#i actually opened up photoshop | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

chalkrub · 12 days

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been doodling some bri'ish wildlife - love seeing these guys. because they are the classics aren't they?

#my art #animal art #illustration #''love seeing these guys'' has only ever seen 6 of them #as if the elusive dormouse would ever grace my presence. and i still doubt the existence of snakes in england #drew the fox and pheasant because they're symbolic for two of my silly ocs then was like why not make a whole page of these suckers #lots of fun! if anyone's interested i'm gonna open up some slots to draw animals like this on kofi or something soon #can be pets etc. ocs too maybe but they'll be more expensive. not sure how much i'll charge for them but we shall see #lots of art to come...........i swear on it...........i'm about to go for a walk and maybe i will finally see a grass snake #(it's raining so this will not happen)#animals: ring necked pheasant. grass snake. european badger. red fox. barbastelle bat. mole. red squirrel. hazel dormouse. and hedgehawg #i had to compress this to hell it's so large #i need to take like a base photoshop class to learn how to actually use it cause the size of my files is actualy getting ridiculous #if i didn't compress this it would be 30 mb. this cannot be normal

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demadogs · 2 months

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Stranger Things 4 (2022)

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wifihunters · 9 months

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y'all week one of being on adderall and with all genuine feeling this is wild in a very good way

#i go outside and like it?? its not a chore like walking an unwilling dog that is myself #i did have one massive cleaning bout but it was kind of a #'i wanted this done for the past month and now its just. done.'#opened up google docs and did the dnd prep the day before #and then opened up photoshop and started drawing #got BORED doomscrolling #i havent been consciously bored in years i just would dissociate and forget time and think i was busy #at all points i thought someone was going to call me a fake but actually turns out maybe not

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airenyah · 1 year

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Bad Buddy (2021) | Moonlight Chicken (2023) Dir. Aof Noppharnach Chaiwimol

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magnusbae · 6 months

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You’ve caused me to be absolutely obsessed with obikin to the point that i literally cant think about anything else and i havent even seen anything starwars related for years just thought i might let you know lmao

Also if you have any more fic recs i wouldnt say no 👉👈

It is red and alarming to draw your attention as yes I did— indeed— finally found a fic to recommend! only took me some 9 days but hey.

First thing first though— I am so infinitely pleased by being the cause of your demise— pardon, obsession. 😌😌😌

You've brightened my day by letting me know, and the only reason it had taken me time to respond was because I wanted to have a rec I would truly feel I can stand behind, start to finish!

So here we are~

Now, so far I had tried to give recommendations that would be vastly different in every sense of the word, however if you pay attention, there's one consistent link between the things I do feel like recommending— and it is consistency.

I firmly believe that consistency makes the story more than any level of quality or absurdness. As it happens to be, this fic possesses both consistency and quality :)

Speak no Evil by Exonerin

It's— tam tam tam~ an ABO AU! Yes, yes I know. While usually used for heavily kinky thematics, this one is.... rather different in many ways. If you've never tried abos or had read so many you've seen it all, or you've never really liked the whole notion— well this one, I feel like, can really fit all three case. Alternative ABOs is the thing I enjoy the most, non-classic, non-traditional sort of ABO world building is a joy to behold, truly. I urge you to try this one, as it is solid, wonderful and simply enjoyable start to finish. Firm Show-don't-Tell, extremely witty writing and language, solid characteristics and just— frankly, fun. Just fun. Nothing much else. I had a blast reading through this, and I think many more people would. I recommend trying this, even if ABO was never your thing. Trust me. 😌

Again, truly pleased to welcome you in this hell I had come to call a home, I do hope you enjoy this ride as it only gets wilder with time. 😌💞💖💕

P.S I forgot to say that this is by far, my absolutely most favorite portrayal of a top Obi-Wan. Me, every time Obi-Wan does something in this fic: 😳👉🏻👈🏻 haha. Take is as you may. 😌💖

