10 Novice Photoshop Mistakes You Should Avoid

Selective color, bad HDR, over-sharpening, we’ve all seen (and if we’re honest, probably made) these Photoshop mistakes… but are you sure you’re still not committing some Photoshop faux pas? In this video, Nate Dodson of TutVid covers 10 common novice mistakes you should avoid.

The list isn’t comprehensive—some of the most obvious mistakes, nuclear eyes for example, are left out on purpose—but there’s a good chance you’ve done at least one of these in your early days using Photoshop. Maybe you’re still doing one or two now.

Here’s the whole list, complete with timestamps, so you can jump to whichever tip(s) you think will be most useful to you:

  1. Bevel and Emboss | 1:27
  2. Selective Color | 4:39
  3. Over-Whitening Teeth | 6:23
  4. Exporting any Code for Web Design | 8:48
  5. Too much HDR/Unsharp Mask/High Pass/Clarity | 10:14
  6. Retouching Directly on a Layer | 13:22
  7. Applying Adjustments to a Layer | 15:50
  8. Applying Filters Directly to a Layer | 17:25
  9. Not using TypeKit | 19:58
  10. Bad Selection Edges for a Composite | 22:10

Check out the video up top to find out how Nate tackles each of these issues, and learn some suggested alternatives that are considered better. Well, except for Selective Color… that you just need to avoid at all costs.

(via ISO 1200)

Discussion