Want to change the number of sides of a polygon, or the
number of points on a star after you've created it? Select
the object on the page, double-click the Polygon tool,
change the values in the dialog box, and click OK. Whee!
Want to create a rectangle, ellipse,
or polygon exactly like the last one you created? Of
course, you could duplicate the frame in the page,
but you can also just click (not click-and-drag) in the
page with the tool. It remembers the settings used in
creating the last frame.
This blog covers design and technology in the broadest sense possible. It's the place I collect designers thoughts, work and findings to share with the public.
Create Cool Typography Using Paths in Photoshop
Working with Paths
We will use the circle path and parts of it and stroke them with brush. Pick Ellipse Tool (U) and choose Path option on the properties panel. This way you will create circle path and not the shape. Hold Shift and create a perfect circle.
We will use the circle path and parts of it and stroke them with brush. Pick Ellipse Tool (U) and choose Path option on the properties panel. This way you will create circle path and not the shape. Hold Shift and create a perfect circle.
Filter data by font or fill color
Most of the time, you filter data based on the cells' values. You might want to see only the data that pertain to a particular company. Or you may want to see only records in which the Profit column exceeds 1,000. Whatever the case, filtering by cell value is by far the most common filtering method.
Excel 2007 and 2010, which offer a great variety of formatting options, have expanded users' filtering capabilities. Now the colors that you add to your spreadsheet can lend a hand when it comes to filtering.
Let's say that we have color-coded a list of contacts based on whether we've verified that the contact information is correct. Rows with a green fill color are verified and correct; rows with an orange fill color need to be deleted or edited. Rows with no fill color still need researching. Filtering the list to show only rows with no fill color can make it easier to complete the task of verifying the contacts list information.
To filter data by fill color:
Excel automatically applies a filter to the data and displays only the rows with no fill color. Note that there is also a menu option for filtering based on a cell's font color.
Excel 2007 and 2010, which offer a great variety of formatting options, have expanded users' filtering capabilities. Now the colors that you add to your spreadsheet can lend a hand when it comes to filtering.
Let's say that we have color-coded a list of contacts based on whether we've verified that the contact information is correct. Rows with a green fill color are verified and correct; rows with an orange fill color need to be deleted or edited. Rows with no fill color still need researching. Filtering the list to show only rows with no fill color can make it easier to complete the task of verifying the contacts list information.
To filter data by fill color:
- Open your workbook in Excel.
- Right-click on a cell within your data that matches the color by which you want to filter. In our example, we'll right-click on a cell with no fill color because those are the records we want to view.
- Choose Filter > Filter By Selected Cell's Color from the shortcut menu.
Excel automatically applies a filter to the data and displays only the rows with no fill color. Note that there is also a menu option for filtering based on a cell's font color.
Move your Quick Access Toolbar (2007/2010)
If you're trying to adjust to the Excel 2007/2010 layout, you may want to experiment with all of your available options. Every Excel user works a bit differently, and you may find that a slightly altered screen layout better accommodates your work flow.
One thing you can change about your Excel layout is the position of the Quick Access Toolbar. While it displays above the Ribbon by default, you can change this setting.
To move the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon:
One thing you can change about your Excel layout is the position of the Quick Access Toolbar. While it displays above the Ribbon by default, you can change this setting.
To move the Quick Access Toolbar below the Ribbon:
- Open your workbook in Excel.
- Right-click on the arrow to the right of your Quick Access Toolbar to open a shortcut menu
- Choose Show Below The Ribbon from the menu, as shown in Figure A.
Paint Inside in Adobe Illustrator CS5
Use Draw Inside with the new Bristle Brush to fill any shape with beautiful brushstrokes. This brush creates painterly strokes by mimicking the appearance of actual bristles from an artist's brush, but the strokes are still vectors so they're fully editable and scalable. To find the Bristle Brushes, open the Brushes panel (Window>Brushes), click on the flyout menu, and choose Open Brush Library>Bristle Brush>Bristle Brush Library. Click on a brush in the Bristle Brush Library to add it to the Brushes panel, and then double-click on it in the Brushes panel to open the Bristle Brush Options dialog.
Presentation Mode in Adobe InDesign CS5
Press Shift-W to switch into the new Presentation mode. This will hide the user interface and center and fit your document into the screen. Any extra screen area will be colored black. Press G to change the background to grey, press W to change it to white, and press B to change it back to black.
