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The Photoshop Blog offers the latest Photoshop news and software updates, Photoshop tips and tutorials, and random thoughts from graphic artist and Photoshop expert Jennifer Apple.
New Directory Within Adobe Software Provides Creative Professionals with Ready Access to Freelance and Independent Photographers
Here are highlights from the press release:
Adobe Systems Incorporated today announced its plans to launch the Adobe Photographers Directory, a listing of professional photographers accessible directly from within Adobe's creative professional products. The Adobe Photographers Directory will be initially available in North America and over time will be extended to include photographers from other markets.
Adobe will be working closely with the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP) to populate the new directory. As charter members of the directory, ASMP also launched a Web site today detailing how photographers can sign up to participate at www.asmp.org/adobe. In addition, Adobe will work with the Advertising Photographers of America (APA) and other associations to ensure the Adobe Photographers Directory is a comprehensive professional photography resource.
In addition to creating the new directory, Adobe is a lead sponsor of the PLUS Coalition, an organization representing photographers, illustrators, stock photo agencies, advertising agencies, advertisers, graphic design firms, publishers and associated industries. ASMP is also another active participant in PLUS. The mission of the PLUS Coalition is to simplify and facilitate the licensing of rights-managed images. Through the PLUS Coalition, licensors and licensees work cooperatively to develop and implement licensing standards and systems that will bring picture licensing into the 21st century. As a member of the Sustaining Advisory Council, Adobe will regularly contribute to the PLUS Coalition technical working group.
The Adobe Photographers Directory will be searchable by geographic location or by photographic specialty and will include portfolio imagery. For more information about how to be a part of the Adobe Photographers Directory, go to the ASMP Web site at www.asmp.org/adobe.
Photoshop Tip: Stop the "Click-And-Jump-To-That-Layer" Blues
Problem: All of a sudden, every time you click on a layer with the Move tool, it jumps to that layer. Solution: Somehow you turned on a feature called Auto Select Layer, which lets you make a layer active by just clicking on it with the Move tool. To turn this feature off, click on the Move tool, and up in the Options Bar, turn off the checkbox for Auto Select Layer. Besides, you never really need to turn this feature on, because you can just hold the Command key (PC: Control key) and click on any layer.
Save $80 On Photoshop CS Training (Limited Time Offer)
We're happy to announce that we have an exclusive web offer that will let you save $80 on Total Training for Adobe Photoshop CS. In this comprehensive training, Deke McClelland, Photoshop expert and best selling author, demonstrates the latest tips, techniques, and useful tricks for Photoshop. With in-depth instruction, you’ll learn to perfect your skills with Total Training's "hands on" approach to get all the training you need to advance your skills to a new level. Everyone, from first time users to seasoned professionals, can benefit from this effective and comprehensive 24 hour training program.
This is a web-only offer available through the Total Training online store (no phone orders accepted for this special offer).
Save $80 on Adobe Photoshop Training (Limited Time Offer)
New Tutorial - Photoshop Tips And Tricks For Beginners
These Photoshop tips and tricks for beginners address some of the most common things you'll do in Photoshop, and learning them will save you lots of time down the road.
Google Discovers And Indexes Adobe CS2 Photoshop 9 Press Releaseews sources BetaNews and NeoWin are reporting that Adobe is planning to announce a major upgrade to Photoshop soon. Details slipped out when Google indexed an Adobe press release a few days ago, even though Adobe has not made it public yet. The press release has since been removed. NeoWin lists a few highlights from the leaked release, and BetaNews lists some as well.
I feel bad for Adobe about this. When you announce a major upgrade to a major piece of software like Photoshop you want to make sure you do it just right. Now, although the press release is gone, the cache in Google displays it intact. If you search for "Adobe Pushes the Boundaries" in Google the press release is listed first. The link leads to a "File not found" page on the Adobe site, but the Google cache of the Adobe page still allows you to see the full press release.
This is another reminder to be extra careful about what you upload to a site, because the search robots have become very sophisticated and are probably going to find it. So don't "park" anything that you don't want the public to see.
