Photoshop is the most powerful image editing tool available to photographers. While programs like Lightroom handle global adjustments efficiently, Photoshop gives you pixel-level control over every aspect of your image. It is where you do the work that simpler editors cannot: complex retouching, precise compositing, advanced selections, and targeted edits that treat different parts of the image independently. For photographers who want to push their work beyond basic adjustments, learning Photoshop is not optional. It is the tool that separates competent editing from truly refined post-processing.
This guide covers the essential Photoshop tools and techniques that photographers actually use. It is not a comprehensive manual for every feature in the application. Photoshop has thousands of tools and options designed for graphic designers, illustrators, web developers, and video editors. Photographers use a focused subset of those tools, and learning that subset well is far more valuable than surface-level familiarity with everything.
Why Photographers Need Photoshop
Most photographers begin their editing workflow in Lightroom or a similar RAW processor. Check out our Affinity Photo for more details. These tools excel at global and regional adjustments: exposure correction, white balance, contrast curves, and even basic local adjustments using brushes and gradients. For many images, this is all you need.
But certain tasks require Photoshop. Removing a complex object from a busy background. Compositing multiple exposures into a single frame. Performing professional-grade skin retouching that preserves texture. Creating precise selections around hair or transparent objects. Applying different edits to different regions with exact control. Straightening architectural lines with perspective warp. Stitching panoramas with manual control over the blend. These are all tasks where Photoshop is either the only option or dramatically better than any alternative.
The most effective workflow for photographers is to do global adjustments in Lightroom or Camera Raw first, then bring the image into Photoshop for targeted, pixel-level work. Check out our Photoshop actions and automation for more details. Think of Lightroom as the place where you develop your photograph, and Photoshop as the place where you refine it.
Understanding the Photoshop Interface
Photoshop’s interface can feel overwhelming at first because it is designed to serve dozens of different creative disciplines. As a photographer, you can simplify things by focusing on the panels and tools you actually need and ignoring the rest.
Essential Panels for Photographers
The Layers panel is the most important panel in Photoshop for photographers. Every edit you make should happen on its own layer or adjustment layer, preserving the original pixels underneath. Layers are the foundation of non-destructive editing, and understanding them is essential before you do anything else.
The Properties panel shows the settings for whatever layer or adjustment you currently have selected. When you add a Curves adjustment layer, the Properties panel is where you shape the curve. When you select a mask, Properties shows mask density and feathering controls. Keep this panel visible at all times.
The Histogram panel displays the tonal distribution of your image in real time. This is the same histogram concept you use in-camera, but in Photoshop it updates as you edit, giving you objective feedback about whether your adjustments are clipping highlights or crushing shadows.
The History panel records every action you take, allowing you to step backward through your edits. However, history states are temporary and disappear when you close the file. Do not rely on history as your undo strategy. Instead, use layers and Smart Objects so your edits are always reversible.
Setting Up a Photography Workspace
Create a custom workspace that keeps the panels you need visible and hides everything else. At minimum, keep the Layers, Properties, Histogram, and Channels panels open. Arrange them so the Layers panel is prominent, because you will reference it constantly. Save this workspace with a name like “Photo Editing” so you can switch back to it whenever the interface gets rearranged.
Set your color settings (Edit > Color Settings) to use a working space of ProPhoto RGB or Adobe RGB for the widest color gamut during editing. Your color management workflow should preserve the most color data possible during editing, converting to sRGB only when preparing files for web delivery.
Layers: The Foundation of Everything
If you learn only one concept in Photoshop, make it layers. Layers are the mechanism that makes non-destructive editing possible. Instead of painting directly on your photograph, you stack edits on transparent sheets above it. Each layer can be modified, hidden, rearranged, or deleted without affecting anything below it.
Layer Types Photographers Use
Background layer: Your original image. Lock this and never paint directly on it. Duplicate it if you need a pixel layer to work on.
Adjustment layers: The workhorses of photographic editing. These apply tonal and color adjustments (Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation, Color Balance, Black & White) without changing any pixels. Each adjustment layer comes with its own mask, allowing you to limit the effect to specific areas. Adjustment layers are always editable: you can change the curve shape or hue shift at any time, even after saving and reopening the file.
Empty layers: Blank layers used for retouching. When you use the Clone Stamp or Healing Brush with “Sample All Layers” enabled, you can paint the corrections onto an empty layer above your image. This keeps the original untouched.
