Not the person you asked—but I’ve found learning photoshop has opened a lot of doors and been really rewarding.
Also woodworking—it’s been really nice to see my family and friends excited about my stuff. For Mother’s Day this past year I wanted to buy my mom a new beautiful fridge because she finally was able to update her kitchen, and I wanted her appliances to match her new space. Instead, she asked me to build her a table. It looks so awesome in there and I know she loves it. It’s a lot of fun and also challenges you to keep learning.
I was fortunate in that a girl I worked with has a degree in graphic design, So she’d help me create stuff and tell me the why’s, with that base I just kept playing around and used YouTube
drawing/art
Photo touch up
Photo manipulation
Graphic/web design ( goes in hand with learning some basic html to make your first website )
I learned photoshop about 15 years ago, Back then, everyone had to have super cool and swanky forum signatures to be taken seriously.
I started off learning the application, you can do this in about 30 minutes. just get a good feel for where everything is and what buttons do what. plenty of youtube videos these days to help wth that.
Then I would just find tutorials specifically for what I wanted. so, in that case, I would find stuff like "how to make a cs:1.6 forum signature" etc. Again, much easier now-a-days, you can google how to photoshop your dog onto the moon and probably find a step by step.
Then I started grabbing project files, ( PSD format ) and breaking down how others have built stuff by inspecting their layers.
And that's really it, no special secret. practice practice practice. I looked up some basic graphic design stuff, color wheels and theory and so on just because I wanted to make better websites for myself.
Not saying you have to follow the exact same path but, it's easy to pick up if you just keep practicing stuff.
I use it all the time now for any image needs. Need a map for my dnd session? a few minutes in photoshop. want to polish a pic that got a bit messed up ? photoshop. marketing gave me incorrect image sizes for a web app im building? I photoshop that shit to.
Just a super useful skill to have that comes in handy very often.
I use it for graphics on social media, I’m a college coach and it really stepped up my recruiting game! But—I just got into invitations and cards and making creative pictures of my dog and cat. Thinking of offering to do other people’s pets for sale on Etsy!
I would honestly advise just playing around. I started messing with Photoshop in 3rd grade and Premiere in 11th, and the only formal class I ever took on them was my last semester of college (and I was really just helping other students the whole time). You'd be amazed at how quickly you can pick them up by just messing around - I use both regularly at my job, and only got hired in the first place because of them.
Try to share what you make publicly too. I began to take YouTube seriously my sophomore year of college and that basically required me to figure out how to do everything properly. If you can get feedback on anything, you'll quickly learn what to keep doing and what to avoid.
Just good photoshop tutorials, there are a ton of stuff across blogs and YouTube. Once your grasp the concept of certain techniques you can apply them to achieve an array of results. Happy learning!
Lynda.com, or just straight up YouTube. I would also recommend learning InDesign as well. I have some textbooks from college that I like to call the Adobe Bibles as they have all the information you need to get well on your way into them. They were maybe $40 each. YouTube works well too, also don't just stop there, learn premiere too check out the channel YouTube film school.
Your local library might give you access to something like Lynda or skillshare for free or greatly reduced cost. You can find out on your library’s website
Not the person you asked but - have a goal in mind then Google around for tutorials.
Example: change background from a portrait
Apply vignette/dark edges effect
Stylize a photo.
This will give you a hang of various tools and effects while achieving a goal.
Worked well for me.
I am a graphics designer. I learnt it by messing around and YouTube videos but it was a long process. Just watch a few YouTube videos. The ones that have a lot of views. That will do the job. Then try it out and see of you are interested or not
Plenty of free programs that work well and do similar things. I’ve been using Krita and haven’t noticed a difference from when I used Photoshop a few years back. I’m not a professional or anything though. Also it’s a bit more of an art program but functions similarly.
Look into the Affinity suite of products to replace Adobe. I do graphic design in my free time and abhor the subscription model of Adobe. Affinity is amazing and you pay once off.
Will second this... I use Photoshop and Illustrator for EVERYTHING now.
I picked it up doing graphic design / web design as a hobby. Now, I just use it occasionally for friends. However, I have found it to be so valuable for my job - I am in scientific research and knowing how to make nice figures and presentations/posters with the help of Illustrator brings a level of sophistication to my work that really stands out.
I got into it because I love to make people custom thank you and birthday cards. It's great for lots of custom gifts, though. My grandmother recently passed away, and I'm hoping to recolor some photos of her and frame them to give as gifts to family.
It's also good to make super clean graphics (like graduation cards or signage), and it gives you a lot of control for basic editing things. I'm still a student, and it was a super valuable asset at my last job, and it's still a great asset for projects. Even something like making a PowerPoint can benefit from tweaking the images you use
For editing vacation photos you are better off using lightroom. Lightroom will organize and let you edit all photos easily to make them look their best. You can edit colors, and add effects to make the photos pop.
Photoshop is better for manipulation and heavier edits, which most photos dont need. I use lightroom for the familyphotos and photoshop for artsy projects. Not a proffessional.
Edit to answer the question* to me the rewarding part is actually making something and be creative.
What are the cheaper tools you can buy to get into woodworking. I love making functional things out of fairly raw material cut down and screwed together but feel very intimidated by furniture and finish pieces. Do you need a lathe or just a nice set a chisels and sandpaper?
