drippy cat

Hi everyone Just a quick note to say that I've finally managed to edit the auto generated captions and now they actually make sense. So now the course has subtitles that work.

Hi Anne. I do think nowadays that many people nowadays prefer video as a tutorial format because it's very visual and most closely emulates the feeling of sitting next to someone who is using the software. But that's not to ignore books as a valid format. I think things like Photoshop have more books out because it's a much older & more established product. I remember when the only tuition you could get for Photoshop was in book format. Then broadband came along and... The .pdf I wrote was as originally intended a prelude to writing an expanded version and made as a commercial offering. But Serif bought out their book & so I though it best to hold off working on that idea for now since I thought it would make sense that people prefer an offering from the developers rather than and independent like me. But it's not something I've shelved permanently.

Hi AnnH. Just in case you don't have it, I do have a downloadable .pdf on my website here https://theeagerlearner.com/ which is around 95 pages covering the basics of Affinity Photo.

Hi LenC. Maybe if we keep any discussion on the public forum others may benefit from it or give valuable input. It was by discussing on this forum that the 'Affinity Photo: Developing Landscapes' course came about. So what's on your mind?

Thanks for clearing up the coupon thing Ann. Oh! & thanks for the kind words.

Hi everyone, Just to let you know I released my latest course. It's called Affinity Photo: Beginner to Pro via Reference and Workflow and is designed to answer one question: 'I've learned some of the tools with Affinity Photo, but how do I actually enhance an image, start to finish?' I take you through the development of a series of photos using a variety of workflows. We start with a simple workflow that's just right for beginners then move on to more advanced workflows as the course progresses. But there's a problem. Learning the when and why of an effective workflow is all well and good. But it's hard to learn the tools when you're learning about the workflow and it's near impossible to learn about the workflow when you're learning about the tools. So I've done both. This course is divided into two sections. You get hours of tutorials which cover various workflows and approaches to developing photos. But you also get a huge reference section which covers the various tools that Affinity Photo has to offer. If there's a tool I'm using in the workflow videos, there's a video explaining just that tool in the reference videos. Two ways to learn Affinity Photo. Reference and workflow. The course comes with a special introductory price. If you enter the coupon AP_BEGINNER_PRO right under the video on the landing page where it says 'Have a coupon?' you can get the course for $11.99, which is even cheaper than the sale price Udemy is offering it for. By the end of the course you will have seen and followed along with various effective workflows, start to finish. You will gain the confidence to tackle your own images, be able to select which workflow suits the photo best, and one day soon you may well be looking at one of your own photos which you've enhanced, and thinking 'That looks fantastic! I did that...' I think it's only fair to say why this course is different to some of my other courses. For starters it's the longest Affinity Photo course I offer, but there's more to it than that. Affinity Photo: Solid Foundations is the original comprehensive introduction course that I created. It was designed to be the general purpose course that I'm sure people are familiar with - explain how to use the tools, give people exercises to consolidate their knowledge, talk a little around technical matters like how an image gets into your camera and so on. Then there were courses like the RAW course and the Little Box of Tricks course which focussed on particular areas of image editing such as creating special effects. But it was after a conversation I had with someone on the Affinity Photo forums who really wanted tutorials that concentrated on how to enhance a photo from start to finish. His field of interest was landscape photography so I released Affinity Photo: Developing Landscapes. It was different to the other courses in that it concentrated on the workflow. I was unsure about how it would be received because it was different to anything I'd done before. I was pleased that it got good ratings and comments at Udemy, so then I decided to do a longer and more general course which had workflow at it's center and so we now have Affinity Photo: Beginner to Pro via Reference and Workflow. I realised from the Developing Landscape course that it needed a reference video section in a one tool/one video format as well as the workflow videos. If I didn't then I'd spend far too much time going into detail about what a tool does while I was also trying to explain a workflow. It would just get too confusing. So the new course is split into two sections. The workflow at the beginning, which is the primary intent of the course, and the reference section which is intended to supplement the workflow. Now, if you already have the Solid Foundations course, you will already have seen most of the tools covered in the reference section and I wouldn't advise you to get the new course if a tool reference was all you wanted. But what I would say is that around 6.5 hours of the new course is devoted to various different workflows and I take a series of pictures from start to finish so you can see how the various different tools in Affinity Photo fit together to improve a picture. There are other courses about Affinity Photo at Udemy for the same asking price that are shorter than just the workflow section of my new course. So I believe I'm offering good value for money. I hope that clears up any questions, but click on the link at the top of this post and go to the landing page for the course. There is an introductory video that explains what the course is about. That may help you further to decide whether to use your coupon to take advantage of the introductory price. Now, one last thing - Udemy are offering their own introductory price for the course. With the coupon you can get it for cheaper. Just enter BEGINNER_PRO_INTRO into the coupon field for the better price. Thanks for your time, Simon Foster