Google Maps adds view from Mt Everest
Google has added views from some of the world’s tallest mountains to scenes woven into its popular online map service.
Arm chair explorers were invited to take virtual adventures with members of Google’s Street View team to Aconcagua in South America; Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe, and Mount Everest base camp in Nepal.
“Whether you’re scoping out the mountain for your next big adventure or exploring it from the comfort and warmth of your home, we hope you enjoy these views from the top of the world,” Google adventurer Dan Fredinburg said in a blog post.
“With Google Maps, you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and dangers from altitude and weather that mountaineers face.”
The mountains climbed by the Street View team were among peaks referred to as the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on the Earth’s continents.
‘Googlers’ who made the ascents took the pictures with tripod-mounted digital camera equipped with a fisheye lens to capture 360-degree views.
Google’s Street View teams have cycled, driven and walked through cities and towns around the globe capturing photographs to add to online maps, letting people see what it might be like to stand at a spot they are curious about.
Google has added images from a Nunavut community in the Canadian Arctic and a portion of the Amazon in Brazil.
Sources: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Arm chair explorers were invited to take virtual adventures with members of Google’s Street View team to Aconcagua in South America; Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, Mount Elbrus in Europe, and Mount Everest base camp in Nepal.
“Whether you’re scoping out the mountain for your next big adventure or exploring it from the comfort and warmth of your home, we hope you enjoy these views from the top of the world,” Google adventurer Dan Fredinburg said in a blog post.
“With Google Maps, you can instantly transport yourself to the top of these peaks and enjoy the sights without all the avalanches, rock slides, crevasses, and dangers from altitude and weather that mountaineers face.”
The mountains climbed by the Street View team were among peaks referred to as the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on the Earth’s continents.
‘Googlers’ who made the ascents took the pictures with tripod-mounted digital camera equipped with a fisheye lens to capture 360-degree views.
Google’s Street View teams have cycled, driven and walked through cities and towns around the globe capturing photographs to add to online maps, letting people see what it might be like to stand at a spot they are curious about.
Google has added images from a Nunavut community in the Canadian Arctic and a portion of the Amazon in Brazil.
Sources: AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Speedy Output
If you regularly output your InDesign documents to specific printers or job types, you probably already know how print and PDF presets automate the process to save you time. These presets contain all the proper output settings that you either define yourself (via File > Print Presets > Define and File > Adobe PDF Presets > Define) or get from another source, such as a print shop or coworker.
But here's the power-user tip: Hold down the Shift key when you select a preset. If the output is PDF, InDesign will skip the PDF options dialog. But if it's a print preset, InDesign skips everything-paper just flies out of the printer!
But here's the power-user tip: Hold down the Shift key when you select a preset. If the output is PDF, InDesign will skip the PDF options dialog. But if it's a print preset, InDesign skips everything-paper just flies out of the printer!
3D Overlays!
When you have any of the 3D tools active, you can turn on 3D overlays from the bottom of the 3D panel to view the 3D Axis (the widget for manipulating meshes, lights, and cameras), light widgets, material and mesh bounding boxes, and a ground plane. Go to Photoshop (PC: Edit)>Preferences>3D to change overlay settings. To use the 3D Axis for meshes, lights, or cameras, select the right tool to invoke the 3D Axis for that property. For example, when you select one of the 3D Light tools in the 3D (Lights) panel and click on a light widget, the 3D Axis will now rotate and move the selected light.
Vector graphics: The optimizer!
When importing vector graphics into Flash Catalyst, all aspects of the graphics-the strokes, fills, and paths-are all represented by code. When publishing your final project, you can optimize its performance by converting these vector graphics to optimized graphics using the Flash Catalyst Heads-up Display (HUD). The HUD is the gray and black floating panel that changes its options based on the currently selected object. If you're handing your project off to Adobe Flash Builder 4, optimizing your graphics will extract all of that vector code into an external file.
Turn the heat up on your text
With all the filters included in Photoshop, some pretty wild things can be done to text. To expand text options even further, you can play around with both layer styles and filters to create limitless text treatments. The results can be some pretty cool looking (or, in this case, hot) text. We'll show you how to quickly create this text effect because flames may be just what you need to spruce up your designs!
To set your text a blaze:
- Create red type on a transparent background.
- Choose Layer > Layer Style > Outer Glow to display the Layer Style dialog box and apply a yellow glow.
- Click Drop Shadow from the Styles Blending Options area on the left and apply an orange drop shadow.
