• Teaches how to use High Definition file formats
• Details the enhanced Camera Raw interface
• Explores the improved Brush Engine and the new Filter & Special effects
• Shows how to use the exposure merge program to gain control over image shadow, midtones, and highlights
• Covers the new effects in the special effects menu
• Teaches how to use HDR and Smart Objects to composite photos
• Explains how to add lights for effect and create tornado and debris effects
• Shows how to integrate 3D objects
• Details the nuances of working with people and backgrounds

The book also includes a companion CD-ROM (Win/Mac) with all of the files needed to do the tutorials, all of the book images, demos of Photoshop CS2 (PC), nik Multimedia Color Efex Pro 2.0 (PC), and nik Sharpener Pro 2.0 (PC).

At Charles River Media you'll find a link to a sample chapter from the book, "Chapter One - Simplifying The Interface" — which provides an intensive listing of all of the tools and commands in Photoshop CS2. There's also a section that shows you how to create an animated paint brush, how to create your own custom brush palette, and how to work with Adobe Bridge and the RAW interface.

The other day we asked Stephen a few questions and here's what he had to say:

What level of expertise is needed to follow your book?
This book caters to the intermediate and advance level but I would not discourage beginners.

What hardware do you use?
I use a PC with 2 gigabytes of ram that has a Geforce 6800 Video card. I have installed a 10,000 rpm SATA drive for the operating system and standard 7200 rpm drives for storage that comes out to be around 1/2 terrabyte. As far as screens go, the larger your work space the better. I use 1600 x 1280.

What is your favorite new feature in Photoshop CS2?
I try not to get hooked on any one feature to be my favorite just to keep my creative style to be more unpredictable, however if I was to choose one it would be the new Merge to HDRI tool that enables the artist to have an extended tonal range by combining several images with varying exposures.

Do you have any other books planned?
Yes, I am currently working on a book that will share my work and vision on digital fine art. This will serve as both an instructional and coffee table like format.

Thanks Stephen, and good luck with the book.

NOTE: Meet Stephen Burns during a free presentation and book signing at the Grossmont Barnes & Noble bookstore Wednesday, November 30th at 7:00 pm — 5500 Grossmont Center Dr, La Mesa, CA 91942, Tel: 619-667-2895. (Google map)

Read the full Press Release
Visit Stephen Burns' website
Buy Advanced Photoshop CS2 Trickery & FX (34% off at amazon.com).

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TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 29 2005

New Tutorial - All About Photoshop Scripts

Here's a quiz: "What do Trevor Morris, Russell Brown, Darrell Heathrowe and Jeff Tranberry all have in common?" The answer is they're are all into scriptwriting, and I don't mean for TV or the movies, I mean for Photoshop.

You can find out all about scripting in my latest tutorial, "Working With Photoshop Scripts." The tutorial focuses on the often overlooked power of Photoshop Scripts and shows you where to find some free Scripting Guides that are included with Photoshop, explains how to install and work with Photoshop Scripts, and also lists some free scripts and resource sites. Hope you enjoy it.

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Apple Begins Shipping Aperture

It looks like Apple has begun shipping Aperture. Many customers who had pre-ordered copies of Aperture from the Apple online store ($499) and from Amazon.com ($449) are reporting that they're receiving notification that their orders were shipped out on Saturday.

For more info on Aperture, see our Apple Aperture Resource Center.

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NAPP Launches The Ultimate Photoshop Quiz

(Press Release) For the first time Adobe Photoshop users worldwide can test their Photoshop skills by taking the "Ultimate Photoshop Quiz" created by the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP). The quiz lets participants determine their knowledge and expertise of Photoshop in a 20 question, 20-minutes-or-less interactive format.

The Ultimate Photoshop Quiz is developed by NAPP President and renowned Photoshop guru Scott Kelby along with NAPP's very own Adobe Certified Instructors — Dave Cross and Matt Kloskowski. When finished, quiz participants immediately learn their score as a beginner, intermediate or advanced Photoshop user. Advanced users are then challenged to take a 10 question Photoshop Expert Quiz with a much higher degree of difficulty.

Go to The Ultimate Photoshop Quiz site.

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MONDAY - NOVEMBER 28 2005

Hey Jen, Tell Them About All The New Free Prizes!

That's what the memo asked me to do, so here I go. Over the last few weeks we've added some great new prizes to our Photoshop Newsletter prize pool. Every month 9 individual subscribers each win one prize from a collection of software and training kits valued at over $1500. You can read all the happy details on our Newsletter Signup Page. Below are descriptions of the most recent prizes that we've added on.

