How long does it take to learn Photoshop?
To figure out how long does it take to learn Photoshop, you need to consider what you want to do with the program. Photoshop is a very versatile tool and can be used for dozens of tasks, very different from each other. For one person it may be enough to learn to use the essential tools while others may need to create complex layer compositions, with masks, colour correction or even use the video or 3D tools.
You can learn Photoshop and become an advanced user for a particular purpose in 36 to 96 hours, depending on the combination of courses you choose. These hours include learning the basics (6 to 12 hours), learning a creative specialization (12 to 36 hours) and extra time to practice what you have learned (18 to 84 hours).
Below we will look in detail at the courses and the time required for each phase of learning, as well as the fastest way to learn Photoshop to shorten those times.
How long does it take to learn Photoshop in 2024
Learning Photoshop Essentials: 6-12 hours
As we know that it is not easy to choose among so many courses available, we have made an analysis of the best courses to learn Photoshop from scratch that you can find in 2024. In addition, we have classified them according to your interest in illustration, photography, concept art, web design, etc. You can find them all in our article on the best courses to learn Photoshop from scratch.
Aspects covered in the Essential Training
The objective of the essential training is for you to learn how to effectively use Photoshop’s basic functions, effects and tools. Consequently, you will learn the most useful elements and functions in any editing or retouching process, the most commonly used tools and the most practical workflows to obtain good results.
The syllabus of the mentioned courses usually develops the following contents, at a theoretical and practical level:
- Introduction to Photoshop and basic theory
- The user interface
- Tools and uses
- Pixel selection and masks
- Working with layers
- Filters and uses
- Other functions
- Output and export of documents
Learn a specialization: 12-36 hours
Specialization courses are designed for people who have already mastered the basics of Photoshop and need industry-specific skills and knowledge.
Therefore, once you have learned the basics of Photoshop, you can move on to learning a specialty, if you need to.
Photoshop specialty courses typically last between 12 and 36 hours, depending on the specialty. Below you can find a table with some of the most popular courses on the market and their duration.
| Platform | Course | Duration |
|---|---|---|
| Crehana | Adobe Photoshop CC from scratch: Expert in Graphic Design | 12 h |
| LinkedIn Learning | Photoshop CC for Photographers: The Basics | 16 h |
| Udemy | Master Web Design in Photoshop | 17.5 h |
| LinkedIn Learning | Learning Photoshop Portrait Retouching | 31 h |
| LinkedIn Learning | Photoshop One-on-One: Advanced | 31 h |
| LinkedIn Learning | Become a Digital Illustrator | 42 h |
Aspects covered by a specialization
These courses focus on advanced use of Photoshop features and tools for a specific professional purpose, and therefore their curricula and durations are totally different from each other.
This is because each specialization course focuses on teaching you what is most relevant to that specialty and leaves out everything else. That’s why no two curricula are the same.
On most course platforms you can preview some parts and view the syllabus to see if the course covers the aspects you are interested in for each specialty. It is important to take a look, as specializations require a much larger time investment than essential learning.
Practicing what you have learned: 18 – 84 hours
It is difficult to calculate how much practice time you will need, since each person has his or her own pace and a different starting level. But if we take as a rule of thumb that for every hour of learning we will need at least one hour of practice, we can establish a calculation of hours quite close to reality.
It will be enough, therefore, to add up the time of the courses to calculate the approximate time we will need to practice and fix what we have learned.
For example, if you take an essential Photoshop course of 6 hours plus a specialization in Digital Illustration of 36 hours, consider about 42 hours of practice (6 h + 36 h). In total, you will need 84 hours (42 h x 2) to acquire an advanced level of Photoshop for this specialization.
When learning Photoshop, practice is essential, so the more hours you put in, the better you will do and the more productive you will be. The difference between an advanced level person and a professional level person is often in their ability to be productive, so consider practice as a medium to long term investment of time.
Can you learn Photoshop in a week?