Tip: When adjusting the layer styles add pixels to make the flame glow bigger. Also, when creating the drop shadow if you set the Angle to -120 the flames will appear as if they are shooting upward.
- Click OK.
- Choose Layer > Rasterize > Type.
- Select Filter > Liquify to display the Liquify tools and to use the Liquify tools to fan the flames in an upward motion and click OK.
- Create a new layer using the Layers panel, fill it with white, and send it behind the type layer.
Select layers without using the Layers panel
Panels have their purpose, but they can also obstruct the view of your Photoshop canvas. Oftentimes, though, you don't actually need to show a panel in order to use it. You can select normal layers, for example, without ever touching the Layers panel.
As you probably know, layers enable you to organize and selectively manipulate content. But, before you can edit an item in a multilayered document, you must first select its layer.
To select an item's layer:
As you probably know, layers enable you to organize and selectively manipulate content. But, before you can edit an item in a multilayered document, you must first select its layer.
To select an item's layer:
- Select the Move tool in the Tools panel.
- Click the Auto Select Layer check box on the tool options bar.
- Click on the area you want to edit to automatically select its layer.
Better HDR
Photoshop CS5 has an incredibly powerful new feature called Merge to HDR Pro, accessible from File>Automate. Quick results, intuitive controls, and magical de-ghosting. For best results, bracket three to five exposures when shooting; stabilize; and use Av (Aperture Priority) or Manual mode to fix aperture.
Use Imagineer Systems mocha for After Effects for motion tracking
After Effects includes the mocha for After Effects (mocha-AE) standalone motion tracking application from Imagineer Systems. This planar tracker handles motion-tracking jobs that would be difficult with the built-in After Effects motion tracker. So, whether you need to replace a billboard on a bus or the contents of a mobile phone screen, try mocha for After Effects.
Working with keyframes in a tween span
Working with keyframes in a tween span in
Adobe Flash Professional CS5
To easily move a property keyframe to a different frame in the same tween span or a different tween span, Command-click (PC: Ctrl-click) the property keyframe to select it, release the Command (PC: Ctrl) key, then click-and-drag the keyframe to the new location. (If you want to copy the keyframe, Option-drag [PC: Alt-drag]). The trick here is to release the Command (PC: Ctrl) key before you drag the keyframe to avoid selecting additional frames.
Customizing Corner Effects in InDesign
You can convert corner effects applied to any object into actual Bezier lines and points by selecting the object with the Direct Selection tool and clicking on the Live Corners control.
Or you can select the object and choose Object > Paths > Closed Path for a closed object, or Object > Paths > Open Path for an open path. Then you can edit the corner effects just like any other points along a path.
Field display settings in the Source and Program Monitors
Field display settings in the Source and Program Monitors in Adobe Premiere Pro CS5The Source and Program Monitors can now be set to display the first, second, or both fields for interlaced footage. This can be useful when you need to grab a frame to use as a still. This was a top feature request from law enforcement investigation and forensic users.
Tip provided by Dave Helmly
Tip provided by Dave Helmly
Selecting Hair in Adobe Photoshop CS5
Significant changes to the Refine Edge dialog take masking hair to a new level. The choices are daunting, but the steps are simple: make a selection with the Quick Selection tool (W); Option-click (PC: Alt-click) to remove unwanted areas; then continue to Select>Refine Edge. Using Black & White (K) from the View menu, choose a 10-15 pixel Radius, enable the Smart Radius checkbox, and voilà! Use the Option-click (PC: Alt-click) method with the new Refine Radius tool (E) located in the Refine Edge dialog to refine the final mask.
Tip provided by Bryan O'Neil Hughes
To spring or not to spring in Adobe Flash Professional CS5
In Flash Professional CS5 you can now add springiness to any IK Bone in an armature. The Strength (stiffness of the spring) and Damping (rate of decay of the spring effect) properties of bones give real physical movement by integrating dynamic physics into the IK Bones system. However, it may be desirable to turn off Spring for bones without having to set both values to zero on every bone. To do this, select the Timeline layer that the armature is in to reveal an Enable checkbox for Springs in the Properties panel.
Masking Reversed in Adobe Illustrator CS5
Instead of creating complex artwork and then drawing another object on top to mask that artwork, you can now simply click on any object and change the drawing mode to Draw Inside (Shift-D) at the bottom of the Toolbox. After you've set Draw Inside, the selected object will mask everything you draw. Draw Inside also supports the Paste and Place commands-pasting inside an object has finally come to Illustrator.
