Famous Jewelry Collections: THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

Monday, April 16, 2012

THE BEADING GEM'S JOURNAL

How to Download Free PDFs from Scribd onto Computers and Mobile Devices

Posted: 16 Apr 2012 04:00 AM PDT

Judy Larson and I are working together to publicly share her free jewelry making project pdfs. However, due to the limitations of Blogger, I cannot attach pdfs to blog posts. Instead, I embed them using Scribd, the free document sharing site. Some readers are understandably unfamiliar with Scribd so here are some instructions on how to download the pdfs via your computer or mobile device.

Downloading on Computers
The picture below shows what an embedded pdf looks like on my blog. The red circles indicate the two places you can click to download the pdf. The easiest and best way is to use the bottom one as it opens the pdf for you to save it directly to your computer. As far as I can see doing it this way does not require you joining Scribd at all!

If you are a subscriber (email or RSS) you won't see the image - just the first link above. So if you still don't want to join Scribd then you must click on the post title to return to the blog so you can click on the second link.

If you click on the first link, Braided Wire and Bead Bangle Tutorial for example, you will be taken to the Scribd page (below) where you can download the pdf. However, you must log-in to do so. You can either use a Scribd account (free to join) or your Facebook account if you don't wish to remember yet another password. If your Facebook account doesn't work, I suggest you try joining Scribd and see if works better.

If you encounter any problems or glitches, try waiting before attempting again. This is because the site is popular and can be overloaded with users. You can also search for other free pdfs.

Scribd support does say,"There is a limit to the number of documents that you may download each day. This limit helps us to keep Scribd free for everyone, and varies based on your downloading habits and our available network resources. If you receive a notice that your download limit has been exceeded, please wait 24 hours and then try again."

Downloading via Mobile Devices
Many of you are now reading my blog on your smartphones and tablets. Did you know using your iPhone or iPad to download the pdfs is a seamless process? Here is how I did it on my iPhone. (Make sure you have the iBooks app first.)

Go to the tutorial post and click on the link above where the image should be. This takes you to a mobile view of the Scribd page for that tutorial. Click Download Now.

On the next page as it was loading up, I selected Open in iBooks at the top.

I then went to my iBooks app, selected the pdf category (not books) and there it is on the "shelf"! The other pdf in my iPhone library is my camera instructions!

You can also email yourself the pdf from iBooks to yourself so you can store it on your main computer. However, the advantage with a mobile device is the ability to have the instructions right on your work table or wherever you make jewelry!

As I don't own an Android phone, I can't say how downloading the pdf will be like for that type of smartphone. If you do have an Android phone, try clicking on the link and see what happens when you attempt to download the pdf. Where does it go? And can you save it somewhere. And what reader did you find best to read it?

One reader who uses an Android phone says there is a Scribd app in the Market but it wasn't rated well.

Please share your comments about Scribd and let me know if this helps.

More Tutorials by Judy Larson:

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
Jewelry Making Tips - Jewelry Business Tips

Prong Set Flower Cabochon Clasp Design

Posted: 15 Apr 2012 02:00 PM PDT

Remember that great wire tutorial I featured on how to prong set a large gemstone flower cabochon? Well, Vicki Holliday of Flop Cat Design read it and thought it was a fabulous idea. She came up with a clasp adaptation for a broken piece of jewelry she had.

She shortened the wire by 10 inches as she didn't need to make the bail. As you can see from the front, the small prongs hold the mother of pearl flower cabochon in place but do not obscure the pretty focal. This project might be a little challenging for it requires working on a smaller scale but it is worth the effort.

Chrissi also had a wonderful suggestion when she saw Vicki's original post on my Facebook page. She said, "I would like that as an earring- and looking at the hook I think it would really work too." She is absolutely right!

Before You Go: