drippy cat

Hi everyone,
 
I've just released a series of 10 videos at 5 minutes each about the absolute basics of image editing at this link: https://www.udemy.com/enhancing-photos-for-complete-beginners/?src=sac&kw=enhan
 
This is not a course about how to use any one bit of software. It just covers the basic processes & in what order you would do them with just about any image editing program. The majority of the videos use Photoshop Elements but I also use Affinity Photo and Pixelmator.
 
*Ahem!* - this course does not recommend any one bit of software over another. The very basic stuff I show was selected because the course is for those people who come to an advanced image editing program with all it's buttons and don't know where to start. It aims to show you what sort of things you should be starting out with. It's for people who have said something like:
 
 'I want to improve my photos. I've looked at one or two programs like Photoshop but all of them are just a confusing mass of buttons. Where do I even begin to understand what to do?'
 
All the processes I describe can be done in Affinity Photo, and it naturally leads into 2 of the Affinity Photo courses I have at Udemy - the Five Steps to Better photos course and the Solid Foundations course. Oh; and did I mention it's free?
 
Right, with that course released I can get back to doing the Affinity Photo 1.5 update videos for the other courses at Udemy. Thanks for your time & I hope the lessons prove to be of use to as many of you as possible.
 

Hi everyone,
 
I've just released a series of 10 videos at 5 minutes each about the absolute basics of image editing at this link: https://www.udemy.com/enhancing-photos-for-complete-beginners/?src=sac&kw=enhan
 
This is not a course about how to use any one bit of software. It just covers the basic processes & in what order you would do them with just about any image editing program. The majority of the videos use Photoshop Elements but I also use Affinity Photo and Pixelmator.
 
*Ahem!* - this course does not recommend any one bit of software over another. The very basic stuff I show was selected because the course is for those people who come to an advanced image editing program with all it's buttons and don't know where to start. It aims to show you what sort of things you should be starting out with. It's for people who have said something like:
 
 'I want to improve my photos. I've looked at one or two programs like Photoshop but all of them are just a confusing mass of buttons. Where do I even begin to understand what to do?'
 
All the processes I describe can be done in Affinity Photo, and it naturally leads into 2 of the Affinity Photo courses I have at Udemy - the Five Steps to Better photos course and the Solid Foundations course. Oh; and did I mention it's free?
 
Right, with that course released I can get back to doing the Affinity Photo 1.5 update videos for the other courses at Udemy. Thanks for your time & I hope the lessons prove to be of use to as many of you as possible.
 

One week later and there's over 1000 students signed up. I was chuffed to bits and with it being Christmas I thought I'd give a little gift. I've added 4 more videos on the end where I take a photo (which you can download and follow along with) and develop it so people can get comfortable with the workflow.
 
It is a general course and not software specific, but I use Affinity Photo for 2 out of the 4 videos so a beginner can see some examples of how you might go about developing a photo. It's still free and I wish you all a peaceful Christmas, and may the new year be the one we hope for.

One week later and there's over 1000 students signed up. I was chuffed to bits and with it being Christmas I thought I'd give a little gift. I've added 4 more videos on the end where I take a photo (which you can download and follow along with) and develop it so people can get comfortable with the workflow.
 
It is a general course and not software specific, but I use Affinity Photo for 2 out of the 4 videos so a beginner can see some examples of how you might go about developing a photo. It's still free and I wish you all a peaceful Christmas, and may the new year be the one we hope for.

Hi all,
 
Just to let people who have bought the Solid Foundations course or the RAW Image Development course know that I'm rolling out new videos that talk about the new features in the 1.5 update. So far I've put up 3 videos about HDR & tonemapping with one or two more to come. The other features will be posted as soon as I can do them. The RAW course will have the videos that are appropriate to RAW development, which I think should include the HDR & tonemapping features.
 
This is a free update to the courses for existing owners & will not affect the price for new buyers. I'll make an announcement via the Udemy email service to all course owners when all the new videos are up. I just wanted to let people know that the first ones are already there in case they want to check them out as soon as possible. I'll add to this thread when new ones become available.
 