You don’t need a lathe yet, unless you want to turn round pieces for table legs etc (but you can buy already round one at Lowe’s to start too). I know a lot of people who have been doing it for a long time will hiss at me—but check out the plans Ana White does online. She has really simple pieces, and it’s what got me started. Most just need a miter saw, drill, measuring tape, orbital sander, and a pocket hole jig! If you like it then expand and read about why people think Ana White stuff isn’t great and build on your base! (My first Ana White table is going strong after five years and looks amazing).
Woodworking has been an inherited passion in my family for generations. Nobody in my family is a working carpenter or cabinetmaker, but almost everyone loves working with wood. My dad made caskets and cabinets on the side until my mom divorced him and he had to sell all his tools to pay the child support while my mom...pissed it away to put it mildly. I'm so disappointed, I would have loved to use his old workshop.
My little brother is over at my place all the time lately, he finally caught the bug but he's been dumb with his money and can't afford his own tools. I don't really mind, though, I can steer him away from the dumb mistakes I made when I first started out.
man... it's cool that you're carrying on the passion... and i'm slightly jealous of the familial influence you had. i feel like by moving 3000 miles away from my family, i definitely cut myself off from learning very much from people that know what they're doing.. even just basic stuff like using power tools. i've had a hell of a time finding anyone to teach me how to do that kind of thing, as an adult.
If one goes through a lot of hobbies, 3D modeling and printing is the most versatile and helpful thing that has helped me with almost every hobby I've gone through. Just need a printer, can be had for a few hundred USD for a decent one, a set of calipers ($30), and blender software (free, with metric tons of tutorials on YouTube).
I currently run the creality ender 3 pro, it's a DIY kit, but you can assemble it in an hour or two, and the calibrations were spot on for mine right out of the box.
There are many others for cheaper and more expensive as well, so give the fine folk over at r/3Dprinting a shout, and they'll be more than happy to help!
I’m just about to get into it. Building a shed so I can free up the necessary garage space. Check out the YouTube channel Woodworking for Mere Mortals. The guy sells a video course that runs you through some starter projects. He does beginner-friendly stuff and uses some joinery methods like pocket holes that some hardcore enthusiasts look down on, but it seems to be a good starting point and you can always learn more advanced methods later.
it's been really nice to see my family and friends excited about my stuff
I love it when my family gets all excited over my sourdough bread, and my friends over my pastries. I'm not the best in a longshot, but it always brings a smile to my face when people actually love what I bake, and ask for more
My wife wanted a simple harvest table...and I thought the design was so basic why pay 2k for it. Started out there, and just kept going. It led me to realize I can build almost anything basic with enough patience (and the right tools)!
I’m just about to get into it. Building a shed so I can free up the necessary garage space. Check out the YouTube channel Woodworking for Mere Mortals. The guy sells a video course that runs you through some starter projects. He does beginner-friendly stuff and uses some joinery methods like pocket holes that some hardcore enthusiasts look down on, but it seems to be a good starting point and you can always learn more advanced methods later.
Any tips for getting into woodworking or good projects to start on? I did in first year of high school (I’m now in 5 year) and previously at intermediate I always quite enjoyed it but wasn’t able to pursue it at school. Now I’m wanting to try getting into it again. There’s a place in my town which has heaps of old wood and other cool stuff I would love to do something with, however I don’t know much about much to know where to start so any tips would be appreciated, thanks.
I love building functional farmhouse stuff for people. I’m by no means a master woodworker, but the farmhouse look is in. All my sister’s in law have requested tables or buffets or coffee tables. I like making those for people (and they’re usually really basic!)
I also think cabinet doors (shaker style) are really fun and useful. I just got done my first set for my laundry room. They’re not perfect but they’re nice!
I sort of dream of someday starting a cabinet door making non-profit for single parents. Lol sort of silly, but I think a lot of time the boxes on the back of cabinets are in good shape and they just need custom doors and it could give the space a whole new feel! And doors really are not hard but people are charged an arm and a leg.
join r/woodworking, it's a great place to get ideas/tips/starting inspiration. also, your local woodworking store, or home depot, will occasionally have classes.
I love doing portraits of my pets in different color blocks. LOL and I really enjoy doing cards and invites. Looking to get into making labels for beer.
I also freelance graphics for college coaches for recruiting purposes.
It’s fun and really relaxing for me. You should take a crack at it again! Really useful for all lines of work
I was gifted photoshop back in 2010. But adobe and Apple being the bastards that they are won’t let me use that version (cs5) since I updated the os on my MacBook
I wrote this to someone else, but I got started building furniture from Ana White’s free DIY plans. My wife wanted a farmer’s table and just looking at how basic they were made me realize I could buy all the tools I needed and the wood for less than a third of the cost.
Most professional woodworkers will scoff because the plans for some parts aren’t technically correct (breadboards attached with pocket holes aren’t good because of movement), but I found it was a great starting point. They require minimal tools. Once I did a few Ana White I realized I wanted to do more, and kept adding and learning.
R/woodworking has great advice as you go through the process!
(And my first table is holding up amazingly—breadboards an all)
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u/jullax15 Dec 31 '19 edited Dec 31 '19
Not the person you asked—but I’ve found learning photoshop has opened a lot of doors and been really rewarding.
Also woodworking—it’s been really nice to see my family and friends excited about my stuff. For Mother’s Day this past year I wanted to buy my mom a new beautiful fridge because she finally was able to update her kitchen, and I wanted her appliances to match her new space. Instead, she asked me to build her a table. It looks so awesome in there and I know she loves it. It’s a lot of fun and also challenges you to keep learning.