drippy cat

You too!

Steve! Thanks so much for your kind words! After the day I've had I really appreciated reading them. im140.6 - why not try the Five Steps course and see how you get on? It's free so you can't lose. Beyond that I'd agree with SteveB523 - the Solid Foundations or Beginner to Pro via Reference and Workflow. Maybe the latter if you go through the 5 steps course first. Simon

What I'm thinking of is running a promotion to buy the existing courses for $9.99 each or whatever that converts to in local currency towards the end of each month instead of just when I release a new course. As for new courses, in the new year I'm thinking of starting a new one about enhancing real world portraits with Affinity Photo. Professional techniques and workflow to be sure, but real world people and not 16 year old models in full makeup with studio lighting.

Hi Ross and Malcom. Ok, I'll try and make it a regular end of the month promotion. I'll do a direct mail shot to existing customers and put a post here - provided it's ok with the forum moderators here.

Very pleased and relieved to hear it Malcom. I'll give you 20 minutes before you gently nod off! Actually it's got me thinking. I get the chance to send out promotions to existing customers twice a month. But usually I never do unless I have a new course to offer because I don't want to be one of those pushy types that ends up spamming people. But on the other hand there are times when Udemy don't do offers and you end up with situations like you've just had. So maybe I should consider sending out a monthly general offer on my courses so that people do get a chance once a month to use a coupon and get the courses. Once a month shouldn't be too naggy..? Simon

What the hell?! Too right you get a refund! Their policy is that you have 30 days to get a refund back. I don't think I've ever seen anyone pay anything like that price and to be honest I didn't think anyone would. Get the refund. Although this is the first I've ever heard of anything like this and I have no control over it I can only sincerely apologise. If you want to click on any of the links in the tutorials section on this forum where I've posted about the Black Friday sale then that's your absolute right to say yes or no to. I issued those links and coupon codes in my latest post just today and I see no reason why they wouldn't work. Were they offering those courses in the screenshot as part of a bundle? Once again, in spite of me having no control over how they market the courses I do and being unaware of anything like that situation, my apologies to you. I would never have been so chatty/familiar with you if I'd known. Simon

Hi again Malcom. I don't know how to say this without sounding like a d**k but have you checked the name of the author of the leftmost course, just underneath the course title? Cheers m'dear, Simon Foster not Hector Carrasquilla edit: Actually I think it's Staffordian Manc Chorleyite Notts Laandan Athens Geordie bit confused these days. So you can cuss me out any which way you want and I'll probably get the message.

Ayup Malcom, Spanish?! If you can hear someone with a bit of a brummie drawl that he's desperately trying to hide, then that's me. Anyone else is not me - I do all the voice overs for my courses. But the screen grab walt.farrel has very kindly shown is what I was describing. But I'll try to be more helpful. If you go to this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/the-craft-of-photoshop-solid-foundations/?src=sac&kw=the+craft+of+photoshop and look at the Introduction video from 1 minute 54 seconds (it's a free preview) I use the Affinity Photo: Modern Special Effects course to explain all about things like downloading files, using the video commands etc. Hopefully that will give a bit of insight. Simon

Ya reet, pet? (Living in Newcastle now...) I was spending my summers in Nottingham from about the mid 80's & oo yes! Wot fun I had! Thanks for investing in the courses you have done. I hope they do give a lot of learning as and when you can make the time. The downloads problem you mentioned has thrown me a bit. Normally when you watch the videos on something like Chrome you get a side bar to the right. If there's a photo to be downloaded there will be a little box next to the titles of the videos that says 'resources'. Click on that and you get any and all available downloads for that lecture. Most of the photos I use on the Solid Foundations course are available and I think after that pretty much all the photos I use on other courses are there and waiting. If not, let me know and I'll see what I can do. Cheers, Simon

