Talking 'Shop

Dave discusses whether you should or shouldn't take Adobe certification exams for Photoshop. (Spoiler alert: there are pros and cons)

Dave Cross discusses how perhaps instead of immediately asking for a tutorial or a pre-built preset or action, we try it ourselves.

Dave Cross and Blake Rudis discuss the big changes to the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw, and how to get over any dislike of the new look and start taking advantage of the new features.

Got some time on your hands and you want to experiment in Photoshop, but don't know where to start? Dave shares 12 (13 actually) mini projects to get you started on the road to learning through experimentation and "playing around" with new tools and features.

Dave talks about how an experience with new (to him) software apps lead him to appreciate the way Adobe does things with consistency, and how we can apply consistency to how we use Photoshop.

Dave talks about the 5 "dangerous" things you should not do in Photoshop.

Dave shares a simple strategy to use your time to practice and learn new things in Photoshop

Dave chats with Lisa Carney, a professional beauty and entertainment retoucher about key tools and techniques, personal projects, practicing, and how slowing down might make you faster in Photoshop. Oh, and Footloose.

Dave shares how his inability to swim almost kept him from graduating college, and how that experience can be applied to how we learn Photoshop.

Dave and Jesús chat about all kinds of Photoshop topics, even sharing their most embarrassing videos.

Dave reminisces about the 30 year history of Photoshop.

Two DCs on one show! Dave Clayton and Dave Cross chat about how graphic design can (and should) play a role in photography, how to use Adobe Stock as a source of inspiration, self-assignments and more! 

Get inspired to create conceptual photographic artwork during this chat with Sebastian Michaels! Dave and Sebastian chat about having a vision, planing out a photo shoot and how thinking backwards from Photoshop can make things easier and help you to be more creative.

Most people hate failure. Dave discusses how failing in Photoshop is not such a bad thing, that you shouldn't see failure as an indication of your Photoshop knowledge or skill.

Dave expands on the idea of Thinking like Photoshop, in particular how we should think about covering up instead of removing. And he recommends that you become your own stock photo agency.

Dave talks about what it means to be an advanced Photoshop user, or to use an "advanced" technique. And how the heck do we decide if something is advanced or not...and what is a hack?

Dave takes a look back at the last decade and how things have changed with Photoshop, thinks out loud about what might be coming, and offers suggestions for your Photoshop learning resolutions.

Dave discusses one of the most over-looked yet easy to implement ways of saving time: Presets.

Dave chats with Speaker and Author Colin Smith about emerging technology in Photoshop , AI and the creative process.

The Thanksgiving episode.

Dave pays tribute to one of his favorite TV series by talking about Breaking Bad...Photoshop Habits. Okay, not really "bad" habits, but things we do in Photoshop that have an alternate method that's faster, more accurate and /or more flexible.

Dave chats with Photoshop Hall of Fame instructor and 3D expert Corey Barker about new and emerging technology from Adobe such as Aero and Fresco and how they work with Photoshop.

Dave was at Adobe MAX for the announcement of the newest version of Photoshop and Photoshop for the IPad and recorded his thoughts about both applications.

It's that time again: Dave shares some raves and rants about some of his favorite - and not-so-favorite - things. 

After the problems many people encountered with Apple's Catalina Operating System and Adobe software, Dave offers his philosophy on upgrading, including how to prepare for upgrading to the next version of Photoshop.

If you ever wanted to know all the ins and outs about printing on your own printer, this is the episode for you! Expert guest Daniel Gregory talks about ICC profiles, monitor calibration, paper, proofing and much more. One of most in-depth discussions about printing you'll likely ever hear in a podcast.

Dave shares his opinion on whether Adobe Bridge get a bad rap (spoiler alert: he thinks it does and explains why). Hear about some of the similarities and differences between Lightroom and Bridge and how you can decide which is the best tool for you.

Dave talks with photographer/designer/instructor Khara Plicanic about design and typography in Photoshop, and how photographers can start dipping their toes into the world of design, templates and printing. 

Dave chats with Nick Busch, a photographer who's been in the news recently with his unique scale model portrait photography. He combines scale model building with photography, focus stacking, portraits and Photoshop, to create uniquely fascinating images.

Dave chats with renowned photographer Joel Grimes about personal projects, creating a signature style, commercial work and more. This episode is packed with inspiration and practical tips. 