#How exhausted and full on beat up I am? Nearly posted this without the actual url to the fic :)#I do apologize for making you wait! But I truly had nothing to recommend until yesterday!#As always y'all if you enjoyed it please let me know~ I always am hyped if someone likes something I recommended 👀#msg #liselex #obikin #fic recs #fics #recs #gosh if i made typos then they're between me and god-- between commenting all of the fic and making memes and opening photoshop-- i am beat #cheeersss to y'all and GOOD NIGHT #or not to whoever is unwise enough to start reading this one at night :)))))#this one abo fic for real gets anakin more than most people who watched the prequels ersgethbs

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roscoehamiltons · 9 months

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@f1blrcreatorsfest week 1: literature (lewis hamilton x maya angelou)

#f1 #f1blr #f1blrcreatorsfest23 #f1 edit #lewis hamilton #maya angelou #hopefully i am not late to this lol #i got inspired at like 9 pm last night #i actually went in a completely different direction w the still i rise graphic from my original idea #but i'm happy with how it turned out #maybe i'll do a purple version and neon version of it later hm #it's also been like 10 years since i have opened up photoshop and made an edit so i'm super rusty #roscoehamiltons.jpg

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icewindandboringhorror · 22 days

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examining a seemingly normal image only to slowly realize the clear signs of AI generated art.... i know what you are... you cannot hide your true nature from me... go back where you came from... out of my sight with haste, wretched and vile husk

#BEGONE!!! *wizard beam blast leaving a black smoking crater in the middle of the tumblr dashboard*#I think another downside to everyone doing everything on phone apps on shitty tiny screens nowadays is the inability to really see details #of an image and thus its easier to share BLATANTLY fake things like.. even 'good' ai art has pretty obvious tells at this point #but especially MOST of it is not even 'good' and will have details that are clearly off or lines that dont make sense/uneven (like the imag #of a house interior and in the corner there's a cabinet and it has handles as if it has doors that open but there #are no actual doors visible. or both handles are slightly different shapes. So much stuff that looks 'normal' at first glance #but then you can clearly tell it's just added details with no intention or thought behind it. a pattern that starts and then just abruptly #doesn't go anywhere. etc. etc. )#the same thing with how YEARS ago when I followed more fashion type blogs on tumblr and 'colored hair' was a cool ''''New Thing''' instead #of being the norm now basically. and people would share photos of like ombre hair designs and stuff that were CLEARLY photoshop like #you could LITERally see the coloring outside of the lines. blurs of color that extend past the hair line to the rest of the image #or etc. But people would just share them regardless and comment like 'omg i wish I could do this to my hair!' or 'hair goallzzzz!! i #wonder what salon they went to !!' which would make me want to scream and correct them everytime ( i did not lol)#hhhhhhggh... literally view the image on anything close to a full sized screen and You Will SEe #I don't know why it's such a pet peeve of mine. I think just as always I'm obsessed with the reality and truth of things. most of the thing #that annoy me most about people are situations in which people are misinterpreting/misunderstanding how something works or having a misconc #eption about somehting thats easily provable as false or etc. etc. Even if it's harmless for some random woman on facebook to believe that #this AI generated image of a cat shaped coffee machine is actually a real product she could buy somewhere ... I still urgently #wish I could be like 'IT IS ALL AN ILLUSION. YOU SEE???? ITS NOT REALL!!!!! AAAAA' hjhjnj #Like those AI shoes that went around for a while with 1000000s of comments like 'omg LOVE these where can i get them!?' and it's like YOU #CANT!!! YOU CANT GET THEM!!! THEY DONT EXIST!!! THE EYELETS DONT EVEN LINE UP THE SHOES DONT EVEN #MATCH THE PATTERNS ARE GIBBERISH!! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THEY ARE NOT REAL!??!!' *sobbing in the rain like in some drama movie*#Sorry I'm a pedantic hater who loves truth and accuracy of interpretation and collecting information lol #I think moreso the lacking of context? Like for example I find the enneagram interesting but I nearly ALWAYS preface any talking about it #with ''and I know this is not scientifically accurate it's just an interesting system humans invented to classify ourselve and our traits #and I find it sociologically fascinating the same way I find religion fascinating'. If someone presented personality typing information wit #out that sort of context or was purporting that enneagram types are like 100% solid scientific truth and people should be classified by the #unquestionaingly in daily life or something then.. yeah fuck that. If these images had like disclaimers BIG in the image description somewh #re like 'this is not a real thing it's just an AI generated image I made up' then fine. I still largely disagree with the ethics behind AI #art but at least it's informed. It's the fact that people just post images w/o context or beleive a falsehood about it.. then its aAAAAAA

