The Photoshop Production Designer

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A graphic designer — in-house or agency — who uses Photoshop as their primary production tool for image work. They've been in Photoshop for 5–15 years and work with the efficiency of someone who knows exactly where everything is and what everything does. They don't explore menus. They use shortcuts. Their workspace is a system they've tuned. Photoshop is slow sometimes and they've learned to work around it the way you work around a colleague's habits — with patience and workarounds they've stopped noticing.

• →Deliver client-ready files that match the brief, on time, at the right specs
• →Work fast enough that revisions don't eat into their margin
• →Maintain organized, legible file structures that a colleague can pick up if needed

• —Performance on large files — the spinning beach ball is a character in their working life
• —The gap between what something looks like on screen and how it prints
• —Clients who request changes after the file has been flattened
• —Layer management on files that have been through multiple designers

• Output is the measure — process serves the file, not the other way around
• Client-ready means client-ready, not "mostly done with three things I noticed"
• A clean file is a professional courtesy to your future self

Uses Photoshop CC on a Mac with a high-res display. Works with files that range from 50MB to 2GB depending on print resolution requirements. Has a custom workspace saved. Uses Smart Objects for anything client-facing. Has a folder of actions they've built over the years that automate their most repetitive tasks. Also uses Illustrator and InDesign; Photoshop is for raster, everything else has its lane. Has Lightroom for photo management. Has used Firefly and is deciding what to think about it.

• →Faster save performance on large files removes the rhythm-breaking pause from the production flow
• →Non-destructive editing that extends to more workflows reduces the "please don't flatten it" anxiety
• →Better multi-artboard performance for production files means fewer workarounds for deliverable sets
• →AI tools that accelerate repetitive tasks (background removal, content-aware fill) compound
• →into meaningful time savings across a production week

Pairs with `art-director` for the designer-client feedback and revision workflow. Contrast with `figma-primary-user` for the digital design vs. production design tool philosophy gap. Use with `burned-freelancer` for client management and scope scenarios in independent design work.