Photoshopped!

Photoshopping…

One never really masters Photoshop; there is always more to learn. I first used Photoshop in a temp job after college, where I was working as an assistant in the art department. Some of the tasks that I had involved the use of Photoshop: make a tweak to a file, resize an image, change the file type, and more. Since then, I have been a student of Photoshop, and no matter how much I learn, I always feel like a beginner.

Today I took another Photoshop class, to brush up on my skills. The class was a three and a half hour hands-on review of the basics, like masking, layers, and how to use the tools. I always learn something new. The temptation to remove every blemish, move objects to a different place in a photograph, juxtapose elements, change the color of objects, and so much more is always there with Photoshop. However, my aim is to get better at refining images in a constructive way, making assets more usable based upon given constraints, improve the viewing experience overall, helping others in a pinch and more.

The class featured a very useful handout: Photoshop keyboard shortcuts. The shortcuts were superimposed on a picture of the keyboard, along with a few other shortcuts written out at the bottom of the page. My favorite – hold down the “W” for the magic wand tool!

While I may never feel completely comfortable saying “yes, I know Photoshop,” regardless of how many years I have used it, after today I am one step closer.

Endnote

The teacher for the Photoshop class used a Microsoft Surface Book Pro (outlier for sure)! Like most designers and developers, I prefer a Mac when doing those tasks. However, I love the Surface Book Pro for business and legal work: Excel, Word and One Note on a Mac is a sub-par experience. My hat’s off to this teacher for using what he prefers!