Learning Adobe Photoshop without spending money is totally possible — and it’s easier than you think. In this post, I’ll guide you step by step on how you can learn Photoshop for free, using online courses, tutorials, and smart practice. Whether you want to edit photos, design graphics, or just play around with images, you can learn everything at your own pace.
Why Learn Photoshop — and What You’ll Get Out of It
Photoshop is one of the most widely used tools for image editing and graphic design. With it, you can:
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Touch up photos — fix lighting, remove blemishes, change backgrounds.
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Combine images, add text/graphics.
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Design logos, banners, posters, social‑media posts.
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Create digital art or digital paintings.
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Build a portfolio for freelancing or creative work.
Because it’s so versatile, many designers, photographers, content creators — and even hobbyists — use Photoshop. Learning it gives you a powerful skill that can help you in creative projects, freelance work, social‑media content creation, and more.
Where to Learn Photoshop for Free Online
One of the best parts about Photoshop is that there are many free resources online — some from the makers themselves, some from experienced designers, others from learners like you.
Official Tutorials from Adobe
The company behind Photoshop offers a set of beginner‑friendly tutorials on their website. These tutorials cover the basics: starting a new project, working with layers, masking, adding text, cropping images, drawing shapes, painting, saving files, and even recently added features like Neural Filters. (Adobe)
This is a great place to begin, especially if you want to learn in a structured way with reliable guidance.
Free Courses in Indian Languages (and English)
Several sites offer free Photoshop courses aimed at beginners — some even in Hindi, which can be especially helpful if you find English tutorials hard to follow. For example:
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LearnVern offers a fully free Photoshop course (in English and Hindi) — covering interface, tools (like Marquee, Lasso, Brush, Clone Stamp, Pen Tool, etc.), editing, layers, filters, and real‑world projects (posters, logos, mockups, etc.) (LearnVern)
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God of Graphics also offers a free course (in Hindi) covering photo editing, graphic creation, color correction, and design basics. (God of Graphics)
These courses often let you learn at your own pace, on any computer or even mobile device, which is great if you don’t want to commit fixed hours.
Free Tutorials & Guides from Independent Designers / Websites
If you prefer short tutorials instead of full courses, there are many free guides and walkthroughs online — text‑based or video‑based. For instance, a site with free Photoshop tutorials offers step‑by‑step guides for editing, effects, compositing and more — suitable for beginners and intermediate users. (Glensmith)
YouTube is another goldmine. There are many creators and channels offering free video tutorials — from absolute basics to advanced techniques.
What other learners say — from communities:
“YouTube would be the way to go and the best YouTuber for that would be piximperfect since his videos are really explanatory.” — a comment from a learner on r/IWantToLearn. (Reddit)
“Both PiXimperfect and PHlearn have easy to follow beginners series of videos.” — another learner recommending free resources. (Reddit)
Using community recommendations like these can help you pick high‑quality, easy‑to‑understand tutorials.
A Step‑by‑Step Plan: How to Start Learning Photoshop — For Free
If you want to begin learning Photoshop today and make consistent progress, here’s a plan you can follow.
Step 1: Get Access to Photoshop or a Free Alternative
To practice, ideally you need Photoshop installed. If you don’t have access (or want something completely free), you can try a browser‑based tool that mimics many Photoshop features, or use free trials of Photoshop (if available).
Step 2: Start with Basics — Interface, Tools, Layers
Use official tutorials or beginner courses to learn how Photoshop is organized: menu bars, work area, how to open/save images, zooming, undo/redo, etc. Then move to basic tools: move tool, selection tools (Marquee, Lasso, Magic Wand), cropping, color picker. Learning layers — creating layers, managing layers — is especially crucial. (Adobe)
Take your time and practice what you learn right away — open any sample image and try tools on it.
Step 3: Practice Everyday — Do Simple Projects
Rather than just reading or watching, actually do small projects. For example: crop a photo, change background color, retouch a portrait, add text to an image, create a social‑media banner, etc.
Course‑based tutorials from sites like LearnVern on logos, posters, flyers, mockups help a lot because they give you real‑world tasks. (LearnVern)
Step 4: Learn More Advanced Techniques Gradually
Once you are comfortable with basics, explore more advanced techniques — color correction, masks, blending, retouching, filters, combining images (compositing), text effects, digital painting. Free tutorials from independent websites and video channels can help you at this stage. (Glensmith)
Step 5: Build a Portfolio — Even for Practice
As you learn and create more designs, start saving your creations. Build a simple portfolio (could be a folder, or a free website or social‑media page). This serves two purposes: you track your progress, and you have something to show if you want to do freelance work or creative projects.
Step 6: Keep Learning — Follow Communities & New Tutorials
Photoshop keeps evolving, and new effects, methods and design trends emerge. Follow forums and communities (some people on Reddit recommend good tutorials, share projects, help troubleshoot). (Reddit)
Also, revisit the basics often — sometimes a technique you learned earlier becomes clearer after you grow in skill.
A Few Extra Tips & Advice
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Don’t rush. Photoshop has a lot of tools and features. Trying to learn everything at once can be overwhelming. Better to learn gradually — focus on one set of tools or a small project at a time.
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Practice by doing. Reading or watching is fine, but hands‑on experience is the real teacher. Try editing your own photos or simple images.
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Use sample images / stock photos. For learning, download free photos (street photos, landscapes, portraits) from free stock‑photo sites — and try editing them.
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Don’t get scared by complexity. In forums, some beginners felt lost at first. As one Reddit user said:
“I learnt through trial and error, and then when YouTube came out, I learned even more from the endless tutorials.” (Reddit)
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Set a small goal. Maybe your first goal is to retouch a portrait or design a simple social‑media post. Once you succeed, you get confidence to take bigger projects.
What You Can Learn — Some Key Photoshop Skills You Should Try to Master
As you go along, aim to learn these important skills:
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Working with layers: creating, merging, hiding, applying effects to layers.
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Selection and masking: selecting parts of an image, masking areas, removing backgrounds.
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Retouching: using healing brush, clone stamp, spot‑healing to remove blemishes, fix imperfections.
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Color correction & adjustments: brightness/contrast, levels, color balance, saturation.
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Text and typography: adding text, shaping, styling, combining with graphics.
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Composition & design: combining photos, adding shapes/graphics, creating banners/posters.
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Filters & effects: blur/sharpen, textures, blending modes, layer styles.
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Exporting and saving: saving in web formats, resizing, preparing images for social media or print.
These are the core skills used by designers, photographers, social‑media content creators, and digital artists alike.
In Summary — Yes, You Can Learn Photoshop Completely Free
If you follow a plan, use the many free resources available, practice honestly, and stay curious — you can definitely master Photoshop without spending money. Between official tutorials, free courses, and community‑shared tutorials & tips, there’s more than enough for a beginner.