Monthly Archives: March 2014

In Recovery of Excitement and Hope

After some computer research into Adobe Photoshop, which sells for about $600, I learned that Photoshop Elements, the dumbed down program for hobbyists, sells for about $60. If it is “dumbed down”, a degree in advanced computer design may be required for the big girl version!

cabin windowPerhaps by looking through the window as I did when beginning the project all full of excitement and hope will restore a bit of excitement and hope as I recover from some hard truths.

I bought Photoshop Elements and it should arrive within a week. Because it is by Adobe, the same outfit that made the program I used to design the book, I’m hoping the learning curve won’t be terribly steep. A few years ago, I dabbled in the very earliest version of Photoshop Elements, so maybe this won’t be too hard.  Lots of maybe and hope there. . .

The Book Designer recommended a book printing company in Michigan. I sent the preliminary info for a preliminary estimate on the cost of printing. One of the questions was “How many book titles do you publish a year?” Heh, heh, heh. My last book was printed in 1998. That would make about 1/16 of a book title published per year.

Gadzooks!

Holy cow, oh my goodness, fly-over-the-handlebars with sudden stopping jolting shock.

I spoke to a self-publishing consultant. He graciously (for a larger amount of money than I typically earn in a week) spent a fat hour on the phone with me, first thinking like a book designer and second, thinking like a book publisher.

He taught me a lot.

I knew there were problems in Pictureland, irritants in Imageville, and difficulties in Drawing World, as I went through my adventures in Adobe Indesign.

Yeppers. Good thing I didn’t sell any of those originals yet, because I need to rescan them. Then I need to buy Adobe Photoshop and learn how to use it. Then I need to put the new scans in Photoshop to do some computer converting and some magical mystery adjusting.

No biggie. 268 drawings, minus the 2 that I accidentally amputated, and the 4 that I drew as commissions and let the customer take equals 262 drawings to be rescanned.

When Mr. Consultant learned I did this project on a laptop using iPhoto, he called me “a warrior”.

Well, yea, I can feel good about something as I muddle along in techie ignorance.

Now I need to figure out how to procure Photoshop without subscribing to the “creative cloud”. Barf. Just sell me the dang program.

Attitude, attitude, attitude. Think and act like a warrior.

Yikes – do I need to find a rifle and shoot this project?

Nope. Nevuh, nevuh, nevuh give up.

To be continued. . .