Nikon Unveils New Technology For Coolpix Cameras That Allows Its Cameras to Find a Face in a Portrait Shot
Common shooting situations have continued to pose unique challenges to casual snap-shooters, like avoiding dark pictures and blurred subjects in portraits. Nikon engineers dared to ask, "How can we address these issues within the camera?" The answer is a new suite of Nikon technology designed specifically for the Coolpix line of digital cameras that includes the proprietary Face Priority Auto Focus (AF), In-Camera Red-Eye Fix and the new D-Lighting feature. These technologies work together in conjunction with the camera to make it easier than ever to capture great pictures.
Read full press release.
Animator Makes Waves as Artist
If beauty is in the eye of the beholder, oversized heads, alarmingly cherry-red lips, blotchy skin and sharp scroll-like claws are en vogue, at least in the digital world of artist Ray Caesar.
Caesar, a Toronto-based former animator and graphic artist for a children's hospital, is making waves in the world of pop art with his haunting, surreal digital prints, all produced just 18 months after he decided to pursue art full time. His works combine varied aspects of his life experiences, including the sorrow and inspiration brought by deaths of loved ones, and his years spent viewing photos of and working with abused, neglected and deformed children. His prints also benefit from Caesar's expertise with animation software and his exposure to animal research.
According to the article, Caesar uses Photoshop to manipulate parts of his images. His work is both beautiful and disturbing. To see some galleries visit Ray Caeser's website.
Read the full Wired News story.
This Is Not A Photoshop Trick
Transparent Screens is a photoset on Flickr that features some desktop backgrounds that were created to make the computer screen look transparent. All of them look pretty realistic.
Photoshop Tip: Saving Time In The Fill Dialog
For as long as there's been a Photoshop, whenever you open the Fill dialog from the Edit menu, you'd better have your Foreground color set to the Fill color you want, or you'd have to hit Cancel, choose a new Foreground color, then open Fill again. Sadly, I did this same "Open fill, hit cancel, choose new color, open fill again" routine literally hundreds of times. But no more, because now, at long last, in the Fill dialog's Use pop-down menu there is a menu command for Color, which brings up the Color Picker while you're in the Fill dialog. Life as we know it will never be the same.
New Book: Max Pixel's Adventures in Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 - By Steve Caplin
Children and fun-loving adults will agree, Max Pixel is quite a guide. The 3D-generated character takes you on an illustrated and entertaining journey through image editing with Photoshop Elements in this unique, comic-book style guide.
With Max Pixel in the lead, you'll work your way through fast-paced missions, each consisting of multiple projects that are bright, colorful, and no more than two pages long. If you get lost along the way, help is never too far off. All of the projects include handy Help sidebars that answer your questions even before you can think to ask them! At the end of each mission, a Misson Briefing reminds you of all that you've learned before you have a chance to forget.
You can pre-order Max Pixel's Adventures in Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 at amazon.com.
The Pen For Your PC – The New Wacom Volito2
Wacom Europe today launches its new consumer pen tablet, Volito2. Expanding and enriching the capabilities of a PC, the stylish, entry-level Volito2 is targeted at a wide range of consumers. With added enhancements including improved ergonomics, an updated, modern design, and an interactive tutorial, Volito2 is perfect for painting, writing and editing photos.
The Volito2 now comes in a dark grey, metallic colour. The surface of the active area on the tablet has been specially treated to enhance the feeling of pen on paper and it also indicates in which area the pen can be activated.
Read full press release.
Creativepro.com Article — Design How-to: A Better Newsletter
Before & After magazine is renowned for its practical yet beautiful advice on laying out pages. This excerpt from the book "Before & After Page Design" is no exception. Here's all you need to know to design successful newsletters.
This book is available at a discount at amazon.com.
ViewSonic Announces World's Fastest LCD Monitors
ViewSonic has announced the world's fastest LCD monitors. Featuring ultra-fast 4 millisecond (ms) average video response time across the entire color scale, the 19-inch VX924 and 17-inch VX724 deliver fluid, full-motion images and optimized video performance for a variety of applications.
With typical "fast-response" displays on the market today having an average gray-to-gray (or intermediate level) response time of 30 to 35ms, ViewSonic's Xtreme LCD lineup provides response time performance up to 8 times faster.
The VX924 and VX724 are the first desktop displays to combine ViewSonic's proprietary Dynamic Structure and Amplified Impulse video response acceleration technologies to support rates of up to 250 frames per second across the entire color scale. This advancement produces superior front-of-screen performance for motion video, since the majority of video transitions on games and digital entertainment occur within these intermediate ranges.