1 Free Copy Of Total Training For Adobe Photoshop CS2 (3 DVDs)
Learn from Photoshop Hall of Famer Deke McClelland as he presents 21 hours of valuable tutorials. McClelland proactively addresses real-world situations and offers additional tips and techniques used by the pros. As an added bonus, this training package also includes stock photography, courtesy of PhotoSpin, Inc. and iStockphoto, Inc. For more details about this training package visit the Total Training website.

1 Free Copy Of Genuine Fractals Image Scaling Plug-in From onOne
For extraordinary image enlargements, Genuine Fractals enables photographers to create high-quality, print-ready enlargements yet save files in a small, space-saving format for easy archiving and file transfers. Resize or crop your digital images within Genuine Fractals and scale up your image up to 700% without degrading image quality. See our Genuine Fractals 4.1 Product Review Page for more information.

1 Free Copy Of Photo/Graphic Edges From AutoFX
Now at version 6, Photo/Graphic Edges includes new features and effects, including SmartLayers, Visual Layer Presets, Brush Effects, Unlimited Undo and new creative content. You can install Photo/Graphic Edges as a Photoshop plug-in for versions 4 through CS, or as a stand-alone application. The package costs $179 and comes with the following on 3 CDs: 10,000 Edges, 1,000 Matte Textures, 175 Frames, 230 Effect Brushes, 210 Light Tiles, and Over 300 professional presets for instant solutions. See our Photo/Graphic Edges page for more details.

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Photoshop Tip: Fix Those Tool Settings Fast

There's no doubt you'll be "messing" with many, if not all, of the options for the tools you use every day in Photoshop. One day you'll go to use a tool, and you'll have messed with it to the extent that something's just not right. To quickly get back to any tool's default settings, choose the tool from the Toolbox, then Control-click (PC: Right-click) on the tool's icon that appears up in the Options Bar at the far left. A pop-up menu will appear where you can choose Reset Tool to set it back to its factory-fresh defaults. By the way, while you're there, you can also choose Reset All Tools and they will all revert to their defaults as well.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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THURSDAY - NOVEMBER 24 2005

Happy Thanksgiving. Here's an extra large serving of Photoshop links that will hopefully keep you satisfied over the long weekend, and just to be extra nice I've included some sweet Photoshop chocolate. Have fun.

Replace Eye Color In Photoshop
From Heathrowe: Follow these steps to change the color of eyes with ease using the Color Replacement Tool in Photoshop CS/CS2.

Combining Traditional Outdoor Photos With Digital Studio Images
From Graphics.com: Natasha Vasiljevic simulates the wide-screen perspective of an opening film sequence in Photoshop.

Add A Tattoo With Photoshop
From Graphics.com: Create a tattoo in Photoshop by using the Free Transform command, Gaussian Blur filter and the Desaturate function.

Using Custom Photoshop Brushes To Create Traditional Painting Effects
From Graphics.com: Illustrator Damian Fagan alters brush dynamics for his interpretation of Pescadora, a mythical fisherwoman.

More Photoshop TV Episodes
Episode 5 - November 21: "Join Scott and Matt for our special "Nuthin' but tips and news" Thanksgiving week episode."
Episode 4 - November 14: "The Photoshop Guys show you some cool brush customization tricks as well as a tutorial on adding some artistic borders to your photos. Scott and Matt do some news and updates from Photoshop World Japan."

Create a Patinated Effect by Controlling Pixel Residue in Photoshop
From Graphics.com: Rebecca Lysen uses Photoshop's Color Range as a better way to control pixel residue.|

Create a Moody Atmosphere with Faux Finish Brushes in Photoshop
From Graphics.com: French illustrator Grégory Szucs goes beyond the 'plain, Hard Round brush' Photoshop look by adding texture.

Adobe CS2 - Print Production Guide
From CreativeGuy: "Adobe has a great 50-page PDF file titled 'Transparency in Adobe Applications: A Print Production Guide.' I highly recommend giving this PDF a quick read through, if not printing it out for reference. As the title implies, this Whitepaper documents transparency in ALL the CreativeSuite apps."

Photoshop Plugin - Altostorm Rectilinear Panorama
This is a new version of a universal tool that corrects any geometric image distortions (lens, perspective and panorama distortions).