Hi, Yes! It's that wonderful time of year when your inbox gets stuffed with Black Friday offers! So here's mine, which are valid through the weekend until early next Tuesday morning. Just click on the link for the course you want or enter the coupon. All the courses are on sale for $9.99 or whatever that becomes in your local currency. Affinity Photo: Solid Foundations - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=BFPSHOPFOUNDATIONS - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPFOUNDATIONS ... 'This is an extraordinary course to lay down the foundations of Affinity Photo. I've enjoyed every bit of it and Simon makes it thoroughly interesting and amusing. Great introduction, I will certainly be looking into his other courses.' Affinity Photo for the iPad - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-for-the-ipad/?couponCode=BFAPMOBILE - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPMOBILE ... 'Excellent!! I have learned a great deal in a short time. Would recommend this course to anyone.' Affinity Photo for the iPad: Special Effects - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-for-the-ipad-special-effects/?couponCode=BFAPIPADFX - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPIPADFX ... 'This instructor is extremely knowledgeable and a good teacher. Money well spent for the class. The techniques, such as using one layer to do one job, are exactly the things I need to learn in order to become a better image editor. I understand much of the affinity program better and I understand WHY things should be done a certain way. Like duplicating the base layer, naming layers and putting them in groups. I may not have interest in creating these specific effects, but I enjoyed learning the techniques so I can apply them to my own effect styles. Thank you.' Affinity Photo: The Little Box of Tricks - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=BFAPTRICKS - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPTRICKS ... 'Totally awesome and at the exact speed to match my level in Affinity' Affinity Photo: Modern Special Effects - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-modern-special-effects/?couponCode=BFAPSPECIALFX - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPSPECIALFX ... 'Very good course i highly recommend this tutorials as there are lots of new ways to work on one single subject and will improve the general use of Affinity photo! Well done keep on your good work! I am delighted to have taken this course! Many thanks!!' Affinity Photo: Raw Image Development - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=BFAPRAWDEVELOP - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPRAWDEVELOP ... 'Clear, concise, informative, simple to understand and fun.' Affinity Photo: Developing Landscapes - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-developing-landscapes/?couponCode=BFAPLANDSCAPES - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPLANDSCAPES ... 'It's the only video that shows a complete work flow using Affinity photo. It's just what beginners like me have been crying out for, well done!' Affinity Photo: Beginner To Pro via Reference and Workflow - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-beginner-to-pro-via-reference-and-workflow/?couponCode=BFAPWORKFLOW - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPWORKFLOW ... 'Excellent course to learn Affinity Photo. The reference videos are a great support to the workflow videos.' Affinity Photo: The Fast Guide - click on this link - https://www.udemy.com/course/affinity-photo-the-fast-guide/?couponCode=BFAPFASTGUIDE - for the reduced price or enter this coupon: BFAPFASTGUIDE ... 'I really enjoyed this excellent and pretty detailed course. It is fast, so I went over and over it and will do so in the future again I am sure.' Thanks for your time, Simon

I'm glad you did and thank you! Things like the old shoes? Fair point. They were there to illustrate - curves, was it? But I use different photos these days. Anyway, let's create that new Black Friday thread...

Hi Cecil. No worries for thinking out loud & I understand where you are coming from. I don't think anyone has ever paid $99 for any of my courses. Udemy are always putting on some kind of promotion which I'm not sure I like. I'd much rather put the course on the site with a fair price and take my cut. Then occasionally have a sale at a sensibly reduced price without all of the semi constant 'massive savings of up to 90%!' malarkey. And I'm sure you know as well as I do that if everyone puts their courses at $199.99 reduced to $9.99 and I put my course up at $19.99 reduced to $9.99 - who's offering the bigger perceived bargain? So you have to play the game or people think your videos are the cheap and cheerful ones. That said I'm sure they know their business better than me and I'm the first to admit I'm the worst sales rep in the world. It's the old difference in outlook between the suits and the anoraks & I'm in the anorak camp. But naturally I'd like to see people like RoyalBulwell (Alright duck? Spent some of the best summers of my life in Nottingham) investing in my courses and also naturally I'd like them to get the price that's good for them. So after I've finished this I'll create a new post with some Black Friday deals over at Udemy. Cheers, Simon

Hi mate. Sorry I took so long to get back to you, but no problem at all and you are most welcome! Simon

Thanks for that John!

Hi benymnd. That might be Udemy doing something rather odd. Can I just check, did you enter the coupon code at any point? You'd need to in order to get the discount. Also bear in mind that I am not an employee of Udemy. I'm just a course creator who uploads to their site. But I really wouldn't expect or want you to pay the price you mentioned. What I do know is that if someone enrols on a Udemy course with a coupon that makes it cheaper than what Udemy are offering it for, then Udemy say they will honour the cheaper price. That would be something you'd have to speak to Udemy about it. Here's the link to the FAQ from Udemy : https://support.udemy.com/hc/en-us/articles/229231647-Udemy-Coupons-FAQ and a quote from there: 'We will honor the best price available for any courses purchased up to 30 days after the initial purchase date.' I hope this helps, Simon