Ok, so I decided to put up a newer clone stamp video to replace the old one. It's here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nifk0bGLnY and is one of the reference videos for a new series coming up which includes reference videos plus workflow videos so you can tackle learning Affinity Photo from both sides. Hope it proves to be useful.

Ok, just got back from the hosting company. They've sorted it out & I'm back to being secure again. I didn't like being insecure. You should be just fine to go to the site now - http://www.theeagerlearner.com

Yep; this is a weird one. I'll have to speak to the webspace providers because I forked out for the security features. I'll get back to you...

Eh!? What on earth happened there? I'm pretty sure I didn't delete it and I had the copyright for all the materials in it so I don't know what they've done. I'll look into it, my apologies & thanks for pointing it out to me. Cheers, Simon

Hi & try this. Start out with nothing selected. Press Q to enter quick mask mode. Make a few white brush strokes and press Q again. You should have selected areas where you made the white brush strokes.

@Yolanda - It is difficult at first. The trick is to do a little bit and often. Get comfortable with one or two basic tools then move on to some more and get comfortable with them & so on. I think people have problems when they try to get through a complete course without practicing anything they learn. So by the time they've got to the later stages they've forgotten the basics. It can be done! Little steps, and good luck. Simon

@loulou and @SF Charter Boat, your are both very welcome and happy to help!

To both Suzi-K and John a big thanks! It's always nice to know that someone is getting something out of the courses.

Hi. If you go here - https://theeagerlearner.com/ I offer a free 90+ page guide to Affinity Photo which assumes no prior knowledge on your part. It covers the absolute basics and may help you. If it does, I'll be happy for you.

Hi Jia and thanks for the kind words! Good idea to get in now as the coupon codes are only available for one more day. Simon

Hi Lubiloo and thanks for signing up! I hope Christmas went well for you, and if you are anywhere near Ivy Bridge or Plymouth I’m sorry if the Devon part of my family was making a racket.

Hi rolantos. That would work. Or maybe swap 3 and 4 round because I develop RAW files in the Landscape course. I explain what you need to know with the RAW files in question on the landscape course so you could do it in the order you suggested. If you are already comfortable with the concepts of RAW files then that would work. If you aren't sure about RAW files, go for the RAW development course first. Cheers, Simon

Aw c'mon Alfred! Don't crank my monologue. My bra size is already making me fade all dizzy and upset.

Hi rolantos. Given they are on sale, if you don't have any I'd go for the Solid Foundations course. To quote myself: 'Just a quick note here. If you already have the Solid Foundations or iPad course, there's no point in you getting the Five Steps course. The Five Steps course is intended to be a very basic introduction to Affinity Photo and the topics it covers are covered in more depth, along with plenty more topics on the Solid Foundations and iPad courses. I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they's paid more for the same information.' Man! Do I know how to do a hard sell, or what?! The Box of Tricks course is for people who are comfortable with the basics; it was designed to follow on from the Solid Foundations course. The Developing Landscapes course? I think you need to know a few basics, although I do include a few tutorials which cover the kind of things we do on the course. This course is about workflow - taking a picture right from start to finish so a newcomer to image editing can hopefully gain confidence with a workflow. Cheers, Simon

