What Photoshop Tutorials Could Not Teach You

[Chelsea Sheen]

Even the best Photoshop tutorials on the web cannot teach you
everything. It is important that you are armed with the right
knowledge and attitude towards learning. You have to determine your
purpose to better anticipate the results.
Most untrained Photoshop users forget the importance of theories
behind the tools and functions found in the interface. Theory alone
can't stand but skill alone neither prevails. You have to know the
logic behind the techniques in order to take advantage of them. Asking
why is as important as asking how.
Successful designers often have a background in fine arts. Learning
the fundamentals in drawing and illustration makes you more adept with
the theory behind the elements of graphics and images. It helps you
create original and evocative designs because you, more than anyone
else, know how to achieve such effects. Photoshop tutorials don't
always tell you why a certain step should be performed. But with the
right theory, it is easier to understand why you have to go through
such lengths to achieve a certain design.
Here are some essentials you won't learn from Photoshop tutorials.
Design Theory. It may sound banal to some but there are self-professed
graphic designers who don't even know how to properly juxtapose text
to graphics and arrange all elements of design in an aesthetically
pleasing and functional manner. It pains to know that some clients let
these mistakes pass with a shrug but behind the eyes of fellow graphic
designers who know better, erring on the fundamentals is just
unacceptable.
Great Photoshop tutorials are all about manipulating elements such as
color, line, shape, scale, space, texture and how they complement in
order to achieve a certain visual effect. It is important to know
design theory because you can't just follow tutorials blindly. The
techniques used by a tutorial writer on his/her design might have
worked for the image he/she used but not necessarily for your own.
Knowing design concepts eliminate these blunders.
Color Theory. Color experimentation makes or breaks a design. Colors
evoke emotions, set moods, attract attention, and make a statement. It
creates a visual ambiance. It conveys imagery beyond what you can
illustrate.
Harmonious color combination is important to avoid straining the eyes
of your spectator. Instead, it encourages your audience to try and
find meaning on the design even if you did not deliberately inject
meaning into it. The important thing is that color moves your audience
because he/she perceives a message out of it.
Psychologists found out that exposing oneself to a certain color has
an effect on the person's behavior. Although these effects are
somewhat subjective, there are colors that possess universal meanings.
Authors of Photoshop tutorials take advantage of color theory in their
works. To understand them better, you have to know color theory
yourself.
Typography. Never say that graphic design is all about, well,
graphics. There are times when you just can't help but use text in
your design especially for advertising purposes. This is why another
essential knowledge you should have before navigating around Photoshop
is typography. Designers tend to forget that texts are also visual
elements. To be more specific, they can easily become graphic elements
as well.
Typography involves the ability to juxtapose one font to another to
achieve a certain contrast and to control the visual effects created
by text blocks and empty spaces.
How some Photoshop tutorials explain text is somewhat arbitrary. The
usual mistake of novice designers is that they tend to clutter the
design with pompous fonts that evoke certain ambiance but are not
readable. Typography is the art of balancing artistry and function
when it comes to texts.
Basic knowledge about each of these theories can already do wonders to
your work. The quickest route to Photoshop prowess is never the
shortest. It's always the safest. Understand the elements of design
lead to original and thought-provoking work.