The mantra from most in the diverse digital world is ‘keep on learning new stuff’ and ‘look out for the next big thing to improve your workflow’. Be it a new framework, plug in or software package. If you attend any of the many tech meet ups in London which I frequently do, you often leave the event feeling dizzy and a little disorientated. You are told by a multitude of strangers that you simply must learn this new ‘must have’ addition to your skill set. It’s in huge demand and clients in no time at all will be grabbing your from the streets. It’s a ‘win win’ you’re told.
Well this week, I decided to take a step back into the world of photoshop. Creatives have been using photoshop for over 25 years now. I remember learning the basics of photoshop many years ago and I was taken back by the power (and complexity) of the package. I have developed a pretty sound knowledge of the common tools and use them on a daily basis. But I’ve been increasingly conscious that I haven’t used the really advanced features and have not really kept up to the date with the many updates. It’s mainly due to the type of projects I often work on (as well as the inevitable tight deadlines), that I have used photoshop in a pretty limited way.
So I decided to go back in time and spend time actually learning the more advanced features photoshop and aimed to deepen my knowledge, without the pressure of a client looking over my shoulder and the constraints of working on a project that needs to be delivered yesterday. The learning process has been a huge amount of fun, as well as being enlightening to an extent I had never imagined. It’s dawned on me that so there are so many features and tools which would help quicken my workflow and increase the quality of my work.
Camera raw is a wonderful tool which I simply was not utilizing to the full. Using adjustment layers and masks in partnership with smart objects was an area I believed I had a good handle on. Well, I really do have a good knowledge now. Layer blending and advanced layer effects have been a revelation to me and I’ve enjoyed learning the new selection techniques (I have no idea why I used the colour range so infrequently).
So it’s been a full-on, but a really productive week. The client I’ve been working with have not needed my services this week, due to the inevitable changing deadlines, and I have used my time off pretty well. I just need now some exciting creative projects to work on and use my honed photoshop skills.