Photoshop Resources

There are literally hundreds of Photoshop sites on the web and thousands of tutorials. In fact, it's probably one of the best unofficially supported applications around. It seems that everyone wants to share their own special tips, tricks and techniques. Unfortunately about 90% of these tutorials fall into what I call the "neon button" category. Everyone who ever created a fancy button for their web site has a compelling urge to tell the world how they did it. Although some of these "neon button" tutorials are very well done, they don't really help Photoshop beginners get to grips with the basics of what is a complex application.

The listings below, arranged in alphabetical order, are rated by their usefulness for learning how to use Photoshop generally rather than creating neon buttons. Some sites do cover both aspects of Photoshop so you certainly won't miss out on the neon button experience. Some sites are listed simply because they look great and are good design examples. The 5 Star sites are essential visits for any newcomer to Photoshop or anyone wanting to improve their skills.

Beginners Start Here

The six best sites for learning Photoshop.

Book Recommendations

    coverDeke McClelland is probably one of the best known authors when it comes to Photoshop. His book is probably the best single volume you can buy on the subject. It's a good book for beginners because it covers all the basics in a simple and coherent way but it's also an excellent book to keep as a reference for more experienced users. The book comes with a full PDF version on CD, which makes searching for a specific command really easy. The Photoshop Bible is available from Amazon.co.uk for £23.99 and if you only buy one Photoshop book, this should be the one.

    coverAdobe Photoshop for Photographers by Martin Evening. Whereas most Photoshop books tend to focus on effects and design for the web, this book is specifically designed for photographers and is particularly useful if you are using a digital camera. The book is well written and full of good image examples. This is an excellent companion to Deke McClelland's book (reviewed above) as it fills in many of the gaps. If you're serious about photography, this is the book for you. It's available from Amazon.co.uk for £29.99.

Tutorial Sites

    Absolute Cross4 Stars
    Over 20 tutorials including "tools and basics" and "text effects". Plenty of "neon button" effects for those who like that sort of thing. All the tutorials are well designed, clear and concise.

    Action FX3 Stars
    All you need to know about creating and using Photoshop Actions. Other tutorials cover Layer Styles and Brush sets.

    Anders Qvicker4 Stars
    Surely one of the most beautiful tutorial sites on the web. All the usual chrome spheres and flaming text effects but also some good tutorials covering layer effects and some good basic tips. Over 40 tutorials including some good texture techniques.

    Deep Space Web4 Stars
    Some really good tutorials here focussing on various basic skills such as working with shapes, quick mask selecting etc. All the usual texture and bevelled button effects are also here as well as some anoying pop-ups.

    Designing.com3 Stars
    The usual array of effects tutorials and a useful but breif discussion on colour modes.

    Designs by Mark4 Stars
    A really nice site, still being developed. Tutorials are few at the moment but are of the hignest quality. The Hammer tutorial is a good example and covers a whole range of skills. Work through these well designed and comprehensive tutorials and you will become an expert in no time.

    Eyeball-Design FxZone3 Stars
    Another beautifully designed site with a great Flash intro. The tutorials focus mainly on interface design and are probably the best around so if you are thinking of redesigning your web site, check this out.

    Eyes on Design3 Stars
    The tutorials page features about 30 original tutorials, all beautifully designed and clearly laid out. Most are of the "neon button" variety but there are some unusual effects such as Cartoon Eyes and a tutorial on Slicing Images in Image Ready.

    EyeWire5 Stars
    Almost 50 superb and useful mini tips and tutorials covering a whole range of topics from layer Navigation to Pixelated Effects. Many of the more complex tutorials are available only in PDF format but they are well worth downloading - superbly detailed and well laid out.

    GEDA-online3 Stars
    Another beautifully designed site and nice tutorials but who really needs another "Gold Text" effect tutorial.

    Hands-On Training by DocOzone3 Stars
    If you want to learn about lighting effects and texture wraps, this is the place to be. There's also a very useful tutorial on JavaScript Rollovers.

    Janee's Photoshop Tutorials4 Stars
    Janee's tutorials are a much more homey affair but the content is excellent. The tutorials covering photo retouching are particularly useful. For example, look at the Correct Uneven Lighting tutorial to find out how to improve to look of landscape photographs.

    JLSwebsource.com3 Stars
    Lots of neon button tutorials here but also some useful stuff like the Perfect Paths and Pattern Gradients tutorials.

    magic's photoshop tutorials4 Stars
    This site offers a number of projects rather than tutorials. These are all reasonably well laid out and lead you step-by-step through a number of skill areas.

    Mike's Sketch Pad4 Stars
    Over 40 excellent tutorials covering many basic concepts. There's an 8 part tutorial just on Layers and a 2 part tutorial on Channels. Fantastic for beginners.

    neofrog4 Stars
    Rebirth, apparently!

    phong4 Stars
    Beautifully designed site with some excellent tutorials. Along with the obligatory neon buttons, you will find tutorials covering Adjustment Layers and a really good tutorial on Anti-aliasing.

    Photoshop Cafe5 Stars
    Photoshop Cafe is a great general resource site however, the Miscellaneous Tutorials page provides some "Super Tutorials". One covers the building of a web page in Photoshop and Image Ready - very impressive.

    Planet Photoshop5 Stars
    Planet Photoshop is another great resource site but with more in the way of tutorials.

    psworkshop3 Stars
    This site provides a good tutorial listing rather than original tutorials. Worth checking out if you're looking for something specific.

    Robouk4 Stars
    The "pièce de résistance" when it comes to neon buttonology. A very nicely designed site. If you do want buttons for your web site there is no better place than this to show you how to do it. My particular favourite is the Plastic Tabs effect.

    Savvy Photoshop4 Stars
    Lots of tutorials here. Again many fall into the neon button category but there's also a useful tutorial on using the Airbrush Tool and a good Quicktips tutorial for beginners.

    Spoono4 Stars
    Another "designer" site but with more useful tutorials such as those covering Masking, Paths and Keyboard Shortcuts.

    Team Photoshop5 Stars
    Another good resource site, Team Photoshop offers lots of tutorials; mainly neon buttons but it also offers tutorials on Making your own Planet and (my favourite) Making aerial landscapes.

    Wasted Youth3 Stars
    I often think I probably wasted my own youth but it's all relative. This site provides tutorials for Photoshop, AutoCAD, Bryce, Dreamweaver etc. The Photoshop tutorials are neon buttons but it's worth a visit for all the other stuff.

    Web ClipArtdotCOM3 Stars
    A good general resource site with free images and a limited range of tutorials, worth a visit all the same.

    Webzone 2k5 Stars
    Lots of tutorials here and most of them are extremely useful. Topics covered include Image Resizing, Sharpening Images and Layer Masks (pdf). There are also some great tutorials covering the use of Photoshop tools such as the Rubber Stamp Tool and the Pen Tool. Highly recommended.

Photoshop Resources and Portal Sites