Photoshop I (Sep 16-Oct 14)

Dates: September 16 - October 14, 2025

Meetings: Tuesdays, 6:30 PM to 9:30 PM CST (5 sessions)

Location: Houston Center for Photography

Cost: $490 (HCP members can receive a 10% discount)

Instructor: Mark Chen

Skill Level: Open to All Levels

Special Benefit: 8-hour Digital Lab credit (worth $80)

This course introduces students to Adobe Photoshop, the powerful imaging software used to create and process images for printing, publication, and presentation. Students will learn to navigate the user interface, work with various tools, and use layers and smart objects effectively. Practice making selections, retouching, color correcting, masking, compositing, preparing files for the web, and more. Lectures include extensive demonstrations followed by hands-on practice in class and home assignments verifying the correct application of reviewed material.

Objectives:

• Understand the basics of digital image processing and file formats

• Practice using Adobe Photoshop’s various tools and features

• Make selections and apply masks while using the Brush tool effectively 

• Understand how to use Camera RAW, adjustment layers, vector layers, and smart objects 

• Learn how to retouch pictures using a suite of tools and techniques 

• Automate your work using Actions with Batch processing

• Optimize your working environment by defining workspaces in Bridge and Photoshop

Prerequisites:

Students wishing to use HCP Digital Lab computers must be Mac OS proficient. PC users are strongly encouraged to bring their personal laptops installed with the latest version of Adobe Photoshop to class.

Course Prep:

Please bring a selection of your image files on a flash drive or hard disk to class.