You know how once you know something about a particular skill (whether it be music, writing, voice over, or photoshop), the magic is kind of lost? It's not a bad thing, but you go from being awed by everything to being a critic who can spot poor craftsmanship a mile away. (and I mean 'critic' in the good sense--as in, having a trained eye for details)

So my question for general discussion is (as a relative newbie to photoshop), what are the rookie mistakes that make you cringe? What's your advice, tips, tricks for a person who has basic skills, but wants to step up their game?

Thanks in advance!

Listen Look Read and most of all DO NOT take criticism personal, some members here, English is not their first or even second language and good intentions get lost in the reading.

Read peoples Chopper Profiles lots of good tips

http://photoshopcontest.com/boards/viewtopic.php?p=94526&highlight=#94526
Lots in the forums

http://photoshopcontest.com/boards/viewtopic.php?t=6490&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
Try this as well

Thank you! that's perfect

Good advice there. Also, try to say something with your chop. Don't just add random things that don't make sense just because you can. A chop that has a message will always get a better reception.

Good luck.

Look at the portfolios of some of the regulars they are set in order of presented so go way back and compare to more Modern pieces and see the differences as they learned and tried new things as well.

But do agree with story line or humor to get more attention then just changes without plot. There is always gifs with PS as well.
There are tons of tutorials regarding all the different tools available in PS so plenty to be learned, a lot of us still are years after starting.

The common rookie mistakes that really jump out right away for me...
1. shadows...when one object sits on another there is always one, even if very slight. Without it the object looks like it's floating.
2. cutouts...chopping something and plopping it into another pic with jagged edges or a series of straight lines to make a curve. When I joined many years ago this site was a much rougher place. If you put up an image with bad cutouts the comments would be stuff like "ever hear of the PEN tool??". The site has become a gentler place.
3. lighting...the stuff you add to the original has to match the lighting of the original. You might have to take longer to find a better source pic, or get creative and try to photoshop the cutout to match...that is how you will learn new skills.

But one thing has remained constant about this place. If you want to learn there are always people here who will help.

Thanks everyone! Being mostly self taught, I never noticed the pen tool before. Or if I did, I quickly gave it up. So I'm exploring that now... which is leading to paths, and vector vs pixel masks.. oy.

Oh The pen tool... I was constantly reminded at work that at start I didn't knew it can be used for precise selection (load path as selection). It is easy to miss if you learn by yourself, as it is multi purpose tool and it's not part of selection tools...Some other developers made simple selection tool that behaves as pen in PS (Krita) and it pokes the eyes if you are messing with selection options. Many people in PS do not see this option at start.