"These Xtreme displays mark a major milestone in LCD technology," said Erik Willey, senior product manager, ViewSonic. "The 4ms response time across all color scales has allowed us to create the ultimate gaming monitors with motion video performance rivaling the best CRTs."
The displays will be available in the second quarter of 2005 through traditional ViewSonic resellers, distributors and mail order. For more information and images of the new displays, go to www.viewsonic.com/xtreme.
Gnomon Workshop Releases New Digital Painting DVDs
The Gnomon Workshop has released two new Digital Painting DVDs on Concept Design and Matte Painting. Working in conjunction with Design Studio Press, and utilizing Adobe Photoshop, artist Christian Lorenz Scheurer reveals his techniques for high-concept painting including architecture, vehicles and characters. Scheurer's resume includes contributions to The Fifth Element, Final Fantasy and The Matrix.
On the first DVD in this series, Christian introduces the fundamental techniques he uses to create digital concept paintings and matte paintings. In three exercises based loosely on digital photographs, he introduces the basic principals of digital painting in Adobe Photoshop. The first exercise demonstrates and illustrates three types of perspectives. The second exercise introduces painting with shape, showing different ways to create selections. In the last exercise, Christian demonstrates perspective and shape techniques, showing how to import light layers, and create separate foreground, midground and background elements. The DVD includes the photographic plates and additional bonus exercises.
On the second DVD, Christian takes the viewer step-by-step through the creation of a high-end digital painting, which can be used as either the visual base for a digital matte painting, or for an advanced conceptual art presentation. Christian starts with a photographic plate and demonstrates how to create a complete high-concept painting, including architecture, vehicles and characters. He illustrates the shape approach and the concept of combinatory play as creative processes. Christian introduces you to the underlying thought process of high concept design, while giving you a hands-on demonstration of the mechanics of painting in Adobe Photoshop.
For more information, visit The Gnomon Workshop.
Photoshop Tip: Run That Filter One More Time
Once you've applied a filter to your image, Photoshop thoughtfully puts that filter at the top of the list in your Filter menu, just in case you decide to run that exact same filter again, with the exact same settings. That way, you don't have to go digging through your Filter submenus tracking it down to run it again. However, even more convenient is the keyboard shortcut that lets you run it again without going to the Filter menu at all. It's Command-F (PC: Control-F). What if you don't want the same settings (ahhh, I knew you were going to ask that)? Try pressing Command-Option-F (PC: Control-Alt-F), which brings up the dialog for the last filter you applied with the last settings that you used.
Editors Keys — Photoshop Set
We've been testing the Photoshop shortcut stickers on our keyboards and have a short review up. There's a also a link to a special page where you can get a 25% discount with any purchase of an Editors Keys set.
Pixel-Crazy Associate Professor Defends Buying Latest Gear
In his New York Times column "Circuits" David Pogue has an entry about how he made fun of "megapixel mania" and how people don't necessarily need all these extra pixels, but then received a dissenting view from an old friend, Harris Fogel, who's an associate professor of photography in Philadelphia. The reason I am reprinting his entire reply is because this is a manifesto for those of us who are pixel crazy. Because he proves that we aren't just into having the latest thing, but that we're into having the best things. Here is what he says:
"My advice to students is opposite of yours when it comes time to decide on resolution. I have always advised them to use the highest quality setting they can manage, and to buy big memory cards.
"Why? Because that family snapshot might just be the last time you see your grandmother, or the last time the entire family is together. And to shoot that moment at low resolution dooms that image to 5 x 7 or 8 x 10, with little opportunity to improve upon that.
"In digital audio, all those folks who recorded with first-generation digital audio decks now cringe at the sound quality. [These days], it's pretty much the standard to record at higher resolution and downsample to lower res when needed. But you still have a higher quality file to refer to when the time comes to remaster.
"Having spent my life working with images, many of them archival and historically important, I thank the gods for the incredible resolution of the wet plate process, for the use of large format film, and the care given to properly process film and prints. On the other side, there is simply nothing you can do to improve upon a low-res image, captured with a lossy format like JPEG.
