Welcome to Part Two of the ‘How to Make Money with Photoshop‘ series (you can check out Part One here!). This post is completely on time and not an entire year late, I assure you.

Last time I taught you how to use Photoshop (coupled with Illustration and Photography skills) to sell stock images on major websites. I’m happy to hear that some of you who followed my advice were able to make a buck or two! One of my referrals to Dreamstime has made over $500 selling stock! Congratulations!

Method Two: Graphic / Logo Design Contests

This time I’ll show you how to make money with your graphic skills by participating in Graphic Design Competitions. This has always been a rather touchy and controversial area – basically designers compete with one another creating graphics and/or logos for a single client. At the end of the contest, the client will choose just one entry to award a prize to, while the rest of the designers walk away with nothing. This is known as ‘Spec’ work (or ‘Speculation’) and tends to be frowned upon by the graphic design community. Etiquette can also take a beating in these types of situations – you may find that elements of your design are being copied by other individuals, so make sure you know how to protect your intellectual property.

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I developed this (super easy) technique for turning a photo into a glorified pixel-y type sketch while racking my brain for a new Facebook picture. It is partly inspired by the awesome Threadless shirt I’m wearing. This is something fun you can do quickly, and with one of your own pictures!

With Halloween coming up soon, consider creating one of this for your Ghost self.

Head on after the break for the full tutorial!

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This is it. You’ve worked your fingers to the bone learning all the Photoshop shortcuts. Your eyes are burning from squinting at a humming screen for hours on end, carefully positioning elements and designing art. Your brain’s abuzz with the knowledge you’ve acquired through reading tutorials and your own experimentation. And all the blood and tears have finally paid off – YOU, the Photoshop Enthusiast, are now PRETTY SWELL at designing!

What do you do now with your new-found superpowers? Sure, you could save damsels in distress, stop bridges from falling, develop a broom to ride to the moon … or you could raise some money to pay for next month’s rent or that slick Segway you’ve been eying. In this exclusive mini series by the Minty Ferret, I’ll show YOU how to turn those hard-earned Photoshop skills into a form of income. That’s right, you can make money with Photoshop working at home! Outlined in this mini-series is a tutorial on how exactly to do just that. Some of these techniques are used by professionals, some are controversial, some make you money while you sleep!

Let’s start with that last one. Stretch, yawn, and head on after the break to learn how to make a passive income – and keep on checking back in the weeks to come or RSS me for more moolah methods!

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Need a need RSS Icon for your blog?
Here’s a nice short tutorial on how to make a unique and memorable RSS Icon by manipulating Shapes in Photoshop. This comes with the added bonus of allowing you to scale your RSS icon to fit your website!

If you’re lazy and would rather get your grubby hands on the finished product, I have posted up the PSD and various PNG RSS icons for you to download freely. Just check out this post!

However if you want to learn the techniques behind making this:

Then subscribe to my RSS feed and head on after the break!

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Grab your artsiest robe, your best wand for charms, turn up some wicked wizard rock, roll up your sleeves, and get ready to make some Photoshop Magic!

You’ll learn how to make this Silver Text using this Photoshop tutorial, which is similar to the text used in Harry Potter movie titles.

You’ll learn how to adjust different text properties (kerning, tracking, and baseline shifts) as well as layer styles.

This Silver Text can easily be adjusted to make Gold, Bronze, or Bright-Green Polka-dotted (if you’re so inclined) text as well, so head on after the break to get started!

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I sat down the other day, and designed this Ebook / eCover Creator Action for Photoshop. Actions are great, since they let you automate processes in Photoshop. In this case, you can create a template, design your eBook cover, then with just one click, you can convert that flat cover into a 3d looking eBook! If you would like to know more about how actions work or how to create your own, make sure to check out my previous post.

This action will allow you to turn this:

Into this, with just one click!

This eBook Action is entirely FREE to download, so head on after the break for a quick tutorial on how to load up actions and use them in Photoshop, as well as the download link.

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I love my Nintendo DS Lite. I love it to pieces. So what better way to show it affection than immortalizing it in Photoshop?

Made completely in Photoshop!

I do have to warn you that this is a little different than my other Photoshop Tutorials. It’s meant for a more intermediate-advanced level user, as I will not be explaining every single step like I usually do, although I will try to describe critical points the best I can. Of course, I will be willing to answer any questions you may have – just post in the comments section. Mostly, I will show you my thinking process and the techniques I use so you can apply it to your own creations!

The PSD file is also included at the end of this tutorial for you to download. Head on after the break to start!

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