It is possible to reach an intermediate level of Photoshop in one week, if you manage to dedicate 8 hours every day to learn and practice what you have learned. At the end of the week you would have surpassed 56 hours (8 hours x 7 days) of learning.
You could also reach an advanced level in some specialties with courses that do not require too many hours of learning.
How to learn Photoshop faster
An easy way to learn Photoshop faster is to speed up the course videos by 25% or 50%. Most course platforms have this option in the video player and there are also browser extensions that enable this feature for any video.
With this simple trick you can shorten your essential and specialized training by several hours: a 36-hour course could be reduced to just 18 hours. But if at any point you realize that you’ve stopped paying attention or missed something, go back and slow down the video.
Always remember that your goal is to learn Photoshop, not to finish the lessons.
The fastest way to learn Photoshop is by not taking shortcuts, so don’t skip lessons even if they seem uninteresting. Usually the best online courses come with condensed information and you may miss something fundamental.
To learn fast without missing anything, set or follow a study plan, learn progressively and practice constantly and frequently what you learn.
Establish a study plan or follow a pre-established one.
Paid courses have a study plan and this is the best way to learn quickly, without forgetting or skipping anything important. Simply follow the plan and practice what you learn.
If you decide not to follow a set plan, you run the risk of skipping fundamental learning that will later allow you to develop skills and apply more complex techniques.
Learn progressively
By learning progressively you ensure that you master the necessary concepts, processes and tools before advancing to the next level of complexity.
Good paid courses are designed to follow this progression and avoid gaps in your learning that will set you back time and time again.
If you decide to learn on your own, following a progression will be more difficult, as you will not know beforehand what learning is necessary to execute a particular technique. As a result, you will have to interrupt your learning frequently and learn concepts that a certain tutorial says you know but in reality you have not yet learned.
Reinforce your knowledge
Don’t settle for just one Photoshop course. With Photoshop you can arrive at a result in many different ways. Learning and practising the same Photoshop subject from different angles or points of view will help you become familiar with the tool more quickly.
A good complement to online video courses are Photoshop books because many of them include multiple exercises and online supplementary material. In our selection of the best books to learn Photoshop, you will find the most practical ones to reinforce and even expand your knowledge.
Practice constantly
Whether you follow a course or decide to learn on your own, you should set aside time to practice everything you learn.
The best way to learn Photoshop and fix what you learn in your memory is to practice what you learn over and over again, immediately after you learn it.
Don’t just learn the theory or look at examples. Photoshop tutorials often combine a series of actions, functions and effects that, if you don’t practice immediately, you may not be able to remember.
Conclusions about the time it takes to learn Photoshop
As we have seen, the time it takes to learn Photoshop depends a lot on the course and specialization we decide to follow.
Acquiring an essential level
At an essential level, learning times can be reduced quite a bit if you already have some experience with Photoshop or similar programs. This is because most of them are usually inspired by the Photoshop interface, being the most popular and with the largest number of users, as we saw in the article on the best Graphic Design programs.
In fact, for those who already have a knowledge base, perhaps even 5 minutes can be enough, as this video suggests.
Acquiring an advanced level
The reason for the large time differences between specialties is the type of tools and workflows that are relevant to each specialty.
Don’t let the learning time required determine the specialty you choose. Learning something you enjoy is much more enjoyable and, in the long run, costs much less effort and learning time.
Acquiring a professional level
As we have seen in the article, the difference between an advanced user and a professional is usually in your productive capacity, which in turn is linked to your experience, skills and knowledge of Photoshop.
The more you practice, the more experience and skills you gain with Photoshop, the faster and more productive you will be. Also, as you practice, you will encounter new challenges that will lead you to learn new Photoshop skills.
It’s a repeating cycle and, if you enjoy it, you can spend all your time learning new Photoshop skills. Fortunately, once you have a solid foundation of knowledge and practice, the following courses will take much less effort and time.