Thanks for your time,
Simon Foster
 
Oh, the 2 courses in question are here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ and here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/

Hi everyone,
 
I've just released a series of 10 videos at 5 minutes each about the absolute basics of image editing at this link: https://www.udemy.com/enhancing-photos-for-complete-beginners/?src=sac&kw=enhan
 
This is not a course about how to use any one bit of software. It just covers the basic processes & in what order you would do them with just about any image editing program. The majority of the videos use Photoshop Elements but I also use Affinity Photo and Pixelmator.
 
*Ahem!* - this course does not recommend any one bit of software over another. The very basic stuff I show was selected because the course is for those people who come to an advanced image editing program with all it's buttons and don't know where to start. It aims to show you what sort of things you should be starting out with. It's for people who have said something like:
 
 'I want to improve my photos. I've looked at one or two programs like Photoshop but all of them are just a confusing mass of buttons. Where do I even begin to understand what to do?'
 
All the processes I describe can be done in Affinity Photo, and it naturally leads into 2 of the Affinity Photo courses I have at Udemy - the Five Steps to Better photos course and the Solid Foundations course. Oh; and did I mention it's free?
 
Right, with that course released I can get back to doing the Affinity Photo 1.5 update videos for the other courses at Udemy. Thanks for your time & I hope the lessons prove to be of use to as many of you as possible.
 

Hi everyone,
 
I've just released a series of 10 videos at 5 minutes each about the absolute basics of image editing at this link: https://www.udemy.com/enhancing-photos-for-complete-beginners/?src=sac&kw=enhan
 
This is not a course about how to use any one bit of software. It just covers the basic processes & in what order you would do them with just about any image editing program. The majority of the videos use Photoshop Elements but I also use Affinity Photo and Pixelmator.
 
*Ahem!* - this course does not recommend any one bit of software over another. The very basic stuff I show was selected because the course is for those people who come to an advanced image editing program with all it's buttons and don't know where to start. It aims to show you what sort of things you should be starting out with. It's for people who have said something like:
 
 'I want to improve my photos. I've looked at one or two programs like Photoshop but all of them are just a confusing mass of buttons. Where do I even begin to understand what to do?'
 
All the processes I describe can be done in Affinity Photo, and it naturally leads into 2 of the Affinity Photo courses I have at Udemy - the Five Steps to Better photos course and the Solid Foundations course. Oh; and did I mention it's free?
 
Right, with that course released I can get back to doing the Affinity Photo 1.5 update videos for the other courses at Udemy. Thanks for your time & I hope the lessons prove to be of use to as many of you as possible.
 

Hi everyone,
 
I've just put three tutorials on YouTube aimed at complete beginners, although slightly more experienced users of Affinity can get something out of the third one.
 
So here they are:
https://youtu.be/mYwjdx9FJRA- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 101 - don't panic!
https://youtu.be/_sbuSNiiZWc- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 102 - What is a Layer?
https://youtu.be/aWx4X-Nes-s- Affinity Photo Beginners 103 - 5 Essential Photo Editing Steps
 
If they are of some use to you then it's all good.
 
Cheers,
Simon Foster

@axel2078 and @wumpabill. Hello guys! I'm very pleased to hear that you'll be working through the courses and I hope they give you plenty of food for thought. wumpabill; if you are using windows I'm assuming that you'll be using the 1.5 beta of Affinity Photo. I'll be adding extra videos covering the 1.5 features after it's been officially released. It would be improper and unfair on customers and the Affinity developers to do anything else. But I've had a play with the beta and so far it's looking good.
 
Many thanks to both of you again for your support.

Hi everyone,
 
I've just put three tutorials on YouTube aimed at complete beginners, although slightly more experienced users of Affinity can get something out of the third one.
 
So here they are:
https://youtu.be/mYwjdx9FJRA- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 101 - don't panic!
https://youtu.be/_sbuSNiiZWc- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 102 - What is a Layer?
https://youtu.be/aWx4X-Nes-s- Affinity Photo Beginners 103 - 5 Essential Photo Editing Steps
 
If they are of some use to you then it's all good.
 
Cheers,
Simon Foster

Hi everyone,
 
I've just put three tutorials on YouTube aimed at complete beginners, although slightly more experienced users of Affinity can get something out of the third one.
 