Making Chocolate in Photoshop
Submitted by Dimitrije at CreativeBits: "Personally, I don't like to use bevel effect in my work. I like things to be flat. But, one night I saw the billboard on the street with huge chocolate and it was actually a photograph of chocolate. So, I decided to reproduce it in Photoshop but without using bevel effect it's almost impossible to do that. Just check it out bevel in action.

Creating a Track-and-Field Illustration in Photoshop
From Graphics.com: Commercial photographer Keate resorts to some Photoshop wizardry to create an unsettling sports image.

Using Patterns with the Healing Brush in Photoshop
From Graphics.com: If your image doesn't have a good area to clone from, set the Healing Brush to use a pattern as its source.

As always, a super big Batgirl thank you to James Jean
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WEDNESDAY - NOVEMBER 23 2005

Combine Photographs And 3D Objects In Photoshop

There's a new Photoshop "how-to" article at creativepro.com. Corné van Dooren walks you through his creation of a real project — a book cover that joins 2D and 3D elements using often-overlooked Photoshop tools. From the intro:

"In early summer 2005, the United Kingdom book publisher Friends of ED asked multimedia designer Corné van Dooren to create a new range of designs for its Foundation book series. Van Dooren explains that after five years of using images of movie theaters as the source for artwork on the covers, the publisher decided it was time for a new look and feel.

"He says that the Friends of ED, especially product manager Pete Aylward, decided that the concept should move away from a technology look to a more organic one. In the tutorial below, van Dooren shares how he created the most challenging cover of the series, for a book written by Sham Bhangal and Kristian Besley."

Read Combine Photographs And 3D Objects In Photoshop at creativepro.com.

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Apple To Release Aperture On Wednesday, November 30

(From MacNN.com) Apple on November 30th is preparing to launch Aperture, its forthcoming all-in-one post production tool designed for professional photographers. According to an email received by Amazon.com customers, the company has already received copies of Aperture, but is unable to release it to the public until November 30th. "Although we do have your copy of "Apple Aperture Post Production Tool for Photographers (Mac DVD)" on hand, we are not able to ship it to you until its official release date, November 30, 2005. Many manufacturers, publishers, and record labels restrict retailers from selling or shipping their products until the official release date."

Pre-order Apple Aperture for $449 at amazon.com
For more info on Aperture, see our Apple Aperture Resource Center.

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Photoshop Tip: Preview Feathering

Rather than guessing what amount of feathering to use, try this. Make a selection with no feathering, press Q for Quick Mask mode, then use Gaussian Blur filter. Using the colored overlay you'll be able to preview the equivalent of feathering - the amount you choose for the Gaussian blur is equivalent to feathering.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 22 2005

Half A Dozen Photoshop Articles From Ben Willmore

Ben Willmore has posted 6 of his most recent Photoshop Mastery columns from Photoshop User Magazine. They're available for download from his "Where Is Ben?" blog.

These PDFs offer lots of excellent Photoshop tips, tricks, and techniques. The 6 offerings are Impatient Retouchers Can Cheat, Setting Up Photoshop CS2, Learning From Histograms, Ten Photoshop CS2 Changes, Digital Photographer's Frustration Fixer and Toning Down a Harsh Shadow.

Overwhelmed? If you only have time for one, read Ten Photoshop CS2 Changes, but download them all and keep them in a folder so you have the option of referencing them later. And bookmark his site, as it's a very good Photoshop resource.

Also note that Adobe Photoshop CS2 Studio Techniques has been released. This is considered an essential Photoshop book by many, and is always receiving 5-star ratings at Amazon.com. I'll be posting a review of it soon.

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Photoshop Tip: Why It Looks Fuzzy When You Transform Images

When using the Free Transform tool, don't let it freak you out that the preview you're seeing while manipulating your image is horribly pixelated — that's just a low-res preview Photoshop displays while you're transforming so things keep moving as fast as possible.

When you finally hit Return (PC: Enter), it then redraws your image at its full resolution and the pixelation should disappear (unless of course, you did something that actually increases pixelation, such as scaling up a 72-ppi document by 300%, but I know you wouldn't do that).

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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MONDAY - NOVEMBER 21 2005

A Winter Treat — Snow Flakes Brush Set From Kirsty

It's that time of year and many of you have been asking for snow and ice brushes. Well we're happy to announce that we have an exclusive Snow & Flakes Brush Set for you to download.

This set was kindly created for us by Kirsty of 500ml Brushes. She's always been one of our favorite brush maestros (you can see a list of her other excellent brushes on our brushes page), and we're thrilled to be able to offer her truly amazing work to you.

