Photoshop

Chances are you’ve probably already heard of Photoshop, the name itself has become synonymous with touching up photos. It is by far the most popular app in Adobe Creative Cloud (CC). If you want to enhance your photography, Photoshop is the program for you. Whether you need to brush over blemishes, brighten photos taken in dark areas or blur a background, the opportunities are endless.

So endless that they aren’t just limited to photography! Simple graphic design is possible within the app, thanks to the wide range of brushes, shapes and fonts on offer. You can create snappy social media graphics using your images in seconds. You know those iconic graphics you can download from Spotify Wrapped every year? Those were first designed in Photoshop.

As with other programs in Adobe CC, Photoshop is fully integrated with the suite. For instance, you can edit the image quality in videos using Photoshop, before sending it to Premiere to be pieced together. InDesign and Illustrator give you even more graphic design capabilities and are fully connected with Photoshop.

Going beyond the rest of the Creative Cloud apps, Photoshop also comes with a range of phone and tablet apps. These are integrated with your Adobe CC account, so you can access projects from all of your devices.

How common is using Photoshop amongst digital nomads?

Without a doubt, this is the most commonly used Adobe CC program amongst digital nomads (and likely for the general population as well). Even if you’re not using it professionally, it is the best way to make those travel photos stand out. Cameras can’t capture everything, so sometimes it’s necessary to tweak images a little to showcase what the scenery really looked like.

Photoshop’s functionality with other apps means that you’re likely to come across it at one point or another if you’re working online. If we were to suggest one Adobe CC programme to learn above all others, it would be Photoshop. It is one of the easiest to get used to and helps you develop skills that make learning the other programs easier.

But wait, isn’t it expensive? If you pay for it on its own it is. But Adobe has recently launched a photography package, including Photoshop, that’s half the price of buying the program on its own. With this package, you also get access to Lightroom, a similar program with better capabilities for editing multiple photos at once. Photo editing just got way more accessible to digital nomads.

What jobs/professions require you to use Photoshop?

You’ll need to use it for any digital nomad job that involves photography. Creatives, photojournalists and portrait photographers use Photoshop daily in their careers. There’s some snobbery online about using editing software on your photos, but the fact remains that you won’t get anywhere near a competitive standard using a camera on its own. At the very least, Photoshop lets you take care of the things the camera isn’t able to pick up. It’s a must-have tool!

Beyond that, you’ll need to use it with basically any online role that involves content production. Images (and videos) are key to audience building, and you simply won’t get by with low-quality photography. The graphic design features also make it a quicker alternative to InDesign if you want snappy social media graphics.

Last, but certainly not least, if you have your own online business you will benefit hugely from using Photoshop. Everything, from your website to flyers, requires images of some sort to hook clients and customers. Influencers also use Photoshop daily for Instagram shots, sponsorship packs and even video editing. It’s a tough job to get into, but your best travel snaps might help you build a new income stream if you put some work into them.

Where do I start if I want to become a Photoshop expert?

It’s such a popular program that there are endless opportunities to build your skills online. There are YouTube tutorials for just about every feature on Photoshop. Even hidden tricks that weren’t purposely built into the program can be discovered on social media. TikTok also has some great videos for helping you level up your Photoshop prowess.

Photoshop is such an intuitive program that we recommend you download it and play around with your photos, to begin with. If you can, learn about the basics such as saturation, contrast and exposure. These are all you need to work on your images. As you upskill, you’ll learn more about your editing style. Don’t worry too much about copying others, businesses prefer those with a unique vision.

Even if you can’t quite afford Photoshop, it’s worth downloading the free mobile apps. These don’t have anywhere near the same functionality so you’ll need to pay for the full program later, but it’s a great starting block to get used to the most popular tools.

If you only have time to learn one Adobe Creative Cloud program make it Photoshop. This app is the easiest to get started with and will open the most doors for you. Even if you want to learn another Adobe CC program, many of the skills you will learn using Photoshop can be easily transferred across the whole suite of applications.