So for anyone that wanted to know whats the difference between the two and which ones better, here’s my thoughts…

I actually enjoy using both, I learned my basic graphic design skills on paint shop pro actually. Paint Shop Pro is so easy to use to me, at the time I was going back and forth between it and Photoshop. During the process I actually stuck with Paint Shop pro only because its a little bit more less complex. I also preferred using it because Paint Shop Pro is way beyond cheaper than Photoshop , I got my first version of Paint Shop Pro for $80 meanwhile Photoshop is running you at least $400 or so. But the down side was there’s more tutorials more things you can do with Photoshop because of its name, not saying PSP is a knock off or anything its just that Photoshop has its advantages. PSP even has a tutorial bar that comes with their program and it’ll ask you if your a first time user and will guide you through a lot of things which Photoshop doesn’t have.

All in all I think its important as a Graphic Designer to be well rounded with different programs essentially. So they can learn how to pin point stuff and see differences in their work, and see which program you can use for a specific project.

if you have any questions or would like me to do a tutorial using Paint Shop Pro let me know (:

Here’s my graphic of the day :

(I made a webpage layout using Photoshop)

My oldest nephew Jaheim is 11 years old, he was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. His mom , my sister did not want to believe it at all. It took her years to finally accept it and so did the rest of our family. But watching Jaheim grow up was pretty hard and fun at the same time. He cannot talk , he will make noises similar to words but they are not clear words that you and I would say. He says little things here and there but its kind of hard sometimes to know what he wants because he will have a rough time trying to explain what he wants. But of course in today’s world technology is growing more and more so the school he attends got him an iPad that is specialized to speak for him. All he has to do is tap on each picture in the word bank and it’ll say sentences for him, which i think is pretty amazing. that’s why i feel as though communications is a very important field to be in , we relay messages to everyone in the world even people with special needs and or disabilities. Music and radio is something my nephew enjoys he will listen to every genre of music and he will know who sings the song and what the album is called. For someone who cannot talk he is such a great speller, he knows how to spell a lot of things being as his brain is still at a baby stage. His brain does not match up with his age at all but the things he is capable of doing is beyond amazing. I plan to take him to music therapy where he can play the drums, which is his favorite and let out built up anger he has from not being able to communicate with others how he wants to.

So if you know someone with Autism or special needs you can reach out to them (communicate) and show them things that you like and or do things with them that they like. That’s all they want people to communicate with them because sometimes they don’t know how to do it.

Here’s a picture of my nephew and I (:

So I know a lot of people wonder which program is the better program and which one is more easier to use. Honestly because I’ve been working with Photoshop for so many years, its like a second nature to me. Photoshop may be complex but once you start to get the hang of things its so simple to use. A lot of people dislike the fact Photoshop has layers which becomes a little too complicated for people to understand. Meanwhile Illustrator has layers yes but you can put multiple things on one layer and be able to move it around without creating a new layer. What Photoshop does is it locks layers in place unless you move it but its not like that with Illustrator. Illustrator is a little bit more artsy, where you can draw and be free kind of. You can create shapes and do all sorts of things your self where as Photoshop you’re kind of limited.

But don’t worry all Graphic Designers have their favorite Adobe program but these two are the most used for Graphic Designers. If you are worried about both being too complex there are multiple videos on YouTube and numerous blogs that will teach you very basic skills on how to use both programs. Personally I feel like Illustrator is a little bit hard to learn at first because of how flexible it is. But if you practice little things everyday I’m sure you’ll get it (:

If you have any questions comments or concerns please leave a comment below or contact me !

Since Photoshop is my favorite program here’s something I made today :

Have you always wanted to learn how to use Photoshop but never gotten the chance to? Well here’s a mini tutorial on the basics of Photoshop and how to use layers. I’m going to show you how a layer of color can change how a picture ulitimatley looks

Okay lets get started

1. Find a picture of a person you like… for this tutorial I’m going to use Rihanna because shes my favorite im using this picture:

2. Open Photoshop >

3. File > new > select clipboard preset , press OK> edit> paste>
4. Now that you have your picture open pick a color you’d like to use…. I’m going to use a pinkish or purple like color

5. Press create new layer button then a new layer will pop up in the layers bar (bottom right corner)

6. Select the paint bucket tool in your tool bar then go to your color swatches on the top right and pick your color

7. Make sure new layer is selected now click on the image with the bucket tool

8. Now you will see the picture is hidden and it just shows the color you’ve chosen

9. Look in your layers box and you’ll see blending mode option and opacity right next to it.

10. This is the fun part you can play with these options and lower the opacity so you can see your background image and play around with it until you like what you see

I hope this tutorial helped you learn some basics of Photoshop and working with layers.

Now, do you feel pretty good now that you’ve made something in Photoshop?

Leave any comments or concerns you have below and ill be happy to answer any questions you have,

Thanks! <3

Here’s my final product (click picture) : I added a texture to the picture and  using the same layer technique used above

Swimchick was a blogging site that I’ve came across while in the process of teaching myself about graphic design. Its the first site where I learned a lot of the things I know today. At the time she was a graphic design major in college, so I kept up with her everyday post. She soon then got into photography and editing pictures. I think this will always be the coolest blog I’ve came across. If anyone is interested in graphic design and photography I’d definitely check her out. She just recently changed her site name to “Violet Spell” after many years.

Heres the link to her site : Violet Spell