I finally bit the dust and purchased PSE. I've been very aggravated with Artisan 5 the past few years (with both the software and the parent company-especially them) that I'm done with it! I'll finish up the few projects I've started on it, then I'll need to make the permanent switch over. I'm both excited and scared. And I'm panicking a bit. Lol! So, I need. Where do I start, other than downloading and installing it on my computer... I know I'll have a gadzillion questions. Plus, I gotta be ready for MOC.
Well, that is one way to get you back into scrapping... buy a new software and learn it before MOC! Good luck!
Oh, how fun! Maybe start with the support tutorials at Adobe to learn the mechanics of the program? (PSE here). I think @BevG is familiar with both Artisan and PSE, so maybe she could give you some pointers.
I'd play around with it... Maybe have a friend on chat at the same time, so you can ask questions. Open a tiff or psd template... move things around. See how the layers work. Look at menus/tools. I'd focus on the move tool first. Read a few tutorials and look at screen captures to recognize where things might be.
Yay!!! So excited for you Jan. Be sure to check out the Facebook group (I think you are already on there). Lots of links to tutorials. The biggest difference is: Artisan is object driven, while PSE (and PS) is tool driven. In Artisan, you select the object and then decide what to do with it. In PSE you pick up the tool and then can use it on multiple objects until you put it down. For example say you wanted to erase part of an element: in Artisan, you select the element, select erase, adjust the tool and do it. Then it automatically puts you back into default mode. If you want to erase another element, you start over again. In PSE, you can select the object first (or second), but once you pick the erase tool, it is in your hand, so you can easily select another object and use the erase tool on it too. It will keep erasing until you click back on the move tool to re-enter the default mode. Same thing with Text - you will keep adding text boxes until you put the text box tool down (i.e. click on the move tool). The other big difference is that you don't fill things in PSE. You clip things together and the top one takes on the shape, transparency, etc. of the bottom one. You clip a photo to a box shape, a paper to a paper strip. So anything on a template can be anything you want. Using masks is really easy. p.s. I got PSE on a Black Friday sale and was able to use it for MOC. You can do it too. Just be patient with yourself and practice, practice. p.s.p.s. Last year I went to full PS and I love it even more than PSE. So many more things you can do and it works how I think.
good luck! I have another program but have not been able to focus and learn - too much into genealogy right now to learn anything new on scrapbooking. But I agree on the frustrations on A5.
Oh, Thank you!!! I've yet to get started ... I'm hoping on Monday after the weekend of shopping and decorating for Christmas! Oh, Bev, this is amazing! Thank you so much. This will help me get out of Artisan-brain and into PSE-brain! lol! Just getting used a different way of thinking will be the hardest part, especially since I've been using SBC/Artisan since SBC 2.0! I haven't started yet - the next few days are crazy with shopping and decorating, but I'm hoping to get full into it by Monday.
That's so fun! I'd say the best thing to do is uninstall Artisan so you can't fall back on using it. Then maybe just pick one page you love and try to recreate it in PSE. If you have questions, post them in the forum as you go and hopefully we can help you as you go.
Have fun with your new program! I went from PSE5 to PSE2020 earlier this year. Once the wonderful ladies here helped me, I got used to it more easily.
Have fun and be patient with yourself! I agree with the advice of forcing yourself to use the program even when it's frustrating. I started with PSP and transitioned to Photoshop and I remember it taking me about a week to get used to it, but much longer before I could fully appreciate all of the capabilities. Thankfully there are tons of tutorials too!
Go slow, be patient. If you are trying to do something that isn't working right, step away and either look for a tutorial or ask someone. Because I learned it's super frustrating to spend an hour trying to make a program do what I think it should, only to find out I missed a little button. Force yourself to use it. When I went from PSE to PS I had to physically delete the PSE shortcut and put the PS one there instead. Otherwise, I opened PSE, and since it was already open.... When teaching my mom, the hardest part was getting her to understand layers. IDK if A5 has layers? But I told her to think of it as a bunch of papers on your desk. You can't see the text you wrote, because you put it underneath the photo. You have to pull it up on top of the photo to see it. Also, check your text color before you journal. I've spent a lot of time over the years trying to figure out why I can't see my text, even though it's on top of the paper, etc. Then I realize I'm writing in white on a white background or black on a black photo. Congrats! It's awesome to learn something new, even when it's hard at first!