broughtonblue Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 To start with I'm a total numpty when it comes to computers!! So here I go, I'd love to learn how to use photoshop , or another such programme. I'm told photoshop is quite expensive but there is another free option...GIMP (hope I'm not being set up here!) . I'd also love to learn excell. Just wondering what programmes you would recommend for a complete novice who is mature in age! And also the best/easiest way to learn, whether you tube or 'idiots guide ' etc Mods, I put this in here as the computer section seems full of gaming topics and thought people with experience of this subject would be more likely to be browsing this section.
Sambiasso Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 For excell take up an evening class if possible, most start in Sept and are fairly cheap. Having others in the group who you can problem solve with is a great asset. Youtube is a great tool for learning skills and somewhere to start but the most important thing you need is TIME, both PS and Excell are not something you can rush.
foxes21 Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 Go to your local library, there should be photoshop tutorial books ?. Youtube is also great for tutorials. There is also skillshare.com & udemy.com that provide online courses, but you have to pay. I think you can get a free 1 month trial for photoshop, if you want to practice before buying the package. GIMP is OK, depending on what you need it for.
Captain... Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 Do you know what you want to do with Gimp (it is real and is free)? You tube tutorials are very good if you are looking to do something specific, but not if you want to just learn it. I've found that the best thing is decide what you want to do then find a tutorial and follow it with your own photos and images. Start with something simple like a photo collage and then just play around with it.
Captain... Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 6 minutes ago, foxes21 said: GIMP is OK, depending on what you need it for. GIMP is great if you have never used photoshop, but photoshop users generally don't like it because they are used to photoshop.
RoboFox Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 18 minutes ago, broughtonblue said: To start with I'm a total numpty when it comes to computers!! So here I go, I'd love to learn how to use photoshop , or another such programme. I'm told photoshop is quite expensive but there is another free option...GIMP (hope I'm not being set up here!) . I'd also love to learn excell. Just wondering what programmes you would recommend for a complete novice who is mature in age! And also the best/easiest way to learn, whether you tube or 'idiots guide ' etc Mods, I put this in here as the computer section seems full of gaming topics and thought people with experience of this subject would be more likely to be browsing this section. https://pixlr.com/ Is all I use. It's a browser-based, simplified PS, but has pretty much the same functionality if you need something to get started with. There's a really active community on YouTube and forums, so you should be able to learn the basics fairly easily.
Sol thewall Bamba Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 GIMP is decent, not to a professional level but does everything that you'd realistically need it to. Relatively easy to learn, there are hundreds of tutorial videos on Youtube etc to get to grips with it, then the rest you just stumble upon.
Babylon Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 1 hour ago, broughtonblue said: To start with I'm a total numpty when it comes to computers!! So here I go, I'd love to learn how to use photoshop , or another such programme. I'm told photoshop is quite expensive but there is another free option...GIMP (hope I'm not being set up here!) . I'd also love to learn excell. Just wondering what programmes you would recommend for a complete novice who is mature in age! And also the best/easiest way to learn, whether you tube or 'idiots guide ' etc Mods, I put this in here as the computer section seems full of gaming topics and thought people with experience of this subject would be more likely to be browsing this section. It depends entirely on what you wish to do with them, there are basic entry level tasks up to professional level. What are you aiming to achieve? Youtube is good, but if you have the money www.lynda.com is excellent as it gives you the practice files and takes you from the most basic steps up to the most complicated, all in one place.
ajthefox Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 Photoshop does have a basic package called elements, which is good enough for anyone who is learning it but I'm not sure what it costs, it's probably still quite expensive unless you're using it in a professional capacity. The best thing I would advise for learning is to set yourself a specific task and then use tutorials. You can just play around with photoshop but you won't learn much.
Strokes Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 22 minutes ago, Jon the Hat said: What are you wanting to do in Excel? Learn how too use it, nosey bugger!
Guesty Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 Depending on what you want to do then you might or might not need Photoshop. It can do a lot more than the free photo-editing apps. You can buy it on a subscription basis which is like £8 a month. i guess you could try that and end it anytime. (I'm not sure if there's a minimum amount of time you have to keep the subscription). Or try to find an old version somewhere, most photographers have the subscription version, so there must be old versions around somewhere on the cheap. The same with Microsoft Office. They're all changing to subscription based services to try and make more money. Youtube is a good place to learn and see what other people recommend and how they use them.
RobHawk Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 Similar to the comments re: photoshop, it depends what you need to use excel for. I've been on some pretty high level excel training sessions but most of what i learnt i dont use and forgot - luckily Google is a dear if i do need to remember. If you want the very basics, let me know what and i could easily put a little training video together if you like.
Clever Fox Posted 14 July 2017 Posted 14 July 2017 5 hours ago, Jon the Hat said: What are you wanting to do in Excel? I was just thinking exactly the same thing. Excel is just a spread sheet. It is good for doing accounts or setting up Budgets. for instance if you want to make a home budget to decide where your money is being spent you can just set columns for each category you want. It's quite easy to learn even on your own if you just start with how to create a page and adjust column widths and row heights. then how to drag and drop and on to Functions. I always like using Excel as it gives you great flexibility.
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