Digital Painting: Photoshop Setup and Foundations

Setting up before painting

This beginner Coursera course, offered by the University of California, Santa Cruz, opens with the groundwork: getting a Photoshop workspace in order and learning the visual language that painting depends on. Setup comes first so that later painting work meets fewer obstacles.

Skills listed for the course

• Adobe Photoshop used within digital design
• Design elements and principles
• Digital content and graphic design fundamentals

Who it suits

Beginners who want a grounded entry point into painting on the computer will find it useful. Because the focus is setup and foundations, it works best as preparation before more hands-on painting work, and the vocabulary it builds gives you a shared language for judging your own pictures as you progress.