The Snow & Flakes Brush Set contains 10 individual brushes and is a real winter wonderland of snowy images, featuring icy trees, perfectly exquisite snow flakes, intricate ice crystals and more. Make sure to review the read-me file that contains certain usage restrictions, and then create your own spectacular wintery marvels to unleash on the world. Thanks Kirsty!

Download the Snow Flakes Brush Set (zip/1.3MB).

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Adobe Bridge 1.0.3 Update

The Adobe Bridge 1.0.3 update delivers improved product reliability. This update is recommended for all Adobe Bridge customers. There were some problems with the initial release of this update, mainly an issue with the installer that resulted in the Camera Raw plug-in failing to work in certain cases, but all reports indicate that this has now been resolved.

Download Bridge 1.03 for Macintosh.
Download Bridge 1.03 for Windows.

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Tutorial Outpost Contest With Good Photoshop Prizes

There's a contest at the Tutorial Outpost that sounds interesting. Here's how they describe it: "The Tutorial Outpost 'Transportation' Design Contest aims at promoting the creative community at Tutorial Outpost. You are invited to participate by interpreting the theme 'Transportation' in any visual language and form that you see fit. Don't limit yourselves. Run with it. Push boundaries. Break rules. Create."

The contest ends December 16 at noon. Prizes:
There will be one winner who will receive a prize package containing the following:
1) Wacom Graphire3 4x5 Tablet
2) Adobe CS2 Premium
3) A Years subscription to Computer Arts

Visit the Tutorial Outpost for more details and all the contest rules.

Photoshop Tip: Setting Better Shadow/Highlights Defaults

If you've messed around at all with Photoshop CS's new Shadow/Highlight tonal adjustment feature (under Adjustments in the Image menu), you've probably already figured out it's pretty cool. However, when you bring up this dialog, the Shadows slider is already set at 50% (by default), so it immediately adjusts your image. So I always wind up setting the Shadows slider back to 0% (so the image is untouched until I move a slider, just like in Levels or Curves).

However, if you always work in the standard mode (you don't click the Show More Options feature), you wouldn't know that at the bottom of the More Options panel is a button called "Save Defaults," which will let you set the shadow to 0% and save that as your default setting. Hey, every little click counts.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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FRIDAY - NOVEMBER 18 2005

Total Training For Macromedia Dreamweaver 8

Total Training have released Total Training for Macromedia Dreamweaver 8. This new series is hosted by Janine Warner, best-selling author of Dreamweaver For Dummies. The 10-hour video series was produced in HD and showcases how to efficiently layout, develop, and maintain standards-based websites with Dreamweaver 8. To find out more about this training series, see our Total Training For Macromedia Dreamweaver 8 page, read our interview with host Janine Warner, and view one of the following two samples.

Dreamweaver's Photoshop Settings
If you want to be able to edit an image in gif or jpeg format after you've inserted it into your Dreamweaver pages and have Dreamweaver launch Photoshop instead of the default Fireworks, this tutorial will show you how to change the settings to make Photoshop the primary default image editor.

This is our very first clip in High Definition (HD). Benefits of HD include a 165% larger screen size for viewing on a computer monitor, crystal-clear image capture to easily read text and fine details, and higher frame rate support for smoother playback.

View the Dreamweaver's Photoshop Settings video clip.

How To Create Rollovers in Dreamweaver
Rollovers are an incredibly popular feature on the web and this tutorial walks you through the process of implementing them into your site using Dreamweaver.

You'll learn how to use the Insert Rollover Image tool in Dreamweaver, how to work with the Preload Rollover Image and Alt Text options, and how to set the Link Page for your rollovers.

View the How To Create Rollovers in Dreamweaver video clip.

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AbsolutVision Stock Photo Special Offer

AbsolutVision, the Internet's first JPEG2000 stock photography service, is offering an annual subscription for a reduced fee of $79 (regularly $120 per year) for a limited period. The AbsolutVision collection includes thousands of high-quality JPEG2000 images, with more are being added every week. Subscribers can download up to 300 of the site's royalty-free stock photos monthly. Images also are available in standard JPEG format.

Founded by a Swiss team of photographers, graphic designers and professional lithographers, AbsolutVision was created to give graphic designers and others access to inexpensive, professional-quality, royalty-free photos. Comps can be downloaded without a watermark, and all images in the site's Objects and Characters collections are available with built-in clipping paths and include specially drawn shadows for better space rendering.

