Most of the Photoshop books in print go to great lengths to explain how each tool, dialog and menu works, examining the smallest tweak of each slider and variable and discussing its effects on the image.

What they don’t tend to show is how to use Photoshop to achieve a task you’ve been commissioned to do – specifically, how to use it to create artwork that looks as if it’s been photographed.

Photorealism simply means making montages look real. Too often we’ll see montages where the heads are different colors to the bodies, where there’s no eye contact or interaction between a group of people stuck together in a single image.

Photoshop can be used for different types of projects from graphic design to digital photography, from basic photo editing to fine art painting. With each new version, Photoshop becomes more powerful and includes more tools. The key to using Photoshop is learning where the tools are located, how they can be customized, and how to set up Photoshop’s interface to suit you.

With so many tools and panels, your screen  can become cluttered. You may prefer to see only some panels and not others. You may also prefer certain tool settings to others. Customizing Photoshop’s menus and tools to work for you makes the program more useful and fun.