Smart Objects: Layers that preserve the original data of an embedded file or layer. If you convert a layer to a Smart Object, any filter you apply becomes a Smart Filter that you can adjust or remove later. Smart Objects are essential for applying sharpening, blur, noise reduction, and other filters non-destructively.
Non-Destructive Editing Workflow
The principle is simple: never alter your original pixels. Every edit should happen on a separate layer, an adjustment layer, or through a Smart Object. This approach means you can always go back to any previous state, change any individual edit, or remove adjustments you no longer want. It takes slightly more disk space and requires more organization in the Layers panel, but it saves you from the disaster of permanently altering an image and not being able to undo it later.
A non-destructive workflow typically follows this structure: Background layer (locked original) at the bottom, retouching layers above it, adjustment layers for tonal and color corrections above those, and sharpening or output adjustments at the top. Group related layers into folders to keep the panel manageable.
Essential Selection Tools
Selections define which part of the image you want to affect. In photography, you make selections to isolate a subject from a background, to limit an adjustment to a specific region, or to create a mask that precisely follows the edge of an object. Photoshop offers many selection tools, and choosing the right one for the job makes the difference between a clean result and a messy one.
Quick Selection and Magic Wand
The Quick Selection tool is the fastest way to make rough selections. You paint over the area you want to select, and Photoshop automatically detects edges. It works best when the subject contrasts clearly with the background. For portraits against a simple background or a product on a white surface, Quick Selection gets you 80 percent of the way there in seconds.
The Magic Wand selects pixels based on color similarity. Click a blue sky, and it selects all contiguous pixels of a similar blue. Adjust the Tolerance value to control how much variation is included. The Magic Wand is useful for selecting large areas of consistent color, but it struggles with gradients and textured areas.
Select Subject and Select Sky
These AI-powered selection tools have become remarkably accurate. Select Subject analyzes the image and creates a selection around what it identifies as the main subject. Select Sky does the same for the sky region. Both save enormous amounts of time compared to manual selection, and they handle complex edges (hair, leaves, irregular shapes) far better than older tools.
Use these as starting points rather than finished selections. After the initial selection, refine the edges using Select and Mask (see below). The AI gets the broad strokes right; your job is to perfect the details.
Pen Tool Selections
The Pen tool creates precise, anchor-point-based paths that can be converted to selections. It is the most accurate selection method for objects with smooth, well-defined edges: architecture, vehicles, products, clothing. Each anchor point and curve is manually placed, giving you perfect control.
The Pen tool has a steep learning curve, but it is worth mastering for situations where other tools produce imprecise edges. Bezier curves take practice to control, but once you develop the muscle memory, you can outline complex shapes quickly and accurately.
Select and Mask Workspace
The Select and Mask workspace (accessed from any active selection) is where you refine selection edges. This is critical for photography because real subjects have soft edges, translucent boundaries, and fine details like hair that require special handling.
The Refine Edge Brush within Select and Mask is specifically designed for hair and fur. Paint over the area where hair meets background, and the algorithm separates individual strands from the surrounding pixels. The result is far more natural than any hard selection edge could produce.
Use the Global Refinements sliders (Smooth, Feather, Contrast, Shift Edge) to fine-tune the overall selection boundary. A slight feather softens the edge so it blends naturally. Shift Edge contracts or expands the boundary to eliminate fringing from the old background color.
Retouching Tools for Photographers
Retouching is the most common reason photographers open Photoshop. While Lightroom’s healing tools work for simple fixes, Photoshop’s retouching tools offer far more control and precision for professional retouching work.
Healing Brush and Spot Healing Brush
The Spot Healing Brush is the simplest retouching tool. Click on a blemish, and Photoshop analyzes the surrounding area and replaces the blemish with matching texture and tone. It works well for isolated spots, pimples, and small imperfections on skin. For best results, use a brush just slightly larger than the blemish.
The Healing Brush gives you more control by letting you choose the source area. Hold Alt/Option, click to set a source point, then paint over the area you want to fix. The Healing Brush blends the source texture with the color and luminosity of the target area, which usually produces seamless results. It is better than the Spot Healing Brush for areas near edges or where you need to control exactly which texture is used as the source.
Always work on a separate empty layer with “Sample All Layers” enabled. This keeps your retouching non-destructive.
