Panel Testing - Help Required.

[MrToM]

Well a whole month has gone by already since I posted my "FREE" PS panel(s) for people to try out and give me feedback.

The results have been disappointing to say the least, in fact they are non existent.....not even a nibble, and absolutely no feedback whatsoever.

I've only had two downloads of each and I was responsible for one of them!

So, where am I going wrong?

Regards.
MrTom.

 

[Sierraccr]

To be honest, I've not had wonderful luck with this kind of thing. In most instances something doesn't work or blows up or creates collateral damage and ends up being much more frustrating than doing it the "hard way". I tend to be something of a purist when it comes to complex programs and I rarely use any sort of modification. The fact that it has taken me years to decide to look into Topaz is the best example.

Another minor reason.... I have PS installed (and I use it) in three different places - at work, at home on my desktop, and on my laptop. I want to find the exact same configuration all locations. I can't download anything at work for security reasons. This not the main reason, but there it is.

Although I do use Photoshop at work, I only use it for simple things. Most of my Photoshop endeavors (for pay or for fun) are done at home and I have precious little time to do so. I don't want to spend that time fiddling with customizations. If I needed PS all day, every day in a production setting, the ease and time savings involved with this might be worth it. For me it simply isn't.

I know that's not what you wanted, but these are MY reasons for not downloading and giving it a shot.

 

[MrToM]

Thanks Sierraccr,

I appreciate your feedback and totally understand your concerns.

For the benefit of anyone else reading this I'd like to just clarify a few points you have raised.
This is just a PS panel....it looks and works just like every other PS panel....nothing more.
It doesn't do anything unless you want it to, and it works (to a degree, it being still in development).
It wont 'blow anything up', or modify your files in any way.
If anything isn't going to work it'll be the panel itself....which is why I need people to try it and let me know.
Its small, unobtrusive and can be easily turned off or docked with any other panel....taking up no more room than just its tab.
Its certainly not complex, just a bunch of 'shortcuts' for the more commonly used processes and key combinations. The 'Guides' part is the exception to this, giving you more control over 'guides' than just 'drag and drop'.
There are no 'customizations' to contend with, it can save guides with a document but this is no more difficult than typing a name and clicking 'save'.....nothing else to configure.

I hope that clears things up a bit, and maybe encourage you to at least try it, if just to help me out with a little feedback.

Regards.
MrTom.

 

[Tom Mann]

FWIW:

a) The main reason I didn't try it out is that I doubt it would save me much time, as I have had the shortcut keys and/or menu locations of most of those commands stored into muscle memory for years now.

b) All the students' workstations at school have plain-Jane installs of PS, and I don't especially want to have to have one system for accessing those commands on my own computer and a different system at school.

c) I'm with Sierra's risk/benefit analysis, especially when it comes to installing beta versions of SW that's not likely to substantially benefit me. Your statement that installing your SW won't have any unintended side effects is probably correct, but my perception of the potential benefits to me don't trump my concerns about risk. If your SW was something I really saw a use for and which couldn't be easily done another way, sure, then the calculus would be different, but that's not the case here, at least for me.

There are plenty of folks out there that just love being SW testers and doing so for free. Some even have a 2nd machine around specifically for this purpose. I'm just not one of them. In contrast, I do have a very large number of mature, well-tested plugins on my main PS box.

d) At the moment, I've got too much paid PS work on my plate to spend any time participating in tests like this.

I hope I've not been too blunt, but hopefully my response will give you some insight why other folks like me might not have jumped at this opportunity.

Best regards,

Tom M

 

[MrToM]

Thanks Tom,

I don't know what else to say really, except I'm rapidly getting that sinking feeling.

Oddball: Think the bridge will be there and it will be there. It's a mother, beautiful bridge, and it's gonna be there.
[Kelly's Heroes 1970]

Regards.
MrTom.