eternalsummer Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I don't need to learn things like theory, or the artistic side of it, or whatever, and I would really rather not buy Illustrator or Photoshop (I am okay with downloading GIMP but would love it if there were something less demanding on my processor). What I need is to learn to do things like remove the background color of an image, or overlay text that is semi-transparent, or change the color of some text in an image or maybe one element of an image. Sometimes a customer sends me a graphic with blue text and a black background, for instance, but wants green text and we can't print solid colored backgrounds so I need to get rid of the background or make it white. I can do this mostly with black and white images on ipiccy but everything else I have to send to a graphic designer, and I hate making our customers pay a graphic designer probably $20 for something I know I could do quickly enough if I just knew how (I wouldn't charge extra for it as I am pretty sure it wouldn't take that much time). Is there a course online I can take for this kind of thing, or a blog I can read, or something? I have tried before but it seems to all be geared either to people who want to do web design or make logos or do really complicated things, and I don't want to become that skilled :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alicia64 Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 I'm super not-techie, but I've had a ton of good experiences by Googling "you tube basic graphic design" kind of thing. I wasn't into design, but I was learning another techie thing. I couldn't believe how many tutorial-videos are out there -- for free. Alley Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Ds is super into graphic design and he suggests that the Affinity products are better for casual newbies than the Adobe ones anyway. They're not super cheap, but you only pay once (unlike Adobe's yearly or monthly costs) and they don't tax your system as much. He now has both, but he still turns to Affinity for a lot of quick things. He taught himself by just pulling up Youtube videos and tutorials for what he wanted to do. I know he has some favorites - if you go with Affinity I can ask him what they are if you like. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Yes, I would say that most of it is over my head. I have had some luck with youtube videos for specific things, and probably I should just dedicate an hour a day to it for a month or so, but it seems like I start a video about this or that, half it makes no sense so I have to back up and watch a video about whatever it was that made no sense, half of that makes no sense so I have to back up again, etc. There was a great one I watched a bunch of times where I learned how to do text sort of cut out from a background texture, though. It was harder than I expected but the video was very clear and clearly geared towards absolute beginners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Wow, Affinity is affordable! And reading through the site, it looks like it can do the (very basic!) things I need it to do. Basically I just want the next step up from MS Paint. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeartString Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 Have you tried something like Pic Monkey? It has some basic free tools. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Yes, I use ipiccy which is like pic monkey, I think, and it does get rid of a background if the background is sort of a neutral light color and the foreground is a neutral dark color (ideally black) - I use the curves tool and it's not perfect but most people don't want perfect if they're getting the label maker to do it for free :) But I'd like something for those times when they want something I know I could do in 2 minutes if I just knew how to do it, kwim? I'm not getting into actual takes-an-hour graphic design, but those little things seem like such a shame to say sorry, I can't do that, go pay someone to do something I should be able to do for free. (I just told three people in a row this very thing this morning and it depressed me.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 12, 2018 Share Posted January 12, 2018 If you're just trying to assemble a basic web graphic, Canva is free, online based, and unbelievably easy. But it can't do image manipulation. Just another one to know. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eternalsummer Posted January 12, 2018 Author Share Posted January 12, 2018 Bah, looked at Canva but it says if I want to remove an image's background, I have to use a different software. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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