Clone Stamp
The Clone Stamp copies pixels exactly from one area to another with no blending. It is your tool of choice when you need precise control over what gets placed where. Use it to remove objects near hard edges, to fix areas where the Healing Brush creates smearing, or to replicate specific patterns and textures.
Set the opacity to 100 percent for clean replacements and lower opacity for gradual blending. Adjust the brush hardness based on the situation: hard edges for sharp boundaries, soft edges for blending into gradients. Change your source point frequently to avoid creating visible repetition patterns.
Content-Aware Fill
Content-Aware Fill analyzes the area surrounding your selection and generates new pixels to fill it in, attempting to match the texture, pattern, and lighting of the surroundings. It is remarkably effective for removing unwanted objects from photographs, especially when the background has a relatively consistent texture (sky, grass, water, sand, pavement).
The dedicated Content-Aware Fill workspace (Edit > Content-Aware Fill) gives you control over which areas of the image Photoshop samples from. This prevents it from pulling in unwanted elements. You can paint on the sampling area overlay to include or exclude regions, and the preview updates in real time.
Dodge and Burn
Dodging and burning is a technique that originated in the darkroom and remains one of the most powerful tools in a photographer’s editing arsenal. In Photoshop, the most controlled approach is to create a new layer, fill it with 50 percent gray, set the blend mode to Soft Light, and then paint with white to lighten (dodge) or black to darken (burn).
Use a soft brush at very low opacity (3 to 10 percent) and build up the effect gradually. This technique is essential for portrait retouching, where micro-dodge-and-burn evens out skin tone without destroying texture. It is also powerful for landscape photography, where you can guide the viewer’s eye by brightening areas of interest and darkening distracting edges. In black and white photography, dodge and burn is often the primary method for creating tonal depth and drama.
Adjustment Layers for Tonal and Color Control
Adjustment layers are the non-destructive way to apply tonal and color corrections in Photoshop. Unlike direct adjustments (Image > Adjustments), adjustment layers do not alter any pixels. They sit above your image in the layer stack and apply their effect to everything below. You can change the settings at any time, reduce the opacity, or mask the effect to specific areas.
Curves
Curves is the single most powerful tonal adjustment tool in Photoshop. It lets you remap any input brightness value to any output brightness value, giving you complete control over contrast, brightness, and color. A single Curves adjustment layer can replace Levels, Brightness/Contrast, and much of what Color Balance does.
The diagonal line represents the tonal range from shadows (bottom left) to highlights (top right). Click to add a control point and drag it up to brighten or down to darken that tonal range. The classic S-curve, which brightens highlights and darkens shadows, adds contrast. A reverse S reduces contrast. You can also adjust individual color channels (Red, Green, Blue) to shift color balance in specific tonal ranges, which is the foundation of color grading.
Levels
Levels provides a simpler interface for adjusting black point, white point, and midtone brightness. Drag the black input slider to the right to deepen shadows. Drag the white input slider to the left to brighten highlights. Move the midtone slider to adjust overall brightness without clipping the extremes.
Levels is particularly useful for quickly setting black and white points. If your histogram shows a gap on either end (meaning the image does not use the full tonal range), Levels can stretch the tones to fill the available range, adding punch and clarity to the image.
Hue/Saturation and Vibrance
Hue/Saturation allows you to shift, saturate, or desaturate colors either globally or by targeting specific color ranges (Reds, Yellows, Greens, Cyans, Blues, Magentas). This is useful for fine-tuning individual color components. For example, you might warm the yellows and oranges in a sunset while leaving other colors neutral, or desaturate a distracting green element in the background.
Vibrance is a more intelligent saturation control that boosts muted colors more aggressively than already-saturated colors. It also protects skin tones from becoming unnaturally orange or red. For most photographic work, Vibrance is a safer starting point than Saturation.
Color Balance and Selective Color
Color Balance lets you shift the color of shadows, midtones, and highlights independently along three axes: Cyan-Red, Magenta-Green, and Yellow-Blue. This is excellent for creative color grading. A classic cinematic look pushes shadows toward teal/blue and highlights toward orange/warm, which you can achieve easily with Color Balance.
Selective Color gives you even more precise control by letting you adjust the cyan, magenta, yellow, and black components of specific color ranges. It is useful for fine-tuning specific hues without affecting anything else in the image.
