INSTANT DOWNLOADS ... all the FAQs

Artacademy.com's instant downloads are fast and easy to download. There's no waiting for your order to arrive in the mail, no shipping costs and no need to worry if your DVD disk gets scratched and unplayable.

We maintain a database of all of your instant download purchases and can easily resend you your lessons when you need them.

The benefits of instant downloads outweigh the DVD format to such an extent that it is expected that DVDs will be obsolete by the end of 2011.

The Technical Stuff

Our instant downloads are MP4 (H.264) - that's the technical stuff. You can watch your MP4 movies on various computers and devices, including USB equipped televisions, simply by copying them onto an USB stick which is much smaller and more reliable than carting around a binder full of DVDs and CDs. However, you cannot copy an MP4 onto a DVD or CD.

MP4's can be watched on Ipads and Ipods in addition to your computer.

How to Download a Movie

The first thing to do, of course, is to click on the 'Add to Cart' button. This will take you to our Instant Download server which is PayLoadz (they're owned by PayPal and are the largest and most reliable vendor of instant downloads).

This is the Shopping Cart page where your prospective order will be listed. (Mastering-Portrait-Drawing is used only as an example.) You can pay with either a credit card or PayPal.

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Click on 'Continue with Payment' (not shown in the above image). It's just below the 'Choose a Payment Method'.

Fill in your details and click on 'Pay and Continue'

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Within 5 seconds or so you may also see this on your screen. This only means that the Payloadz server is retrieving your order.

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The next page you see is the Download Your Files page.

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For faster and reliable downloads we recommend that you use your broadband cable. Wireless is pretty good but it can cut out just before your download is complete.

When you click on the download link your 'Download Manager' will appear. By default your Download Manager will have selected 'Open with'. Ignore the default selection. Instead you want to select 'Save File'. This will save your movie on your hard drive allowing you to view it as many times as you wish.

If you selected 'Open with' your movie will download and play but it will not be saved.

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The larger the file size the longer it will take to download. Using your broadband cable it will take about 20 minutes (give or take depending on your internet speed) to download a movie.

As your movie downloads you will see its progress on your download manager. Generally, your movie will save to C:\Documents and Settings\User (that's you)\My Documents\Downloads. Depending on your computer's configuration and operating system it may save your movie elsewhere, but your Downloads folder is the most likely location.

My suggestion is to create a separate folder for your portrait drawing lessons and copy or move the movie files from your Downloads folder to your new folder so that you readily access them.

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You can now either close your Downloads Manager or double-click on the file to begin your lesson. Quicktime should open automatically. If not, go to start (it's on the bottom left of your screen) and click on All Programs. Locate Quicktime in the list, double click and you're good to go.

If you are still having trouble email us at queries 'at' artacademy.com. (Substitute @ for 'at'. We don't like spam either.)