These tutorials are intended to introduce many of the features of Ultra Fractal. They, by no means, cover all of the program's capabilities. The creative possibilities, particularly in the use of masking layers, are endless.
You are encouraged to work through the tutorials more than once, to become familiar with the program's user interface and the various concepts and skills introduced in them. As you become more comfortable, try experimenting with different parameter values and settings; move layers around and alter their gradients; use different merge modes and opacities. If you will take the time, at first, to explore what is possible using just these tutorial images, you will have a much better idea of how to achieve the effects you desire when you strike out on your own.
And lastly, many people are loathe to read Help files, often because the software is poorly documented and the Help is not very helpful. Ultra Fractal is quite different in this regard and you will find its extensive Help files to be easy to read and full of information.
All tutorials except Working with animations were written by Janet Parke. Living in Tennessee, USA, Janet is a widely respected fractal artist and also a ballet teacher. She has been working with Ultra Fractal since the first beta releases in 1998. For some examples of her work, visit her online galleries at www.parkenet.org/jp/galleries.html. You will also find a lot of Ultra Fractal resources and information on her web site.