Design Vitality

Anyone who has ever typed the phrase “graphic design tutorial” in Google knows there are millions of pages out there. To make things easier for those of us wanting to improve our design know-how I have scoured the web from Google to Technorati.

I’ve put together a list of 31 quality graphic design tutorials sources for Photoshop, Illustrator and more that have detailed instructions.

Sources that Have Both Photoshop and Illustrator Tutorials

Everyone knows that a designer’s toolbox contains more than one tool. The following tutorials cover Photoshop, Illustrator and sometimes even more.

1. Veerle’s Blog 2.0 - Archive Summary
   This site is the graphic design blog by Veerle and features amazing tutorials for Photoshop and Illustrator. What sets these tutorials apart from the rest is that they are designed by a professional graphic designer.
   
2. E Logo Design | Top 50 Logo Design Tutorials
   50 links to professional logos and how they were created in Photoshop and Illustrator. Most of the articles are in-depth and include not only the tutorials, but the reasons behind each design.
   
3. Computer Arts - 2D & Photoshop
   This website features downloadable PDF files with extremely detailed instructions on how to create images in Photoshp and Illustrator. The amount of detail in these tutorials is un-paralleled.
   
4. Adobe Design Center - Tutorials on how to use Adobe products together
   Lots of great tutorials for every Adobe program straight from the developers.
   
5. Web Designer Wall - Category: Design Tutorials
   Yet another professional graphic design blog with a small handful of outstanding tutorials. Web Designer Wall covers all sorts of programs including Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and more.
   
6. Good-Tutorials
   A nice, clean design tutorial link site. Features links for Photoshop, Flash and Illustrator tutorials ranging from simple to intricate.
7. The Go MediaZine - Tutorials
   Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials by comic-book style artists. One tutorial in particular goes from sketch idea to finished product. Very detailed but geared towards the more advanced user.
8. Abduzeedo by design
   A small collection of tutorials using Photoshop, Illustrator and even The Gimp. Every tutorial on here shows how to create a professional looking effect in the different programs.
9. Mega Tutorials
   A few tutorials using Photoshop and Illustrator. These mostly consist of logos and menus and will be helpful when designing a new site going for that Web 2.0 look.
10. Tutvid.com - Tutorials
    This site features extremely detailed video tutorials on every major Adobe program within the CS2 suite. Great tutorials for all skill levels.
11. BioRUST.com :: Tutorial Section Information & FAQs
    This tutorial site features tutorials for both Illustrator and Photoshop. Every tutorial has a discussion section where you can add thoughts or ask for further explanation. The site also features a lively forum for help and ideas.
12. Tutorialized
    This site features tutorials for Photoshop, Illustrator and even The Gimp. People submit links to tutorials and the site organizes and rates them. Think of this as a Digg.com for design tutorials.
13. Pixel2Life.com - Photoshop Tutorials and More!
    A repository for links to graphic design tutorials from all over the web. Lots of links to some very detailed instructions.
14. Vexels.net - Photoshop, Illustrator, Vector Art and Vexel Tutorials
    A collection of links featuring tutorials on creating vector art in Illustrator and Photoshop.

Sources for Photoshop Tutorials

Photoshop is the de facto graphic design program. These tutorials will help you get up to speed quickly. If you are already proficient with Photoshop there are topics here for you too.

1. Photoshop Tutorials from PhotoshopCAFE
   This is a great Photoshop tutorial site. The tutorials range from “How Layers Work” to “Masking Out Difficult Images”. Lots of good tutorials for beginners and pros.
   
2. Photoshopsupport.com - Free Photoshop Tutorials & Adobe Photoshop Tips
   This site features both text tutorials and video tutorials for Photoshop. It’s a little ad-heavy, but there are great resources here.
   
3. Photoshop Tutorials at Melissa Clifton
   This site features some pretty good Photoshop tutorials, mostly about digital painting and coloring within Photoshop. This is a good resource for designs with lots of line art that need coloring.
   
4. ebin - tutorials
   There are only three tutorials here but they cover some cool ideas. One is how to quickly cut out a badly compressed logo for editing, another is applying a cinema feel to an image and the last is making your own tiling graphic.
   
5. Graphic Reporter, graphic design tutorials
   This site has a very wide range of Photoshop tutorials. Many tutorials covering almost every tool available. A very nice way to teach yourself the entire Photoshop toolset.
6. Tutorial Blog - Photoshop Tutorials
   A blog with a collection of links to Photoshop tutorials. Each page has a review of every link on the page, which makes it very easy to gauge what’s good and bad about a tutorial.
7. Tutorials 2.0 - Design Tutorials
   Plenty of designs at this site ranging from quick five minute text enhancements in Photoshop to full fledged logo designs. Lots of versatility here.
8. Photoshop Tutorials on Photoshop Contest
   Nice tutorials on Photoshop. Fixing things in images like perspective, using clipping masks and more. Fun ideas that teach practical ways to use Photoshop tools.

Sources for Illustrator Tutorials

Anyone trying to improve their graphic design abilities should have at least a basic understanding of Illustrator and it’s use of vectors. Improve your skill with these graphic design tutorials.

1. IllustratorWorld
   At this site you can download eMags in PDF form which feature tons and tons of Illustrator tutorials and tips. Every tutorial is very detailed with easy to follow steps.
   
2. tatoland: school stuff - ILLUSTRATOR
   This is an amazing site for beginners to Illustrator. Features everything to quickly get you up to speed and making awesome images. Lots of detailed instructions and even in-depth videos.
   
3. N.Design Studio - Illustrator Tutorials
   Illustrator tutorials by the creators of Web Designer Wall. Very detailed instructions on how to create complex images and logos.
   
4. 7 Things You Didn’t Know Adobe Illustrator Could Do
   This is a short but informative list of seven powerful things you can do in Illustrator. Using these seven items the author shows how to create a great wallpaper.
5. ErgoDraw : Tutorials Directory
   A nice mix of beginner, intermediate and advanced tutorials of Illustrator. Very detailed instructions with lots of images to help you along.
6. Voidix - Illustrator Tutorials
   Another small collection of tutorials only for Illustrator. These are relatively simple and are great for users just learning Illustrator.

Useful Single Graphic Design Tutorials

These links offer some very useful single tutorials for removing backgrounds quickly, creating and modifying brushes in Photoshop and creating a bloom effect.

1. ThemeBid.com - Removing Backgrounds Quickly In Photoshop
   This tutorial shows you how to quickly and simply cut out a background in Photoshop.
   
2. Photoshop Painting Techniques: Hair and Fur
   This single tutorial shows you how to create realistic hair and fur on photos. The tutorial shows you how to edit your own brushes, so you come away from this with practical knowledge.
3. EOF - How to: Bloom Effect in Photoshop!
   This tutorial shows you how to add a bloom effect to images, much like you see in movies or games such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Halo 3.