There are some new script updates at Trevor Morris' site. First this one: "An updated beta (version 0.3.7) of my new Black & White Variations script is available. The script has a full user interface, and allows you to convert an image to black-and-white using various methods (currently 20 different methods, but more can be added). It's handy for comparing results, and for combining multiple black-and-white images into a single composite. The script should also work on both Mac and PC."

Also look for some other updated Photoshop scripts from Trevor. Here's the scoop: "'I've posted a bunch of new and updated scripts..."

• Black & White Variations - converts and saves an image to black and white using various methods (currently 20 different methods, but more can be added)
• Hide All Layers - set the visibility of all layers to off (invisible)
• Show All Layers - set the visibility of all layers to on (visible)
• Search For Layers - searches for layers by name and selects the first match
• Sort Layers - sorts all layers in the active document alphanumerically (from top to bottom)

You'll find links to the downloads at Trevor's excellent Photoshop site — GFX^TM.

For more on Photoshop Scripts, see my Photoshop Scripts Tutorial.
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Photoshop 9.0.2 Update For Windows Now Available — Mac Update Due Very Soon

I just discovered this on John Nack's blog: "The Photoshop 9.0.2 update for Windows is available on Adobe.com. It fixes a handful of irritating issues that weren't caught for the 9.0.1 update:

• Menus now respond correctly after a single click.
• Undo/Redo work properly when multiple documents are open.
• Photoshop no longer produces a program error when encountering unsupported file types through the Acrobat Touchup workflow.
• Supported files that incorrectly produced an "unsupported color space" message now open as expected.
• TIFF files with layer data greater than 2GB now open correctly.

If you haven't updated Photoshop CS2 with the previous 9.0.1 update, no worries: 9.0.2 contains those fixes as well."

Visit John's blog to read more on the Mac version and certain issues that were discovered.

posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Filter Forge Beta Updated With New Features

Filter Forge has released the first major update to the beta version of Filter Forge, a Photoshop plugin that allows users to create their own filters in a visual node-based editor. The update fixes a number of problems, adds new features and significantly improves the rendering speed.

Due to extensive optimizations, Filter Forge's rendering is now considerably faster (up to 3.8 times faster for certain filters). New features include zoomable workspace in the Filter Editor, unlimited number of filter controls and the ability to customize their order, smaller proxy previews for large images, and the ability to create new images from scratch.

There are also four new blending modes for the Blend component, new components to extract minimum/maximum levels and average color from the source image, a new component for creating frame effects, new components to work with the CIE L*a*b* color model, and the ability to load and save PNG files.

The Filter Forge site has a complete list of updates, additions and fixes.

First publicly released in May 2006, Filter Forge is a high-end plugin for Photoshop allowing computer artists to build their own filters, seamless textures, visual effects, distortions, patterns, backgrounds, frames and more.

The key features of Filter Forge include a visual node-based editor and a free online library of user-created filters to which anyone can contribute. Filter Forge is currently in the public beta testing stage, the final version is planned for release this fall. For more information visit the Filter Forge site.

posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Photoshop Tip: Bigger Font Previews

In Photoshop CS2, Adobe added font previews (where you can see a preview of how each font looks, right in the Font menu itself), but the previews are so small, it's still hard to tell the difference among fonts.

Luckily, there is a way to make those previews large enough so they actually are usable — just press Command-K (PC: Control-K) to bring up Photoshop's Preferences, then press Command-9 (PC: Control-9) to jump to the Type preferences. In the Font Preview Size pop-up menu, choose Large, and now your font previews will be significantly larger.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

WEDNESDAY - AUGUST 23 2006

Interview With Scott Gaidano, President of DriveSavers — On Digital Photo Backup And Digital Photo Recovery

Just before posting this I was overwhelmed by a superstitious vibe that I was tempting fate by not having backed up for quite a while, and so I carefully backed up everything I own to a small portable hard drive that I carry around with me. And as soon as that was done I got back on the web and encountered an astounding stat at the MacWorld site — that only 4% of Mac users backup regularly. Say it ain't so!

Today I bring you an interview with the go-to guy when it comes to data recovery. Scott Gaidano is the president of DriveSavers, one of the most respected data recovery companies in the business.

