What carries over to Photoshop later
Because PSCraft follows Photoshop's layout, the habits transfer:
- reading a layer stack and choosing blend modes
- masking instead of erasing
- correcting colour with adjustment layers that can be switched off
- making selections and refining their edges
- setting type and adding layer styles
A student who has learned these here can sit down at Photoshop and find everything where they expect it. The files transfer too, since both save PSD.
Why it suits a classroom
- Nothing to install. No request to IT, and the same interface on Chromebooks, Windows, Macs and Linux machines.
- No accounts. No logins to reset and no student email addresses collected.
- Files stay on the device. Student work isn't uploaded to a third party.
- No cost. There are no licences to count or renew.
Five exercises to start with
- Composite. Place two photos in one document and blend them with a layer mask and a soft brush.
- Colour correction. Add a Curves adjustment layer, fix a dull photo, then toggle the layer to compare.
- Cut-out. Use Remove Background, then repair the mask by hand.
- Poster. Combine a photo, a headline and a Drop Shadow or Stroke layer style.
- Retouch. Remove a distraction with the Spot Healing Brush and Content-Aware Fill.
Limits to mention up front
- There is no autosave in the browser. Build the habit of saving often.
- The editor is alpha software, so the occasional rough edge is normal.
- PSCraft is not an Adobe product. Students preparing for an Adobe certification exam need time in Photoshop itself, and Adobe offers education pricing for that.