Beginner Processing?

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EllieJay

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Hi,

Am trying to teach myself a few photoshop tricks, and seeing great results so far. I would like to ask though, what are the most useful things to learn? It's really hard to know which tools to look at without knowing what would be the best to start with?

Thanks
 
That would depend on the genre and what you're trying to achieve
 
I have been practicing on portraits so have done sharpening and using levels a little, but generally after any useful tricks I can look up!
 
Google is your friend here.
Decide what it is you want to do and then google, you will find loads of info and tutorials, find what you want and bookmark it so you can go back.
The most important thing to learn in Photoshop above all else is using layers, once you have mastered using them you are well on the way but without you are p*******g in the wind
 
Thank you for your replies... can do layers from creating flyers and such so fingers crossed the rest will come easy. Will work my way through tutorials on you tube and will soon be an expert!
 
EllieJay said:
Thank you for your replies... can do layers from creating flyers and such so fingers crossed the rest will come easy. Will work my way through tutorials on you tube and will soon be an expert!
Click to expand...

Hope you do better than me.

It took me about 5 years to become barely passable (and I worked in IT at the time, used all the office apps to VBA level and managed networks).

Still gave to look up tutorials for stuff I don't do often, be prepared for its vastness.

Nowadays 90% of my processing is done in LR, only dropping into PS for pixel level stuff, and I'm not convinced I have the best method for that (still learning after about 12 years)
 
EllieJay said:
Hi,

Am trying to teach myself a few photoshop tricks, and seeing great results so far. I would like to ask though, what are the most useful things to learn? It's really hard to know which tools to look at without knowing what would be the best to start with?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Instead of spending ages hunched over a keyboard, (because it will take ages to learn!), would your time perhaps be better spent, (if you are a beginner) in getting out more and improving your basic camera photographic skills to the level where you will find more pleasure in producing work which doesn't need pixel fiddling. :)
On the other hand, you can just carry on and ignore my remarks as just being those of a grumpy old git!
 
Hi BrynBoru, completely agree and would love to get out more, but was thinking of when kids are in bed and can't get out I could possibly learn something to help ☺
 
Hi Ellie, phlearn.com is a great place to start there is a ton of free tutorials covering almost everything you could ever need to do. Learn to work methodically don't try to do too much at one time and whenever possible work in a non destructive manner. Don't always look for shortcuts the results are rarely as good and it will stop you learning why things are done, instead work on learning what each tool does and how to breakdown what needs done on each image to best utilise them.
 
EllieJay said:
Hi BrynBoru, completely agree and would love to get out more, but was thinking of when kids are in bed and can't get out I could possibly learn something to help [emoji5]
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What, no problem! As a young mother with a few children, sure you'll have lots of time to study Adobe Photoshop! [emoji23]
 
Thanks Craig - had a quick look and these look exactly what I need. Will get stuck in.
 
If you like to watch learner videos, Terry White has a relaxed approach
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqKHo1Q7OMc
in this introduction "Ten Tricks for Beginners", along with many more similar videos.
There are lots more Kindle e-books by the like of Scott Kelby.
For intensive study, I preferred to read the likes of https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Phot...r=8-1&keywords=Adobe+Photoshop+Martin+Evening .
I found it useful to have an e-book on the screen side-by-side with Photoshop to speed up my learning.
 
CraigDHD said:
Don't always look for shortcuts the results are rarely as good
Click to expand...

:agree: if you can manage this it will save a lot of grief in the long run.

Phil & Craig are right, photoshop is too big to sit down and learn - and it's too easy to ruin your pictures with it.

I'll go further and say it's more helpful to develop the skills to work out what you want to do to your photos and why rather than working on a set of photoshop techniques 'cos Phlearn says they're possible. To that end get lots of feedback & critique on your own work, and watch as many online critique videos as you can find. But approach the videos with a critical eye - don't believe everything you watch!

Just 'cos you can remove blemishes, soften skin, sharpen and brighten eyes, reshape eyebrows, tidy up hair, add some fake flare, fiddle with the local contrast and add some film-effect toning it doesn't mean you should. Much better to be able to look at an image and work out what changes you want to make and why - and then go and look for a tutorial to achieve it.

For instance, if I were to look at an image and decide it needs skin redness improving, a bit more contrast and 3 dimensionality to the face and perhaps a bit of work to bring the colours together then I could set about looking for specific tutorials to those ends.

In fact.. do as I say, not as I did :) :)
 
If you actually want an old school skill that's totally usable in Photoshop it's dodging & burning. It's particularly useful with B&W but you're on a learning curve??
 
Best way to learn is to have fun in the process. Learn what interests you, whatever it is.
Before long you will start adding to it and then adding more and end up knowing a lot.

The most important thing is to just enjoy it. I see no point in getting hung up on the ethics of retouching at this stage, as it takes a while to get good enough to stop retouching being way too obvious. By that time you will have had a load of fun doing extreme things and will be moving on to more subtle stuff. Lets face it, we have all had our fun moments giving people long noses, playing with 'filters' and changing colours to weird combinations - its loads of fun :LOL: and while having a laugh, we have learned loads that will be useful in future projects, just a bit toned down!

Lightroom is easier and faster for general processing - esp big shoots like say weddings, schools, events etc. but not so good for detailed retouching. If you end up getting bogged down you can try Lightroom and then do the detailed stuff in PS, as you can transfer an image between them automatically.
 
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