What makes a great Photoshop Tutorial?

A good Photoshop Tutorial combines all levels of proficiency into one comprehensive program and offers a complete Photoshop education as opposed to a quick video that only teaches one specific technique. With a great Photoshop Tutorial, a person who has never used Photoshop can learn fundamentals, and a Photoshop expert can learn something new and innovative.

If you have never used Photoshop, seeing the interface for the first time is an overwhelming experience. Buttons, panes, and menus fill the screen and you think to yourself, “How do I…” But, you are a tech savvy individual so you quickly take your questions to the internet and Google “Photoshop Tutorials.” This produces more than 11 million results, and you suddenly realize the irony in the concept of searching for software that teaches you how to use software. So where do you start?

In this site you will find articles on learning Photoshop and comprehensive reviews on Photoshop Tutorials that will help you make an informed decision on which is best for you.
At TopTenREVIEWS We Do the Research So You Don’t Have To.™

What to Look for in a Photoshop Tutorial

Photoshop Tutorials should be well organized, include video tutorials and project files, follow logical progression, and be entertaining. In addition to teaching you how to use the program, a great Photoshop Tutorial also incorporates graphic design and photography concepts such as defining bitmaps and vector images, or explaining the difference between an 8-bit color scale and a 256-bit color scale. Understanding and applying these fundamental concepts is crucial in learning how to effectively use Photoshop. Below are the criteria TopTenREVIEWS used to evaluate Photoshop Tutorials:
 

Features
A Photoshop Tutorial should have a variety of lessons that address broad range of topics. It should also include features that provide an exceptional learning environment such as project files or exercise files, online access, free demonstrations, and easy navigation.

Quality
The videos should be visually appealing, well organized, minimize the use of confusing jargon (unless they explain it in lay terms), be taught by accredited instructors, and must be entertaining.

Experience Level
The tutorial should include Photoshop fundamentals as well as intermediate and advanced tools and techniques.

Versions
A Photoshop Tutorial should address tools and feature specific to the version of Photoshop you are learning in. There are many versions of Photoshop available so we only give credit to the version used to demonstrate the lessons.

Help/Support
The program should offer several ways to communicate questions and concerns you may have during the learning process. Finding answers to those questions should be quick and easy.

You may find programs that claim to teach Photoshop in 2 hours or less. Don’t be fooled by such gimmicks. Adobe Photoshop is without a doubt the best digital photo editing tool on the planet and contains countless tools and techniques that take time to master. To be great at Photoshop, you will need to learn about filters, layers, brushes, color modes, units of measure, etc. This is obviously not something you can learn and apply in a short two hour DVD.

Start learning today with our top pick for Photoshop Tutorials, lynda.com.