Heart and Mind

"In Photoshop"

Okay, this blog entry almost didn't get posted for a couple of reasons. First, it's about stuff related to my job, and I sort of try to stay away from that kind of thing on Heart and Mind because I prefer to discuss things that are not so topic-specific. But this may be OK, because it speaks to general human tendencies, as well, and makes us consider how we choose our words and stuff like that. Also, I'm hesitant to post this because I think it makes me come off as a whiny, self-absorbed complainer who is both an immodest Photoshop snob and someone who takes his job too seriously. But I hope you understand that I am none of those things, and that this is all being blogged about for the sake of discussion. It's making a mountain out of a molehill, admittedly, but I wouldn't actually do that in real life with this issue. But on the blog? Hell, yeah, I would. And did. But if anything I say seems annoying to you, don't take me too seriously. This annoyance I am about to describe is not something that keeps me up at night.


I find it odd and actually a little bit annoying that clients are always asking me to do things "in Photoshop" for them.

I think I better explain this one more...

On the surface, this seems like a normal sort of request. After all, I am a graphic and web designer as well as a former Adobe Photoshop teacher. Photoshop is a big part of my professional world. Photoshop is certainly a major player in my industry. So, in a very general sort of way, there's nothing at all odd or annoying about being asked to do things that I'm actually being paid to do.

The part that is weird is that clients always seem to mention that I should perform their task "in Photoshop" and they actually describe the software by name. They don't do this with any other of the equally important pieces of pro-grade software that I use every day. They never mention those by name. Rather, they just describe the task the want accomplished.

When they want to increase the leading in their brochure, they say, "Can you spread out the text vertically on the page?" They don't say, "Can you space out the text in InDesign?"

When they want to change the color of their logo, they say, "Can you make that blue?" They don't say, "Can you change the color in Illustartor?"

And when they want me to upsize the text on their web site, they say, "Make the text bigger, please." They don't say, "Please open Dreamweaver or your code editor of choice and make the text bigger."

But with Photoshop, they always mention it by name. "Can you get rid of the background in Photoshop?" If they were consistent with how they request other things, they would simply ask, "Can you get rid of the background?" Period. (Well, technically, "Question Mark.")

This may seem trivial, and, rest assured, it is! (Weren't blogs like mine practically made for making issue out of things that don't really matter that much, for academic's sake?) But, again, though it is trivial, it's also as odd as me hiring someone to install a rug and saying, "Can you lay the rug right into the closet and snug it up against the wall with your knee kicker?" Frankly, I don't care how the rug pro does it, only that he accomplishes the task. It sounds like the reason I would even mention the knee kicker is to show how smart I am, as if to say, "I know about that tool that you carpet people use. I'm smart like that! I know how to do your job!"

The fact of the matter is, the carpet guy probably would use that knee kicker tool. And, similarly, most of the time, my clients are right. When they ask me to do something in Photoshop, that is, indeed, the tool that I usually use for the particular task.

Now, of course, let me just say, "I get it." I get why people are more inclined to do this when talking about Photoshop vs. talking about tasks that involve vector art, layout, code & script writing, or animation. The most obvious reason is that people don't know those other programs by name. Laymen don't know what a Cascading Style Sheet or Server Side Include file is, and they often don't know what the proper software is for editing them. But everyone knows about Photoshop. And that's weird, in and of itself.

It's weird because it's rare that an application—computer or otherwise—is both the most popular one out there and also the one that is considered the "industry standard" among professionals. The Scotts Weed Killer that you buy at Home Depot is not the same stuff that the Professional Scotts Lawn Technicians use. They use something better. But in the case of Photoshop, it seems to be the application of choice among people who use it casually and people who use it on a deeper level.

When I was a Photoshop teacher standing in front of my classes, I used to always tell them this. I'd say, "Photoshop is like a hammer. The tool that you will use to do something as simple as hanging a picture in your house is also the same tool that is used, in skilled hands, to build that very house that holds the picture." Photoshop seems to be the tool of choice for everyone, from the people who simply need to crop pictures for their job right up to the world class professionals who use features on the program that are simply amazing.

I guess what it comes down to is that I have amazing respect for this program and the things it can do. I'm pretty good with it myself and I know a thousand times more than a layman in terms of use of the program, AND YET their are people out there who could absolutely put me to shame with their mastery of it. It's a program you could probably spend a lifetime learning.

So I guess it just rubs me wrong when people who don't really use the program much casually discuss "Photoshop" as though they know all about it.

That's why it's even worse when people use the term as a verb, like when they say, "Why don't you just Photoshop it out," when they' want to remove something from a picture. That grates on me even more. It's as though they speak of it like the ability to perform alterations in a photo is like pushing a magic button. Sure, it's usually possible to do it, but a) it's not always easy, and b) even when it is easy, it's the result of the program being in the hands of someone who knows how to use it. It's not the program doing the hard part, it's the skill of the person operating it.

This all reminds me of an article I read by Scott Kelby, who is a real big-whig in the Photoshop world. He was talking about why he hates what he calls "the 'Just Fix it In Photoshop' Mindset." He told a story where he had been shooting a wedding and at one point, when it was time for the portraits, one one of the people from the wedding party was missing. Naturally, someone made the joke, "Don't worry—you can just add her in later in Photoshop," and they all had a good laugh and Scott simply rolled with it and smiled. But he was really thinking, "I don't want to 'fix it in Photoshop.' " In this case, he described that he'd rather be doing what he called "fun stuff" with the program and not spending his time doing production-oriented work. "Just because I know how to do it," he said, "Doesn't mean I want to be spending my time doing it...[especially when] it's something I could have fixed in two minutes right there during the shoot."

So, his distaste for people saying to "just Photoshop it" seems to be based more on the idea that it's not for other people to say that he should be doing things that, in his estimation, make poor use of his time. It's not quite the same as what I started out talking about here. But I think the concept is a close cousin.

After all, if you could "just fix it in Photoshop," it kind of implies that Photoshop is the magic tool that performs tasks by itself. It kind of discredits the work and skill that is involved in doing so. And that, I suppose, is this whole blog summed up in a few words.

posted by Steve @ 10:17 PM