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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.
TUESDAY - JANUARY 31 2006
Interview With Avi Muchnick On His Latest Worth1000 Photoshop Book - "I've Got A Human In My Throat"
Worth1000.com is a hugely popular Photoshop site that sponsors Photoshop art contests that feature spoofs and bizarre images. It has been featured in USAToday, on CNN, Good Morning America and even made the cover of the New York Post. If you've never been there just be sure to take some time to explore it thoroughly, because there are some absolutely amazing displays of individual Photoshop skills scattered throughout the various contests.
A few days ago a new Worth1000 book was released "I've Got a Human in my Throat: Create MORE Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop" and we sent site owner Avi Muchnick some questions about it. Here's what he had to say:
How has the site been growing? What's the traffic like these days?
The site receives about 125,000 *unique* visitors per day (about 200,000 non-unique), 600,000 content page views, and has 250,000 registered members (our 250,000th registrant registered a few moments before midnight on December 31st, 2005, ironically enough). The site's membership doubled in 2005.
Can a beginner also benefit from your latest book, or is it more geared toward the intermediate?
It's geared to the beginner-intermediate level. The book begins with a nice outline of Photoshop's tools and abilities so it should be really beneficial to even people just beginning.
Does the CD include images for all the 80 tutorials in the book? And are there any other goodies included?
Yes, it does. You'll have access to all the images in high resolution tiff files. No other goodies on the CD, other than a super-fun legal agreement regarding using those images that you can print out and wall-paper your room with.
How did the first book do? Was it a hit?
The first book did pretty well (When Pancakes Go Bad: Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop). It was a hit and miss, I think. Financially, it was definitely a hit and our publisher was very happy. Critically, I think that it tried too hard to be two different books at once: a gallery book and tutorial book.
The problem was that it didn't offer enough images to people purchasing it as a gallery book and didn't offer enough tutorials to people purchasing it as a tutorial book. So, we aimed to change that with this book by splitting it off into two separate book lines... a tutorial's only book (this one) and a coffee-table book (in pre-production).
How is this book different and what are you favorite new tutorials in this book?
Well, as I mentioned this book is only tutorials and the tutorials are much quicker and to the point: 80+ tutorials on different effects, all very quick and easy to follow. Additionally, it does come with a companion CD that houses all of the files used in the book, so it's really helpful for learning how to recreate effects.
I love the tutorials on how to put your face into a coin, how to create some particle/texture effects, like making a chocolate frog and turning apples into wood or strawberries into a rusty metal.
The book's byline is "TheWorth1000.com Artists" - and so how many artists were involved in this edition?
Well, actually that's an embarrassing first edition typo. It's been corrected for the second edition and should be "The Worth1000.com Artists" (so the first will be a collector's item, quick go grab it!)
Having that as a byline was a condition to our doing this book. I really wasn't so comfortable with my name being on the byline of the first book, as it was a group effort, but the publisher felt that a book needed a human name attached to it to give it some credibility. They were a lot more flexible with this one as we had the first one under our belt now. About 35-40 people worked hard on this project, including photographers, artists and editors.
Boing Boing links to Worth1000.com quite a lot these days and you guys have come up with some really amazing and crazy stuff.
Yeah, Cory's been pretty kind to us. It's always nice to see when a contest catches his eye. Definitely a compliment to the artists here that he feels their content is worthy enough to link from one of the most popular blogs online.
Since you've seen it all - it would be interesting to know which contests over the past few months have impressed you the most.
As far as my personal recent favorites, this contest makes my mouth water, and I always love feeling nostalgic.
Thanks Avi, and continued success with Worth1000.com.
Worth1000.com
I've Got a Human in my Throat: Create MORE Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop
When Pancakes Go Bad: Optical Delusions with Adobe Photoshop
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments
"The Photoshop Guys" Release Photoshop TV Episode 15
In Photoshop TV Episode 15 Dave is away on the road but appears magically by beaming himself in, and offers an interesting tip that shows how to use the Lens Flare Filter with more flexibility.
Matt has a tip on simulating a depth-of-field effect using a filter (which includes some good selection techniques), and a second tip that explains how to change the background color of your Photoshop window.
Scott has a productivity tip that will help you save time inside of Photoshop. It involves scrubby sliders and how to find them even when it looks like they're not available. Scott also has an extract tip that shows you how to use a brush to expertly select the edges of an object for you.
This week's prize offering includes an Adobe bag, an Adobe baseball cap, an Illustrator tip book, a Dell MP3 player, and a full conference pass to the upcoming Photoshop World in Miami (March 22-24).
The show also includes the latest Photoshop and NAPP news, some Photoshop trivia, and a contest (prize detailed above) which you can enter by E-mail.
You can watch Photoshop TV online at the Photoshop TV website, or you can subscribe by going to Apple's iTunes Music Store and searching for "Photoshop TV" in the podcast directory search, or go directly (link opens iTunes app).
For a list of other Photoshop podcasts, see our Podcast Directory
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments
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Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
Transforming Smart Objects In Photoshop CS4
Find more Photoshop CS4 tutorials on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page.
Read 2 free sample chapters from the Adobe Photoshop CS3 version:
Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3
Photoshop CS3 Tutorial High Dynamic Range
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