"So I tell folks, buy a big card or two, especially now that a 1-gig card is 80 bucks, and shoot in TIFF or RAW [high-quality formats that take up a lot of memory]. For 95 percent of the images, it won't matter a bit. But for those once in a lifetime photos, it's well worth the investment. So, in my book, the 8 mp file is well worth the effort, and still isn't close to film's inherent quality or possibility for future use and exploration."
I love Harris Fogel. Print this and carry it with you at all times, and use it to fight off naysayers. Now I'm off to price a Digital Rebel XT and a huge memory card.
Tablet Book From Cher Threinen-Pendarvis - Part 2
Since I mentioned Cher's interesting book - The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book: Creative Techniques in Digital Painting I found links to partial sample chapters posted on Cher's website. If you're curious about this book you can downlaod PDFs of chapters 5, 8, and 10. Go to Cher's website and hover over Resources, and then click on Tablet Book. You'll find the links there. We've also put together a product page for the book that has links to amazon.com for those interested in buying it.
Before & After Magazine — New Free PDF Articles
"Have you ever designed a great cover page only to struggle with the inside pages? You'll find four beautiful solutions in this week's PDF, How To Design A Second Page. Also look for two other free recent articles: How To Find The Perfect Color - getting that just-right color is part art, part science, and Design Easy Cover Patterns - using this step-and-repeat technique, you can make artistic covers in no time."
New Tutorial — Wrap Text Around An Object
Learn a quick and simple technique that will let you wrap text around an object. Plus you can download a free high resolution version of the photo I used in the tutorial.
PictoColor Launches PictoMarketplace.com
PictoColor Corporation has opened PictoMarketplace.com, a new online store featuring professional color correction, calibration, and profiling solutions. PictoMarketplace is a color management product resource for digital photographers with an on-line store that features professional calibration and profiling solutions for color managed workflows. Visit PictoMarketplace.com for more details.
Photoshop Tip: Protect Your Original Document
If you're worried about doing irreparable damage to your image, create a quick duplicate to your original. Hold down Option (PC: Alt), go to the image menu and choose Duplicate. (If you don't have option/ Alt held down, you'll be asked to name the duplicate document.)
Advanced Masking DVD From Ben Willmore
Ben Willmore has just released a new Photoshop training DVD called Advanced Masking. It teaches you how to remove the background on things like frizzy hair and translucent objects. Tools that are covered include Background Eraser, Extract Command, Blending Sliders, Channels, Pen Tool, and Layer Masks. You can find samples on Ben's blog page, or more details at Ben's DVD site.
SimCam: Film and Digital Camera Simulator
The SimCam is an online camera simulator designed to teach basic photographic principles. There's Shutter and Aperture, where you adjust the camera settings and examine the results to understand the relationship between shutter and aperture. There's Film Speed, where you shoot the same scene with two different film speeds and compare exposures side by side. And there's Camera Shake, where you compare wide-angle and zoom examples side by side. Sweet.
Photoshop How-to: Photo Retouching Sample Chapter
CreativePro is offering a sample chapter from the excellent Photo Retouching with Photoshop : A Designer's Notebook. From the site: "A high-powered French duo was hired by botanical beauty firm Yves Rocher to photograph and retouch shots of a new line of products. Follow along as the shots are taken and the images cleaned up and prepared for a print campaign." Download the sample chapter PDF.
3 Matte Painting Tutorials Added To Advanced Tutorials Page
We've added links to three matte painting tutorials by Sebastien Gaucher that show you how to create matte paintings in Photoshop. They are detailed and include large versions of the images so you can study the effects closely.
Adobe Photoshop Elements Lessons From Rick Sammon
Pro photographer Rick Sammon is offering a series of 24 Photoshop Elements lessons that are available in 3-lesson bundles at a cost of $5.95 per bundle. The lessons are presented as QuickTime movies and each lesson comes with a work image you can download.
Find more details and a free demo lesson at the site.
Photoshop Tip: Putting A Photo Inside Type
First, set your Foreground color to black (by pressing "d"). Choose the Type tool and create your text (you don't have to rasterize the type). Then, open the image you want to appear inside your type and use the Move tool to drag it into your type document. (It should appear on the layer above your Type layer. If it doesn't, just go to the Layers palette and move it on top of your Type layer.) To put your image inside the type, press Command-G (PC: Control-G) and whammo - your image is masked into your type. You can reposition the image by using the Move tool. And since you didn't rasterize your Type layer, your text remains totally editable-just click on the Type layer to start editing. You can add Layer Styles to your Type layer to further enhance the effect. If you're not crazy about the image you picked, press Shift-Command-G (PC: Shift-Control-G) and remove the image.
