Photoshop is one of the best image editing programs out there. Even though there are cheaper alternatives to Photoshop, it is definitely worth learning. Why? Here are 25 reasons why you should get Photoshop!
Adobe Photoshop is digital art software for image editing and photo retouching. You can use it on Windows and MacOS computers.
Photoshop is highly versatile and the best all-round image editor in the market. You can create the most different types of digital art, including hyper-realistic paintings, drawings, and photo manipulations.
Moreover, you can edit or otherwise enhance images and illustrations, retouch photographs and even videos.
Photoshop comes with a myriad of sophisticated tools that make it possible to edit both individual and large batches of images.
There are several versions of Photoshop, including:
- Photoshop CC (the most recent full-featured version),
- Photoshop Elements (consumer-level version of the Photoshop),
- Photoshop Lightroom (mainly for photo and RAW image editing), and
- Photoshop Express (for iOS devices with reduced features).
Is it worth it to get Photoshop?
Adobe Photoshop is the software of choice for digital artists, photographers, designers, illustrators, web developers, and other creative professionals.
It is used for a wide range of creative requirements. These include image editing, photo retouching, image compositing, logo design, templates, as well as website and other mockups – to just name a few.
→ 12 Benefits Of Learning Digital Art (And Where To Learn It)
Digital and scanned images can be edited and saved for use online or for printing.
This just goes to show that Adobe Photoshop is the unrivaled tool for image editing across a wide variety of industries. Knowing how to use Photoshop is a good skill to have for professionals, students, and art enthusiasts alike.
It’s worth getting Photoshop because it’s a valuable asset on your résumé, it can help you in your career, make money with your digital art, and it’s fun to use!
Does Photoshop come with Lightroom?
Adobe Photoshop CC is the professional-level and most up-to-date version, available through a Creative Cloud subscription.
Photoshop CC is available together with Lightroom, depending on the subscription plan you are choosing.
Currently, there are three plans to choose from:
If you just want to use Adobe Photoshop, you can get on the Single App Plan for $34.49 per month or $263.88 per year. You will get access to all the latest features and updates, plus 100GB of cloud storage.
A cheaper option is the Photography Plan. It includes Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic. The main difference to the Single App Plan is that you will get 1TB of cloud storage. However, for $19.99 monthly or $239.88 yearly, the Photography Plan is definitely great value for money!
The All Apps Plan is the most comprehensive one and includes:
- 20+ creative desktop and mobile apps including Photoshop and Lightroom
- 100GB of cloud storage
- Adobe Portfolio
- Adobe Fonts
- Adobe Spark
How much is Photoshop for students?
Students and teachers can get all Adobe products with major discounts. That means even as a student on a tight budget, you can still use Photoshop!
You can use this link to redeem the 60% special discount for students and teachers.
If you are a student or teacher, you can save over 60% of the purchase price. This does not only apply to Photoshop, but also to all the other apps that are part of Adobe’s Creative Cloud suite.
The All Apps Deal for Students and Teachers is $19.99 per month for the first year, and after that $29.99 per month. The regular price would be $52.99/month.
Why do we need Photoshop?
Adobe Photoshop is the number one program for creating and editing visual content of all kind. Professionals in various industries work with Photoshop, so being able to use it is a universally acknowledged skill worth having. Plus, Photoshop is fun!
Down below, you will find 25 solid reasons why you should get Photoshop today. If you are new to image editing and don’t know where to get started, you can check out my post on How To Teach Yourself Digital Art – 5 Tips For Beginners To Get Started.
So without further ado, let’s dive in and see why Photoshop is worth getting!
25 Reasons why you should get Photoshop
REASON 1: It’s affordable.
With the introduction of the Creative Cloud subscription model, Photoshop became much more affordable. Before, Photoshop was only purchasable through a huge one-time payment.
The Photography Plan is affordable to everyone. It includes Photoshop, Lightroom, and Lightroom Classic and is available for only $9.99 per month.
REASON 2: You can make money with it.
While you need to pay to get it, you can also make money with Photoshop. Photoshop is a valuable skill to have and highly in demand.
There are many companies and individuals that need custom designs made in Photoshop. But it’s also possible to sell your own artwork and creations. There’s a huge market for digital art and you can sell your art via different websites.
REASON 3: It gives you a creative outlet.
We need art in our lives, that’s a fact, and Photoshop gives you an outlet to express yourself creatively. The list of Photoshop features is virtually endless and you can basically create any type of digital art you are interested in.
There is something very powerful about artistic creation, and art has proven benefits on our mental health. But even if you just decorate the walls in your home with beautiful artwork, you can enjoy the benefits!
REASON 4: You can restore old photos.
Old photographs are precious memories, but unfortunately they fade over time. Luckily, Photoshop allows you to restore your old photos.
With tools like the healing brush, patch tool, clone stamp, dodge and burn, and sharpen tool, you can easily polish up old images. If you have some painting skills, you can even color your old black and white captures!
REASON 5: You can make your photos look more beautiful.
Photoshop is used by professional photo retouchers. But even as a hobbyist, you can make your pictures look more beautiful.
The spot healing and the clone stamp tool are powerful features that let you sample pixels from one area and copy them over to another area. That way, you can remove spots and blemishes and create flawless looks.
REASON 6: You can use it to design your website.
Every artist should have their own website, and Photoshop comes with all the tools that you need to design your website.
You can create your website logo, blog images, text and line art, etc. without needing extensive skill and practice.
REASON 7: You can optimize images for web use.
But even if you don’t create your own images, you can optimize other images for web use.
Photoshop enables you to resize and crop images to make them smaller and even compress them. The ‘Save for web’ option lets you choose from a number of file formats for different requirements.
