10 Free Photoshop Tutorials to Learn New Skills

Discover how to make the most of the tools offered by Adobe's image editing software

When it was first released in 1990, Adobe Photoshop started out as a basic image-editing program; thirty years on it's evolved to become the must-have tool used by millions of creative professionals to make their visions a reality.

Featuring multiple possibilities for filters, effects, plug-ins, customizable tools, and endless creative resources, the program enables all kinds of creatives to edit their photopraphy or illustrations without limits.

The wide array of functions available in Adobe Photoshop also means there's lots of room for experimentation and expanding your skills in this software. Ready to get started?

In the following tutorials, Domestika teachers will teach you Photoshop techniques from how to add shadows and lighting to your illustrations to removing a photograph's background, and lots more.

Click on the red titles to access the full tutorial for more information.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Add Directional Lighting

Your best allies for capturing a mood or concept are color and lighting. Together they can transform a work, bring it to life, give it charm, and convey specific feelings or emotions. Artist and illustrator Karmen Loh, aka Bearbrickjia (@bearbrickjia), is a master at using Photoshop to craft tones and dreamy highlights in portraits.

In this tutorial led by the teacher, learn how to add different kinds of lighting to an illustrated portrait with Photoshop.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Add Shadows and Highlights

Another tutorial from Bearbrickjia (@bearbrickjia), this time learn how to add greater depth to your portraits by creating shadows and highlights using a few simple Photoshop tools: the lasso, brush, and smudge tool.

Working from a reference photo (where the person is in a similar position with the light source you'd like to replicate), you'll quickly learn how to block, fill, and blend your shadows before adding highlights.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Remove Backgrounds

The Pen tool is mightier than the sword—but you have to know how to use it. Klarens Malluta (@klarens_malluta) is a self-taught digital artist who has worked with clients from across the world.

In this tutorial, he demonstrates how to cut the background from an image and create a silhouette from a photo using this invaluable tool in Photoshop.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Sharpen Your Images

There are lots of reasons why you might want to sharpen your images before publication: it can compensate for blurring caused by equipment, make your pictures more vivid, or make them easier to read.

Running his own photography school in East London and exhibiting his works across Europe, Mikael Eliasson (@mikael_eliasson) shares how to sharpen an image on Photoshop using the high pass filter.

Photoshop Tutorial: Essential Shortcuts to Create Textures

If there's one way to speed up your workflow and put all your skills into practice, it's by learning handy shortcuts. Nicholas Stevenson (@nicholasstevenson) is an illustrator, animator, and university lecturer who creates illustrations and designs packed with personality and depth.

For Nicholas, adding textures and layers is a great way to take your work to the next level—plus, it's surprisingly simple once you've mastered a few basic tricks and keyboard shortcuts in Adobe Photoshop, which he shares in this tutorial.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Replace The Sky in Architectural Photography

In architectural photography, the sky is one of the key elements providing the all-important backdrop to your image. In the following tutorial, Daniel Garay Arango (@danielgarayarango), a photographer specializing in black and white architectural images, explains how to edit the sky in your photographs for professional results.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Flatten Your Character

The first step of coloring your character is finding the flat colors you're going to fill it with, without adding shades or other dimensional effects. In the video tutorial below, character design specialist Joel Santana (@officialartofsantana) demonstrates how to color your creations in Photoshop using the flattening technique.

Photoshop Tutorial: Learn How to Add Texture and Gloss to Your Character

Using just a few Photoshop tools, you can add volume, texture, and movement to your illustrations—details that make a huge difference to the narrative of seemingly static images. Digital artist Joana Neves (@joananeves) loves using illustrations to build stories. As an illustrator and concept artist at Media Monks, she works with clients including Netflix, Disney, Google, and Amazon.

In this tutorial, Joana teaches you her step-by-step method for bringing illustrations to life with Photoshop tools that add gloss and texture to skin and hair.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to Select Hair in Photoshop

It's one of the most dreaded tasks for those taking their first steps in Adobe Photoshop: how can a figure be perfectly separated from its background to manipulate both independently?

Fortunately, the photo editing software features some smart selection tools that make this task much easier. Photographer and post-producer Oriol Segon (@oriolsegontorra) explains a foolproof method to select a person in a more efficient and practical way in the below video.

Photoshop Tutorial: Step-by-Step Tips for Retouching Skin

Photographer and graphic designer Nina Bruno (@ninabruno) specializes in Photoshop and has learned all kinds of editing techniques over the years. Whether you're looking to reduce shine or dark circles under the eyes, here she shares some foolproof tricks to easily retouch skin.

Photoshop Tutorial: How to add Shadow to Architectural Illustration

Architectural illustrator Carlo Stanga (@carlo_stanga) explains how to add essential tools, like light and shadow, to your illustrations and the important role that they play in capturing a city’s unique atmosphere.

Photoshop Tutorial: Shortcuts Every Illustrator Needs

Keyboard shortcuts are a key tool for improving your workflow in Adobe Photoshop. They accelerate your work processes, especially frequently repeated tasks.

British illustrator Gemma Gould (@gemmagould) has used Photoshop for over 10 years. In this tutorial, she teaches you the basic shortcuts that anyone who wants to get under the skin of the industry’s most powerful design software needs to know.

Do you want to explore Photoshop and its numerous possibilities? Domestika has exclusive Photoshop courses for you to discover.

For even more free, expert-led tutorials to boost your creativity, stay tuned to the Tutorials List tag on our blog.

English version by @acesarato.

You may also like:

- 10 Online Adobe Photoshop Courses for Pro Photographers
- 7 Online Courses for Learning How to Illustrate in Photoshop
- 6 Free Tutorials to Learn Essential Photography Skills in 20 Minutes
- Abstract Portraiture with Photoshop and After Effects, course by Klarens Malluta