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khaotunq · 9 months

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🦊

#ok i've finished fucking around with my theme #it actually matches the mobile header and icon now lmao #i made a repeating bg for the sidebar because i got annoyed this is my life #there's an issue with the margin of posts but my ability to focus has wandered out the window #i should be catching up on every show i ahven't been watching these past two weeks #but alas i have opened photoshop and i'm bout to lose my afternoon to it xoxo #i'm gonna fill my queue and then i'm gonna go giffing #so it is decreed

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wastelandhell · 1 year

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Sorry if this question is too broad or imposing but I'm trying to get into modding Fallout 4 for the first time, mostly to make armor skins. What're the best tutorials? I've tried searching online but a lot of the tutorials are outdated. (Would also love to know how to bash existing skins together though modelling my own would be fun too). Again sorry for this ask I'm just so lost about how to get into modding lol.

Ahhh do not apologize for asking me about modding fallout. I could talk about the guts of this stupid game all day ahhh

modding grip^

Unfortunately I...don't know any good tutorials. I think a lot of Fo4 modders came over already knowing skyrim or FNV. Most of what I know is based on outdated guides, old loverslab threads, my existing graphic design knowledge, and trial-and-error. I think armour is the best place to start because there are so many tools available (thanks tittymodders!), and you don't have to worry about needing 3DS Max for collisions or animations.

This is the only modding tutorial I've ever watched. It's old, but good to show you a proper workflow and how to set up your files. They use creation kit, but if you're just making armour its way easier to use xEdit. I don't even have the ck installed, I do everything in xEdit.

This is an excellent guide to outfit conversions. It gets pretty in depth, but you really don't need to bother with the dismemberment section if it's just for you. It's for FG reduced but you can use it as a general guide for weighting anything for any body and getting your modded outfit game ready.

Texture edits and outfit conversions are where I started and are probably the easiest. The best thing to do is just poke around mods you like and see how they do it.

Some tools:

xEdit: Plugin editor for creation engine games. If you're doing any kind of modding you should learn how to use this. Esl-flagging, running complex sorter, making bashed patches and making your own compatibility patches are skills you need if you want to run a heavily modded game.

Icestorms texture toolbox: the best texture tool, i use the "batch processing" tab at the end to convert .png (no alpha) and .tga (alpha) files to .dds.

Nvidia texture tools exporter: lets you open .dds file in photoshop with the alpha channel intact. You don't need a nvidia card, I'm all team red. Don't bother using this to export unless you have to, its slow as fuck.

Sagethumbs: Gives .dds files thumbnails in windows explorer.

IrfanView: For quickly viewing texture files without launching photoshop. Also an excellent general image viewer.

Bethesda Archive Extractor: Crack open those .ba2 files and get to the goods.

Material Editor: What it says on the tin, lets you edit Fo4 and Fo76 material files. These are like containers that have the paths to all your textures and how they are to be shaded to attach to .nif files.

NifSkope: View and edit .nif files. Dev 7 is the recommended, but Dev 8 can open Fo76 meshes if you want to backport those.

Outfit Studio: Even if you don't use body replacers, this is an incredible tool for editing and weighting meshes. If you're making armour you need this. This is also where I make most of my mashups: you can pull parts from different outfits, slap them together, and export them quickly and easily.

