Toledo Talk - Webdesign Information Needed for 13yr old Daughter

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Webdesign Information Needed for 13yr old Daughter

My 13yr old daughter has shown a great interest in web design and stuff like that. She has read 2 of the books that I had used for my classes. The programs I had installed on the computer have been lost, due to restoring the computer.

She would like to know more about Corel Paintshop X2, Ulead GIF Animation and similar programs. I can not in any way afford the program or any of the books. I was hoping that someone could offer any ideas or knew of any classes that I could get her involved in. I plan on taking her to the library tomorrow to see what books they have. Her, herself, has been watching tutorials online and getting the jest of it but what more can you do?(like playing solitaire without a deck of cards)

Any suggests would be greatly appreciated, email to sultrylatina2007@aol.com

Thanks,
Angie

created by ToledoLatina on Jun 16, 2008 at 05:03:13 pm Comments: 9

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Comments ... #

Wood county library has DVDs on Ulead and Photoshop (it's probably the industry standard for image manipulation). You can get a card and take them out.

Dreamweaver might be the best web design software and worth learning. Others may disagree. I think you can get it and use it free for 30 days.
http://www.adobe.com/products/dreamweaver/

Photoshop Elements might be worth downloading the trial for as well.
Some people get it with a new computer.
http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshopelwin/

posted by charlatan on Jun 16, 2008 at 05:56:39 pm     #

You might try Paint.Net. It's an open source full feature photo editing application on a small 1.3MB download that doesn't cost a dime. It's been compared to Adobe Photoshop and Corel Paintshop. Impressive.

posted by KraZyKat on Jun 16, 2008 at 08:39:18 pm     #

Gimp is a free graphics program that has a lot of the functions of photoshop including layers, I also believe that it can use photoshop filters (which for my purposes the ones that came with it are all I need), but even if not, there is a lot in this program. There is also a fair amount of information in their documentation.

posted by roygbiv on Jun 16, 2008 at 08:45:31 pm     #

Sorry you can find gimp at http://www.gimp.org/

posted by roygbiv on Jun 16, 2008 at 08:46:24 pm     #

Also, if you work for a company that uses Microsoft applications or Adobe applications you may want to check with your Administrator or SAM (Software Asset Manager) if they have a Home Use Program as a benefit to their EA (Enterprise Agreement) licensing. This usually allows for an employee to use the same apps at home for a very small cost to cover the S/H of the media. Student cost is much cheaper as well if you purchase these under the student name. Have you check with the makers of the LOST applications. If you are properly licensed you should be able to re-install these at no additional cost.

posted by KraZyKat on Jun 16, 2008 at 08:47:04 pm     #

If money is an issue, open source is the way to go. Actually, open source is often the way to go even if money is not an issue.

Start at Sourceforge

The only downside with open source is that she will not have the befefit of being familiar with commercial standards like PS or Dreamweaver. That said, many software categories are dominated just as much by open source as they are by commercial applications.

Regarding Dreamweaver etal, my two cents would be to start by learning html, xml, javascript, ajax, etc. and have a thorough understanding how the entire server resource > network transport > document model > client rendering lifecycle works. Once she knows that so well that she can build everything in a plain text editor - then it is time to move into GUIs like Dreameaver to make it more efficient. IMO, there are about 10 million too many "web designers" out there that are really just people that only know how to use Dreamweaver - raltively speaking, those people are not very valuable in the marketplace.

On the other hand, if she is really just focused on visual design and look and feel, then Photoshop may be all that matters - she can let the code monkeys do the plumbing.

posted by babbleman on Jun 18, 2008 at 09:53:06 am     #

Paint Shop Pro doesn't look so bad after all I guess. It had a horrible reputation for a while.

Here's a search on youtube for tutorials. 281 options might teach something of use:

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=paint+shop+tutorial&search_type=&aq=0&oq=paint+shop+tu

posted by charlatan on Jun 18, 2008 at 11:50:29 pm     #

I use both programs, Paint Shop Pro and PhotoShop. You can get older versions of Paint Shop Pro on eBay for less than $30. I currently run Paint Shop Pro 9 and it's a fantastic program and the one I prefer.

I will tell you that College Degrees teach PhotoShop and graphic design companies lean towards it as well, and it is completely different from Paint Shop Pro.

I learned Paint Shop Pro through a few online groups, many are VERY helpful and have weekly tutorials to help you learn the program. I'm sure the same can be found for PhotoShop as well. It just depends on what you're looking for and what you want for her.

Congrats for opening this opportunity up for your daughter! My kids both mess around with graphics and have learned by watching me and asking questions. My son is actually better than I am in some aspects...LOL

posted by justsimplyholly on Jun 19, 2008 at 03:04:58 pm     #

Thank you all for your wonderful advice. It's nice to know how kind fellow Toledoans can be.

posted by ToledoLatina on Jun 19, 2008 at 03:59:31 pm     #