So here they are:
https://youtu.be/mYwjdx9FJRA- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 101 - don't panic!
https://youtu.be/_sbuSNiiZWc- Affinity Photo Tutorial for Beginners - 102 - What is a Layer?
https://youtu.be/aWx4X-Nes-s- Affinity Photo Beginners 103 - 5 Essential Photo Editing Steps
 
If they are of some use to you then it's all good.
 
Cheers,
Simon Foster

Hello everyone,
 
With Summer fading and a whole heap of holiday photos to get processed, I thought it was a good time to have a one month sale on my courses over at Udemy. So there's at least 50% off on all the courses when you redeem a coupon until 30th September. Here's a link to an overview on their site: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=Affinity%20Photo&src=ukw〈=en .
 
The complete beginner Five Steps course is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ -  50% off, with the following coupon code: SEPTEMBER16STEPS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16STEPS 
 
The Solid Foundations course, which goes into greater detail is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ - and can be had for one third of the price - not 50% off, it's 67%: SEPTEMBER16SOLID , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16SOLID
 
The RAW processing series is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/and is half price with this coupon code: SEPTEMBER16RAW , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16RAW
 
... and the Little Box of Tricks course which takes you beyond the basics and into intermediate/professional territory is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/and can be had for less than half price - 57% off with this coupon - SEPTEMBER16TRICKS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16TRICKS
 
I've tried to anticipate how many people will sign up but there are a finite amount available, and once they're gone, well, you know the rest. This offer is up until the end of September 30th, so if you want to learn Affinity Photo with a comprehensive series of courses that are designed to work separately or together, there's never been a better time to do so.
 
Cheers,
Drippy Cat

Hi Rigger73. I'm not going to claim that my videos are 'that much better'. The in house videos are very good and it's for the people who write the reviews of my courses over at Udemy to say what they think of the courses, not me. That said, the average user rating for a digital photography course at Udemy is 4.3 out of 5. The Affinity Photo courses I have on there have, at the time of writing, all time averages of 4.65, 4.67, 4.78 and 4.83, for which I am very grateful.
 
I think the main difference between the in house courses & mine are that the in house courses do a very good job of explaining the features in Affinity Photo. My aim and philosophy is to explain how to develop & enhance images and in this instance I use Affinity photo to do so. I explain what you should do, in what order you should do things and why you would want to, along with a few gotchas on the way. And in this case I use Affinity Photo to do so. The way I look at it, given I've been a designer for over 25 years, why not put as much experience from that as possible into the videos, as well as what a particular button does.
 
But ultimately it's up to you. I hope I don't come across as loudly blowing my own trumpet here because I'm a not a natural marketing man & I find all that stuff a bit cringeworthy. I just wanted to explain how I tried to make my courses a bit different. If anyone who has done one of my courses decides to chip in with their own thoughts on the matter I'd welcome it.

Daniele. If you want to learn about Affinity Designer then I'm afraid my courses on Affinity Photo are of little use to you. I don't like to think that you are out of pocket on this. I believe you can apply for a refund within 30 days on a Udemy course and here's the link that explains that: https://support.udemy.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1507981-refund-a-course?b_id=3056 . If you have no luck there send me a private email and I'll see if there's a way I can refund you myself.
 
Regards,
Drippy Cat

Daniele. If you want to learn about Affinity Designer then I'm afraid my courses on Affinity Photo are of little use to you. I don't like to think that you are out of pocket on this. I believe you can apply for a refund within 30 days on a Udemy course and here's the link that explains that: https://support.udemy.com/customer/en/portal/articles/1507981-refund-a-course?b_id=3056 . If you have no luck there send me a private email and I'll see if there's a way I can refund you myself.
 
Regards,
Drippy Cat

Hi,

I wanted to let people know that I've added about an hour and twenty minutes of practice videos to the course, which takes the total time to about 9 hours worth of content. I've uploaded all the photos that I use so you can have a go at the exercises. I recently added most of the photos I use for the original videos so you can follow along with those as well.

