Let's begin with the basics

Ok so let's begin with the basics.

What is the most basic technique I can teach you? Let's begin with arranging the interface.


The most typical photoshop workspace arrangement.

The easiest way in working in photoshop is by arranging your tools and your windows. My preference has always been my tools are on the left side of my window and my layers, history, info, etc. on the right side. This keeps my widow organized. I rarely click on my tools...I use my keyboard shortcuts for that, which I highly recommend. Memorize the shortcut keys for every tool and this will save you a TON of time...and I mean a TON.

Start out by arranging your windows. Putting them where you think they will be useful and easy to access. and then when you are done, go to window>workspace>save workspace




Type in your profile name for your workspace for easy access.

After clicking save, your workspace is now saved. Every time a window is moved, you just go back to the workspace menu and click on your name to retrieve the windows and whatever else was saved with that profile.

The neat thing about this is that you can save multiple workspaces in the workspace menu. This is useful when you prefer different window arrangements when doing different kinds of images. For example, you might want to have your brushes window open when you paint in photoshop but you want that gone when you edit photos. You can actually save a different workspace for that and name it "painting workspace", then just click on that whenever you want to do painting. The workspace profiles can go on and on...

Arranging your workspace gives you better access to everything you need in photoshop. Again like memorizing shortcut keys, this will save you a ton of time every time you use the software.

Welcome to my new blog.

Welcome to my second blog. Basically on this blog I will tackle the most basic techniques that are essential in making images look realistic or better than what it was in the first place. The title "five minute photoshop fix" basically describes the majority of the techniques that I will teach in this blog...although NOT ALL of them will be under five minutes. I will discuss in the future the most useful ways on using photoshop tools, some shortcuts to really popular workflows in photoshop, and some techniques that I learn as I go on doing my photoshop business. The techniques will range from beginners to advanced.

Most of the techniques I am going to show require a little bit of Photoshop knowledge. Currently I use Photoshop CS4 and CS5. Other versions might have slightly different features, but basically they are almost all the same. Most of the time I work on a Mac, that is why for every lesson I teach I will begin by saying "(for windows users, substitute the Command key with the Control key, the Option key is the ALT key)" for the reason that I don't want to leave all you windows users behind, It's just easier than typing substitute this for that all the time. At the beginning I will suggest memorizing the most used shortcut keys that you think will benefit you. It really isn't necessary to memorize all of them, only the ones that you will use the most. Start with the tools like M for the marquee tool, S for the Clone stamp tool and so on, then move on with your adjustment windows such as Command+M for Curves, Command+L for levels etc. Memorizing these basic shortcut keys will save you a lot of time and the hassle of moving your mouse to swap a tool for another one...trust me it's worth it.

As I go there's really no order in what I teach. I might teach something advanced first then the beginners techniques...it really does not matter. I will try to explain everything as short as possible, and try to illustrate or show the step the best way I can. For any questions, I can be messaged through my profile.

Some of the product photos that I will be using in this blog have their company logos and trademarks on them. I am not getting paid for advertising these products. These photos are used solely FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. I do not intend to steal or infringe any trademarks or whatsoever.

A little background about myself. I have been working in photoshop since the late 90's. It was shown to me by a friend when I was working as a computer lab technician and I was instantly blown away by it. I was amazed how elements can be independently moved by layers. Now, I do it for a living. I wouldn't have known that I will be doing this for a living. What started out as just a fun software became full time work for me. I also am a part time photographer. Basically my principle is simple...I don't depend on photoshop to produce great pictures, good lighting, and composition make good pictures. Photoshop is just there to make things a bit easier for photographers to enhance photos that they cannot otherwise produce in camera. I have learned a ton since I started using this software, and I'll be gladly sharing each and every technique I learned here.

Cheers!