Graphic design is an attractive career choice for many people. But there are some that wish to learn design skills that they can use in their spare time. For instance, creating flyers or web images.
Do you have an artistic side? If so, the thought of using software to create stuff might seem a bit scary to you. But don’t worry; technology makes it easy to transfer your illustration skills to the digital world!
Today’s handy guide will show you how to use graphic design software on a computer. It’s a guide designed for both those new to graphic design, and those that have done illustration work on paper. Here is what you need to know:
Do some doodling online
Before you spend any money on graphic design software, it’s best to try your hand at freestyle designing! For example, you could start creating an image on Pixlr. Or maybe head over to ragemaker.net and design a few rage comics to begin with!
You can design anything random. It doesn’t matter what you draw. What matters is you start getting the hang of using a computer to create stuff.
Download some free graphic design software
Now that you’ve doodled a bit online, it’s time to take your skills to the next level. Download a free software package like GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). It has many of the familiar features that software like Adobe Photoshop has. Except it’s free to download and use!
Doing this will help you learn about the different functions that image editors come with, and what they do. Some free image editors come with tutorials to help you get started with their software.
Pay for Adobe Photoshop
If you want to forge a career in graphic design, you will need to use industry-standard software. That means paying for Adobe Photoshop! You might have heard from some people that Photoshop costs a small fortune to buy.
These days Photoshop is only available as a subscription service. That means you pay a small fee per month. In exchange, you always get to use the latest version of the software on your computer!
Adobe Photoshop CC (“Creative Cloud”) is the most recent version at the time of writing. It only costs a few bucks a month and is better than trying to download a pirate copy of an older version.
Check out some online tutorials
Once you’ve got Photoshop, you will need to learn how to use all its features. There is a plethora of tutorials and guides on the Adobe website that you can browse. But what if you want “proper” training?
For those of you happy with video-based learning, YouTube is a great place to start. There are thousands of free videos that teach you how to get the best out of the software. If you want something more formal, there’s always the lessons over at the lynda.com website.
The only downside to lynda.com is that you have to pay a monthly subscription to access their tutorial videos. But, for many people, it’s money well spent.
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