewhat similar, so learning one program will make learning the others that much easier.

Those who learn Photoshop generally choose to learn either Adobe InDesign or Adobe Illustrator next. InDesign is used to generate professional-grade layouts for all sorts of digital and print media, while Illustrator creates scalable vector graphics that you can export anywhere. These three programs are highly compatible, meaning you can design an image in one program and enhance it in another. For instance, a designer might create a scalable logo in Illustrator and then upload it to Photoshop to be enhanced and retouched. From there, it can be added to a PDF, eBook, or magazine being developed through InDesign.

Have Fun Learning Photoshop While Developing Soft Skills

Learning Photoshop is certainly a marketable skill that can help you in your professional life. Still, there’s another important reason you may want to start working with the program– it’s fun! Even if your ultimate goal is to work with Photoshop in a professional capacity, teaching yourself the basics can be a welcome creative escape from your usual responsibilities. It can also give you a sense of personal accomplishment as you tackle increasingly complex tasks within the program.

Photoshop can also help improve numerous soft skills, which are equally crucial whether you’re looking to start a new career or seeking a promotion at your current job. Learning an intricate program like Photoshop demonstrates a great deal of patience and problem-solving skills on your part. It shows you have the tenacity to work through frustrating situations and remain focused on your goals. A hiring manager might also view someone with Photoshop skills on their resume as being easily adaptable to change; Photoshop is frequently updated with new features, and design trends are constantly in flux.

Freelancing: Earn Extra Money and Build a Portfolio

Even if you’re not sure if you want to use your Photoshop skills to launch an entirely new career, freelancing is a great way to gain additional practice and earn some extra income. There are plenty of websites where you can find freelance design work, including Upwork and Fiverr. You can search through the available jobs to find ones that match your current skill level, ensuring you’re able to meet the client’s expectations while practicing.

Freelancing is also an excellent way to meet other professionals, build your network, and even find a potential mentor. Many freelancers build a sizeable client base just through word-of-mouth. The projects you work on should also be stored in a digital portfolio, which is a living document that houses all of your work. It’s commonly used in job interviews to help hiring managers get a better idea of your skills and unique creative style. Luckily, Adobe offers a portfolio website to all of their Creative Cloud subscribers.

How to Start Learning Photoshop

If you feel you need the structure of a class to help you succeed at learning Photoshop, Noble Desktop has several options to help you find a course that will suit your needs. The school developed a class locator tool to help students locate in-person Photoshop classes in their area for those who prefer in-person learning. For students who prefer virtual learning, you can check out Noble Desktop’s live online Photoshop classes instead.

For those with an already packed schedule, the demands of a live class might be too big a burden. If this sounds like you, on-demand Photoshop classes might be a better fit. Some of these introductory courses are free, while others require a subscription to the platform that hosts the course. There are on-demand options for beginners who want to learn the basics and advanced students who are ready to learn some of Photoshop's more complex features. On-demand options are available through providers like LinkedIn Learning, Skillsoft, and Udemy.

Video demonstrations are another excellent way to begin learning Photoshop. There is an entire YouTube playlist devoted to in-depth Photoshop tutorials provided by Noble Desktop. These videos cover topics like photo restoration and industry-standard illustration techniques.You can also search through Noble’s free seminars to view courses related to Photoshop, like the Intro to Photoshop training. This two-hour course teaches viewers about the program’s essential functions and discusses fundamental principles of design.

Read the full guide on how to learn Photoshop.

Learn Photoshop with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop offers a range of Photoshop classes that are sure to meet a variety of scheduling needs and learning styles. Whether students attend in-person at Noble’s Manhattan campus or virtually from anywhere in the world, they’ll learn from expert instructors in small groups. All Noble courses also include a free retake option within one year, giving students additional opportunities to hone their skills at no additional charge.

For students who only have a few days to spare, the Adobe Photoshop Bootcamp is an excellent way to move from beginner to intermediate in just three days. This course guides students through various projects that each target a specific skill within Photoshop. By the end of the bootcamp, students will be able to complete tasks like adjusting colors, creating a composite image, and removing components of an image to make the end result more appealing.

Photoshop is also covered in a few of Noble Desktop’s more intensive certificate programs. There is a Graphic Design Certificate that teaches Photoshop and two other Adobe programs: Illustrator and InDesign. If you are curious about using Photoshop to design web and mobile interfaces, the UI Design Certificate might be a great fit. You’ll incorporate several design principles to create stunning and accessible interfaces using Figma and multiple Adobe programs. Participants in these programs will add their coursework into a portfolio they can show off to potential employers.

Key Insights

• Photoshop is a professional image editing program with an impressive range of functions.
• Proficiency in Photoshop is vital to landing any number of jobs in creative industries like graphic design, digital design, and user interface (UI) design.
• Those who learn Photoshop can build upon this skill to master other design programs necessary for a creative professional.
• Devoting time to learning Photoshop can also help professionals develop their soft skills, like problem solving and patience.
• You can learn Photoshop comprehensively with live, instructor-led training at Noble Desktop.