Masks: Controlling Where Edits Apply
Every adjustment layer comes with a layer mask, and understanding masks is what separates basic Photoshop use from effective Photoshop use. A mask is a grayscale image that controls the transparency of a layer. White areas of the mask reveal the layer’s effect. Black areas hide it. Gray areas partially apply the effect.
This means you can apply a Curves adjustment to brighten just a face, darken just the edges of a frame, saturate just the sky, or sharpen just the subject while leaving the background untouched. Masks make targeted editing possible without destructive selections or erasing.
Paint on a mask with a white or black brush to reveal or conceal the effect. Use a soft brush with low opacity for gradual transitions. For precise boundaries, create a selection first (using any selection tool), then fill the mask with that selection. Masks are infinitely editable: you can always repaint them, blur them, or adjust their density using the Properties panel.
Smart Objects and Smart Filters
Smart Objects are a layer type that preserves the source content. When you convert a layer to a Smart Object, any filter you apply becomes a Smart Filter, which means it is non-destructive and re-editable. This is critical for several photographic workflows.
Sharpening: Apply Unsharp Mask or Smart Sharpen as a Smart Filter. If you later decide the sharpening is too aggressive, double-click the filter to adjust its settings rather than undoing and redoing from scratch.
Noise reduction: Apply noise reduction as a Smart Filter to retain the ability to fine-tune the balance between noise removal and detail preservation.
Camera Raw Filter: When you apply Camera Raw as a Smart Filter, you get the full power of Camera Raw adjustments (which mirrors Lightroom’s tools) on any layer or merged composite. This is incredibly useful for making Lightroom-style adjustments at specific points in your Photoshop workflow.
Resize operations: A Smart Object can be scaled up and down without permanent quality loss because Photoshop references the original full-resolution data. This is useful when compositing elements at different sizes.
Compositing Techniques for Photographers
Compositing means combining elements from multiple images into a single photograph. Photographers use compositing for several practical purposes beyond creative fantasy scenes.
Exposure Blending
When a scene has more dynamic range than your camera can capture in a single exposure, you can blend multiple exposures in Photoshop using layer masks. This is particularly valuable for landscape photographers dealing with bright skies and dark foregrounds.
Stack your bracketed exposures as layers, align them (Edit > Auto-Align Layers), and use luminosity masks or hand-painted masks to blend the properly exposed areas from each frame. This gives a more natural result than automated HDR processing because you have precise control over the transition between exposures.
Focus Stacking
When you need more depth of field than a single exposure provides, focus stacking combines multiple images focused at different distances. Photoshop can automate this (File > Scripts > Load Files into Stack, then Edit > Auto-Blend Layers with Stack Images selected), and it works well for macro photography, product photography, and landscape scenes where you want everything from the closest foreground to the distant background in sharp focus.
Sky Replacement
Photoshop includes a dedicated Sky Replacement tool (Edit > Sky Replacement) that automatically masks the existing sky and replaces it with a new one. It also adjusts the foreground lighting to match the new sky. While convenient, manual sky replacement using Select Sky plus a layer mask gives you more control over the blend, especially around complex edges like trees and buildings.
Head Swaps and Group Composites
In group photography, it is common to need the best expression from one frame combined with the best pose from another. This practical compositing requires careful attention to alignment, masking, and matching the lighting and color between frames. Auto-Align Layers handles the geometric alignment, and a carefully painted mask handles the blend. The key is matching skin tones and lighting direction so the composite is invisible.
Sharpening and Output Preparation
Sharpening in Photoshop is typically the final step before output, and the settings depend on how the image will be viewed.
Capture Sharpening vs. Output Sharpening
Capture sharpening compensates for the inherent softness of digital capture and is usually applied during RAW processing (in Lightroom or Camera Raw). Output sharpening is applied in Photoshop as the final step and is tuned to the specific output medium.
For screen viewing, use moderate sharpening with a smaller radius. For print, increase the amount and radius because the printing process introduces some softening. For large prints viewed at a distance, you can sharpen more aggressively than for a screen-sized image that will be scrutinized at 100 percent zoom. Refer to your print preparation workflow for specific output settings.
Unsharp Mask and Smart Sharpen
Unsharp Mask is the traditional sharpening filter with three controls: Amount (strength of sharpening), Radius (how far the sharpening effect extends from edges), and Threshold (how different pixels must be before sharpening is applied). For photographic sharpening, typical values are Amount 80-150, Radius 0.5-1.5, and Threshold 0-4.