Blender: It's free and it works. Learning to navigate this is going to be your biggest hurdle but it's worth it, trust me. Thankfully blender has a huge community and hundreds of tutorials. This is where I make my hi poly models and do all my retopo/uvs. I also prefer to use blender to edit meshes because it has more robust editing tools.

PyNifly: What I use to import/export .nif files from blender.

Fo4 is made in the 2013 version of 3DS Max and the havok content tools but i haven't bothered to pirate that yet. You don't need it for armour anyways.

I'm sorry this is so long and rambly. If you have a more specific question I might be more helpful ha.

#asks #fallout #fallout 4 #long post #fighting to keep this short i will not infodump i will not infodump i will no- ah fuck i did it. sorry.#i got into modding by editing existing textures that weren't up to my standard #and then making outfit conversions for bt3 because almost nobody was back then #i have been basically banging my head into my computer for the last year trying to learn what little i do know #yeah i know fuck adobe but nothing is better than photoshop. just pirate it. its always morally correct to steal from adobe.#i pay for it though because i actually use adobe fonts/cloud and i am a clown #i know it sounds silly but all the best technical advice is on loverslab. just..bring an adblock..and dont open that site in public lol #please do not be scared to ask me things i want everyone to be able to mod this hell game #the best thing about fo4 is that its made of legos so you can easily pull it apart and put it back together however you want #i had never touched a 3d program before i started modding fallout last year you can do it anon! i am the monkey with a typewriter of mods #typing this with blender outfit studio and mo2 open in the background mod author sigma grindset #ive thought about making some tutorials but i have both a lisp and a stutter...that would be brutal. maybe some text ones.#god im so normal about this game

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lifehacksthatwork · 1 year

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Just a bunch of Useful websites - Updated for 2023

Removed/checked all links to make sure everything is working (03/03/23). Hope they help!

Sejda - Free online PDF editor.

Supercook - Have ingredients but no idea what to make? Put them in here and it'll give you recipe ideas.

Still Tasty - Trying the above but unsure about whether that sauce in the fridge is still edible? Check here first.

Archive.ph - Paywall bypass. Like 12ft below but appears to work far better and across more sites in my testing. I'd recommend trying this one first as I had more success with it.

12ft – Hate paywalls? Try this site out.

Where Is This - Want to know where a picture was taken, this site can help.

TOS/DR - Terms of service, didn't read. Gives you a summary of terms of service plus gives each site a privacy rating.

OneLook - Reverse dictionary for when you know the description of the word but can't for the life of you remember the actual word.

My Abandonware - Brilliant site for free, legal games. Has games from 1978 up to present day across pc and console. You'll be surprised by some of the games on there, some absolute gems.

Project Gutenberg – Always ends up on these type of lists and for very good reason. All works that are copyright free in one place.

Ninite – New PC? Install all of your programs in one go with no bloat or unnecessary crap.

PatchMyPC - Alternative to ninite with over 300 app options to keep upto date. Free for home users.

Unchecky – Tired of software trying to install additional unwanted programs? This will stop it completely by unchecking the necessary boxes when you install.

Sci-Hub – Research papers galore! Check here before shelling out money. And if it’s not here, try the next link in our list.

LibGen – Lots of free PDFs relate primarily to the sciences.

Zotero – A free and easy to use program to collect, organize, cite and share research.

Car Complaints – Buying a used car? Check out what other owners of the same model have to say about it first.

CamelCamelCamel – Check the historical prices of items on Amazon and set alerts for when prices drop.

Have I Been Pawned – Still the king when it comes to checking if your online accounts have been released in a data breach. Also able to sign up for email alerts if you’ve ever a victim of a breach.

I Have No TV - A collection of documentaries for you to while away the time. Completely free.

Radio Garden – Think Google Earth but wherever you zoom, you get the radio station of that place.

Just The Recipe – Paste in the url and get just the recipe as a result. No life story or adverts.

Tineye – An Amazing reverse image search tool.

My 90s TV – Simulates 90’s TV using YouTube videos. Also has My80sTV, My70sTV, My60sTV and for the younger ones out there, My00sTV. Lose yourself in nostalgia.

