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I don't really know where to start with post-processing my images. I normally just straighten, crop and sharpen. Do people know of any good resources on the internet for getting a grip with Photoshop and similar tools?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Shouldn't this be a community wiki? It doesn't have a clearly correct answer? \$\endgroup\$
    – raven
    Commented Sep 20, 2010 at 13:05
  • \$\begingroup\$ I would agree that this should be community wiki. All of the answers below offer some great information, but there really isn't any particular "correct" answer. I'm not really sure what will happen with the bounty if it is converted, though, so I figure its best to leave it for 5 days before doing anything about it. \$\endgroup\$
    – jrista
    Commented Sep 21, 2010 at 0:49
  • \$\begingroup\$ Since all the answers are community wikis, can I "merge" answers that basically recommend the same resource? Perhaps by changing the ones with lower vote counts to something else? For instance, Lynda.com is recommended three times. \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Commented Jul 10, 2018 at 7:11

12 Answers 12

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I recommend the Photoshop manual, and then lots and lots of practice/experimentation.

I know this is not the answer you really want (and it's unlikely to get the bounty ;) but it's my opinion (and I stress this is just an opinion) that tutorials will only teach you how to use certain steps to produce a certain result.

There is no substitute for learning everything the long way, finding out for yourself why to make a change rather than simply how. Training your eyes to analyse an image, learning when to trust your eyes and when to go by the numbers. Flexing your creativity. An experienced Photoshop artist will be able to look at any tutorial end image, take the source images and recreate it, probably using different steps to get the same result. There are so many tutorials that promise instant results and I can see the appeal, but this ability to me is far more valuable.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Most important thing here is the experimentation, rather than the manual - but definitely agree with the gist of things. Though as a learning exercise it might be good to follow a tutorial once, then go back and try to achieve the same effect but deliberately using different methods to do it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Peter Boughton
    Commented Sep 19, 2010 at 11:32
  • \$\begingroup\$ I like Peter's suggestion about trying a tutorial and then trying your own techniques to achieve the same result. It's always helped me understand things better. \$\endgroup\$
    – Vian Esterhuizen
    Commented Mar 4, 2011 at 22:35
  • \$\begingroup\$ Photoshop has a manual? \$\endgroup\$
    – xiota
    Commented Jul 10, 2018 at 7:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ I fully agree with this. In the beginning, it often seems very hard to do photo editing, but after a while, you will find it a lot easier. \$\endgroup\$
    – jng224
    Commented Jul 29, 2020 at 16:05
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I recommend http://www.Lynda.com - great videos about Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge and hundreds of other design/photo software for just $25/month.

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I recently found Digital Photography School to have a good selection of tutorial on post processing as well as other areas of photography.

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The "You Suck at Photoshop" series of tutorials posted by MyDamnChannel on YouTube are very educational (and presented in a humorous way).

Another good resource is Kelby Training

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I also recommend going to forums that have post-processing contests, where everyone post-processes one image and explains their technique, and the submitter chooses a winner.

photocamel, photoforum, etc.

One overlooked skill is applying the best post-process for a specific image, and this helps immensely.

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I've used Ron Bigelow's photoshop tutorials quite a bit. He covers just about everything I care about and then some... He also has a bunch of other articles/tutorials on other photographic subjects that are interesting.

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For Photoshop, check out Scott Kelby's Photoshop User TV, they have weekly videos and other resources available there too: http://kelbytv.com/photoshopusertv/

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The tutorials at Chromasia are really good. You have to pay for a yearly subscription to get most of them, but I think it's worth it. They're extremely thorough with a lot of examples.

http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/

Free sample tutorial: http://www.chromasia.com/tutorials/online/curves/

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I recommend photo walkthrough tutorial. They have a very good series of video podcast on post processing using Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom.

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Matt Kloskowski posts free Lightroom tutorials at Lightroom Killer Tips. I learned a lot from his material.

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Some post-processing tutorials are at http://photo.tutsplus.com/category/tutorials/post-processing/

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I learner some killer tips from these free tutorials at www.photoshopsupport.com/tutorials.html

The website is literally packed with tips and tricks explained by professionals and great photographers. It is also linked to other websites with tutorials.

If you consider a more in-depth Photoshop exploration, consider buying some literature as well. You will find plenty of Photoshop books and guides on Amazon.

Good luck

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