Wacom Tablets Book From Cher Threinen-Pendarvis
We've been putting together a page about the Wacom Intuos3 pen tablets, and while I was working on it I came across an interesting book - The Photoshop and Painter Artist Tablet Book: Creative Techniques in Digital Painting by Cher Threinen-Pendarvis. It's been getting rave reviews, so if you're starting to work with a tablet and need some guidance from a pro, this looks like a good book to have. I also found an interview with Cher, where she talks about the book and working with Photoshop and the Wacom Intuos tablet.AV Bros. Releases Puzzle Pro 2.0 Filter Photoshop Plugin
AV Bros., makers of Photoshop plug-ins, have released Puzzle Pro 2.0 filter plug-in for Photoshop. The plug-in gives users the ability to create a jig-saw puzzle effect. It also produces various high-quality image effects. Find more info and a free demo on the AV Bros. website.
Advanced Photoshop Tutorials Page
We've put together a page with links to some advanced Photoshop tutorials. There are links to sample chapters from the Designer's Notebook series which show you techniques for working with photomontages, digital illustrations, and photo retouching. You'll also find two tutorials that deal with comic book art and how to color them digitally in Photoshop, and tutorials on how to create realistic stars and planets. Take a look at our Advanced Tutorials Page.
Neat Image Noise Reduction Plugin Updated To 2.2
The update improves compatibility of Neat Image plug-in /Mac with older versions of Photoshop running in OSX in Classic mode. Two other improvements and bug fixes are implemented as well. Registered users of Neat Image Pro plug-in /Mac may use their licenses to download the latest version of the software.
Photoshop World Coverage:
Deborah Whitman & John Nack Interview From 'Inside Mac Radio'
Deborah Whitman is the Vice President of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe and John Nack is the Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop CS. Listen as they offer a sneak peek at some of the Adobe's new and emerging technologies.
You can listen online or download it in MP3 format.
Photoshop Tip: Bring Those Type Layers Together
How do you merge two Type layers together? Unfortunately, while they're still editable Type layers, you can't-you have to rasterize the layers first. Technically, you rasterize just one (the bottom of the two Type layers), and then make the top Type layer active and press Command-E (PC: Control-E) to merge these two layers together. However, when you do that, the top Type layer will automatically rasterize as the two layers are combined into one, so there's really no way around it-with the exception of this little tip: Highlight the editable type on the top layer and choose Cut from the Edit menu. Switch to the lower Type layer, click your Type cursor once at the end of the type, press Return (PC: Enter) to start a new line, then choose Paste from the Edit menu to paste the contents of the top Type layer into the bottom Type layer. Then drag the old top Type layer into the Trash icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Although it takes a little effort, now you have both layers combined into one layer (your goal), but the type remains totally editable (the bonus).
Before & After Magazine — Free PDF Articles
I'm a big fan of Before & After Magazine. I love their simple and clear instructions and their smart design ideas. Now you can download a free article in PDF format from their site. Download "How To Find The Perfect Color," and if you subscribe you'll get your hands on a whole lot more. There's one other free article on their front page, "Design Easy Cover Patterns." That one is very good as well.
NAPP Announces Guru Awards at Photoshop World
Guru Awards were given to 10 recipients in a ceremony honoring excellence in Photoshop design. Exclusive to Photoshop World Conference & Expo attendees, the competition was judged by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). Winners of the Guru Competition are allowed to display their work on the show floor during the conference and later again in the Photoshop User magazine. The ten Guru Award recipients and categories can be seen at PhotoshopWorld.com.
Photoshop World Keynote From 'Inside Mac Radio'
NAPP President Scott Kelby and Deborah Whitman, Vice President of product management for Digital Imaging at Adobe provided the opening keynote at Photoshop World today. Deborah Whitman offered attendees a sneak peek at some of the company’s new and emerging technologies.
You can listen online or download it in MP3 format.
