I sit here as a Newbie in Graphics with ideas as to what I would like to do but

Where to start and how ?

What Programs to use as a Beginner ?

I do have a Few programs on this box:

Inkscape
Bryce 5
Truespace

But they overwhelm me with all you can do...So where do I start remembering I'm and Old man and like to keep it simple..

I guess a listing of Programs and what they do would be a start but will leave that up to U all..

Thanks

Grand Dad

Of course, the graphics guys and gals are going to give some good advice; being at about the same level as yourself, Terryala, PhotoFiltre is a really good choice; it's pretty easy yet can do alot including transperancies. :)

As a beginner. I would advice you to start with Photofiltre and play with it for 2 weeks or 3.
There is a thread I did at Wilders where you can find mainly beginner tutorials and you can also
have access to more advanced ones at Photofiltre`s website.

Getting Started with Photofiltre
Photofiltre Website

Then, say in 2 weeks, you can start doing easy tutorials for Bryce, we have already 3 walkthrough tutorials here at Gadiators,
once you completed them you can go to DAZ Studio to have access to more tutorials.
Anyway, should you have any questions we'll be happy to answer you here.

I also have several graphic programs and I cannot learn them all at once so what I did in the past
when I was starting in graphics is I opened one program for about 2 weeks and then I opened another one for the next 2 weeks.
I remember some people saying if you have too much programs, you won't be able to learn any of them. I would say
yes, if you shift constantly everyday(as a beginner) but if you spend at least 2 or 3 weeks to learn one of them
at a time, you will learn and progress. Also, you will notice that although they are different,
they all have similarities. Today, I can open 2 to 3 of them in the same day without feeling
overwhelm but hey, before, I could not do that as a beginner! Nevertheless, give yourself time to learn
and never compare yourself with others. We're all different and have our own different ways of learning
and progressing as well. I still do no have the grasp of Bryce yet but this is ok for I can see how I was last year
and I know that I progressed. Each time you open your program and experiment with it, you will progress.
No matter if you are satisfied or not with the result, you will progress.

I also downloaded Truespace and it seems a good one. I will start playing with it when
I`ll be done with my castle. Maybe we can have a thread later?

I do not know Inkspace but I think that it works with vectors...right? So if you like to draw
you might like it a lot but if you want to edit and retouch pictures only, you might not find it so useful.
The advantage of drawing with vectors is that you can obtain very neat results and can resize the
vectors without loosing any quality. They often use vectors in Illustrations or for publicity.


TTFN!

Photofiltre is great to start with.

Some more good tutorials for it, http://frontpagesolutions.com/photofiltre/tutorials.htm

Doing tutorials helps you learn the tools, even if you just create something random. It helps you learn when to use what to get a desired effect. The only way I have ever learnt in a program is following tutorials and a bit of messing around.