Smart Sharpen adds the ability to control sharpening in shadows and highlights separately, and it includes lens blur detection. It generally produces slightly cleaner results than Unsharp Mask, with less haloing.
Apply sharpening as a Smart Filter on a Smart Object so you can adjust the settings later. Alternatively, sharpen a duplicate or merged layer and use a mask to exclude areas that should not be sharpened (backgrounds, sky, out-of-focus regions, skin).
High Pass Sharpening
High Pass sharpening is a technique that gives you fine control and is easy to mask. Duplicate your layer (or create a merged stamp), go to Filter > Other > High Pass, and set a radius between 1 and 3 pixels. The layer turns gray with only the edge details visible. Set this layer’s blend mode to Overlay or Soft Light. Overlay gives stronger sharpening; Soft Light is more subtle. Reduce the layer opacity if the effect is too strong.
Because the sharpening lives on its own layer, you can mask it to sharpen only specific areas. This is excellent for sharpening a subject’s eyes and details while leaving the skin and background smooth.
Photoshop Actions and Batch Processing
Actions record a sequence of steps that you can replay with a single click. For photographers, actions save enormous amounts of time on repetitive tasks. Record an action for your standard sharpening routine, your frequency separation setup, your dodge-and-burn layer creation, or your output preparation steps (resize, sharpen, convert to sRGB, save as JPEG).
The key to useful actions is making them flexible. Use relative sizing instead of absolute pixel values. Include dialog stops where you might need to adjust settings (like sharpening amounts). Test actions on several different images to make sure they work regardless of resolution or aspect ratio.
Batch processing (File > Automate > Batch) runs an action on an entire folder of images. This is useful for applying consistent output preparation to dozens or hundreds of images, fitting well into an efficient photography workflow. You can also use Photoshop’s Image Processor script to batch-convert files to different formats and sizes without recording a custom action.
Common Mistakes
Editing directly on the background layer. This is the most damaging mistake because it permanently alters your original pixels. Always duplicate the background or use adjustment layers. If you find yourself reaching for Image > Adjustments instead of creating an adjustment layer, stop and add the layer instead.
Over-sharpening. Heavy sharpening creates ugly halos along edges, amplifies noise, and makes images look crunchy and digital. View your image at 100 percent zoom when evaluating sharpening. If you can see the sharpening effect immediately and obviously, it is too much.
Ignoring color space and bit depth. Working in 8-bit mode when you should be in 16-bit causes banding in gradients, especially after aggressive tonal adjustments. Start your editing in 16-bit mode and convert to 8-bit only when preparing the final output file. Pay attention to your color management settings.
Flattening layers too early. Once you flatten, you lose the ability to adjust individual edits. Save your working file as a PSD or TIFF with layers intact. Flatten only when exporting the final output version.
Using the Eraser instead of masks. The Eraser permanently deletes pixels. A mask hides them, and you can always paint them back. There is almost no situation where the Eraser is a better choice than a mask. Train yourself to reach for masks every time.
Inconsistent retouching. Retouching one area of skin to perfection while leaving an adjacent area untouched creates an obvious “edited” look. Work methodically and zoom out frequently to check that your retouching looks even across the entire image. This is especially important in frequency separation work, where it is easy to over-smooth one patch while leaving the surrounding skin untouched.
Neglecting to zoom out. It is easy to get lost working at 200 percent zoom and lose perspective on how the image actually looks. Regularly zoom out to fit the full image on screen. Many edits that seem necessary at high zoom are invisible at normal viewing size, and some edits that look fine up close create obvious artifacts when viewed at a distance.
Try This: Practical Exercises
These exercises will build your core Photoshop skills. Work through them in order, as each one builds on concepts from the previous exercise.
Exercise 1: Non-Destructive Curves Adjustment
Open a photograph and add a Curves adjustment layer. Create a gentle S-curve to boost contrast. Now click the mask thumbnail and use a soft black brush at 50 percent opacity to paint over any areas where you do not want the contrast increase (for example, shadows that are already dark enough). Toggle the adjustment layer on and off to see the difference. Notice how the mask allows you to target the contrast exactly where you want it.
Exercise 2: Basic Portrait Retouching
Open a portrait image. Create a new empty layer and name it “Healing.” Select the Spot Healing Brush, check “Sample All Layers,” and remove blemishes on this new layer. When done, toggle the healing layer on and off to see your work in isolation. Verify that the retouching looks natural by zooming to 50 percent and evaluating the overall skin. Remember that good retouching should be invisible.