Samsung Launches 7 Megapixel Phone
Samsung has unveiled the world's first mobile phone with a powerful 7-megapixel camera. The new phone, which also has an MP3 player and business card reader, would go on sale as early as the next 2 months, though a price had yet to be set, Samsung said in a statement. The SCH-V770 phone will make its international debut at CeBIT, the world's biggest tech and telecoms trade show, in Hanover, Germany on Thursday.
Read the full story from Reuters.com
Photoshop World & Digital Photography
A Publish.com article reporting on the Photoshop World conference says "Though overall attendance has grown, event organizers said what has been most notable is the increase in the presence of digital photography at a show that previously had been the province of graphic artists."
Read the article at Publish.com.
Sony's Latest Cyber-Shot Is Extremely Slim
The Cyber-shot T7 is just over a third-of-an inch, making it Sony’s thinnest, fully-featured model. It has a 2.5-inch ‘hybrid’ LCD screen, covering about two-thirds of the back of the camera. It features 5.1 effective megapixel resolution and an enhanced power management system for extended shooting time. Folded within the sleek body also lies a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens with 3x Optical Zoom.
It will be available in May for about $500.
Read the details at DP Review.
Wacom Intuos3 Pen Tablets Now Ship With Photoshop Elements 3
Wacom today announced that Photoshop Elements 3 is now included with all sizes of its Intuos 3 pen tablets. With 19 pressure-sensitive tools, Elements 3 is designed to be used with a Wacom pen to deliver dynamic control of important tool attributes such as size, opacity, and color. When used with a Wacom pen, the Quick Fix and Spot Healing Brush allow users to selectively alter images and naturally remove photographic flaws.
Also included with every Intuos3 pen tablet are Corel Painter Essentials 2 for creating natural media art and organic effects, Color Efex Pro 2 IE from nik multimedia for selectively applying photographic enhancements, and Wacom Brushes 2 for even more brush choices in Photoshop Elements 3.
Intuos3 tablets now put ExpressKeys and Touch Strips within easy reach for convenient keyboard shortcuts, scrolling, zooming, controlling brush size and more.
Details at wacom.com. Discount prices at amazon.com.
CreativePro Article On Photoshop Actions
Actions are a simple way of creating automated Photoshop procedures, and in "Framed and Exposed: Taking Action" Ben Long shows you how to set them up to automate parts of your photo-management workflow.
Adobe Digital Negative Specification Gains Momentum with Hasselblad And Leica Support
Adobe announced that Hasselblad and Leica Camera AG are among the first camera manufacturers to commit to support the Digital Negative Specification (DNG). Hasselblad will work to allow export to the Digital Negative (.DNG) file format and Leica plans to include native support within their new camera models. The first Leica product that supports the .DNG file format will be the LEICA DIGITAL-MODUL-R, a unique, interchangeable digital back for Leica's 35mm SLR system.
Adobe also announced an update to the DNG Specification. The DNG Specification now gives photographers the ability to embed the original image within the .DNG file format directly from the Adobe DNG Converter. This is particularly useful when DNG is not the original file format within the camera a photographer is shooting with.
The Adobe DNG Converter is available today as a free download at www.adobe.com/dng.
Latest Genicap Supergraphx Plugins On Show At Photoshop World
Genicap is to unveil its latest Supergraphx plug-ins for Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop users at the Photoshop World conference. Gielis' Superformula now allows Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop users the ability to create an infinite variation of shapes and patterns, symmetric, asymmetric or amorphous, using the secrets of nature's own hidden geometry.
The Genicap Supergraphx plug-ins allow the user to design and enhance shapes that would be impossible to construct or even imagine using standard tools. The plug-in for Adobe Photoshop is the first commercial application of the Gielis Superformula, a mathematical algorithm that dramatically simplifies computer graphics, and allows Genicap to bring the power of the Superformula to the users of the most popular 2D packages available today.
"Although our Supergraphx software operates very simply as a plug-in for Photoshop," said Johan Gielis of Genicap, "it actually transforms Photoshop into a much more powerful creative program. It brings the computer into the creative process, not just as a tool, but as an interactive partner.
Product details and a gallery can be found on the Genicap website.