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Photoshop Tip: Sorting Images In Camera Raw

When most of us think about sorting or rating images, we think about Bridge, but believe it or not, you can pretty much do the same thing right within Camera Raw. For example, let's say you open 60 images in Camera Raw. You can toggle through the different images by clicking on the left/right arrows in the bottom-right side of the preview window. To delete any image you don't like, click on the Trash icon in the Toolbox (it only appears when you have multiple images open). To add a star rating to a file, just click on it in the list of images on the left side of the dialog and drag out your rating below the image's thumbnail. .

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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THURSDAY - NOVEMBER 17 2005

New CS2 Book From Colin Smith - Complete Photoshop CS2 For Digital Photographers

Complete Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers is filled with updated coverage and tutorials on the new features of CS2. The book is designed and written especially for digital photographers and teaches how to organize, enhance, correct, and retouch images, and how to output them.

By working through specific projects, photographers will explore the new and enhanced areas of Photoshop, including more in depth coverage of Camera Raw and working with multiple images. Expanded coverage of Bridge is also provided. There's new material about color management and working with profiles for getting accurate prints. In addition, there is coverage of the new sharpening, noise reduction and retouching tools and methods. The book also dives into the Lens Warp filter for fixing crooked and warped images.

Colin Smith has written many books on Photoshop and digital tools, and is the author of a video training series from PhotoshopCD.com. His writing credits also include a regular column in Photoshop User, and weekly columns for Planet Photoshop and the official NAPP members' site. Colin is also the founder of the popular Photoshopcafe.com.

Read the full press release.
Buy Complete Photoshop CS2 for Digital Photographers (34% off).

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Photoshop Tip: Start Small With Vanishing Point

If you're having a hard time finding an area to create a perspective plane from in Vanishing Point, try this. Always try to draw your perspective plane around a small, easily defined area such as a window or door. This will help you make a more accurate plane because the perspective of the window will be the same as the perspective of the wall it's on.

Then, if you need to work on the wall, you can expand the plane by clicking any of the center bounding box points. But be careful; don't click any of the corner points on the bounding box. Manipulating those will actually change the shape of the perspective plane itself.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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WEDNESDAY - NOVEMBER 16 2005

Wacom's Graphire Bluetooth Wireless Pen Tablet For Photo And Art Enthusiasts Now Includes Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 And More

\(Press Release) Wacom Technology today announced the inclusion of several additional software programs with its Graphire Bluetooth wireless pen tablet. Featuring the control and comfort of Wacom's patented cordless, battery-free pen and mouse, as well as the freedom of a wireless device, the Graphire Bluetooth offers a 6" x 8" active area and is priced at $249.99. With the addition of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 and PC digital inking programs, Graphire Bluetooth users now can experience even more control and performance. In addition to being a favorite of photo enthusiasts and aspiring digital artists, mobile office workers, educators and students appreciate the variety of tasks they can easily accomplish with the Graphire Bluetooth.

The control of the Graphire Bluetooth pen and the included copy of Photoshop Elements 3 make it possible to quickly and easily edit and organize digital photos. Nineteen pressure-sensitive tools deliver dynamic control of important tool attributes such as size, opacity and color. When used with a Wacom pen, tools such as the Healing Brush allow users to selectively alter images and precisely remove photographic flaws. The freedom of Graphire Bluetooth wireless technology and Adobe Photoshop Elements 3 make digital editing easier and more fun than ever before.

On a PC, JustWrite Office 4 offers the ability to annotate Microsoft Office documents. EverNote Plus makes it possible to jot instantly retrievable notes and organize all types of information on a PC. Additionally, it makes managing personal information easy by providing handwriting recognition, shape recognition, a timeline view of notes, instantaneous note searching, web page cataloging, customizable categories and more. Also for PC users, ritePen 2.5 provides advanced handwriting recognition, automatically converting handwriting into text within any Windows application.

Also included with every Graphire Bluetooth pen tablet are Corel Painter Essentials 2 for creating natural media art and organic effects and nik Color Efex Pro 2 GE for selectively applying photographic enhancements. Additionally, Graphire Bluetooth customers using Adobe's free downloadable Acrobat 7 Reader can mark up Acrobat documents with digital ink, if the "Enable for commenting in Acrobat Reader" feature was turned on when the document was created.