Foto Forensics – Free image analysis tools.

Old Games Download – A repository of games from the 90’s and early 2000’s. Get your fix of nostalgia here.

Online OCR – Convert pictures of text into actual text and output it in the format you need.

Remove Background – An amazingly quick and accurate way to remove backgrounds from your pictures.

Twoseven – Allows you to sync videos from providers such as Netflix, Youtube, Disney+ etc and watch them with your friends. Ad free and also has the ability to do real time video and text chat.

Terms of Service, Didn’t Read – Get a quick summary of Terms of service plus a privacy rating.

Coolors – Struggling to get a good combination of colors? This site will generate color palettes for you.

This To That – Need to glue two things together? This’ll help.

Photopea – A free online alternative to Adobe Photoshop. Does everything in your browser.

BitWarden – Free open source password manager.

Just Beam It - Peer to peer file transfer. Drop the file in on one end, click create link and send to whoever. Leave your pc on that page while they download. Because of how it works there are no file limits. It's genuinely amazing. Best file transfer system I have ever used.

Atlas Obscura – Travelling to a new place? Find out the hidden treasures you should go to with Atlas Obscura.

ID Ransomware – Ever get ransomware on your computer? Use this to see if the virus infecting your pc has been cracked yet or not. Potentially saving you money. You can also sign up for email notifications if your particular problem hasn’t been cracked yet.

Way Back Machine – The Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites and loads more.

Rome2Rio – Directions from anywhere to anywhere by bus, train, plane, car and ferry.

Splitter – Seperate different audio tracks audio. Allowing you to split out music from the words for example.

myNoise – Gives you beautiful noises to match your mood. Increase your productivity, calm down and need help sleeping? All here for you.

DeepL – Best language translation tool on the web.

Forvo – Alternatively, if you need to hear a local speaking a word, this is the site for you.

For even more useful sites, there is an expanded list that can be found here.

#life hacks #lifehacks #useful #bunch of useful sites #ysk #bookmark this #how to #free #helpful

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ndcgalitzine · 9 months

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..

#I keep closing photoshop #thinking I'm done giffing for today #and then 20 minutes later I open it back up again #I really shouldn't be giffing right now #since I'm a bit drunk #but I did like how my last gifset turned out #at least I think it's ok #maybe when I look at it in the morning I'll realize how horrible it actually is 😂

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willowfey · 9 months

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i had weird dreams about traveling through dimensions on halloween to old familiar streets of my hometown but having everything be different because i was slightly off in my calculations so the colours were distorted and the houses were rearranged but the smell was still the same. then i woke up with visceral memories clouding my head of going to get my braces tightened each month and getting the colour changed according to the season/holiday.

#i was terrified of anything having to do with doctors (still am) but i actually liked my orthodontist office #bc he was autistic and one of the nicest ppl i knew and he only hired kind women and the whole place was open and warm and comforting #he made it so comfortable in there and it was an open floor plan so u didn’t feel trapped in a room #and he had a little photo booth set up to take pictures and he’d photoshop u into anywhere u wanted to be in the world #and he’d send goofy christmas cards editing himself into popular movies like the hunger games poster #haaaaatee having braces but i actually liked being there i have positive memories associated with it otherwise #also every time i got them tightened my mom would take me to get a strawberry fudge cheesecake blizzard from DQ down the street #idk why i’m thinking about this but i woke up with these memories in my head even tho i don’t remember dreaming about the orthodontist #anyway anybody else get purple and orange for halloween and red and green for christmas agsjwbdkeb #a lot of times i’d do like pink and purple alternating. to match my room #the bodily memories of halloween growing up in my hometown are engulfing me today

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dragcnflame · 1 year

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Do I have graphics done yet? Do I have icons? Do I have a promo finished? No.💖

BUT I do have a killer lucy carlyle rp blog and you should definitely follow it. Also watch Lockwood & Co.

