14 replies to this topic

[hippiechyck]

so far, i'm having a grand old time playing with Storyist!

if it had a feature to make book covers, i'd be in hog heaven VERY VERY simple, user friendly features to make covers...yup

[Thoth]

hippiechyck, on 25 October 2011 - 09:59 PM, said:

so far, i'm having a grand old time playing with Storyist!

Great!

hippiechyck, on 25 October 2011 - 09:59 PM, said:

if it had a feature to make book covers, i'd be in hog heaven VERY VERY simple, user friendly features to make covers...yup

Could you elaborate on "VERY VERY simple"?
For example, you import a .jpg into Storyist and it (Storyist) sculpts it into a cover format (dimensions, image density, etc) and sticks it under IMAGES. Then when you export to a publishing format you get to pick an image in IMAGES for your cover. Something like that?
-T

[hippiechyck]

Thoth, on 26 October 2011 - 01:48 AM, said:

Could you elaborate on "VERY VERY simple"?
For example, you import a .jpg into Storyist and it (Storyist) sculpts it into a cover format (dimensions, image density, etc) and sticks it under IMAGES. Then when you export to a publishing format you get to pick an image in IMAGES for your cover. Something like that?
-T

okay...i like that...

and i can add nice font for the titles and if i need a text box on the back i can make it opaque so i can add my back matter

and converts to PDF so i can upload to Create Space

but nothing complicated like GIMP, Photoshop and all that...i need it like Paint simple

[Thoth]

hippiechyck, on 26 October 2011 - 01:58 AM, said:

and i can add nice font for the titles and if i need a text box on the back i can make it opaque so i can add my back matter

So front and back covers with text overlays provided by Storyist.
I don't know about the text overlays. Building that kind of graphics power into Storyist might over-complicate things.

hippiechyck, on 26 October 2011 - 01:58 AM, said:

and converts to PDF so i can upload to Create Space

That goes without saying. But it's the Mac OS that converts everything into a PDF. It's a Mac Print option.

hippiechyck, on 26 October 2011 - 01:58 AM, said:

but nothing complicated like GIMP, Photoshop and all that...i need it like Paint simple

Photoshop? Paint features may be too much. Maybe just a better interface with AppleWorks would suffice.
-T

[hippiechyck]

AppleWorks? What's that? do tell

i have Snowleopard OSX and iPhoto doesn't do much "fun" editing stuff

i've looked around on the App site and nothing free looks like it would work

yes, sadly i find Photoshop very complicated...i told you i am techie inept i have very very willing friends who helped me with my cover and interior illustrations but i'd really like to learn a simple program to do it myself

[Thoth]

hippiechyck, on 27 October 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

AppleWorks? What's that? do tell

Oh, you're teasing. AppleWorks 6 was the precursor of iWorks. It has a word processor, a spreadsheet program, a database program, a paint program and a presentation program. (It came free with Tiger.) You could import a jpg and type all over it if you wanted to. Very simple. Arguably iWork and iLife together can do more than AppleWorks and do it better but they are more complicated. Maybe you should play around with iPhoto and Pages a little more.

hippiechyck, on 27 October 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

i have Snowleopard OSX and iPhoto doesn't do much "fun" editing stuff

Can't you import a picture in Pages?

hippiechyck, on 27 October 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

i've looked around on the App site and nothing free looks like it would work

Darn all those greedy developers for insisting they get paid for their work.

hippiechyck, on 27 October 2011 - 12:34 PM, said:

yes, sadly i find Photoshop very complicated...i told you i am techie inept i have very very willing friends who helped me with my cover and interior illustrations but i'd really like to learn a simple program to do it myself

Don't feel bad. Photoshop IS complicated. I designed software for a living—for a while, until I moved on to more lucrative work—and I can tell you that Photoshop is complicated. Poser Pro is worse. And don't get me started on Terminex Infinity—it had an 800 page manual, densely printed, without pictures, and loaded with company-created jargon. And the early versions of Dramatica we all author-created jargon (but they got wise in 2004 and started speaking standard English, sorta).

I guess what I'm saying is, don't let the bastards get you down. If they're failing to communicate with a customer the fault is theirs, even if the punishment is ours.
-T

[hippiechyck]

Thoth, on 27 October 2011 - 10:54 PM, said:

I guess what I'm saying is, don't let the bastards get you down. If they're failing to communicate with a customer the fault is theirs, even if the punishment is ours.
-T

thanks Thoth...sometimes i wonder why i have a $2K lap top that i don't know that much about

i'll play around a bit with iWork/iPhoto but so far i haven't had much success

[Thoth]

hippiechyck, on 28 October 2011 - 11:37 PM, said:

thanks Thoth...sometimes i wonder why i have a $2K lap top that i don't know that much about

If I may say, you shouldn't let that bother you. How much do you really know about your car or your telephone? (I think they may be conspiring together against us while we sleep.)

hippiechyck, on 28 October 2011 - 11:37 PM, said:

i'll play around a bit with iWork/iPhoto but so far i haven't had much success

You might want to take a look at the iWork Resources page.
-T

[hippiechyck]

Thanks Thoth, i'll look at that pages

there's a reason i named my MacBook Q and my phone Data

[Thoth]

hippiechyck, on 01 November 2011 - 02:33 PM, said:

...
there's a reason i named my MacBook Q and my phone Data

Let me guess: your MacBook is All Powerful, and your phone doesn't permit English contractions.

-T

[whirlybird]

Hi Guys,

I just wanted to check in and say hi. I've been without power since the snow storm on Saturday (4 1/2 days of misery) but I'm back on track. I can't believe I actually have access to the internet and don't have to worry about how much battery charge I have.

Hippiechyck, I love your MacBook and phone names. Of course, Thoth, you're hysterical as usual. Hippiechyck, do you have access to an Apple store? The free workshops they offer have really helped me learn quite a bit. I have repeated classes and keep learning something new.

-Whirlybird (no longer a cave dweller)

[hippiechyck]

LOL, Thoth! almost


Whirly, thanks, i have contemplated going to classes...the store nearest me is a half hour...maybe for my birthday

[whirlybird]

hippiechyck, on 15 November 2011 - 12:56 AM, said:

LOL, Thoth! almost


Whirly, thanks, i have contemplated going to classes...the store nearest me is a half hour...maybe for my birthday

Hippiechyck,

The nearest Apple store to me is also a half hour away. I try to schedule a few classes the same day. There's a mall attached to the store and a Barnes and Noble store I go to between classes. What kills me is that the store closest to my parents is only 5 minutes away and they have no intention of ever going there. Once when I was visiting them and decided to go to my first class there I told my parents I was going to an Apple store. They were flummoxed trying to figure what kind of store just sold apples and why I would be interested in shopping there. Even now when I say I'm going to the Apple store i know they still pause for a moment to wonder granny smith, red delicious, or gala.

Hope you get a chance to go for your birthday.

-W

[Marguerite]

whirlybird, on 27 November 2011 - 03:19 PM, said:

What kills me is that the store closest to my parents is only 5 minutes away and they have no intention of ever going there. Once when I was visiting them and decided to go to my first class there I told my parents I was going to an Apple store. They were flummoxed trying to figure what kind of store just sold apples and why I would be interested in shopping there. Even now when I say I'm going to the Apple store i know they still pause for a moment to wonder granny smith, red delicious, or gala.
-W

The answer is Macintosh, of course.
M

[whirlybird]

Marguerite, on 27 November 2011 - 04:33 PM, said:

The answer is Macintosh, of course.
M

Good one, M , but I'm not sure they would get it

-W