Tutorial for a new user

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cathodeRay
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

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I'm inclined to think any terminology translations need to be explicit. By this I mean searching for 'levels' shouldn't just take you to Histogram Correction: instead it should explicitly make the translation, as in my example in (7) above. Otherwise the point isn't really made, and the student has to learn by osmosis.

English speaker that I am, I suspect that I am not the only one who had not realised there was a Tipps&Tricks forum and that it contained some toots. Most of the posts, now that I have looked at it, seem (unsurprisingly) to be tips and tricks rather than tutorials, where tips and tricks are quick/down and dirty hits and techniques whereas a tutorial is more comprehensive and is implicitly almost always titled [How to] Do XYZ. Most tutorials (as many of yours do, Ken) benefit greatly from an up front before and after image.

Which brings me on to the next thought: a forum which lists thread titles isn't the ideal setting for showcasing tutorials - showcase being the key word. However, it might be made 'good enough' by (a) have a dedicated section called Tutorials (or Tutorials and Guides?), (b) applying some sort of editorial guidelines for anything posted there that might include things like having a before and after image right at the top of the first post and that posts cover the steps of how to get from before to after (ie not be just 'tips and tricks'). The post should be a means to get to an end (though perhaps not always. [How to] Understand Masks Lassos and Selection could be an 'interesting' topic...).

An example might be a thread 'How to Sharpen a Photo'. But immediately this highlights that such an apparently simple title/question isn't so simple after all, and if we are not careful we could end up writing a book about it. Why sharpen? When to sharpen? What to sharpen? And only then - how to sharpen? USM? High Pass? High Radius? High Hopes? High Jinx? And what about deconvolution? Help!

Another common situation I find myself in is becoming aware of a PS technique, and wondering how to do it in PL. This covers things like [How to] Do a Frequency Separation, [How to] Do Luminosity Masking etc and that old chestnut [How to] Do Layer > Add Layer.

The third broad area, which in some ways is the most interesting, is how to harness PLs special capabilities. By this I mean things like adjustment/mask layer groups, hybrid layers (as in mixing different colour modes in the same image and even layer), and pushing sliders outside the 0-100% range, to mention but a few.

It might be that what I have in mind is more of a wiki than a forum.

cathodeRay
cathodeRay
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

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PS - Another thought - maybe PL's 'special capabilities' are the really interesting area, as for many people they will be the 'unknown unknowns'.

cR
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photoken
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

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Ray,
It seems to me that if someone searches the Help for "Levels" and gets to the Histogram page that says "This is commonly called Levels in other programs.", they will have an explicit "translation" that drives home the point. I'm thinking it would be less time-consuming for the developers to implement that than to maintain a separate "translations" page. (For example, how do you create a "Clarity" translation entry when PL has at least three ways of achieving that?) But, in either case, we are agreeing that having the terminology "translations" quickly available in the Help would be a Good Thing. I ain't gonna argue to the death about its implementation.... :wink:

I've had the same thoughts as you about the posting of interesting uses of PL, whether they're simple tips, intriguing tricks or sophisticated tutorials. Whether or not a forum is a good format for showcasing tutorials, right now it's all we've got so we'll have to make the best of it. You've correctly identified the problem with enforcing a standard concept of what makes a "tutorial" -- one user might be so enamored of his latest discovery that he thinks it's deserving of being considered a "tutorial", while cooler heads might agree that it's more of an intriguing "trick". Who is going to be the "Tutorial Police"? Certainly not the developers, who have too many other things of greater importance to work on.

So, for better or worse, having a "Tips, Tricks & Tutorials" forum will have to do, I'm thinking. Over time, it will get something of a "self-correcting" effect as users learn whose self-described "Tutorials" are really that....
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
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russellcottrell
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

Beitrag von russellcottrell »

How about this?

http://www.russellcottrell.com/photo/PhotoLine/

I wrote this with my kids in mind. Just uploaded it; haven’t actually linked to it from the outside world yet.
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photoken
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

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Russell,
Nice. Thanks for sharing.

Just a first comment regarding the paragraph about Installation -- it should be noted that, although not required, it's definitely recommended for new users to listen to The Song while downloading and installing PL.... :wink:
Ken
Yes, I think it can be eeeeeasily done....
Just take everything out on Highway 61.
cathodeRay
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

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Russell - I have had a look at your tutorial - already very good and accessible, and at the same time an excellent base to build on. Can I suggest you start a new thread and put the link in the first post so people can be more easily aware of it? At the moment it's buried in page three of a long thread. Might I even suggest you invite comments, additions even, but at the same time you retain all editorial control - some some reason I trust you as a safe pair of hands to do this!

I also hope the brothers will welcome this development with open arms: it is after all helping to fulfil one of the more common requests.

cathodeRay
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russellcottrell
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Re: Tutorial for a new user

Beitrag von russellcottrell »

Hello, and thank you for the feedback. I made some additions to the Hue/Saturation page yesterday. Am planning to add a page about raw conversion, even though I actually recommend using RawTherapee, for the .dcp profiles if nothing else. Thinking about ending it with a condensed command reference and “pearls.” I ran a sample page by Gerhard before uploading the whole thing and he graciously said it was a good idea.