#*lynn proceeds to make dial up noises* 🦋 ooc #actually making my own icons this time but not being willing to open photoshop and risk crashing my laptop <3 #i need to run the episodes through a screencapper first anyway

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rebelwithoutabroom · 1 year

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today is such a good day 💖

#i had a serious case of burn out during the pandemic and couldnt bear to open photoshop or even look at my drawing tablet for so long #but!! things are starting to flow again!! and im so so so relieved and happy #being able to take a huge break and not force myself was so important but at the same time it felt like i had lost a part of my identity #and now GOSH i could cry #i am actually tearing up a little #the quality of my art isnt the same as before but fuck it if i dont appreciate it #squiggly lines and shit anatomy you are so important to me #taizi talks

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optimisticlucio · 3 days

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jvp what the fuck is this

Like, I am not commenting on the anti-zionist seder in principle, it's just that

not a single one of those words are written correctly. They're written down in the hagadah. They just had to open a single hagadah to see that all of those are written wrong. These are all written backwards, which is what often happens when you put right-to-left text in a program that can't handle it and flips it over, like photoshop.

Most programs can handle right-to-left text nowadays, so I have no clue how they got this wrong.

was there a single actual jew involved in the writing of this? JVP is notoriously mostly made up of non-jews but like, seriously? Propping open a hagadah to double check? No?

also why does that one circle just say "spoon". do I eat the spoon

#jumblr #israel #judaism #what is this pesach plate #it's so bad

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wingedtyger · 10 months

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How to Buy a Computer for Cheaper

Buy refurbished. And I'm going to show you how, and, in general, how to buy a better computer than you currently have. I'm fairly tech-knowledgeable, but not an expert. But this is how I've bought my last three computers for personal use and business (graphics). I'm writing this for people who barely know computers. If you have a techie friend or family member, having them help can do a lot for the stress of buying a new computer.

There are three numbers you want to know from your current computer: hard drive size, RAM, and processor speed (slightly less important, unless you're doing gaming or 3d rendering or something else like that)

We're going to assume you use Windows, because if you use Apple I can't help, sorry.

First is hard drive. This is how much space you have to put files. This is in bytes. These days all hard drives are in gigabytes or terabytes (1000 gigabytes = 1 terabyte). To get your hard drive size, open Windows Explorer, go to This PC (or My Computer if you have a really old OS).

To get more details, you can right-click on the drive. and open Properties. But now you know your hard drive size, 237 GB in this case. (this is rather small, but that's okay for this laptop). If you're planning on storing a lot of videos, big photos, have a lot of applications, etc, you want MINIMUM 500 GB. You can always have external drives as well.

While you've got this open, right-click on This PC (or My Computer). This'll give you a lot of information that can be useful if you're trying to get tech support.

I've underlined in red the two key things. Processor: it can help to know the whole bit (or at least the Intel i# bit) just so you don't buy one that's a bunch older, but processor models are confusing and beyond me. The absolutely important bit is the speed, in gigahertz (GHz). Bigger is faster. The processor speed is how fast your computer can run. In this case the processor is 2.60 GHz, which is just fine for most things.

The other bit is RAM. This is "random-access memory" aka memory, which is easy to confuse for, like how much space you have. No. RAM is basically how fast your computer can open stuff. This laptop has 16 GB RAM. Make sure you note that this is the RAM, because it and the hard drive use the same units.

If you're mostly writing, use spreadsheets, watching streaming, or doing light graphics work 16 GB is fine. If you have a lot of things open at a time or gaming or doing 3d modeling or digital art, get at least 32 GB or it's gonna lag a lot.

In general, if you find your current laptop slow, you want a new one with more RAM and a processor that's at least slightly faster. If you're getting a new computer to use new software, look at the system requirements and exceed them.

I'll show you an example of that. Let's say I wanted to start doing digital art on this computer, using ClipStudio Paint. Generally the easiest way to find the requirements is to search for 'program name system' in your search engine of choice. You can click around their website if you want, but just searching is a lot faster.

That gives me this page

(Clip Studio does not have very heavy requirements).

