300+ Resources to Help You Become a Photoshop Expert
Patterns
Pre-made patterns are another great resource for speeding up your design process. Here are some good examples as well as sites for finding more.
Japanese Style Pattern – A collection of patterns inspired by Japanese paper.
Patterns 2 – A collection of seamless damask Ps patterns.
Floral Patterns 01 – A collection of unique, tiling floral patterns.
Winter Colors – A collection of 39 tiling patterns in cool whites and blues.
Black – White Patterns – A collection of 13 graphic black and white patterns.
Patterns.2 – A collection of two seamless patterns.
Victorian Dreams Pattern Set – A collection of Victorian-inspired patterns.
Obsidian Dawn – They offer a handful of pattern packs.
DesignersBrush.com – A collection of 25 patterns and sets.
The Ultimate Collection of Free Photoshop Patterns – A huge collection from Smashing Magazine.
498 Photoshop Background Patterns, and So Much More – A huge roundup of categorized patterns from AzAkers.
50 Free Photoshop Pattern Sets – A roundup of 50 pattern collections from Emma Alvarez Site.
Squidfingers – A collection of 158 patterns available for free.
Pattern4U – Offers more than 270 patterns in 7 categories.
Kaliber10000—The Pixel Patterns Collection – A collection of hundreds of pixel patterns.
milleseicentopercento – Offers 35 patterns for download.
Citrus Moon Patterns – A categorized collection of patterns.
DinPattern – Another large collection of free patterns.
Brusheezy – Has a few dozen patterns and collections available.
deviantART Patterns – Pattern packs from deviantART, organized by most popular.
Collection of Free Photoshop Pattern Sites – A roundup of sites with free pattern downloads available.
MyPhotoshopBrush.com Patterns – A collection of some really awesome free patterns.
Free Photoshop Patterns – Offers tons of free, tileable patterns.
Fractured Sanity [Dot] Org Patterns – A good-sized collection of free patterns.
Best Photoshop Patterns Ever Seen By Humans – A roundup of excellent patterns.
Plug-Ins, Filters, Actions and Scripts
Actions, filters, plug-ins, and scripts can do more to streamline your design process than just about any other tool available to Photoshop users. They can do everything from automating photo retouching steps to more advanced styling techniques.
deviantART Photoshop Actions – deviantART’s collection of actions for Photoshop, with the most popular first.
Photoshop Exchange Plug-Ins – Find plugins for everything from 3D photo collages to automatic photo retouching.
20 Cool Text Effects atn Files – A collection of Photoshop actions for working with text.
Photoshop Exchange Scripts – More than 80 scripts for automating your workflow are included here.
Photo-Plugins – A collection of Photoshop plugins aimed specifically at photo manipulation and retouching.
A-Z of Free Photoshop Plugins and Filters – A huge resource from Smashing Magazine offering up nearly 100 plugins and filters, plus plugin development resources.
Photoshop Roadmap Plugins – A plugin aggregator that offers up links to plugins from all over the web.
PluginsWorld.com – A huge collection of more than 550 plugins.
Free Photoshop Plug-Ins Collection – This post from Web Resources Depot presents more than 150 free plugins.
Free Photoshop Plugins – Another huge post offering up Photoshop plugins from Tutorial Blog.
Photoshop Actions: 124+ Free Photoshop Actions to Boost Your Designs – Another huge collection of actions to improve your workflow and make your designs better.
Free Adobe Photoshop Actions and Scripts to Download – From About.com, this collection includes scripts and actions for everything from red eye removal to cartoon effects to soft focus effects.
The Ultimate Collection of Photoshop Actions – A huge roundup post from Smashing Magazine of actions to improve your workflow.
400+ Time Saving Photoshop Actions – A great roundup of actions for retouching photos, adding effects, and more.
List of Top 10 Free Photoshop Plugins – A list of some of the most useful plugins available.
25 of the Best FREE Photoshop Plugins and Filters Resource Sites – A great roundup of sites to find plugins and filters.
Free Photoshop/ Elements Filters, Plugins and Resources – A collection of free filters and plugins from desktoppublishing.com.
5 Great Photoshop Actions – A showcase of 5 interesting, fresh Photoshop actions.
Filters and Plugins Free Downloads – A collection of plugins and filters from Richard Rosenman.
PsGalaxy.com Actions – A half dozen Photoshop actions for download.
Custom Shapes
Shapes are another valuable tool, though not as easily found. Here are some great places to start looking.
45+ Sources and Sets of Photoshop Custom Shapes – A great roundup of custom shapes from around the web compiled by Vandelay Design.
Obsidian Dawn – A handful of shape collections.
MyPhotoshopBrushes.com Custom Shapes – Offers a couple dozen free shapes.
30+ Useful Photoshop Custom Shapes Sets – A compilation post from Naldz Graphics.
PsGalaxy.com – A great resource for custom shape collections.
Templates and .PSD Files
Whether you’re looking for completed projects you can dissect and tweak for your own purposes, or just blank template files, the sites below have plenty of downloads available.
