Learn On Disc

I see there is a new rack of pre-recorded DVD's in the shop. The DVD's have some useful home training courses that may well assist newer digital users - as well as confirm the suspicions of more experienced shooters.

There's quite a bundle of them - I'm not sure if they are all going to be applicable to everyone but there should be something there for most tastes. You'll find them behind the counter near the Cokin filter wall. Check out these:

1. Learn How Yo Use Your Compact Camera - simple step by step videos.

2. Learn How To Use Your SLR Camera - settings and exposure explained.

3. Learn Photoshop Elements Quickly and Easily - my favourite program. You're soaking in it now.

4. The Ultimate Compact Camera Course - 2-disc set - concentrates on people, travel, and landscape.

5. Photoshop Techniques For SLR Photographers -3-disc set - things you really need to know about the king of editing programs.

6. The Ultimate Real Estate Photography Course - 3-disc set - things you really need to know about real estate photography. Meet the emotional needs of buyers. Hide the bathroom mould.

7. The Ultimate SLR Camera Course - 6-disc set - now you get studio, fine art, commercial, fashion, cruise ship and anti-tank photography.

We all pick up books from time to time and watch YouTube tutorials for new stuff but these discs give you the luxury of running the information on the screen at your own pace. Even if you know it all, someone you know may not and these disc sets may help them to advance in the hobby.

Epson Surecolor SC-P600

We have yet to break the tape seal on one of the new Epson Surecolor SC-P600 inkjet printers here in the shop. Lack of space, not lack of enthusiasm...as soon as someone wants to see in the box we are all going to crowd round and poke our professional noses in.

I expect it will look somewhat similar to my Epson Stylus Photo R3000 -the printer it has replaced in the Epson range. There will be a few new things - bigger cartridges, I believe, and automatic switching between gloss and matte black inks.

I see it has got the wireless linkage and a lot of the funny photo sharing provisions to print from the newer smart phone or pad devices. This scares me, so I just use the aethernet wired socket in the back and that works fine

What also works fine, and I'm a complete fan of this after last Saturday afternoon, is the facility in it to print the labels of CD disks. There is a slick little plastic jig that holds one of the CD or DVD discs that is taken into the printer automatically. Epson have provided a program with the printer that sets up a label design window in your hard drive. You electronically whack it out on the virtual desktop and start cutting, sewing, and daubing. There are a number of suggested design templates or you can wing it on your own.

Put in a background, if you wish - I suggest a lighter image if you are going to have dark colours for the text on the disc. Lighter images use less ink, as well, so there is economy to consider should you be making a large run of discs.

The text commands for the disc are phenomenal, in that you can type them out straight and then curve them perfectly to the shape of the disc. And all with one grab of a dot - I think it must be industrial magic.

You'll spend some time making the disc label design to your own taste, but you'll be amazed how fast the printer can do the rest of the job. From clipping the disc into the plastic holder through the auto loading and then the printing from computer command it is 4 button clicks and takes about 90 seconds Then the machine spits out the printed disc and you can start again. I was terrified of the job but it all turned out so simple - and that is really the trick that Epson have for inkjet printer users:

Epson works, works well, and works very simply. Hooray.