Make Money With Adobe Photoshop

Adobe Photoshop is one of the most popular imaging software packages around, but it's expensive! Here are five ways you can earn money using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements -- either as a business enterprise, for some extra money, or just to recoup your investment.

1. Offer a Photo Restoration Service. I'm sure just about everyone has a photo or two that hasn't stood the test of time all that well, especially really old ones. Using the Healing Brush, Spot Healing Brush, and Patch tools, you can make old or damaged photos look like new again.

2. Become a Photograph Doctor. Whether it's "red eye", "pet eye", poor exposure, or "finger over the lens syndrome" Photoshop can transform a ruined image into a pristine one. You can also use Photoshop to make a colour photograph look like a black and white one, or colour tint a black and white one to make it colour. Not everyone is a good photographer, so you need never be short of "patients".

3. Design Greetings Cards. With the photo enhancement and graphic design qualities of Photoshop, designing greetings cards has never been easier. You can enhance photos, make them into drawings or paintings, combine photos for humorous cards, the possibilities are endless. Birthday cards, get well soon cards, condolence cards, Christmas cards or cards for other holidays like Mothers' Day, the list goes on and on. You can easily find card blanks and envelopes from specialist suppliers.

4. Design T-shirts. Ever seen something and thought "that would look great on a T-shirt"? Well, you're not the only one! With Photoshop you can make it a reality. You can get transfers from stationery shops, and plain, cotton T-shirts can be purchased from low cost suppliers and even some supermarkets.

5. Web Design. Whether it's a full website, or just a few buttons or banners, web design is a skill that's in demand right now. You could take commissions, or design some generic "boilerplate" designs that people can download from a website and customise themselves.

Of course, you may need to get some extra equipment -- like a colour printer, scanner, and digital camera -- but you can usually pick this type of equipment up inexpensively on eBay or other websites. A DVD of royalty free images is also a must -- although check the terms and conditions to make sure you're allowed to sell products derived from them.

Word of mouth is always the best form of advertising, so ask friends, relatives, work colleagues, and other acquaintances if the need (or know anyone who needs) your products or services. You could also approach retailers with a portfolio of your work, and offer them commissions on any work they send your way.