Wanting to keep this interview Photoshop oriented, we asked Scott to talk mostly about digital photo backup and recovery. Also, if you ever need his services, we have a special 10% discount code — and believe me, you'll want to use it, because recovery can get expensive. Mention discount code DS1-32-30 and you'll receive an instant discount on your invoiced recovery fee. Sounds good to me! Ok, on to the interview...

What precautions should photographers take to secure their photos?
Of course, the first rule of thumb for protecting your digital photos, and frankly, any important data, is to back it up! That may seem obvious, but it is surprising how many professional photographers don't do it. We see hundreds of drives and storage devices every month that have failed mechanically or been physically damaged.

I recommend following these steps to protect your digital photos:

Step One: Always download your photos to your computer's hard drive as soon as you can. Note: Some programs allow you to reformat or delete photos from the Flash memory card as you download the pictures. We recommend waiting to delete or reformat the memory card until after the download is complete. There is always a risk of file corruption while downloading.

Step Two: Once the photos are downloaded from the Flash memory card, backup the files immediately! This will guard against data loss, when, not if, your hard drive crashes unexpectedly. You can back up your data using CDs, DVDs, tapes or an external hard drive.

Step Three: Make more than one copy of the backup media and keep a copy offsite in a secure location, perhaps in a safety deposit box.

And when traveling, is there a different setup?
I'd say that when traveling, making backups is critical. So much can go wrong. You could drop a camera, a laptop or an external hard drive.

To be prepared, always carry a spare hard drive, CD or other discs to use for backup. Most importantly, when you return home from your trip, backup your laptop or whatever device you've used to download your photos. You can't backup too much.

What are the chances of camera media cards failing?
Because the technology is still evolving, it's probably too early to talk about the estimated lifetime of Flash memory. In most cases, these cards can be used about 1,000 times before they start to wear out.

There are other types of camera cards that rely on miniature hard drives. These are extremely sensitive and can be damaged when dropped.

What are the most common types of failure of these cards?
Most of the camera cards we see have not experienced electrical failure. The problem is typically user error, like accidentally erasing a picture or reformatting the card. We do see cards that have suffered abuse. For instance, we've seen several where dogs have chewed the card into small pieces. Surprisingly, we can still recover data even when the camera card has experienced this kind of physical damage.

What other ways do people destroy their cards?
One thing that seems to happen more frequently than you might think is when a camera card gets left in a shirt or pants pocket going through the washing machine and dryer. The data on the card is then trapped due to static discharge and shorted electronics.

This can be a great challenge in the data recovery process, but I've seen our engineers do incredible things with these camera cards – even performing micro soldering when necessary.

What is the success rate of recovering from the failed cards?
We are successful rescuing data from Flash memory cards roughly 80-90% of the time.

Is the camera to blame in some of these failures?
Anything could be to blame, but as I mentioned, most of the time it is user error or physical damage that we see.

What are the first signs of failure, and what measures should be taken immediately?
An error message from your camera could be an initial sign of a problem. If you are a professional photographer that relies on your camera and its Flash memory frequently, it's probably a good idea to replace your camera card every year or so as a precaution.

What should the person do to help in the recovery?
Do what you can to protect it from (any further) damage and ship it to a professional data recovery company like DriveSavers.

Can you explain the expected life of a typical CD, and when people should make new copies?
As I mentioned earlier, it is very difficult to estimate the life expectancy of technology that has been around for a relatively short period of time. Most CD and DVD manufacturers say their media is capable of lasting at least 100 years. I suppose that transferring the data and making multiple copies will forever haunt computer users whenever new technology is introduced.

Do you also save files from CDs that are corrupted?
Yes we do. Frequently, we see directory corruption that can occur when a disc burning session didn't finish or close properly. We have to image the data to a hard drive and then work on it from there. We also have a high-pressure resurfacing machine that works like magic on scuffs and deep scratches.

Are DVDs the same, better, worse?
Data is written differently to DVDs, but the technology is very similar in that you have a plastic base layer, ink layer and metallic reflective surface. We handle the recovery of DVDs in the same manner as CDs.

Do you recommend certain cards over others?
No. We don't do product testing, so we don't have a sense of the reliability of particular manufacturers.

Do you recommend certain portable hard drives over others?
The only drives we recommend are the ones that work best for your needs and are backed up!