The course price won't change and of course this is all free to existing users. I just wanted to make the course better. You can check it out here: https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/

Thanks for your time,

Drippy Cat

Well Simon... since you asked... Could I get back to you on this? My list is long and setting priorities apparently isn't my strong suit. Now that I've learned that money = crashing bore of course I'll be 'taking that under advisement'. Until then my decision/request is TBA.
 
Re your tutorials: I found the tips you presented in RAW processing really opened up possibilities for me and made a significant difference in how I control exposure in specific areas before getting into the photo persona. Your Tips and Tricks have also given me ways of approaching my images without always looking for a 'canned' solution. I think both courses we particularly useful because of way you presented the Solid Foundations. It is apparent that you have a good background in education and course development. (It's particularly apparent to me as a former instructional designer.)
 
My other observation has been that having worked through your material I'm now getting much more out of the many task-specific tutorials provided by Affinity (thanks James) and others. Having easy access to good solid information has made the switch to Affinity Photo both easy and productive. For me your courses compliment the others out there and saved me from many frustrating hours of poking around in hopes of figuring out how to do something.
 
Thanks again,
 
Ed

Hello everyone,
 
With Summer fading and a whole heap of holiday photos to get processed, I thought it was a good time to have a one month sale on my courses over at Udemy. So there's at least 50% off on all the courses when you redeem a coupon until 30th September. Here's a link to an overview on their site: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=Affinity%20Photo&src=ukw〈=en .
 
The complete beginner Five Steps course is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ -  50% off, with the following coupon code: SEPTEMBER16STEPS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16STEPS 
 
The Solid Foundations course, which goes into greater detail is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ - and can be had for one third of the price - not 50% off, it's 67%: SEPTEMBER16SOLID , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16SOLID
 
The RAW processing series is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/and is half price with this coupon code: SEPTEMBER16RAW , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16RAW
 
... and the Little Box of Tricks course which takes you beyond the basics and into intermediate/professional territory is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/and can be had for less than half price - 57% off with this coupon - SEPTEMBER16TRICKS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16TRICKS
 
I've tried to anticipate how many people will sign up but there are a finite amount available, and once they're gone, well, you know the rest. This offer is up until the end of September 30th, so if you want to learn Affinity Photo with a comprehensive series of courses that are designed to work separately or together, there's never been a better time to do so.
 
Cheers,
Drippy Cat

Hello everyone,
 
With Summer fading and a whole heap of holiday photos to get processed, I thought it was a good time to have a one month sale on my courses over at Udemy. So there's at least 50% off on all the courses when you redeem a coupon until 30th September. Here's a link to an overview on their site: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=Affinity%20Photo&src=ukw〈=en .
 
The complete beginner Five Steps course is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ -  50% off, with the following coupon code: SEPTEMBER16STEPS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16STEPS 
 
The Solid Foundations course, which goes into greater detail is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ - and can be had for one third of the price - not 50% off, it's 67%: SEPTEMBER16SOLID , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16SOLID
 
The RAW processing series is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/and is half price with this coupon code: SEPTEMBER16RAW , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16RAW
 
... and the Little Box of Tricks course which takes you beyond the basics and into intermediate/professional territory is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/and can be had for less than half price - 57% off with this coupon - SEPTEMBER16TRICKS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16TRICKS
 
I've tried to anticipate how many people will sign up but there are a finite amount available, and once they're gone, well, you know the rest. This offer is up until the end of September 30th, so if you want to learn Affinity Photo with a comprehensive series of courses that are designed to work separately or together, there's never been a better time to do so.
 
Cheers,
Drippy Cat

Hello everyone,
 
With Summer fading and a whole heap of holiday photos to get processed, I thought it was a good time to have a one month sale on my courses over at Udemy. So there's at least 50% off on all the courses when you redeem a coupon until 30th September. Here's a link to an overview on their site: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=Affinity%20Photo&src=ukw〈=en .
 
