Graphic design is, as the name implies, designing with graphics. It covers a broad range of things, such as doing the layout for brochures, design posters and fliers, business card design, doing t-shirts for a business, putting together menus for restaurants, packing design, warning labels on products, street signs, billboards, and much-much-MUCH more. If it has some kind of graphical element on it, and someone had to design that element, it is graphic design. …sometimes a graphic designer might have to do some photo editing, so the two disciplines do cross, but…. …photo editing is an entirely different discipline, and, as the name implies, has to do exclusively with editing photos. Sometimes those photos end up inside some graphic design, sometimes t end up on your grandmas wall, sometimes t end up in books, sometimes t don’t, but… …the two terms describe entirely different fields.
So it's not a good idea to ask graphic designers which of the two they have trained. That does raise a question for you, though, as one of the most common ones that is asked. “Hey,” you ask, “Are graphic designers' computer software developers or designers?” Now, some people say yes, but they're wrong. Those terms don't relate. There is an entire field of web design focused around that. Those are all kinds of specialties. Graphic Design has to do with creating graphic elements. Web Design has to do with design. Those are two completely different kinds of tasks. A web designer can create a website. A graphic designer can create graphic elements. I'd like to take a break now because I've been asked a fascinating question. But first, this should be a very brief answer.