Mind the Gap in Adobe InDesign CS5
The new Gap tool (U) works on the "white space" between frames. Position the mouse between two items, click-and-drag to adjust the position of the gap, and the frames on either side of the gap will adjust at the same time-the uniform gap width will be maintained! Hold down the Shift key to only adjust the two closest items relative to the gap. Hold down the Command (PC: Ctrl) key to resize the gap instead of moving it.
Constrain Unchained!
To force InDesign to constrain proportions when applying width, height, or scale values in the Control panel, press Ctrl+Enter/Command+Enter. This way, you can leave both chains "broken" and only constrain proportions when you mean to via the keyboard shortcut.
Text Layout in Adobe Fireworks CS5
Text is part of nearly every design, and for Fireworks CS5, lots of refinements have been added to the already impressive text layout features. A favorite is the new noncontiguous selection feature-after selecting some text characters in a text object using the Text tool (T), press-and-hold the Shift key and click-and-drag to select additional noncontiguous characters.
Punch out holes in your extrusions!
In Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended the Repoussé dialog you can manipulate the constraint (sub-path) using any of the Internal Constraints tools to either punch it out to make a hole or add separate extrusion parameters. You can also add constraints to an existing Repoussé object by drawing a selection or path and choosing either 3D>Repoussé>Create Constraints From Selection(s) or Selected Path(s). You can also use the Add(Selection) or Add(Path) buttons in the Internal Constraints section of the Repoussé dialog.
Round and round we go in Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5
A huge timesaver, and a giant benefit to working with Flash Catalyst, is its integration with other Adobe Creative Suite design tools. By selecting a vector or bitmap graphic in Flash Catalyst and Right-clicking on it, you can quickly bring it into Adobe Illustrator CS5 or Adobe Photoshop CS5, make changes, then automatically merge the changes back into Flash Catalyst. This roundtrip editing lets you use familiar design products to easily add interactivity to your static artwork.
Interactive, cross-browser previews in Adobe Dreamweaver CS5
When using Live View, you can hit the F6 key to "freeze" JavaScript-pausing drop-down menus in place, Ajax data in a particular state of display, tabs in a particular open/closed configuration, etc. With integration with the new Adobe BrowserLab cross-browser testing service, you can then send that local "state" of your page right to BrowserLab to view it in all of the available browsers across operating systems.
Put mathematical equations at your fingertips (2007/2010)
When you're dealing with complicated mathematical equations, trying to duplicate them in any Office program is a challenge. Excel is no exception. The symbols used in mathematical equations can often make it difficult to include them in a spreadsheet.
Fortunately, Excel offers a few common equations at the click of a button. These equations don't produce results the way that a traditional Excel formula does (they're just text boxes), but they allow you to display a mathematical equation correctly in a worksheet without spending hours hunting for symbols.
To insert a mathematical equation in your spreadsheet:
Open your workbook and go to the Insert tab.
In the Symbols group, click on the Equation button's dropdown arrow to view the dropdown palette of available common mathematical equations.
Select an equation from the palette to place a text box containing the equation in your worksheet.
If the equation you want to create isn't in the Equation button's dropdown palette, you can click the Equation button itself and open the Equation Editor. You'll see a contextual tab that allows you to quickly insert symbols and create structures (brackets, operators, fractions, etc).
Fortunately, Excel offers a few common equations at the click of a button. These equations don't produce results the way that a traditional Excel formula does (they're just text boxes), but they allow you to display a mathematical equation correctly in a worksheet without spending hours hunting for symbols.
To insert a mathematical equation in your spreadsheet:
Open your workbook and go to the Insert tab.
In the Symbols group, click on the Equation button's dropdown arrow to view the dropdown palette of available common mathematical equations.
Select an equation from the palette to place a text box containing the equation in your worksheet.
If the equation you want to create isn't in the Equation button's dropdown palette, you can click the Equation button itself and open the Equation Editor. You'll see a contextual tab that allows you to quickly insert symbols and create structures (brackets, operators, fractions, etc).
Recover unsaved workbooks (2010)
We've all done it before—either you forget to save a workbook, you accidentally save it when you should have saved it as a different name, or maybe you lose work because of that rare power outage. Whatever the cause, there's no need to panic when you think you've lost your work in Excel 2010. You can quickly and easily recover older (unsaved) versions of your workbook.
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