»How To Use Photoshop (Basics + Tips)

[Should also apply for GIMP for the most part, they're similar.]
I'm terrible at tutorials so this could go horribly wrong. I would like to add that I am in no way an expert at Photoshop, not at all. This is just Photoshop essentials to get you started. It is scary to start out in Photoshop. My beginnings were humble, when I first started getting into digital art/image manipulation I used GIMP. It gave me a great base for Photoshop as the interface is similar. However, if you do want to go straight to Photoshop, this should cater for you just fine. This tutorial strips back Photoshop a lot - it can do a lot more than I'll show here. This is for pure beginners intimidated by Photoshop.

Interface​

Once you open up Photoshop, your screen should look a little bit like this. Don't worry if the tabs are placed differently - I've moved them around to suit my needs. You can do this too if you don't like the way it is laid out.

Tools​

These are the small icons on the left of the above image. They're essential in Photoshop. I'm not going to talk about every single tool, only the more complicated tools. Everything else just requires common sense and maybe a minute or two of "the **** is this". That or you wont need it. Also right click the icons in Photoshop to get variants of it, eg for Magic Wand there's quick selection.
Lasso tool- Lets you create a freeform selection (meaning it can be any shape)
Magic wand tool- Creates a selection from similarities in an image. http://i.imgur.com/3qvWHbo.png
Spot Healing Brush- Fixes image irregularities like pimples. Quick and easy to use, I removed this girls pimples. Before: http://i.imgur.com/nZeCVf9.png After: http://i.imgur.com/802OIbA.png
Brush Tool- Exactly what it says. You can download different types of brushes - experiment to get different effects! http://i.imgur.com/Xoc3Uo1.png
Gradient- It's like an ombre for hair but in Photoshop. Yep. http://prntscr.com/agjeui
Pen- Lets you place anchors to make a selection.

Other Random Shit​

Honestly, the best way to learn is tutorials. Just google something you like. When I started out, I loved the look of fire so "photoshop fire tutorial" is what I googled. Try to understand what's happening in the tutorial and you'll pick up a lot of things you'll want to know later on.
If you don't like something you're making, stop and come back to it a few days later. You can start again if you like - there's nothing wrong with that. Sometimes it just doesn't work.
Organise your shit. Have a folder on your desktop, name it something like Art or Photoshop. http://prntscr.com/agjt2o Put your stock, backgrounds, inspiration, anything else in there too. I swear you'll be glad of it.
Don't get discouraged when it doesn't turn out how you had hoped.
If you can, buy a drawing tablet. It may be less needed depending on what you're doing, but it'll always come in handy. My brother bought mine second hand (used, but still in perfect condition) from amazon for 60 euro. It's a Wacom Bamboo Pen, model CTL-470. It's pretty basic but it did the job. Make sure to download the drivers to get things such as pressure sensitivity.
Spend a while just messing around in Photoshop. It'll take a little while to get used to it.
Customise. This, so much. Change the shortcuts if you need it (default to change shortcuts Alt + Shift + Ctrl + K). Change around your interface.
If you can't afford Photoshop and you're broke af like me, get it cracked ^^"
Aim to make a new thing every few days. If you don't get that done, that's okay. If you do, that's fucking wonderful and you're getting better with each piece of art you create ^^
My first piece of art created digitally (besides from my years as a 10 year old fucking around in Paint ) was bokeh. Rainbow coloured on a deep red background - I'll post it if I can find it, it was on my old laptop xD I sent it to a friend to see what they thought and they just said "It's shit. It's just circles" so okay xD Edit: Found it Looking back on it now, it was pretty shit but hey I was proud xD http://prntscr.com/agkdcy

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Just the very, very basics. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me either here or in pm I'd be more than happy to help. ​

 

Great job Bunny ^^

This is an awesome tutorial for beginners, it can really come in handy.

gj C:

 

Photoshop me more pls

 

Would you like me to post the pics cos I'd love to ^^

 

u still smell bad

 

WOW, I wish there was a way I could give you a rating on the tutorials section :/

 

Did this took you 1-2 hours to make it o.o

 

Awh thanks <3

Nah I think it only took around 40 minutes to an hour, but I got distracted so xD

 

:c

 

pleaseeee

 

Thanks Bunny! ^^ I can't find a tutorial in Youtube but I am so glad that I found your tutorial