Exercise 3: Selective Color Grading
Open a landscape or street scene. Add a Color Balance adjustment layer and shift the shadows toward blue and the highlights toward yellow. The image should take on a cinematic quality. Now add a second Curves adjustment layer. Select the Blue channel and raise the shadow point slightly (adding blue to the darkest tones) while lowering the highlight point (adding yellow to the brightest tones). Compare the two methods. The Curves approach gives finer control, which is why many photographers prefer it for color grading.
Exercise 4: Content-Aware Object Removal
Find a photo with a distracting element (a trash can, a sign, a person in the background). Select the object using the Lasso tool with a generous margin. Go to Edit > Content-Aware Fill. In the workspace, adjust the sampling area to exclude any elements you do not want Photoshop to use as source material. Preview the result and adjust if needed. Output to a new layer so the original remains untouched.
Exercise 5: Build a Complete Edit Stack
Open a RAW file in Camera Raw, make basic adjustments, and open it in Photoshop. Now build a complete non-destructive editing stack: a retouching layer for spot healing, a Curves layer for contrast, a Hue/Saturation layer for color refinement, a dodge-and-burn layer (50 percent gray, Soft Light blend mode), and a sharpening layer at the top (duplicate, convert to Smart Object, apply Smart Sharpen). Group related layers. Save as PSD. This layered structure is the foundation of a professional Photoshop workflow.
FAQ
Do I need Photoshop if I already use Lightroom?
For many photographers, Lightroom handles the majority of their editing needs. You need Photoshop when your work requires advanced retouching, compositing, precise selections, or any task that involves manipulating individual pixels. If you photograph portraits professionally, do commercial work, or want to create composite images, Photoshop is essential. If you primarily adjust exposure, color, and tone on single images, Lightroom may be sufficient on its own. Most serious photographers use both: Lightroom for culling, organizing, and global edits, and Photoshop for targeted refinement.
What file format should I save my Photoshop work in?
Save your working files as PSD (Photoshop Document) or TIFF with layers preserved. PSD supports all Photoshop features and is the most common working format. TIFF is a more universal format that also supports layers. Both preserve your layer structure, masks, and Smart Objects so you can return to the file and make changes later. Export final output files as JPEG for web, TIFF for print, or whatever format your output requires.
How much RAM and what kind of computer do I need for Photoshop?
Photoshop benefits from ample RAM because it holds the entire image and all its layers in memory. For modern camera files with multiple layers, 16 GB of RAM is a practical minimum, and 32 GB or more is recommended for comfortable work with large files. An SSD for your scratch disk dramatically improves performance when working with files that exceed available RAM. A color-accurate monitor calibrated with a hardware calibrator is more important than raw processing speed for photographic work.
Should I learn keyboard shortcuts?
Yes. Keyboard shortcuts dramatically speed up your Photoshop workflow. Start with the essentials: B for Brush, V for Move, S for Clone Stamp, J for Healing Brush, W for Quick Selection, Ctrl/Cmd+Z for undo, Ctrl/Cmd+T for Transform, and bracket keys [ ] to resize your brush. Learn the shortcut for Deselect (Ctrl/Cmd+D), Invert Selection (Ctrl/Cmd+Shift+I), and Stamp Visible (Ctrl/Cmd+Alt+Shift+E). Even learning ten key shortcuts will make you significantly faster.
What is the difference between Photoshop and Photoshop Elements?
Photoshop Elements is a simplified, lower-cost version of Photoshop designed for casual users. It lacks many of the features photographers rely on: adjustment layers are limited, there are no Smart Objects, the Pen tool is absent, the Curves tool is simplified, and the selection tools are less capable. If you are serious about photography, full Photoshop is worth the investment because Elements will eventually limit what you can do.
How do I handle large files without Photoshop slowing down?
Large files with many layers can slow Photoshop considerably. To manage this, flatten or merge layers you are finished editing (but keep an archived copy with all layers). Use Smart Objects selectively rather than converting every layer. Close other applications to free up RAM. Check out our GIMP for more details. Increase the memory allocation in Photoshop’s preferences (Performance section). Set your scratch disk to a fast SSD with plenty of free space. If a specific operation is slow, try working on a lower-resolution proxy and applying the same steps to the full-resolution file when you have finalized your approach.