Under Computer Specs it tells you the processor types and your RAM requirements. You're basically going to be good for the processor, no matter what. That 2 GB minimum of memory is, again, the RAM.

Storage space is how much space on your hard drive it needs.

Actually for comparison, let's look at the current Photoshop requirements.

Photoshop wants LOTS of speed and space, greedy bastard that it is. (The Graphics card bit is somewhat beyond my expertise, sorry)

But now you have your three numbers: hard drive space, RAM (memory) and processor (CPU). Now we're going to find a computer that's better and cheaper than buying new!

We're going to buy ~refurbished~

A refurbished computer is one that was used and then returned and fixed up to sell again. It may have wear on the keyboard or case, but everything inside (aside from the battery) should be like new. (The battery may hold less charge.) A good dealer will note condition. And refurbished means any flaws in the hardware will be fixed. They have gone through individual quality control that new products don't usually.

I've bought four computers refurbished and only had one dud (Windows kept crashing during set-up). The dud has been returned and we're waiting for the new one.

You can buy refurbished computers from the manufacturers (Lenovo, Dell, Apple, etc) or from online computer stores (Best Buy and my favorite Newegg). You want to buy from a reputable store because they'll have warranties offered and a good return policy.

I'm going to show you how to find a refurbished computer on Newegg.

You're going to go to Newegg.com, you're gonna go to computer systems in their menu, and you're gonna find refurbished

Then, down the side there's a ton of checkboxes where you can select your specifications. If there's a brand you prefer, select that (I like Lenovos A LOT - they last a long time and have very few problems, in my experience. Yes, this is a recommendation).

Put in your memory (RAM), put in your hard drive, put in your CPU speed (processor), and any other preferences like monitor size or which version of Windows you want (I don't want Windows 11 any time soon). I generally just do RAM and hard drive and manually check the CPU, but that's a personal preference. Then hit apply and it'll filter down.

I'm going to say right now, if you are getting a laptop and you can afford to get a SSD, do it. SSD is a solid-state drive, vs a normal hard drive (HDD, hard disk-drive). They're less prone to breaking down and they're faster. But they're also more expensive.

Anyway, we have our filtered list of possible laptops. Now what?

Well, now comes the annoying part. Every model of computer can be different - it can have a better or worse display, it can have a crappy keyboard, or whatever. So you find a computer that looks okay, and you then look for reviews.

Here's our first row of results

Let's take a look at the Lenovo, because I like Lenovos and I loathe Dells (they're... fine...). That Thinkpad T460S is the part to Google (search for 'Lenovo Thinkpad T460s reviews'). Good websites that I trust include PCMag, LaptopMag.com, and Notebookcheck.com (which is VERY techie about displays). But every reviewer will probably be getting one with different specs than the thing you're looking at.

Here are key things that will be the same across all of them: keyboard (is it comfortable, etc), battery life, how good is the trackpad/nub mouse (nub mice are immensely superior to trackpads imho), weight, how many and what kind of ports does it have (for USB, an external monitor, etc). Monitors can vary depending on the specs, so you'll have to compare those. Mostly you're making sure it doesn't completely suck.

Let's go back to Newegg and look at the specs of that Lenovo. Newegg makes it easy, with tabs for whatever the seller wants to say, the specs, reviews, and Q&A (which is usually empty).

This is the start of the specs. This is actually a lesser model than the laptop we were getting the specs for. It's okay. What I don't like is that the seller gives very little other info, for example on condition. Here's a Dell with much better information - condition and warranty info.

One thing you'll want to do on Newegg is check the seller's reviews. Like on eBay or Etsy, you have to use some judgement. If you worry about that, going to the manufacturer's online outlet in a safer bet, but you won't quite get as good of deals. But they're still pretty damn good as this random computer on Lenovo's outlet shows.

Okay, so I think I've covered everything. I do recommend having a techie friend either help or double check things if you're not especially techie. But this can save you hundreds of dollars or allow you to get a better computer than you were thinking.

#computers #buying computers #laptops

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