Income or revenue using Photoshop?

I know most people regard Photoshop as a hobby or entertaining fun, but with the amount of digital imaging talent here on Phun.O - I'm somewhat curious if there's anyone who actually uses their imaging skills as part of their job/livelihood and makes an income from it.

I've been using a combination of Photoshop/Photostyler since 1999 for adult fantasy-photo illustrations that's gained us a decent income over the years.

Just wondering if there are others out there in a similiar capacity...

 

I've been wondering how to make $$ for a while now...........Interested in what you do....... PM me..........

 

I use photoshop while I'm at work, does that count?

 

I guess that depends on if its part of your job descrip.

 

I am non profit organization...with photoshop. Its been strictly hobby and "favors".

 

Same with me. I have enhanced hundreds of old photos for friends/relatives that I could have made a buck or two off of. But nothing in cold cash. For now-hobby and as Silent put it, "favors".

 

I used it -- poorly -- to create ads/marketing materials at a start-up software company I worked at. I was Associate Creative Director, and was supposed to be the idea-creator/writer only, but had to do the hands-on Photoshop because the startup nature of the company didn't allow me to bring in graphics experts. I also use it for Web pages -- in a very simple way. So, it was in my job description at one time, a million years ago.

 

I never made any money photoshopping. But if anyone wants to hire me, come foreward .

 

If you're serious - my advice is don't wait for them to come to you.

 

how would you go about finding such employers/clients?

 

Indeed. I dare to say that I'm pretty handy with PS. If I can make some extra bucks with it would be realy nice.
Any tips are welcome!

 

Put the best kickass portfolio together possible and hit the pavement. Even if companies aren't advertising for available positions - if you can impress them sufficiently sometimes they keep you in mind, refer you to other colleagues, etc.

It all comes down to how well you can market your skills and sell yourself. I've gotten jobs in the past where I simply went in with a portfolio, talked with owners/managers and impressed them sufficiently to give me a trial basis.

Of course, you can do the standard searches on craigslist and other venues for graphics jobs. But most aren't really advertised...they're passed along by word of mouth or referral.

Another trick is to come up with a specialty - something you're extremely good at doing (besides drinking beer like a frat boy ). Master a unique technique that few others can do.

 

Damn.........You mean I can't find a beer looking for a job like a frat boy?

 

I build webpages and uses photoshop to create or modify the images on them.. but it aint the actual photoshopping I get paid for though,,

 

There's a vendor at our local farmer's market who sells custom greeting cards (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) she makes using a combo of her own photography and photoshop manipulation.

I've talked with her a few times and she makes enough to make it worth her while. Often what she does is paints a picture on canvas, then photographs it, digitizes it and then manipulates the image in Pshop until she's satisfied with the result.

She's operated the booth for nearly a full year at the market, so I guess she must be making some coin with it. People walking by always show an interest in her stuff.

 

hmm, the only thing is... I don't create my own stuff. I just use other people's work and add some effects and text etc. I have no talent in drawing or painting, maybe at photography (haven't given that a try yet)

 

Practicing as a hobby with images created by others is a good start - and at least shows you have an interest in the learning/creative process.

I'm willing to wager many of us start out a similiar way - working and manipulating images from others. Its part of the learning curve.

Like you, I can't really draw or paint persay (although I took several years of perspective drafting and technical illustration in college) - but I found photography (combined with graphic manipulation) to be my saving grace.

 

When i was younger (and still had ambitions) I used to work at a design company once a week while i was studying design at school the rest of the week. Needless to say, the only part that kept me interested was working and learning how to make and use Photoshop (used it on old Macintosh). That was back in 96/97. Only until 3-4 years ago i started picking up on photoshop. I've made a few bucks making custom banners and logos for different sites and at one point i was being offered 250$ for making one logo for a gaming organization. Just last night i got a donation of 10$ for helping a guy out with some custom user ranks I've made, and which took me no more then 2 minutes to do

 

Kudos, nice work

My father found a little graphic niche awhile back - creating park layout maps for campgrounds/trailer parks. A few years ago my folks hit the road and crisscrossed the U.S. in their RV and made acquaintances with several of the park owners and managers. In his spare time he made up a few park maps for various places - free of charge.

After a while he started charging a reasonable fee for them and makes some nice extra coin with it.

He's at the point now where he's getting referrals and campgrounds they've never even stayed at are inquiring about his maps.

He uses a combination of photoshop and coreldraw.