← The Studio
CENTAURUS
STUDIO
Photoshop · Self-paced

The Workshops

Four builds and eight labs. Every one runs step by step on its own, so you can work through it with the class or get ahead of it alone.

01The builds

Each build ends with a real file you turn in. Do them in order: each one leans on the last.

01The Calling CardA 1080 square social card with your name on it: image, type, a credit line, saved as PSD and JPG. Runs in Photopea or Photoshop.Canvas setup · Layers · Type · ExportOpen the walkthrough →

Warm up with Card Lab

02What a Pixel IsTurn the Calling Card into a 6 × 4 print postcard and find out if your image survives 300 ppi.Resolution · Canvas Size · Print vs screenOpen the walkthrough →

Warm up with Pixel Peeper

03Double ExposureA whole world inside a person. A portrait, a scene, and a mask doing the work. Starter PSD included.Layer masks · Clipping masks · Blend modes · AdjustmentsOpen the walkthrough →

Warm up with Mask Lab

04Cut It OutLift a subject out of one photo and drop it into another, clean enough that nobody can tell.Selections · Select and Mask · Layer masksOpen the walkthrough →

Warm up with Blend Lab

02The labs

Short and interactive. Nothing here can break.
Try it anyway.

ResolutionPixel PeeperZoom until a photo falls apart. Then find out how big yours can actually print. LayersStack LabReorder a stack, hide layers, and see what Opacity does that Fill doesn't. Three exam questions at the end. Blend modesBlend LabAll 27 blend modes, live, with the math and what each one is for. MasksMask LabPaint a mask. Then try the eraser, and see what you can't take back. Type + creditCard LabCheck a design at phone size and build a proper credit line. RightsRights LabCreative Commons, credit lines, releases, AI. Twelve real calls; pick what you can do, then read why. LayersPoster LabTake a finished poster apart one layer at a time. Find three planted print mistakes, then make it yours. Cert prepTest DriveA five-minute fake of the Adobe Certified Professional exam. Clock, tasks, score, the works.

03How to use these

  1. Open the build Mr. Darien assigned. Read What a complete project looks like before you touch anything.
  2. Click through the steps at your own pace. The checklist at the bottom is how you know you're done.
  3. Stuck on a tool? The lab paired with that build is the fast way to get it.
  4. Turn in the PSD and the export the build asks for, named the way it says.

The tools are the easy part.
The eye is what you're here for.