REASON 8: You can cut out things quickly.
Photoshop offers a range of tools to make quick selections and cut out things from a photo. You can, for example, remove the background of a photo and replace it with a different one to create your unique concept art.
The quick selection tool, the quick mask mode, and the color range selection are three ways that work amazingly well for many photos.
REASON 9: You can add text to your images.
The ability to add text to images in Photoshop is a great advantage over Lightroom.
Photoshop allows you to type text, transform and warp it, and apply layer styles and blending modes. Text on images is needed in many different settings, and Photoshop’s text tool is super-easy to use.
REASON 10: You can work with layers.
Layers are THE big asset of Photoshop. They allow you to add text on top of an image and make other non-destructive edits.
Layers may be used for all kinds of purposes: to create image composites, collages, and photo manipulations. But layers are also useful in digital paintings, logo and web design. Basically – in everything!
REASON 11: You can use blending modes.
Photoshop comes with more than 20 blending modes that give you an almost unlimited array of effects to add to your images.
Blending modes help you to composite images, retouch photos, brighten an underexposed image, or create a stunning high-key photograph. They are always non-destructive and can be changed or removed at any time.
REASON 12: You can work with layer masks.
The option to add layer masks is the true reason why layers are so powerful in Photoshop. Layer masks allow you to manipulate a certain area of the image while not affecting others. All in a non-destructive manner.
A white mask reveals and a black mask conceals. Layer masks open up a whole new dimension of creative possibilities. That’s why they are especially popular in photo manipulations and image composites.
REASON 13: You can set up your custom workspace.
Photoshop allows you to organize the tools the way you want, so you can quickly access your most used functions.
Once you have set up your custom workspace, you can save it and reuse it in your future editing sessions. There are also a number of pre-defined workspaces, for example for photography, typography, painting, and 3D.
REASON 14: You can compose multiple images.
In terms of Lightroom vs Photoshop, Photoshop is the only program that allows you to combine multiple images. This cannot be done in Lightroom.
Due to the layer ability of Photoshop, you can take two or more images and put them together. When you cut out things or use layer masks, you can even select only individual components of the images and compose them.
REASON 15: You can create downloads and printables to sell.
Selling digital art downloads and printables can be a great side business because you only need to put in a little bit of work upfront and then you can sell the items over and over again.
When you sell physical products, such as art prints, you have to take care of printing, packaging, and shipping. With digital products, you don’t have to worry about any of these!
REASON 16: You can create mood boards and photo collages.
Mood boards and photo collages are popular and easy to make using Photoshop. People like to collect images and fit them together to visualize their goals or get reminded of their last fun vacation.
All you need to do is adjust the images a little, crop them, and then rearrange them to fit together. You can create collages for your blog and social media, or print them out and decorate your wall!
REASON 17: You can save and re-use actions.
A Photoshop action is when you record multiple editing steps and save them. When you prepare photos for your website or Instagram account, you might find yourself editing them in the same way.
To avoid repeating all the editing steps on each photo again, you can save them as an action and then apply them automatically. The vignette effect that you can download in the Freebie Library is an example of a re-usable action.
REASON 18: You can create image templates.
Just like actions, you can create image templates that you can use an unlimited number of times. For example, if you like to compose images, you only need to create a photo grid or tile once, and then you can re-use it as many times as needed. (Premade photo grids and tiles are available in the Freebie Library.)
Also, you can create valuable Photoshop resources for other artists that save them a lot of time editing. For instance, I have created three glass jars for my Glasshouse series that I now make available to other artists.
REASON 19: You can make infographics.
Infographics are a huge market and many people hire a designer to create an infographic for them.
Infographics are so popular on blog posts and social media because they make it easy to understand a complex context at a glance. If you know how to work with layers and templates, you can quickly create infographics in Photoshop.
REASON 20: You can design sidebar ads.
This is especially important if you have your own artist website. One way to monetize your website is through ads.
With Photoshop, you can create your own sidebar ads, design clickable buttons with your logo, and other advertisement assets.
REASON 21: You can create digital paintings.
Of course, there is also the more creative side to Photoshop. Photoshop is ideal for a variety of artistic endeavors, and creating digital paintings is one of them.
A large selection of paint brushes, with endless applications, plus the possibility to create and import your own brushes, constitute a great working environment for every digital painter.
REASON 22: You can make photo manipulations.
Photoshop is best known for photo manipulations. You can use your imagination and create surreal images.
→ What Is Digital Surrealism? [Surreal Digital Art Explained]
Beside it being my favorite type of digital art, photo manipulations are also used in advertisements and glamor photography.
Feel free to check out some photo manipulations from my Surreal Stories Collection and view my creative process here.
View the creative process of my photo manipulations:
REASON 23: You can create 2D and 3D art.
Photoshop is perfect for all types of two-dimensional art, but you can also use it for 3D modeling.
There are special 3D layers and tools that allow you to create and edit three-dimensional objects.
REASON 24: You can make animations.
Of course, you can create animated GIFs in Photoshop. But did you know that you can also save and edit videos?
Fact is you can edit video frames in Photoshop, add special effects, and even animate your photos and digital creations!
REASON 25: There are lots of tutorials available.
Photoshop has been around for a long time and is arguably the most popular software for image editing. Many people use it, and you can find a large number of tutorials for beginners and advanced users.
Free tutorials are available on sites like YouTube and others (just run a quick search on Google). You can also check out the free Photoshop tutorials on this website that cover a range of different editing fields.
Check out more of my Photoshop tutorials:
My name is Angie and I’m a self-taught digital artist. On this blog, I am sharing my knowledge and discussing the best software and hardware for different artistic needs. My desire is to offer options for all creative stages and budgets so that everyone can follow their dream and create art!
