You might as well ask why an artist needs a sketchpad, an easel, brushes, paints or any of the other paraphernalia that crowd a typical studio. Adobe® Photoshop™ (PS) is a valuable tool for an artist in numerous ways. Just as most artist have seen the value and necessity of owning a computer, having access to the web and displaying their work on a website, many have also recognized that PS is an indispensible tool for their success.

            So, exactly how is PS valuable to an artist? For the purpose of this article, I will be speaking to traditional painters, pastelists and sculptors. Photographers, digital artists and other non-traditional art genre already use PS on a daily basis to create, adjust, prepare or otherwise manipulate their work to match their vision.

I need to show my work to a gallery.

            Online galleries have always required digitized images for display. Until recently, brick and mortar galleries wanted slides. Just about all galleries now accept only digitized images submitted via CD/DVD, email or direct downloads to their site. It has become necessary that the artist be able to supply these files in as close to original facsimile as possible. While slides could be slightly off in color and exposure and still be representative, digital images are expected to be of high quality and extreme accuracy to the original.

            There are 2 ways to accomplish this. The easiest is to hire a professional photographer to shoot the images and make final adjustments to the images and present them to you accompanied by a rather large bill.

            The other way is to do it yourself. Most artists already use a digital camera to photograph their work. But many, and I know this from experience, deliver images that are virtually useless. Common problems are crooked, distorted perspective, dark, off-color or blown-out images. These problems can be helped by learning how to photograph the art. (See imaging your art). But even the best camera shot can be helped with some PS work.

            I knew one artist that considered himself a purist and was vehemently against showing art that was digital. He threatened to boycott any show that had digital art. This artist was very successful and a considerable amount of his revenue came from the sale of prints. He explained to me in detail how he spent days with his printer adjusting the “digital” image for color, exposure, clarity and getting rid of those “little mistakes” to prepare it for the printing stage. It seemed odd to me that someone who was so opposed to digital manipulation would spend so much time digitally manipulating his work so that it would look good on a digital print.

            I am a reasonable purist. I find that having the ability to produce an image that is not only accurate but captures some of the ambient quality of the original is not only desirable but an honest, creative process that is the responsible duty of the artist. I don’t want to see a painting misrepresented by major PS work but I am also aware of the camera’s inability to capture certain colors, mass and emotional content determined by size and viewing differences.

            A genuine purist should only produce prints the way they were originally done. Good old stone lithography, silkscreen or etching. Never mind that these techniques were also considered revolutionary and less than “pure” art when they were introduced.

I take my own photos and paint from them.

            PS lets you to take your image and arrange the final composition. Because you can move the image around by using layers, minor and major tweaks can be made so that a perfect composition is achieved before going to canvas or paper. Artist producing visually, conceptual work, can use PS to help visualize a concept before it is committed to canvas. PS is a very effective way to play with concepts and composition.

            It also is possible to add additional detail that wasn’t in the reference photo to determine how it improves the composition or detracts from it.

            If you work from life, you may think you don’t need this help. You may not. But I knew an artist who worked mainly from life and was really good at what he did. I also saw him discard hours of work that failed because the composition or pose was “off”. On the other hand, this same artist produced paintings with action and multiple figures that were combinations of different photographs he assembled in PS and used as his reference. He couldn’t work from life in the situation but he could reconstruct the scene that he observed and reproduce it in hard copy. For most of us without photographic memories, this is the best way to go.

PS is too expensive.

            Cadmium Orange, 37 ml tube - $19.00. Cobalt Deep Blue 37 ml tube - $30.00. Size 28 Bright - $25.00.  Easel - $150.00 and up. Artist’s supplies and equipment are extremely expensive. They always have been. Before the development of modern processes, many colors were derived from semiprecious gems, rare earths and even insect wings. This is a small part of what makes a painting valuable. But even the highest quality materials cannot save a bad painting. PS is a bargain for what opportunities it opens to the artist. Savings will offset the initial expense for the program, about $600.00, in time and costs depending on how you use it. The more you do in the program, the more productive you can become. I have found that ROI (return on investment) to be very quick and well worth the expense. An additional perk of owning the software is that upgrades are a fraction of the initial price and add many new features that enhance the program.

PS is too difficult to learn.

            PS is a professional piece of software and has a huge selection of features and abilities. It may seem daunting to try and learn suh a program. Take my word for it. Most of the features I have talked about are basic functions and can be learned in a very short time. I have found that once people are into the program, they have so much fun it’s hard to get them away.

            There are many very good tutorials both written and in video on the web. There are also some very good books available like Mark Fitzgerald’s Photoshop Bible. Of course you might also read the PS manual. At any rate, you can find answers to your questions almost instantaneously with the help of Google.

If you are a hobbyist or amateur, you might consider Adobe Photoshop Elements. You may already have it as it is sometimes bundled with better quality digital cameras. Elements is a light version of Photoshop and has some, but not all the functions discussed in this article.

Taking and editing your own pictures could save you hundreds of dollars a year. Having the freedom to explore alternative ideas, visions and compositions… priceless.  The question is not — "why do you need Photoshop", but why you don’t use it already.