Adobe offers a free 7-day trial for Photoshop, but you do need to put your credit card information on file before you’re able to use it. During your trial, you have unlimited access to the program. There are no restrictions or limitations regarding what you can do with the program. You may use the trial only once. In the past, Adobe offered a 30-day trial with no credit card information required, but this has been discontinued.

Photoshop is essential for most modern visual jobs. As the name indicates, photographers use Photoshop to adjust their photos. Graphic designers use Photoshop to create and edit images, then open up those files or elements in a program like Illustrator, which is better geared toward layout. Web and app designers use Photoshop to create sample images and plan their designs. User Interface, or UI, designers also use Photoshop. They create designs that show their plan for a customer interface and how it will look. Designers of all stripes, from fashion to product, might use Photoshop. A fashion or product designer can use it to create style boards and designs for their work. Game designers may use Photoshop to create 2D and 3D characters and settings. Many jobs with a visual component use Photoshop.

Adobe previously offered Photoshop as a standalone program in the Adobe Creative Suite, as signified in its full title “Photoshop CS”. When Adobe replaced its suite of standalone products with the web-based Creative Cloud software, Photoshop CS became Photoshop CC. You can still use older versions of the software, but you won't have access to newer features introduced with the Creative Cloud. Beyond the differences in name and release dates, Photoshop CC differs from older versions of Photoshop in that it requires a subscription to use. There are individual and group options, as well as discounted versions for educators and students. One of the upsides to Photoshop CC's subscription model is that Adobe updates it regularly, and it's accessible online. Cloud-based storage and the ability to access your files from any device are more perks.

Whether you're a casual user or a graphic design professional, there are certain Photoshop tools that you'll always rely on. They vary in skill level but they all have one common goal of modifying an image to the users' content. At the most basic level, select, move, fill, and blur are go-to actions. The brush tool is also popular, as it lets you "paint" onto a photo. Another one that's widely used is the "clone" tool, which creates duplicates of selected parts of images for you to move elsewhere. Alternatively, you can copy, cut, and paste specific parts of a pic and draw symbols and shapes on the image. Many also turn to Photoshop filters like black-and-white and vignette overlays when editing photos. Similar to filters, you can add effects like drop shadows or tilting during the editing process. One of the most heavily used manipulation tools is the red-eye removal tool. The layer panel also gets a lot of action when changing backgrounds and removing unwanted objects.

Photoshop is known to have a low barrier to entry and a high skill ceiling, so most will find it easy to learn the basics and quickly move on to more advanced skills if they will. This is especially true for those who have worked with other photo manipulation software in the past or used other programs within the Adobe suite. When it comes to the level of difficulty for targeted tutorials, it largely depends on how much automation is involved. For instance, removing objects from the background or foreground of images using batch automation tools is quick and easy to learn. On the other hand, manually editing photographs in Photoshop is a skill that may take some time to develop. Those who want to learn Photoshop at their own pace can look to Udemy's online courses, covering the complete range of tools available in the suite.