OK, that's done. After a 4am finish I got it so all of the auto generated subtitles have been (heavily) edited & should be readable. Here's a few more classics: some of the things you can do with lower blood note some of the things you can do with layer blend modes So now I've got a radiant chicken just as much as I want So now I've got a gradient which I can adjust as much as I want it's starting to affect the boy said Natalie I quite like foreign fighters it's starting to affect the boy's hair. Actually I quite like that effect. I'm going to adjust my bra size. I'm going to adjust my brush size. the opposite color and not the mascot a little bit of an owl. the opposite color and knock the mask out a little bit. But for now look, I want to fade dizzy or upset I want to fade to 0%. Shock horror. Sharp corner I'm not so keen on my drug addled little bit I'm not so keen on. Let's try and drag it a little bit Please crank from this monologue. Please drink from this mug Let's take a floater right the way down Let's take the flow right the way down Let's come down to cowpats and you can see it sitting there right on top of everything. Let's come down to Color Balance and you can see it sitting there right on top of everything.

.. that would make me 'Simon Ramdragon'? Holy sh**! Forget Drippy Cat, that's my new handle!

Hi everyone, I hope this email finds you not too stressed out with the holidays at the moment! These are the Affinity Photo courses I've created a set of discount vouchers for. Enter the coupon on the Apply Coupon field for the relevant course to get the discount. Be aware that there are a limited amount for each course and it's on a first come, first served basis. Anyway, here's the courses, the discount vouchers plus just one of the many feedback quotes for each of the courses: 75% off 'Affinity Photo for the iPad' with this coupon: AFFINITY_IPAD_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-for-the-ipad/ 'Excellent!! I have learned a great deal in a short time. Would recommend this course to anyone.' 66% off 'Affinity Photo: Solid Foundations' with this coupon: SOLID_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ 'Great course, have learnt such a lot. the subtle repetition helps a lot. The videos are easy watch and to keep up with. Tutors voice is very easy to listen to all evening too!' 60% off 'Affinity Photo: Developing Landscapes' with this coupon: LANDSCAPE_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-developing-landscapes/ '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!' 60% off 'Affinity Photo: The Little Box of Tricks' with this coupon: TRICKS_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/ 'Totally awesome and at the exact speed to match my level in Affinity' 50% off 'Affinity Photo: Raw Image Development' with this coupon: RAW_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/ 'Clear, concise, informative, simple to understand and fun.' 50% off 'Affinity Photo: Five Steps to Better Photos' with this coupon: 5STEPS_2017 - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ 'Exceptional course, even after completing 2 advanced courses. Simon is very good in what he does and is a good communicator as well.' Just a quick note here. If you already have the Solid Foundations or iPad course, there's no point in you getting the Five Steps course. The Five Steps course is intended to be a very basic introduction to Affinity Photo and the topics it covers are covered in more depth, along with plenty more topics on the Solid Foundations and iPad courses. I wouldn't want anyone to feel like they's paid more for the same information. The vouchers are available until 6th january 2018, & in the meantime, happy holidays to one and all! Simon

Hi Geminitiger. Eh? First of all I'm very sorry to hear that & can only apologise. Secondly I have to say that Udemy runs sale prices on my courses all the time without telling me they are doing so. That's not a criticism - if they are promoting my courses via sale prices then I'm not in a position to complain. Unfortunately it does mean that I haven't done a sales promotion for a long time because I never know if I'm clashing with what Udemy is doing. So those two prices you were given are as much of a surprise to me as they were to you. But what I will do in the next few days is to offer a limited amount of coupons which give discounts on all the courses. That way, hopefully you get the course at a price you like. Cheers, Simon

Cheers for that Ed! I read the review & blushed. More seriously, I had no idea how this course would be received because the approach is a departure from what I normally do. So the fact that you & others got something useful out of it really makes my day. Thanks again! Simon