Professional Plug-In Actions for Photoshop CS
Kodak is offering free professional plug-in Actions for Photoshop CS users. The Actions will optimize plug-ins for creating unique effects and more beautiful pictures. In addition, Kodak will be offering free updates to the DIGITAL SHO Professional Plug-In to support 16-bit images. The update automatically optimizes the contrast and exposure of images. The free plug-ins and actions are available at www.asf.com.
Photoshop Tip: Don't Cancel; Reset and Save Time
Most of Photoshop's dialog (but not all) will let you use this little tip, which can save you loads of time. When you're making changes in a dialog (let's use the Levels dialog as an example) and decide that you don't like the changes you've made, one option is to press the Cancel button to close the dialog, leaving your image unchanged. Then you can reopen the dialog and try again. This is an incredible waste of time, so instead, Photoshop lets you "reset" the dialog - putting the settings back to what they were when you first opened it. Just hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) and look at the Cancel button - it changes into the Reset button. Click it, and it resets the dialog automatically, as if you hadn't made any changes at all. Big, big time saver.
Creating Photomontages With Photoshop
Graphics.com is running a really excellent sample chapter by Odile Pascal titled "From Woman to Angel with Photoshop" which is adapted from the book Creating Photomontages with Photoshop. In this sample chapter Odile explains in detail how the original photo of the woman was transformed in Photoshop.
I Cover The Waterfront... (Photoshop Sightings)
Look for Martha Stewart on the current cover of Newsweek. And then look again. According to USA Today, Newsweek did a little Photoshopping:
"Newsweek put Stewart's head on a model's body for a cover story that looks at how she will emerge from prison 'thinner, wealthier and ready for prime time.'"
Read the whole sordid story at USA Today.
NYPL Digital Gallery Opens - Download Frenzy Begins!
NYPL Digital Gallery provides access to over 275,000 images digitized from primary sources and printed rarities in the collections of The New York Public Library, including illuminated manuscripts, historical maps, vintage posters, rare prints and photographs, illustrated books, printed ephemera, and more.
Sarah Boxer of The New York Times warns: "Let the browser beware... If you dive in today without knowing why, you might not surface for a long, long time."
Free Photoshop Help At PhotoshopHelp.blogs.com
Jim Barthman answers your Photoshop questions and is building a large knowledgebase that will address the many Photoshop problems we all encounter. Reading through the entries can reveal interesting things you may not have been aware of. Like this post on "Scrubbers":
Have you ever seen a Photoshop scrubber?
Open an image in Photoshop.
Choose Image > Image Size
The Image Size dialog box appears.
Place the cursor over the word Resolution:
When the cursor changes into a finger with two arrows, click and drag.
The Resolution value changes in 1/10 pixel increments.
Many Numeric Entry boxes support the same feature.
Just rollover and see.
Very nice. Visit PhotoshopHelp and look around. You'll find some very interesting and useful tidbits.
Making The Rounds...
From Graphics.com: Increase Exposure Without Overexposing Highlights in Photoshop Elements. Denny Tang shows how to quickly improve the quality of under-exposed photos. And at mezzoblue there's a good article - CMYK (for Those Who Do RGB) - by Dave Shea that walks you through preparing files for a print job.
AV Bros. Release Page Curl Pro 2.0 Photoshop Plugin
Page Curl Pro 2.0 lets you not only bend the image, using two type of bending (curling and folding), but also texturize it (using the bump maps), orient it in 3D space (including the perspective distortions) and obtain total control over the process of lighting the image. Page Curl Pro 2.0 sells for $79.95. Demos are available at the AV Bros. website.
Photoshop Tip: Fonts, Fonts, And More Fonts
Here's a tip to quickly change typefaces and see the change while you make it. First, highlight the type you want to change, and then press Command-H (PC: Control-H) to hide the highlighting (the type is still highlighted; the highlight is just hidden from view). Then, up in the Options Bar, click once in the front field, then use the Up/Down Arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll through your installed typefaces.
Fake Reality
Have a look at these amazing street drawings from Sidewalk Chalk Guy. Of course whenever I see something like this I immediately assume it's a fake created by some Photoshop artist and I start looking for evidence. But these looked so real. So I went to Snopes - and found out that in fact this is totally real, and that they're the work of master street painter Kurt Wenner. Visit the Q&A section of Kurt Wenner's website for interesting comments on how he works.
