Learn a New Skill: Why You Need to Learn Adobe Photoshop
If you’re a designer, marketer, visual communications employee, or work any type of creative job Adobe Photoshop skills are a must. Sometimes these apparently specialized skills come in handy at the most unexpected times. That is, those of you out there working in leadership, support, sales, development, and maybe even accounting (I admit this one is a stretch, but you never know) may someday be called on to utilize the visual prowess of Photoshop. This is the number one program for creating and editing visual content and being able to use it is a universally acknowledged skill worth knowing. Plus, Photoshop is fun! Throughout this blog post we will list three solid reasons you should possess Adobe Photoshop skills no matter your job title and three things you didn’t know you could do with Photoshop.
Three reasons you should learn Photoshop:
1. You can save money for yourself and your company
Having a skill that helps your company avoid hiring someone outside of the company gives you value and saves them money. Similarly if you need business cards or posters, or even basic detailing for your website, knowing how to do it yourself saves you the $$ and effort that would be required to find the skills elsewhere.
2. You can make money
Photoshop is a valuable skill that can make you more hireable. Or, you can design for others via contract work; there are endless possibilities.
3. You can express yourself creatively
With Photoshop you aren’t limited by funds, tools, or experience. The program is relatively easy to use and, like anything else, the more you practice, the more you can create. The list of Photoshop features is virtually endless, and each new feature you try out gives you a new opportunity to improve your skills and flex your creative muscles.
Three things you didn’t know you could do with Photoshop:
1. T-shirt design
I bet this never occurred to you. There are numerous tutorials online that teach you how to utilize Photoshop to design print for T-shirts. Many people are aware of Photoshop’s ability to create web-content and logos, but there are always new ways to apply this versatile tool. Using Photoshop to create these designs yourself gives you license to create something to your exact specifications and control every step of the design process.
2. Old photo restoration
Old photographs are beautiful, but unfortunately they fade over time. Luckily, tools like the healing brush, patch tools, clone stamps, sharpening tools, among others allow for the refreshing and recreation of these photos. Whether you’re editing these photos for the purpose of advertising, your employer, contract work, or for personal use you’re sure to restore memories to mint condition.
3. Web Design
There are a lot of tools out there that are meant specifically for web design, but Photoshop is the most versatile tool on the market. Photoshop is built with all the tools you need for successful design work for the web—no extra work necessary. Grid systems, custom document presets, customized defaults, crisp vectors, easy dotted lines, text wrap, color fill, shortcuts, and more allow you to manipulate every aspect of your creations. Few other programs let you edit and design on such a detailed level without requiring extensive skill and practice.
If you want to understand the process that designers and marketers often go through or create materials of your own, understanding and practicing Photoshop is the key to success. Luckily OpenSesame has a great selection of Photoshop courses!