Photoshop PSD Files – A collection of 16 PSDs from SolidSnake Designs.
NEW Skateboard Template – A blank skateboard design template.
Photoshop Exchange Templates – More than 600 templates for everything from buttons to t-shirt mockups to login screens and more.
T-Shirt PSD – A great template for t-shirt designers.
Pinboard PSD File Download – A mockup of a pinboard, with pins, polaroids, and other images.
PsDeluxe Photoshop PSD Files – Includes a number of file downloads for objects and other elements.
PSlover.com Renders – A collection of PSD files of individual objects.
110 Ultimate Round-Up of Free Photoshop PSD Files and Resources – A huge roundup of free PSD files available, put together by instantShift.
PSD Freebies – A collection of mostly web design files.
FreePSD.com – A collection of PSD files, mostly for web and graphic design projects.
25 Amazing Free Photoshop PSD Files for Download – A collection of miscellaneous .PSD files for download.
iPhone 3GS PSD Files – Great for creating app mockups, skin mockups, or other artwork with the iPhone 3GS.
JackRebel.com PSD Files – A really great collection of mostly tech-focused PSD files.
deviantART .PSD Files – All the .PSD files on deviantART, sorted by most popular.
18 Places You Can Download High Quality Photoshop (PSD) Files – A roundup of sites offering free PSD files.
PsGalaxy.com – A great collection of PSD files and templates.
PSDfreebee.com – A collection of free PSD files and templates.
Designbum’s Project Source Files – An awesome collection of source files for a variety of projects.
download PSD – A great collection of PSD files, categorized to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.
Photoshop .PSD Files – A collection of files from Lord of Design.
Official PSDs – A community-driven PSD file sharing site.
Design Resource: 15 Sites to Download Free PSD Files – A roundup of sites offering free PSD files from Blogger.am.
PhotoshopCandy Free PSDs – Offers plenty of PSD files for download (they also have a
PSDs for sale section but so far only one file is featured there).
Alterform PSDs – A collection of PSDs of completed projects available for download.
Fractured Sanity [Dot] Org – A small collection of free PSD files for download.
Inspiration
Sometimes you just want to get some inspiration before starting your next Photoshop project. Here are some sites that can help.
17 Photo Manipulations with People – A roundup of manipulated photos feature people.
29 Really Creepy and Creative Photoshopped Self Portraits – If you’re looking for something a little different for your self-portrait—and you’re not afraid to scare the crap out of people—then this post might serve up some great inspiration.
Behance Network Gallery – A gallery of graphic design projects and artwork.
20 Amazing Examples of Conformal Photography. How Do They Do This? – A great collection of conformal (spiral) photos.
PSDTUTS Flickr Pool – A Flickr pool for PSDTUTS readers. Images sometimes show up on the PSDTUTS site.
Graphic-ExchanGE – A blog offering up graphic design inspiration.
Cool Showcase – An online gallery of artwork, including digital illustration and photography.
Before and After Photoshop Pool – A great Flickr pool showing the results of retouching in Photoshop.
21 Really Stunning Photoshopped Photos for Creative Inspiration – A roundup post from SmashingApps.
10 Inspiring Sites to Gain Photoshop Inspiration – A great post from Design Shard offering sites to find Photoshop inspiration.
Blogs, Articles and Other Resources
If you didn’t find what you were looking for above, the resources below might be able to point you in the right direction.
Marcofolio.net – This site has a huge section on their blog dedicated to Photoshop, including tons of posts offering up freebies (mostly textures). Be sure to check out the
Ultimate Photoshop Design Resources post.
Photoshop Toolbox – A great, comprehensive post form DesignM.ag.
22 Fantasy Tutorials and 125 Brushes – This post outlines more than 20 fantasy photo manipulation tutorials along with a number of brush collections for creating them.
Six Revisions: Photoshop – Six Revisions has an awesome Photoshop section on their blog. Don’t miss their
70 Excellent Photoshop Resources post.
Top 84 Photoshop Resource Sites—Toolbox for Designers – A great roundup post form Speckyboy Design Magazine. Be sure to check out their
Photoshop category archive while you’re there.
BittBox Photoshop Category – BittBox has a great selection of Photoshop articles on their blog.
60 Most Wanted Photoshop Tutorials, Brushes, .PSDs and Resources – A great roundup post from Noupe offering up some awesome Photoshop tutorials and resources.
Photoshop Disasters – For great examples of what NOT to do in Photoshop.
Photoshop Toolbox: 80+ Photoshop Tools and Resources – A huge collection of Photoshop resources from Mashable.
50 Photoshop Resources – A collection of fifty sites and pages devoted to Photoshop.
Photoshop Ninja – A huge resource offering tips, tutorials, downloads, and more.
Layers Magazine – Layers cover everything Adobe, with tutorials, reviews, forums, and more.
PhotoshopUserTV – A weekly online TV show dedicated to Photoshop, from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
Photoshop Lab – A great site with a blog, reviews, tutorials, tips, and more.