AKVIS Chameleon V.2.1 for Macintosh and Windows Now Available
Operating as a plug-in to photo editors including Adobe Photoshop, AKVIS Chameleon makes the insertion of new objects or the replacement of unwanted elements in digital photos simple even for users unskilled with photo editing software, since this tool does not require precise selection of objects. AKVIS Chameleon adjusts inserted objects to the new background, automatically adapting and blending to the new color range.
The V.2.1 release of AKVIS Chameleon features image processing speed up to 30 times greater than its predecessor while requiring far less memory consumption. Registered users of previous versions of AKVIS Chameleon are eligible to upgrade to V.2.1 for free by downloading and installing the new version.To learn more read the full press release.
3 From Creativepro.com
There are three new articles posted at Creativepro that are worth a look.
Photoshop How-To: Camera Raw Versus Photoshop by Pete Bauer
Camera raw experts tell you to open images first in Camera Raw. While that's usually good advice, some tasks are just as easy in Photoshop. Here's one example.
Photoshop How-to: Total Color Transformation by Gregory Georges
When clients supply photos for Web sites or print materials, you're never sure what you're going to get. If the images are less-than-ideal but you must use them, Photoshop can help. This tutorial walks you through the process of completely altering colors.
Framed and Exposed: Quiet Those Noisy Images by Ben Long
Noise is a trouble that all digital photographers face at one time or another, and though there are many ways to eliminate noise using your image editing program, there are now many good automated noise reduction packages that not only make it easier to eliminate or reduce noise in your images, but that might do a far better job than you could ever do by hand.
How Symbolic
I was looking through my collection of international symbols from the American Institute of Graphic Artists and decided I should let others know about them, as they've come in handy on some recent design projects. Here's what AIGA says about the symbol signs:
This system of 50 symbol signs was designed for use at the crossroads of modern life: in airports and other transportation hubs and at large international events. Produced through a collaboration between the AIGA and the U.S. Department of Transportation, they are an example of how public-minded designers can address a universal communication need.
AIGA appointed a committee of five leading designers of environmental graphics, who evaluated the symbols and made recommendations for adapting or redesigning them. Based on their conclusions, a team of AIGA member designers produced the symbols.
These copyright-free symbols have become the standard for off-the-shelf symbols in the catalogues of U.S. sign companies. They are now available on the web for the first time.
You'll find symbols for Lost and Found, First Aid, Coat Check, Escalator, Stairs Up, Stairs Down, Taxi, Bus, Departing Flights, Arriving Flights, and my all-time favorite passenger/pedestrian symbol - the Martini.
The complete set of 50 symbols is available free of charge in EPS and GIF formats.
Eye Candy 5: Textures Released
Eye Candy 5: Textures is a collection of ten seamless texture generators. The first of three upgrades to Eye Candy 4000, Textures produces a wide variety of texture effects, including snake and lizard skin, fur, brick, stone and wood. Graphic designers, Web developers and 3D artists can quickly create backgrounds, skins, seamless tiles and more.
Textures includes settings for over 200 frequently used effects. A new settings system makes it easy to explore these effects.
Textures works with 16-bit images and does not compromise expanded color depth. Color transitions are smoother and print documents reproduce colors more accurately. Find out more at the Alien Skin website.
New Photoshop Brushes From Kirsty
Kirsty from brushes.500ml.org sends this in: "There's a new brush set, Clocks. Please go to brushes.500ml.org to check it out and thank you for your support."
PhotoshopCAFE Offers New Video Training
PhotoshopCAFE has announced the availability of its Photoshop and Dreamweaver Integration DVD. The 2.5 hour training video will teach designers, photographers and Photoshop users with little or no prior Web experience how to build fully functional Web pages in Photoshop and Dreamweaver without the use of any programming. Users will learn everything from defining and designing a site, to slicing, optimizing and uploading to the web.
Photoshop Tip: Instantly Find the Center of Any Image
This is a great tip for quickly finding the exact center of any object on its own layer. You start by pressing Command-T (PC: Control-T) to bring up the Free Transform bounding box. The bounding box has a handle in the center of both sides and center handles at both top and bottom. Now all you have to do is make Photoshop's rulers visible (Command-R on Mac, Control-R on PC), and then drag out a horizontal and vertical ruler guide to these handles to mark the center.
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