The importance of Photoshop in graphic design

23 August 201929 May 2020 BUSINESS Business Matters

If you want to become a graphic designer or want to upgrade your skills, you may be wondering if Photoshop is really as important as everyone says. When it comes to designing and editing images, this user-friendly software can be your saving grace.

The fact of the matter is, the vast majority of professional web and graphic designers employ the use of Photoshop daily. This means that if you haven’t yet fully grasped the ins and outs of the platform, you need to.

Moreover, this article will outline 5 key points highlighting the importance of Photoshop in Graphic Design and how you can utilize it to achieve what you want.

The importance of Photoshop for the Graphic Designer

Being confident photo editing images in Photoshop will be your toolbelt in the Graphic Design world. From understanding how to create functional and appealing effects on projects to turning photos into graphics with virtual paintbrushes, there are endless options as far as Photoshop is concerned.

Expressing your creative spark

With Photoshop, the options, tools and techniques you can use are practically endless which means the scope of creative potential expands. As you get to know your way around the features, you will recognise how to fine-tune your designs until they meet industry standards.

Produce a number of materials

Photoshop is great for a number of mediums such as website layouts, leaflets, posters, business cards, social media posts, logo design and much more. If you are a serious graphic designer you will quickly come to see the power of the software in creating eye-catching, professional designs.

Flexibility with the old and the new

With photoshops image restoration tools like clone stamps and healing brushes, you can bring old photos to life whether they are personal or professional. Doing so also gives you more scope to play around the one you land a graphic design role.

Blending graphics with text

One of the key roles a graphic designer will undertake is amalgamating text and visuals so that they make an impact and communicate a clear brand message. With photoshop as your base software, you will have the flexibility and freedom to mix and match images alongside text. You will be able to create drop shadows, textures and emboss to bring impact to text. On top of this, you will be enhancing photos with brightening, contrasting and sharpening tools to bring out the best in a visual.

Altering mistakes

Photoshop also gives you the power to control the outcome of a visual. When there is a mistake in a photograph, for example, red-eye due to the lighting not being efficient, you can correct that and other areas that diminish the aesthetic appeal of an image.

Keeping competitive

Amongst the competition, having fine-tuned Photoshop skills and becoming competent in the software is essential if you want to compete in the industry.

As a graphic designer, knowledge of the complete Adobe pack such as InDesign and Illustrator will also serve you well but Photoshop is a must in your digital design skillset.

Photo by Studio Republic on Unsplash