My Learning Curve for iPad Dummies begins!

[CTyankee]

Thanks to my Lounge friends who gave me advice on what I needed for my art project, I visited my local Apple Store and got acquainted with the iPad Mini. Found out that they offer FREE workshops on the thing early in the A.M. during the week ("best time to come to the store" an employee told me).

OK, it's gonna be a way to go before I trust myself with this thing. And even then I'm gonna ask myself if I really need it, if just for one or two projects, given its cost. But I am gonna try!

So far I am not as thrilled as I am "supposed" to be with all the things that this device does. I know the Apple Store folks really just want to "move product" but they look at me funny when I don't appear to swoon just holding it...

[boston bean]

1. i have an ipad, and I miss some functions I had with a PC

for the life of me I can't figure out how to link to a picture and get it to post here on DU.

I tried searching for a solution, and I think it has to do with my browser, safari. But I have no idea which I should be using that would make it function and look like the IE browser I am use to using.

If anyone has the solution, please let me know.

[NV Whino]

4. It can be done, but

It is difficult and time consuming. I don't often post photos from my iPad.

[A HERETIC I AM]

10. Typing this from and iPad and here's how I do it.....

Last edited Mon Aug 5, 2013, 06:36 AM - Edit history (1)

Now that I've typed this, I hit the button at the bottom (or my right, as I have this unit in a keypad cradle) to return to the desktop screens. For starters, I am going to go find a pic from my Photobucket "App" of a Manatee that hangs out in the river behind my house .....

OK...so when I open the pic it opens full screen and at the top is a "link" icon. tap that and you get the regular links you're familiar with if you use Photobucket on a PC. Tap the "Direct Link" bar and it will copy to your clipboard.

Come back here, tap the screen where you want the photo to show up and you will get a "Paste" option. Click it an voila!




Now to get a pic from a website is more time consuming the way I do it, as you don't have the ability to right-click. UNless someone can tell me an easier way to do it, Here's my method;

You basically tap the photo and click "save". That puts it on your camera roll in your photos app. Then you have to save it to your photobucket account and follow the procedures above.

Getting a photo from a Google search is a little easier.

Say you want a photo of ....oh, I don't know.....a bloody big crane (hey! I like cranes)

Open your Google app, search for "bloody big cranes" and click "images" .

Pick one and click on it. It should open so that you can see at the top of the screen the little square with the arrow heading out of. Click that and it will give you the option to open in Safari. Once you do that you should see the URL at the very top. Just tap the URL bar and you should get the choices to "select and select all" Select all, THEN "COPY", return to the page you want to post the pic on, tap the screen where you want it and click "paste". Make sure the URL has a .jpg or similar at the end. Hit the "preview" button on your post and make sure the shot shows up OK


That's the easiest way I've found to do it.




Hope that helps a little.

[Make7]

15. To get a pic from a website...

... you can usually just hold your finger on the image until the Save Image/Copy popup appears, select Copy, open a new tab and Paste into the address bar. That should give you the image URL which you can Select All, Copy, and then Paste into a DU post. Example:


http://xkcd.com/1247/

At least how I did this post using Safari on an iPad.

[A HERETIC I AM]

16. Cool! I knew there was an easier way than what I was doing. Thanks! n/t

[femmocrat]

2. I have been holding off on getting an iPad.

I don't really think I need it for anything, although the camera would be nice. I think I would rather have an Apple laptop like I have at work. I really do like that computer compared to this crappy laptop that I use at home.

[Denninmi]

3. I bought my iPad about a year ago.

Great for entertainments- surfing, Netflix, etc. Good for music, keeping a calendar, email.

Productivity wise, I use Windows based at work and home. I have found it difficult to convert docs, etc, still not used to it.

Bought my sister the Microsoft Surface for Christmas last year, I really like it, AND it had a USB port. Alas, no built in air card, though. If it had that, it would be perfect.

Honestly, for anyone used to Windows, I would recommend looking at Windows based tablets first.

[CTyankee]

7. OK, just today I looked at Surface and really liked it. What difference to me would be the lack of

a built in air card (I don't understand the lingo, sorry)...what does that mean in terms of practical application of it?

Other than that, I liked being able to access Word and use it just like I do at home. And it has a back facing camera so I can take pictures AND I can save pics and text to a document and save it for future use (i.e. to DU and also to Facebook).

