Vividcat asked this question on the artcone forums: Just a quick comment/winge/gripe/appreciation of tutorials and those who make them. I have been trying to teach myself the fundamentals of Photoshop 7 (and soon Illustrator as I have been given a copy) and as such have been searching around looking for good tutorials, and I believe I have found some. What amazes me is that there are so many bad or terribly written tutorials around. I know for many it may be the breakdown in interrpretation…the language barrier can be a real bitch…but in some cases it is just careless documentation. What frustrates me the most is the small details which are left out, the small details that are sometimes hard to backtrack too and adjust, and the assumption that users will just know what to do. For instance the other day I was following the instructions for an abstract background, I tried 3 times following the instructions exactly but my finished results were nothing like what I was supposed to end up with. Often it is the simplist thing that causes problems, as an example….Open a new document…What size?? How many dpi?? What colour?? As a trained trainer maybe I just expect too much and that everyone would go to the same amount of detail that I would go too. What it comes down too, in my humble opinion, is that not all users of the tutorials are conversant with all the effects/shortcuts/tools/possibilities that we are presented with when using such excellent programs as Photoshop. Please, please, please if you write a tutorial make sure EVERYONE can follow it, that it makes sense and develops in a sensible way. Maybe we need a tutorial on writing tutorials???
And now the nice bit…thanks to everyone who writes tutorials, good or bad…I really appreciate that people go to the trouble of sharing their knowledge with people like me who have the creative juices flowing but lack the know-how of the tools.
In writing this post I don’t mean to offend anyone, it is just something I have noticed in my travels through the pages of this, and many other sites.
8 Responses to “Tutorials..the Good, The Bad And The Ugly”
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Steve
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
It often doesnt matter what size, colour or dpi you use.
Default dpi is fine for most users, for most purposes – if you want something higher you know why and so, it doesnt need explained.
Colour – well how many tutorials end up with a default colour background?
Size – if its a manipulation, its the size of the base image the user is meant to copy in. If its a background, its whatever res you use.
Tutorials are to learn specific things, not common sense – and anyway, if someone is to progress with their use of photoshop or another program – they need to have automony, and spoonfeeding everything step by step isnt going to help that at all.
Lombi
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
It’s actually a two sided sword since on one side people will complain that the tutorials are too focused on complete noobs (this is an actual quote) and the other side which will complain that they are too hard to follow.
If a tutorial has just an “open document” direction it usually means that it does not need any additional information on that part. It does not matter what you put in as long as you get trough the dialog box.
The idea would be at this point to have some sort of automatic linking put in place which would link common photoshop phrases to specific tutorials (like the word curves to the cof’s curves tutorial and so on)
Vividcat
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
As I said I am a trained trainer so I like to see all the t’s crossed and the i’s dotted. If and when I ever write a tutorial I will make it usuable by any reader, assuming that all people have some underlying knowledge defeats the purpose of writing a tutorial, unless it is labelled ’advanced user’ or something similar. Write as if your audience has no knowledge, the ones that do have some experience will gloss over the stuff they already know and understand. Anyway thats my opinion so there…… :blah:
Lombi
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
So does this mean that we could expect a tutorial or two from you in the near future? :dance:
spllogics
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
good luck. cant please everyone. an some people are just ignorant.
Pertty sure some of my tutorials are not wrote to par. but if you get it good if not o well.
Vividcat
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
So does this mean that we could expect a tutorial or two from you in the near future? :dance:
[/quote]
Hahahaha…..funnily enough I was writing one as I worked through the steps of some image I was making, thought I was doing a great job until I read it the next day…LOL…there were so many mistakes in it but it was a good learning experience. Anyway I deleleted it and never got back to it. when I get this work done for the exhibition I will get back to it.
Articalia
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
I absolutely have NO idea how to make a tutorial >_>
Steve
July 31st, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Quite easy really
Find a new/interesting technique, write about it with pictures and use the Submit link to add it (Theres a link somewhere on that page for tutorials)
Wait for a mod/admin to approve it, voila!