The complete beginner Five Steps course is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ -  50% off, with the following coupon code: SEPTEMBER16STEPS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16STEPS 
 
The Solid Foundations course, which goes into greater detail is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ - and can be had for one third of the price - not 50% off, it's 67%: SEPTEMBER16SOLID , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16SOLID
 
The RAW processing series is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/and is half price with this coupon code: SEPTEMBER16RAW , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16RAW
 
... and the Little Box of Tricks course which takes you beyond the basics and into intermediate/professional territory is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/and can be had for less than half price - 57% off with this coupon - SEPTEMBER16TRICKS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16TRICKS
 
I've tried to anticipate how many people will sign up but there are a finite amount available, and once they're gone, well, you know the rest. This offer is up until the end of September 30th, so if you want to learn Affinity Photo with a comprehensive series of courses that are designed to work separately or together, there's never been a better time to do so.
 
Cheers,
Drippy Cat

Bribes again? So; so far I have to bribe a bewildering variety of people with: One Porsche in - lavender or puce? Can't remember. A kiss on the lips from Sandra Bullock. A guaranteed place in the finals of the X Factor. Me actually watching an episode of the X Factor (O please no...) and one crashing bore who just wanted money. So how about you EdD? What's your fancy?
 
Thanks for the endorsement; it really does mean a lot to hear something nice from someone who didn't have to do it.

Just offering an unsolicited opinion. I've used Simon's (aka Drippy Cat) Foundations, RAW development and Tricks courses in addition to the many free tutorials provided by Affinity and others. IMHO Simon's courses are well worth the price - they're an excellent way to get started and to learn some of the intricacies and techniques available. In my case I wanted to get up to speed with Photo quickly and in an orderly fashion - I've done my time with trial and error. I also really liked that Simon discusses the rationale for the various techniques he explains. These courses did the trick.
 
Full disclosure I have no affiliation with Simon or Udemy or anyone else associated with Affinity (Serif). (That said, Simon - I'm always open to discussing bribes! :) )

Hello everyone,
 
With Summer fading and a whole heap of holiday photos to get processed, I thought it was a good time to have a one month sale on my courses over at Udemy. So there's at least 50% off on all the courses when you redeem a coupon until 30th September. Here's a link to an overview on their site: https://www.udemy.com/courses/search/?q=Affinity%20Photo&src=ukw〈=en .
 
The complete beginner Five Steps course is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/ -  50% off, with the following coupon code: SEPTEMBER16STEPS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-five-steps-to-better-photos/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16STEPS 
 
The Solid Foundations course, which goes into greater detail is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ - and can be had for one third of the price - not 50% off, it's 67%: SEPTEMBER16SOLID , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16SOLID
 
The RAW processing series is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/and is half price with this coupon code: SEPTEMBER16RAW , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-raw-image-development/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16RAW
 
... and the Little Box of Tricks course which takes you beyond the basics and into intermediate/professional territory is here - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/and can be had for less than half price - 57% off with this coupon - SEPTEMBER16TRICKS , or follow this link - https://www.udemy.com/affinity-photo-the-little-box-of-tricks/?couponCode=SEPTEMBER16TRICKS
 
I've tried to anticipate how many people will sign up but there are a finite amount available, and once they're gone, well, you know the rest. This offer is up until the end of September 30th, so if you want to learn Affinity Photo with a comprehensive series of courses that are designed to work separately or together, there's never been a better time to do so.
 
Cheers,
Drippy Cat

None!  Coffee however!

Hi Rigger73 & now I get the user name (and the owl? Night creature? Clever!),
 
Oh thank goodness! I'll wring out the towel I used for my tears & take the pins out of the wax doll. Ok; so me being flippant aside, absolutely no offence was taken and I know what a nightshift feels like so my sympathies.
 
I thought you asked a perfectly reasonable question. I should also say thank you because you did me a solid favour. I got the chance to explain what my courses are about in answer to a fair question. Tell you what; if you go here https://www.udemy.com/affinityphoto-solid-foundations/ and scroll down you'll see some reviews and hand on heart, I didn't bribe anybody. I tried to with the Affinity dev team but there's over a dozen of them and they get a bit precious with their demands. When one complained that the Porsche was the wrong shade of lavender I told him to go fix the colour in a decent image editor if he could find one and man! The pouting I got back?! Not worth it.
 
So all good things to you and I hope you're not feeling too knackered. I also hope we see some offshore rig photos at some point. I bet they'd be interesting...