Free Photoshop Tutorials: Learn Photo Editing, Effects, and Design

Start Learning Photoshop Step-by-Step

Welcome to my collection of free Photoshop tutorials—designed for beginners, enthusiasts, and creative professionals. Whether you're learning the basics or refining advanced techniques, these hands-on guides cover everything from retouching and text effects to compositing and photo manipulation. Every tutorial is step-by-step, classroom-tested, and packed with practical tips to help you master Photoshop with confidence.

I was one of the first photographers in the UK to make the complete switch to digital in 1998, after photographing on film professionally for 18 years.

Prior to making the full switch to digital, I was using Photoshop since its launch on Windows in 1992. I've been using Photoshop daily in my photography business ever since. I've also used Lightroom since its launch in 2007, editing images for clients.

Why Learn with Glen Smith’s Tutorials?

I've taught Photoshop courses for 15 years, in classrooms at North Hertfordshire College, at other organizations, at local camera clubs, in-person and online. My students have consistently rated my courses as excellent.

See the tutorial on every one of Photoshop's Toolbar tools Every Photoshop Tool Explained. There is a growing number of tutorials on many tasks and techniques that are favorites with my students.

My Photoshop Beginners and Improvers courses are 15 weeks of a two hour lesson. Each week students are given homework to accomplish a similar task to the lesson. When I introduced homework, I immediately saw a significant improvement in students learning. Obviously this is not a surprise to anyone. I urge you to not just read the tasks, but to work through them. Studies have shown we retain far more by doing, rather than just reading.

More Creative Tools Coming Soon

I will be adding more tutorials on a continual basis, as soon as I can.

I have taken great care to make the tutorials as easy to use on phones and tablets as possible and to make the image rollovers accessible on these devices. However, in my experience, when editing images, it's best done on larger screens.

Teaching: Learn by Doing

Multiple Rollover Images to Make Learning Easier

Some tutorials include multiple rollover images in my tutorials. The aim of this is to make it easier for you to see key differences between images, which accelerates learning. It's often possible to see small differences between images in a rollover that it is not possible to see when the images are next to each other.

One example of using a multi-image rollover is the page on showing the many variations that are easily possible using Layer Styles, once you have created a montage. The Montage Variations page shows 40 different options, by clicking, or tapping a small thumbnail.

Two more example of rollover images in the Add Motion Blur tutorial:
Before and after showing removal of excess Motion Blur
Rollover showing 10 steps to make a selection of a wheel and Transform the selection.

Learning on all Devices

Windows and Apple Keys

I'm a Windows user, so I've commented on the Windows shortcuts using keys such as Ctrl and Alt. The Apple equivalents are Cmd and Option, but I'm confident that Apple users will know this, so I've avoided cluttering the descriptions with all alternatives every time. If I've got that wrong, please let me know.

AI - Artificial Intelligence

While I embrace improvements and progress in every field, including AI, my focus in my tutorials mainly features non-AI techniques. AI, brilliant though it is, isn't perfect and even when it's very good, many parameters are outside the users control. My tutorials don't include AI, which is not to say that I'm against it. I'm not. If AI can give you what your want, that's fine with me, but then you probably don't need many of these tutorials. My tutorials are created with the view that you should be in total control and actually understand what is going on. You should increase your skill in vital areas of Photoshop, that will benefit you in all areas of your digital editing.

Request a Tutorial

If there is something you would like to see a tutorial on, please get in touch, either via the contact page, or email me at . I can't promise to cover every subject, but I will try and I will reply to you. If your request is about a particular image, please email it to me.