How to master an app like a Pro - for newbies

So you have an interesting software application installed on your pc but you don’t know anything about how to use it. You have the passion to learn it but the amount being charged for tutorial lessons is so high that you wonder if there was a way you could learn the software for FREE? The good news is YES, it is very possible to learn any software application for free and even become a pro in it. Here are tips & guides on how you can learn and master any application software of your choice and for free of charge.

P.S: This post was written with special focus on pc apps such as coral draw, auto cad, fl studio, maya and other similar softwares. But you can as well try this guide with any other software and then comment on how it went for you. We would be glad to hear if this tutorial was of help to you.

You will require time and patience while learning a software application in order to move successfully from a newbie to a PRO. Remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day, right? so before you finally become a professional, it may take some time but it all depends on what you already know about the app and how complex or wide it is. Your speed of learning also matters here

I learned lots of complex apps within the 4 walls of my room and people would sometimes marvel at how I was able to master an app I knew nothing about. All thanks to the internet for making that possible for me. There are lots of tutorials on the internet for any popular software you come across. These tutorials are meant to teach you the use of tools that are found in a software application and to guide you step by step in doing some project with it using those tools.

In my own opinion, the tools of an app are the main strength of the app because different software have their own set of tools that users would use to accomplish a task so an understanding on the basic use/function of each of these tools is a newbie first step to Professionalism or master of such an app.

In my own way of learning, the steps I follow is:

1. First identify all the tools that is available in the software interface
2. Focus on each tool to know its exact functions and capabilities. This involves researching on the functions or use from the documentations manual.
3. Think of how to make use of a tool or set of tools to achieve something.
4. After that, I will search for tutorials.
5. At this point, You should now be familiar with the app tools and interface, so you can go ahead to try out a project on your own.

Step 1 and 2 is called learning the basics which is the foundation for mastering the design/layout of an app. This include knowing where each tool is located on the interface and familiarising yourself with them. Subsequent steps is to go to work with the app to do a simple task then move on to a complex task.  each step is prerequisite to the next step to be a success so for those beginners who are want to be like their mentors overnight, my candid advice is "take it easy, start from the bottom, take a step at a time and you will surely get there someday".

The next thing you should know is what are the materials that you need?
I learned all my software from a vast collection of video tutorials and ebooks in PDF formats which I download for free from the internet. They contain practical guides for one to follow in order to create or make something with an app. It must not be something you want/like, just follow the tutorial guide and create that same thing and in the process you will be learning something new from the tut.

After watching and practicing a number of tutorials, you will be more familiar with the software interface and it tools and so you will become more flexible with it. From there you can play around with it and use it to your taste, just like a pro.

So where can someone get the video and pdf tutorials? 
From the internet, even while you are lying in your bedroom and surfing the net. As I said earlier, I learned every software I am skilful in without leaving the comfort of my home as every material I needed was found on the internet which I was able to access easily using my mobile phone or pc. YouTube has been of imense advantage. It has tons of video tutorials made by people who are already professionals in a software app. The are either simple for nwbies, intermediate or complex for more advanced beginners.
But YouTube only allows you to watch the videos online, You can't download the videos normally so if you would like to have a video you see on youtube downloaded so you can watch without being connected to the internet, then you will have to use a YouTube video downloader application for that.

But what if data cost for downloading the vids is too high for you? then an alternative to youtube video tutorials is free pdf ebooks. PDF ebooks are much lesser in size than videos so it takes less time to download into your pc or mobile phone and also cost you less data as well when compared to streaming YouTube Videos online.
Another advantage is that you can have access to the pdf files even when you are not connected to the internet because the file would be downloaded into your device and so it can be available offline. Also, the file size for one video tutorial could be equivalent to about 10 ebooks.
To search for a  pdf tutorial file for any software, just search in google using the following search format: [software name and version] tutorial pdf,
e.g archicad 16 tutorial pdf  or photoshop cs6 tutorial pdf.

You should see a search result similar to the image as shown below.

Click on each search result in order to download the pdf into your computer. Please note that if you have the adobe reader plugin enabled on your browser, the pdf would opn in your browser using the adobe reader plugin instead of downloading.
In order to download, view the extentions option of your browser and disable the pdf viewer plugin then restart the browser. You should now be able to download anytime you click on a pdf file link from your browser.

I would like to advice you to go for a youtube video tutorial download when data is not a problem for you because a video would contain both audio and visual content so you get to watch and hear the tutor guiding you on what to do, where to locate a tool from an application interface plus many other useful infomation.

If you have any question, do let us know using the comment box below and we would respond as soon as we can.

N.B: At korect zone, we love sharing useful and helpful info like this with you and so we encourage you to do same by also sharing to your friends on your social network accounts. Use the share button below to do that.