"The Graphire Bluetooth's new software is designed to augment the flexibility and control of our wireless pen tablet," said Mark Mehall, Senior Product Manager with Wacom. "Now, Graphire Bluetooth users can experience the freedom of a wireless device and a great mix of new applications geared to expand pen input options and make the computer experience fun, natural and easy."

Available at Amazon.com for $228.99
Read our review of the Graphire Bluetooth Wireless Pen Tablet

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onOne Software Releases Free Genuine Fractals Plug-In Reader for Adobe Photoshop

(Press Release) onOne Software today announced the Genuine Fractals Reader plug-in that allows any user of Adobe Photoshop CS or CS2 to open and view an image that was scaled using Genuine Fractals and saved with the .STN file extension. The .STN (pronounced "sting") file format, available only through Genuine Fractals, allows users to significantly reduce the file size of their scaled images without sacrificing image quality. The latest version of Genuine Fractals 4.1, released last month, is an image scaling plug-in for Adobe Photoshop that uses a patented, fractal-based algorithm to increase the size and resolution of images with a better retention of detail than other scaling methods available in Photoshop.

When increasing the size and scale of an image for large format printing, the size of a file increases as well. While large hard drives go a long way toward alleviating local storage concerns of large digital files, transferring and archiving large files can be become more problematic. The Genuine Fractals .STN file format addresses this problem directly by saving the file using loss-less Wavelet compression that significantly reduces the size of a file without sacrificing image quality. For example a 617k image scaled 600% may result in a file size of 46.8 MB when saved as a .PSD file. This same file saved using the .STN file format, while retaining all of the image data, is only 15.9 MB. When saved using an even higher level of compression, the final file size is only 2.9 MB, a savings of 94% from the .PSD file.

"We're excited to offer this free reader to the Photoshop community," said Craig Keudell, President of onOne Software. "Our users have asked us to provide a solution when they need to provide their .STN files to others. This free plug-in will allow anybody who owns Photoshop CS or CS2 to open and view these .STN files."

For more info visit www.onOnesoftware.com or call 1-888-968-1468.
See our review of Genuine Fractals 4.1.
Join our Photoshop Newsletter to become eligible to win a free copy.

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Photoshop Tip: Adjust Those Options On The Fly

Want to quickly change the Tolerance setting for a tool (say the Magic Wand tool for example)? You don't have to go up into the Options Bar, just press "w" to get the Magic Wand tool, then press the Return key (PC: Enter key) and the first field in the Options Bar will automatically become highlighted. All you have to do is type in your setting and you're set.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 15 2005

Photoshop Automator Action Pack Updated

Ben Long has released a major update to his Photoshop Automator Action Pack, with 11 new actions and numerous improvements. Here's the press release:

"Well-respected author and Creativepro.com Senior Editor Ben Long has released the first major update to the Photoshop Automator Action Pack. This collection of 56 Automator Actions lets you control all of Photoshop's core functionality from within Apple's Automator. What's more, the Action Pack lets you sort and test images, allowing you to create automated workflows that can perform different actions on different types of images-something you can't do with Photoshop's built-in Action tools.

"The new version provides numerous bug fixes, tweaks and improvements, as well as 11 new actions including Add Watermark, Auto Contrast, Bleach Bypass, Diffusion, Scale Image and crop. The new version also includes a 50+ page manual, sample workflows, and a special Batch Manager action that helps overcome some of Automator's limitations when dealing with large batches of high-res images."

You can download the free Action Pack at Ben Long's Complete Digital Photography site. Sweet.

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Photoshop Tip: Want To Remove Part Of A Photograph In 5 Seconds?

If you think the Spot Healing Brush Tool is just for small blemishes, dust, and scratches think again. Try using it to remove something larger. The key is to make sure whatever you're trying to remove is surrounded by a relatively consistent texture. Go ahead and try it.

Open a photograph and choose the Spot Healing Brush. Adjust the brush size so it's fairly large and you can paint over the object you'd like to remove quickly. Watch as it makes the image look as if that object never existed. Warning: This only works with certain photographs. You'll need a consistent texture around the area you're trying to remove.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
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MONDAY - NOVEMBER 14 2005

Adobe Posts Camera Raw 3.3 Public Beta

Adobe has posted Camera Raw 3.3 Public Beta. From the site: "Support for the following cameras has been added from Camera Raw 3.2 to 3.3 Beta. This version of Camera Raw is in a Beta stage and has not been fully tested by Adobe Systems. Please use Camera Raw 3.2 for the latest certified plug-in."