Hello to all. It’s been a while since I had a rant or vented, so I thought I would today. I’m feeling rather down and out.
I’ve done over 180 tutorials since 2000 and I really enjoy doing them. As I get older, I feel somewhat of an urgency to pass on what I’ve learned. I’ve been using Photoshop since its beginning. In other words, I got a copy as soon as I heard it was originally available. I loaded it into my Mac and was absolutely lost. I didn’t know where to begin. There really wasn’t a lot out there in the way of tutorials. Then, again, it was a very simple program in the beginning. As I learned, so did my friends. What they learned, they passed on to me.
With all that said, it really bothers me when I write a tutorial (whether it’s free for download or on a CD) and find someone either selling or claiming the technique as their own. I’ve even found people quoting me word for word and claiming it to be theirs. I’m happy when someone learns a technique that I showed them. After all, that’s why I do this. I would like to be given credit for the work that I’ve done. I’ve actually had people purchase my tutorial and then turn around and teach it online as their own technique. That’s just not right.
This is the main reason why I’ve pretty much stopped posting tutorials lately. I’ve even quit posting how to’s and tips. Most of you know the reason I have three tutorials for sale is due to their sheer size. I don’t have the bandwidth for downloading them from my site. I decided, with urging from my friends, to put them on CD and charge a fee to compensate for the trouble and cost. That is only three out of 180. Most of the tutorials are no longer available because I had to make room for newer ones and I retired older ones to make that room. I’ve recently been able to offer two of the tutorials for download on a third-party site but I have to pay for that privilege so there is still a fee.
I hope you don’t mind this rant. It’s just very frustrating to spend the time and make the effort and then see someone else take the credit.
I don’t claim to be the originator of smudging. It’s been around longer than digital. I did develop the technique that is most used today and this can be verified by my earlier posts in 2001. I did not develop the watercolor technique. I did, however, create a tutorial with a different method than had been previously used, which was received very favorably by all.
It wasn’t long after the release of the watercolor tutorial that I found copies were being sold on the Internet. This, however, was to be expected. After all, it is the Internet and that’s what happens on the Internet. Again, the thing that bothered me the most was the people taking credit for what they had learned from me.
There is no need to try to guess whom, where or when. This is not important. What’s important to me is to say something about it. What brought all this rant on was an e-mail that I received that said your technique is a copy of so and so’s technique and what gives me the right to sell, offer or to even post my tutorials without giving so and so credit. That really bothered me.
Thank you.
Steve