I also liked the enlarged and familiar keyboard...

[Denninmi]

9. An air card = built in cellular service.

So, you can go online anywhere you can get a cell signal. Of course, you have to pay AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint for the service - my AT&T plan was $50 per month.

Without that, you can only go online when connected to a wifi signal.

You can buy an external air card and carry that around as a portable hot spot.

[CTyankee]

11. OK, thanks. But if I am sending text and photos from Europe don't I need wifi?

That is what I really want...

[Denninmi]

12. Never been there, can 't answer for sure.

I assume cell phone signals and plans work over there. But ????

Wifi always works, as long as you can access it.

[CTyankee]

14. The inn I'll be staying at in Tuscany has wifi (extra charge of 2 euros a day,tho).

I was pretty amazed, but I guess it is pretty much everywhere in Western Europe.

[NV Whino]

5. I was given an iPad

I would never have bought one on my own. But now, I love it. I do serious work (graphics) on my desk top. I use the iPad for surfing and carry it with me for notes, contacts, sketching, quick photos and general communication with my clients.

[jakeXT]

6. I always thought artists use something like Wacom

[CTyankee]

8. I am not using it for creating art. I am using it for art history projects which often become my

Friday Afternoon Challenges here!

I wish I were an artist, doing art. I cannot, so I do the next best thing, which is to appreciate and try to spread the word and image of art to folks...it's my project in retirement!

[Xyzse]

13. I find the iPad as a glorified toy

Posing as a work tool.

I don't like it's file system method and how much I have to work around just to be able to email documents.

[CTyankee]

17. That's what I was afraid of. And perhaps why I was immediately comfortable with Surface by

Microsoft, but the cost is very high and all I saw was a tablet, not a mini version (which I may not want anyway due to keyboard issues)...

[Xyzse]

18. I understand. I think you just missed some of the low cost deals they had

Which included the MS Office Suite.

[CTyankee]

19. ARe you familiar with Surface?

I'm really at the beginning of my search so there is no way I was ready to take advantage of the introductory deals. However, thems the breaks!

I want to know that I'll have a real use for most of the bells and whistles of one of these devices before I spend any money. I am really not very interested in games, for instance. If that is the major attraction to these products then it probably wouldn't be worth my while to buy one...

However, my search continues today...

[Xyzse]

20. I'm not too familiar with it other than the Windows OS

However, when it comes to electronics, I tend to think of the following:

What do I intend to use it for?
What do I want to do with it?

From what I am hearing, you want to create some art. I agree that the iPad has some art tools that are pretty impressive.
Problem I have with it, is that it is harder to connect it to a printer, and if you want to send files, it doesn't make it easy.

If "touch" is a pre-requisite, I am more inclined to go towards a laptop that has a touch screen and doubles as a tablet. It makes it easier to transfer files, since it has a USB connection. Some even have bluray/dvd drives.

I got upset with the iPad for wanting me to pay for their cloud service so that I can back up files from that thing.
When I found out that I can't even download a PDF from a site with that thing, so that I could send it via e-mail using it's mail system, I almost punt kicked it too.

Thing is, it is still cheaper than the iPad.

Any how, good luck. I mean, the iPad is a beautiful piece of work. If you know how to program an app, you can even create pretty cool UI programs for various things. Still, you can do that with other tablets too.

The saving grace for the iPad at the moment, (and for the moment) is that they have the most stable app store for now. Sure, there are a lot more programs for Android based tablets, but, many Droid programs do not have the same degree of polish that iPad apps have.

[CTyankee]

21. I don't create art. My hobby is art history so it means a lot for me to have storage space for

what I find and group together. I thought putting together a little blog when I tour some Tuscan towns to see what I have researched and share with the art lovers here and on Facebook would be very nice.

[Xyzse]

22. Oh... Hrm.

Well, for that, maybe the iPad is good enough.
Though you will have to connect it to another machine for storage space, since the iPads have notoriously small physical drive space.

[CTyankee]

23. Hence, Surface!

I went to my 3rd store today to chat up a staff person in the Tablet department. Some of this searching around is beginning to pay off and stuff I'm learning is sinking in. And when I go to see my grandson in CA next month I can play with his iPad to get to know that system better. I may end up saying the hell with it, but at least I am giving it a fair hearing...

Thanks for your input!