20+ Funny & Cool Photoshop Ideas for Design Projects (+ Templates)

Coming up with cool Photoshop ideas to make your designs look more creative is now much easier thanks to YouTube, blogs, and online courses.

If you’re new to Photoshop, you don’t have to look far to find free tutorials. We’ve scoured the web to create a collection of easy Photoshop ideas for creating cool effects, filters, and tricks just for you.

These are free YouTube videos and tutorials that you follow to come up with fun ways to add a unique touch to your design projects. They are of course beginner friendly.

We also added a few cool Photoshop templates at the end of the list. If you don’t have the time to create cool effects by yourself, you can download these pre-made templates to apply them to your designs in an instant.

Use the quick links to jump to different sections and start exploring:

Easy Photoshop Ideas for Beginners
Cool & Creative Photoshop Ideas
Photoshop Portrait Ideas
Funny Photoshop Ideas
Cool Photoshop Effects & Templates

Easy Photoshop Ideas for Beginners

Everyone has to start somewhere and with these beginner-friendly tutorials, you can start learning some cool Photoshop effects right away.

Easy Transparent Text Effect in Photoshop

This is one of the easiest Photoshop effects you can try. It shows you how to create a cool transparent text effect with an outline. It’s so easy that you can get it done within two minutes.

Simple Glow Effect Photoshop Tutorial

Once you learn how to create the glowing effect, you’ll be using it in many of your projects. It’s a commonly used effect in various graphic designs and even in photography. This tutorial is very easy to follow and it’s beginner-friendly. The effect does have other variations. Like this one.

Cool Underwater Effect in Photoshop

If you’re interested in poster designs and photo manipulation, this is a cool Photoshop tutorial you should start with. It shows you how to make a regular photo look like it’s shot underwater.

Brush Stroke Effect in Photoshop Beginner Tutorial

This is a creative Photoshop idea for designing unique graphics for photo albums, posters, and social media posts. The tutorial is about creating a cool photo effect using a brushstroke design. The instructor gives detailed instructions on how to do it.

Quick Duotone Lighting Effect in Photoshop

There are many different ways to create the popular duotone lighting effect. This tutorial will show you one of the easiest and fastest ways to create it. It does not involve using advanced tools or methods so even a complete beginner can follow this tutorial.

Cool & Creative Photoshop Ideas

Getting creative with your design projects is much easier when you have cool Photoshop ideas to work with. Try some of these ideas in your next project.

How to Make 3D Text in Photoshop

Giving a cool 3D look to your titles and text is much easier than you think. This YouTube tutorial will show you how it’s done. It’s a very comprehensive guide with step-by-step instructions.

Create A Double Exposure Effect in Photoshop

The double exposure effect is one of the coolest things you can do with Photoshop. It’s also a great approach to creating posters, album covers, and even custom T-shirts. You can follow this tutorial to learn how it works.

Sand Dispersion Photo Effect Photoshop Tutorial

If you ever wanted to create the sand dispersion effect, now known as the Thanos’ snap effect, in Photoshop, this tutorial is for you. It will guide you through the step-by-step process of easily creating the dispersion effect in Photoshop.

Dripping Paint Effect Photoshop Tutorial

This is a very cool effect you can use to create cool graphic designs and photo manipulations. It teaches you how to add a paint-dripping look to your images and photos. The tutorial includes simple and beginner-friendly instructions.

Photoshop Portrait Ideas

These are some cool and unique Photoshop ideas you can use for portrait photography and design projects.

Text Portrait Effect in Photoshop

This effect is great for creating cool portrait designs for posters and banners. The tutorial shows you how to combine the portrait image with text to create a cool graphic design.

Multiple Exposure Photo Effect Photoshop Tutorial

You’ve heard of the double-exposure effect but how about creating a multiple-exposure effect? Watch this tutorial to learn how. It allows you to create a unique portrait design using a composite of multiple images.

3D Luminosity Effect on Portraits with Photoshop

This tutorial shows you how to add a 3D luminosity effect to make your portraits look amazing by adding depth and more light. It’s an advanced tutorial but the instructor gives very clear details to show you how it works.

Glow in the Dark Portrait Effect Photoshop Tutorial

You can follow this tutorial to learn a cool glow-in-the-dark effect that adds a bold look to portrait photos. This effect is easy to learn and it will work perfectly for various types of graphic design projects.

Funny Photoshop Ideas

We all love to have fun with Photoshop effects. These funny Photoshop ideas will definitely make your learning process much more enjoyable.

How to Easily Swap Faces in Photoshop

This is probably one of the first ideas that will come to mind when you start using Photoshop. And it’s also one of the most common requests you’ll get from your friends. In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to easily swap the faces of an image using Photoshop. For a more advanced tutorial, you can follow this guide.

Sliced Face Photoshop Effect Tutorial

A funny, and maybe slightly disturbing, effect for you to try in Photoshop. This effect lets you cut a portrait photo into slices to create a very cool design with faces. It’s great for posters and flyers, especially to instantly grab the attention of the audience.

Turn Photo to Cartoon Effect (Cartoonize Yourself)

Our cool Photoshop ideas collection wouldn’t be complete without a Photoshop cartoon effect tutorial. This is a simple guide you can follow to learn how to cartoonize your photos. It basically creates a funny cartoon version of portrait photos.

Caricature Cartoon Effect in Photoshop Tutorial

If you want to give a funny and comedic look to your photos and portraits, try this Photoshop effect. It shows you how to create a caricature-style cartoon effect in Photoshop. Be warned the results of this effect may make you laugh out loud.