Fundamentals of Photoshop: Getting Started with the Interface, Tools, and Layers (Photoshop I)

Welcome to the first lesson in this five-part series of Photoshop classes. Throughout this series we'll cover everything you need to know to become a Photoshop pro. Knowing how to use Photoshop is an incredibly useful skill and is commonly used by anyone from photographers to graphic designers and illustrators. It is such a robust program that can be extremely overwhelming. I'll do my best to make you feel comfortable while I teach you the ins and outs.

This series is perfect if you're slightly familiar with yet aren't completely confident in your Photoshop skills. If you have never opened Photoshop and are feeling brave; this class is great for you too! It’s absolutely fine if you’ve never opened Photoshop until now.

Photoshop is such an exciting program as it allows you to produce so many kinds of beautiful things. Anything from beautiful business cards and stationery to websites tailored just for you can be created in Photoshop. The goal of this series is to get you to expert level so that your imagination can go straight to Photoshop’s canvas

What You'll Learn
In this Adobe Photoshop tutorial, you'll learn the fundamentals of Photoshop's interface. I'll help to show you exactly what you're dealing with when you first launch Photoshop. Topics in this class include:

• Resolution. We’ll learn what resolution is and what it means. Together, we’ll take a look at various compositions and devices and learn the standard resolution size for those formats. I’ll give a special emphasis on resolution sizes for web and mobile in order to enhance your Photoshop design.

• Photoshop Workspaces. We’ll open Photoshop together and take a peek around to see what’s going on under the Photoshop hood. Learn how to customize the Photoshop basics in order to see only what you want when you want it. I’ll show you exactly what you’re looking at so that you feel comfortable as we move forward. 

• Tools and the Photoshop Toolbar. I’ll briefly show you the handiest of tools and give you a few toolbar tips and tricks along the way. We’ll study tool options and bonus surprises that each tool has. With even more options hidden within this panel, there is more than enough to get started learning how to Photoshop your drunk uncle out of your holiday photos!

• Photoshop Windows. There are so many Photohop windows that it’s hard to know which ones you’ll need. I’ll show you around the default windows, which are generally the most important, and tell you how they work. From the color window to the swatches, whether you’re doing some Photoshop retouching or just playing around, knowing what each window does is essential to getting started.

• Layers. Layers are such an important part of Photoshop. I’ll show you everything you need to know about layers to become a Photoshop pro. We’ll create layers, duplicate layers, and get them all organized into groups! It may boring, but if you’re an organization fiend like I am...you’ll love it.

• Saving Files and File Types. Easy photoshop tutorials often overlook the elements of organization. There are a lot of ways to save your Photoshop files. I’ll do my best to show you the most important ways to do so. We’ll learn what exactly a PSD file is. How to save PDFs in Photoshop and the various image types that you can save to.

• Adjusting your Canvas Size. Your Photoshop canvas is like a window into the soul of your project. And it can be quite frustrating when the size of your canvas is holding you back. I’ll show you how to adjust your canvas size most effectively and let you know when the right time to adjust the size of your canvas is.

• The Zoom Tool. I’ll show you the quick n’ dirty tips and tricks of the zoom tool and how to zoom most effectively.

• Best File Naming Practices. Knowing how to name your files is incredibly important if you want to keep them organized. It’s easy to haphazardly name your files and not be able to find them again. I’ll show you my favorite methods for naming my files and organizing them into folders.

What You'll Make

At the end of the class you'll be able to apply all of the skills you've learned to make a bold and bright geometric collage. Use color, shapes, and layering to design a truly unique composition.

Required Class Supplies

Adobe Photoshop. If you don’t have the program you can download a 30 day free trial here. All class tutorials are recorded on a Mac using Photoshop via Adobe Creative Cloud. You do not need a Mac or the most recent version of Photoshop to follow along. Most of the tools are consistent across all versions of Photoshop. 

Please note: Photoshop Elements is a limited version of Photoshop and is not recommended for this course.

Other Classes in This Series:

• Photoshop II: Drawing, Layers, Masks, and Selections
• Photoshop III: Typography and the Pen Tool
• Photoshop IV: Color, Swatches, and Blending
• Photoshop V: Creating Efficient Workflows, Tips, and Tricks