Where to Find Help

One of the most important things to know about any piece of software is where to find help using it. Virtually everyone who uses a piece of software will need help with it at some point, whether it’s help getting started, help with some soft of technical problem , or help using the software’s advanced features. While the online documentation or help files that came with your software might be a good place to look for help, you may have a question that is not covered in the documentation, or you might need more help than the documentation provides.

Search Engines

Search engines are one way to find help, and are especially useful when you have a specific problem with your software (for example, if the software begins crashing whenever you try to save your file). Usually, just typing your problem into Google will find blog posts, forum threads, YouTube videos and even Ask.com pages in which someone else has already asked your question. It is rare that you will find a problem with a computer program that someone else hasn’t already encountered.

Tip: If you don't know what else to type in Google's search bar, feel free to use Google as if it were a high tech magic 8 ball.Typing your question in the form of a question certainly isn't necessary (or particularly useful), but since it doesn't hurt anything, many people do it anyway. The results of a search for “Where can I find the eraser tool in GIMP?” are almost if not completely identical to a search for “eraser tool GIMP.”

Software Specific Forums

One of the most useful places to look for help with a specific piece of software is on a forum that has been created just for users of that software. Here are forums for just a few of the most popular open source art and design software packages:

• GimpTalk (www.GimpTalk.com): The GimpTalk forums are a great place to discuss GIMP with other GIMP users from all over the world. There is also a thread just for tutorials written by GIMP users, including many tutorials written by Griatch, one of GimpTalk's administrators (read OpenArtBox's interview with Griatch here).
  
  
• InkScapeForum (www.InkScapeForum.com) : InkScapeForum is a place where InkScape users can discuss InkScape with one another, as well as show off their work completed in InkScape and promote their own InkScape related websites.
  
  
• BlenderArtists (www.BlenderArtists.org): The forums on Blender.org are actually for Blender developers, so if you want to discuss Blender with other users, you'll need to sign up for the BlenderArtists forums.
  
  
• Ubuntu (www.UbuntuForums.org): Ubuntu's forums include a community thread just for Art & Design. This is a good place to ask general questions about art and design software in Ubuntu Linux, especially if you need to to do a particular task, but you're not sure which program to use. For example, if you needed to view RAW image files in Ubuntu, you might post a question asking which programs will allow you to read and view RAW images.
  
  

Tip: Before posting, check out OpenArtBox's blog about “How to Ask a Question on a Forum.”

YouTube

You can find just about any kind of video tutorial on YouTube. From playing a guitar to cutting your own hair, if there are people who know how to do it, it's likely that at least one of those people will make a video tutorial about it. Video tutorials about how to use the different features of open source art and design software are no exception. YouTube is a great place to find tutorials about using certain tools in programs like GIMP and InkScape, as well as video tutorials for beginners who are using these programs for the first time.

References

1. Google. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.google.com 
2. GimpTalk. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.gimptalk.com
3. InkScapeForum. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.inkscapeforum.com
4. BlenderArtists. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.blenderartists.org
5. Ubuntu. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.ubuntuforums.org 
6. YouTube. Retrieved November 29, 2011, from http://www.youtube.com