I used YouTube and free (and some paid) online classes on a site called Udemy, I found them very helpful informative outside of the work I did in high-school for Graphic Design. I guess it kinda comes down to the type of Graphics you want to focus on. Start by familiarizing yourself with the tools and the layout, that will go along way. Many sites have tutorials just on the layout and tool usage that could help you.
I would first start by learning what each tool does in Photoshop. (The tools on the left). Then start learning how to use Photoshop to improve image colors, contrast, lighting, etc. More specifically camera raw. After that just learn as you go.
I’ve been using programs like Photoshop and paintDOTnet for years. Like @LonuxWolf said, first learn what all the tools actually do. I think the best way to improve your skills is practice. Do lots of projects, and analyse what you can do to improve your work, and then apply that on your next project.
Once you start getting better (and if you plan on doing commission work in the future), I would start giving yourself time limits on projects so you can familiarize yourself with working under constrictions like these.
Good luck on your graphic design adventure, and Merry Christmas!
If you already know how to use Paint .net, Photoshop is really easy to learn. Paint .net has a lot of the main features Photoshop offers, just much simpler.
The best way to learn is just to do it yourself, look at reference images and other people’s work, and not rely on many YouTube tutorials (in my opinion). That’s how I learned how to build in Studio.
@kinkocat I will attempt to familiarize myself with the tools, however this would be extremely difficult just me messing around with them. Do you recommend me using that Udemy website?
@K_reex Of course, I’ll eventually do commissions (I hope) and I’ll set new goals. I just need a little boost. it seems as if everyone is guiding me to learn the tools, is there something to help me with that?
@SheriffTaco I agree, the YouTube tutorials for Photoshop are decent, but I don’t feel as if it would guide me towards success with Photoshop. And, I did use Paint.net but it was years ago, and to be honest I feel as if Photoshop and Paint.net aren’t similar at all. Photoshop is extremely powerful with no limits, whilst Paint.net it’s limited to what you can actually do.
Have in mind, you don’t need to learn all of the tools if you’re planning to use photoshop for your graphic commissions.
If you use Blender or Cinema 4D for the renderings, you would use simple tools like text, blurs and light effects in Photoshop. Thus, in my experience - I also didn’t value Youtube videos, so what I chose to do is just to play around with the tools and seeing how I can apply them to my rendering to improve and finalize the work.
I think that’s pretty much all you really need in this case… Learning all the tools of Photoshop is very unnecessary, because your ability will progress overtime.
Don’t waste your time with udemy. I personally learned from experience. I definitely recommend watching some basic Photoshop tutorials on YouTube though. Like I said learn the camera raw tool it’ll improve your images a lot.
I think just playing around with the tools is invaluable (that’s how I learned). As you frequently use them you will get a feel for what you can use them for, and when you should use them.
Another method I used to learn (I’m no master, though) is to try to replicate good GFX. Now I’m not saying to just remake someone else’s GFX and try to sell it, but try to replicate it as a personal project, to get a feel for the methods used to create good looking GFX.