Tell us some of the most amazing recoveries you've done.
We have many stories of photographers losing data, and we've saved everything from official photos of the President to athletes at the Sydney Olympics, to cosmetic surgery photos.

I remember back in 2000 one of the first digital media recoveries we did was for a woman named Almitra Von Wilcox, who was literally walking around the world and documenting her adventure. She captured over 120 images of China on five 32mb CompactFlash cards. While copying images from one of the CompactFlash cards, something went wrong and she could no longer access the images.

She contacted Kodak and they referred her to DriveSavers. We were able to recover all the lost images. Almitra said that we rescued invaluable images for her because traveling to China was a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Another photographer, the late Amalie Rothschild, lost the only digital copies of photos she took of classic rock performers in the sixties. These included the only photos of a performance by Janis Joplin and Tina Turner singing together onstage.

Amalie was one of Bill Graham's photographers at The Fillmore East in New York. She lost the hard copies of hundreds of photos and negatives that were destroyed in a fire. Luckily, she thought to make backups of many high-end scans of the photographs on a removable cartridge.

When she tried to access the images for a book she was publishing, she discovered the cartridge was unreadable due to media damage. Fortunately, we were able to recover all the images and saved her from a complete loss. I can't imagine what would've happened to her irreplaceable images otherwise.

Thanks Scott, and continued success with DriveSavers!

If you need to recover lost data and choose DriveSavers, mention Discount Code DS1-32-30 and receive a 10% discount on your invoiced recovery fee. You'll also be eligible for DriveSavers' exclusive No Attempt Fee – if data is not recoverable, there is no charge.
U.S. & Canadian Customers: TOLL FREE: 1-800-440-1904
U.S. & Canadian Customers: DIRECT LINE: 1-415-382-2000
International Customers: (your country access code) + 888-440-2404

For more on Photo Backup & Recovery, see our Photo Recovery Resource Center.
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

TUESDAY - AUGUST 22 2006

Adam Koford's Simple & Direct Photoshop Tutorial

One thing led me to another and suddenly I was looking at this great little Photoshop tutorial about half tones on Flickr that was written by a uniquely talented illustrator I had recently discovered. One reason I liked it so much was that the whole thing consisted of a single graphic. Here it is:



Of course I had to find out more about who was behind this little gem of simplicity and contacted the author, Adam Koford, for some background on himself. He was kind enough to send this in:

My main site, www.adamkoford.com is becoming more of a repository for recent freelance work, while my flickr pool is my "toy box" where I post illustrations which are more experimental in nature or which are part of online group projects (like Illustration Friday or e-hobo). I don't worry as much about sticking to one style with the things I post to flickr. This kind of freedom allows me to use some of the filters and effects I might not normally have as much use for in a freelance project overseen by an art director.

For instance, on this submission to the hobo project I played around with blending modes and opacity to achieve the hopefully realistic effect of these posters and chalk markings, which were both created in Photoshop.

Here I've used a piece of cardboard as a background texture to emphasize the transparentness of the dark areas while giving more opacity to the highlights on a separate layer. This is where having a training in traditional media helps, since this is a principal drummed into my head at art school.

Finally, this sample represents my usual style, where I rely heavily on a basic set up of two layers over a layer of flat color (or, in this case, grays). One layer above the flats is set to multiply in the blend mode and filled with 25% black. The top layer is set to normal and filled with white. The opacity is then set to 70%. From there, I used the flats layer to make selections and erase segments of the highlights and shadows on the other layers to achieve a somewhat painterly effect while still holding on to the linework.

Thanks Adam — and keep up the great work!

posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Photoshop Tip: Save Clicks When You Close

This is such a quick little tip that you might not think that it matters, but it saves a few seconds every time you close a document. If you close a number of documents a day (and my guess is, you do), it really starts to add up fast. When you close a document, Photoshop presents you with a dialog asking, "Save changes to the Adobe Photoshop document before closing?" You have three choices: (1) Don't Save, (2) Cancel, and (3) Save. Here's the shortcut: Press the letter D for Don't Save, press S for Save, and C for Cancel.

reprinted by permission and sponsored by the NAPP
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

SEE PREVIOUS POSTS FROM THE AUGUST 2006 BLOG...

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PHOTO CREDIT: Apollo 11 Images — Earthrise sequence - Earth emerges over lunar horizon.
© NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration). Scanning credit to Kipp Teague.