Photoshop is one of the tools that everybody says you need to learn in order to master web design. But is it really necessary given the advanced software and other tools available today?

The short answer is: Yes and No.

Benefits of Photoshop

The best thing about Photoshop is that once you master it, you can do pretty much anything with any image. You can crop, create and add filters, cut and paste elements into and out of images, and many other options.

When you are skilled at Photoshop, you can absolutely use these talents to improve the quality of the images on your pages as well as the overall look of your website.

Drawbacks of Photoshop

There are two major downsides to Photoshop: It’s cost and how complicated it is.

Photoshop isn’t cheap. If you are just starting out in web design and don’t have a big budget, there are other things that probably are going to be more important that you will need first.

Plus, it’s complicated to use. So learning Photoshop to the point where you are proficient with it can take a long time. If you have the time to devote to learning it, the long-term value is immense. But if you already are scrambling to handle all the other demands of your online business, having to learn Photoshop may be one of your lowest priorities.

Alternatives to Photographic Image

Photographic image has been around for a long time. But today there are many other tools that perform many of the same functions automatically.

For example, most newer model smartphones include cameras that have software you can use to add filters, crop photos, even manipulate the image all right from your phone.,

Another alternative is buying your images from a stock photo company or hiring a freelancer to develop better photos and other images for your website on a per job basis.