Dave chats with Andrew Kavanagh, founder and head organizer of the largest Photoshop Group on Facebook. They discuss the benefits (and challenges) of being part of Facebook Group, and how the Photoshop and Lightroom Group has grown while preserving civil and helpful conversations.

Rather than talking about one specific topic, this week Dave Cross raves about some of his recent favorite things, and rants (just a little) about some things that drive him a little bit crazy.

In this episode Dave Cross introduces the concept of Photoshopotography: shooting photos with Photoshop in mind. He talks about capturing backgrounds, textures for overlays, patterns, composites, and how a collapsible safety cone made his life so much easier.

Dave Cross recalls conversations with his Dad (who knew nothing about Photoshop) that influenced his way of working with Photoshop. One particular conversation became a major influence on the way Dave approaches projects (and teaching) in Photoshop.

The way some users describe there problems learning Photoshop, it's almost like they are apologizing for not doing a better job of learning. In this episode Dave Cross ponders the question, is it Photoshop that should be apologizing to us?

Host Dave Cross talks about his experience as a student falling way behind in his knowledge of french, what it took to avoid failing, and how this lesson can be applied to learning Photoshop. After all, the first time you saw Photoshop it was almost like a foreign language, right? C'est vrai!

High End Retoucher (and Instructor) Kristina Sherk and host Dave Cross discuss retouching in Photoshop and Lightroom, including how to determine the best approach to take - and how much time to spend. Kristina shares a great technique to learn more about dodging and burning, and provides a link to a free action to help with your Photoshop retouching.

Dave discusses some of the things people do in Photoshop that are "criminal" - or at the very least they are not very productive or efficient. Among the crimes on Dave's list are flattening, merging, erasing, clicking on tools, using filters vs smart filters and using adjustments rather than adjustment layers. He discusses alternatives to each of the criminal activities that will help lead to a happier, more productive life.

If you've ever wondered about selling your photos on Adobe Stock, this is the episode for you! Adobe Stock Contributor Evangelist Mat Hayward provides some practical tips about how to sell your photos on Adobe Stock, including the role of Photoshop. Of course there's a Photoshop tip thrown in for good measure.

Professional Creative Mark Heaps shares some great insights into responsible design, working non-destructively and offers some thoughts on the relationship between Adobe and us as their users. Very interesting stuff!

In this episode Dave Cross discusses some Photoshop myths: techniques that may be out of date or misunderstood but continue to be recommended by some people. For example, enlarging a photo 10% at a time or using the Pen tool because "it makes the most accurate selections". Many of these were valid back in the day, but improvement to Photoshop have made them unnecessary. Listen until the end for a link to a free tips PDF!

Meredith Payne Stotzner is a long-time member of the Photoshop team at Adobe who sat down to discuss what goes on behind the scenes with the development of Photoshop. We chat about innovation, how new features are developed, and how Photoshop users can have their say. A very interesting look into our favorite program! 

In this chat with Unmesh Dinda we learn about his journey from an 8 year old playing with Photoshop to becoming one of the leading Photoshop instructors on YouTube. He also discusses his approach to learning Photoshop, the importance of community when learning - and he gives a great retouching tip.

In this chat with Photoshop Artist Victoria Pavlov we talk about  lots of topics to do with painting in Photoshop, including creating and managing brushes, working with layers and some ways to explore painting if you're brand new to it.

Two of the most common challenges people mention when it comes to learning Photoshop is not enough time, and the difficulty in remembering everything. Dave shares some strategies to deal with both these challenges, and it starts without giving yourself permission to learn.

Host Dave Cross chats with long-time Photoshop and Lightroom Educator Matt Kloskowski about photographic (and Photoshop) vision, how perfection can lead to procrastination, how to get in wrong in the camera (?), and what Matt would add to Photoshop if he was in charge at Adobe,

In the last couple of weeks Adobe has been in the news, and not in a good way. Dave shares his take on the issue of apparent price increases and the chances of Photoshop users getting sued.

Dave sits down with Scott Kelby and they chat about Scott's journey starting from a two-person design firm, the fun (and possible nightmares) of Photoshop World, and what Scott would do if he was in charge of Photoshop and Lightroom. Along the way there's a little reminiscing and a bunch of useful Photoshop tips.

In part two of his discussion of productivity and automation in Photoshop Dave Cross addresses the question "What about Actions?". He talks about some misconceptions about Actions, methods to learn more about them, and a cool way to make single-step Actions.