Best Free Photoshop Resources & Tutorials

There are plenty of professionals out there who are eager to learn Photoshop but hesitate because of the perceived up-front costs. While it’s true that you must purchase an Adobe subscription to use Photoshop, there is a surprising amount of free resources available to help beginners get the hang of this exciting program. These are an excellent way to learn more about Photoshop before investing more of your valuable time and effort into learning.

Read on to learn more about the different types of resources and tutorials available to learn Photoshop.

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.

Online Design Forums and Video Photoshop Tutorials

You can find plenty of graphic design communities through websites like Facebook or Reddit if you’d like to share your work with like-minded peers. These forums provide excellent opportunities for beginners and working professionals to receive helpful critiques of their designs, network with others, and learn from others by collaborating on projects. Even if you don’t feel comfortable sharing your own work, these forums are still fantastic for getting inspiration and keeping informed on current industry trends.

You can also search for Photoshop tutorials on YouTube and generate thousands of results. YouTube tutorials are an excellent resource since they’re free, and you can watch a video as often as you want if you’re struggling with a particular concept. Just be sure you’re watching a fairly recent upload; since Photoshop is routinely updated, you don’t want to learn techniques that are no longer relevant.

Noble Desktop is a top tech education school with a YouTube playlist featuring a handful of Photoshop tutorials. These tutorials include links to downloadable content so you can follow along with the instructor, and they each cover a different technique that is commonly used within Photoshop. For example, there is an Illustration Techniques video that covers some of the most frequently used tools like masking, blending, and layering. Others may be interested in a tutorial on Old Photo Restoration. This tutorial discusses retouching old photographs by removing wrinkles, tears, and other imperfections while ensuring the image feels authentic.

Self-Paced Photoshop Classes

While plenty of programs offer Photoshop classes, these can be a barrier for those who want to learn but are currently managing other priorities. For students like this, one of Noble Desktop’s self-paced Photoshop seminars could be an ideal alternative! These classes can be accessed whenever their schedule permits, meaning they can view as much (or as little) of the course content as they want in a given session.

These seminars can be filtered by graphic design so users can see courses that cover Photoshop and related concepts. This way, they can gain exposure to the fundamentals before deciding whether to invest in a more intensive course. The Intro to Photoshop seminar is the perfect place for beginners to start. Students will learn about the basic capabilities of the program and how to navigate the different Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions, which will help them understand which plan is best for them.

There are a few other seminars from Noble Desktop that cover Photoshop as well. The school offers a Get Started in Graphic Design course that provides students with vital information about starting a career in graphic design. This seminar covers Photoshop and other Adobe programs commonly used in this profession, like InDesign and Illustrator. Aspiring Graphic Designers will also view sample projects and learn more about how to create a portfolio that will impress hiring managers. Finally, there is an Intro to Adobe Creative Cloud seminar that is an excellent option for those who desire a creative profession but aren’t sure where to start.

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

• Adobe Photoshop is a versatile digital editing program used in a variety of professions and industries.
• Those interested in learning can take advantage of various free resources. These include:
• Graphic design forums through Reddit, Facebook, and other platforms
• Free YouTube tutorials provided by Noble Desktop
• Free self-paced seminars, also through Noble Desktop
• Exposure to Photoshop is an excellent way to prepare to learn other design programs and can jumpstart your career.
• You can learn Photoshop comprehensively with live, instructor-led training at Noble Desktop.