There’s something absolutely incredible about being able to sit down and type out your thoughts. To have some nearly unexplainable chemical reactions in your brain turn into the movement of a pencil, or pen, or fingers on a keyboard, and see words begin to form from seemingly nothing.
That’s magic.
Actually, it’s not magic: it’s creation, and you do it every day. Even if you’re not a writer.
Have you ever considered this idea fully before? Whenever you sit down to draw, or sing, or get up to dance, or seek to solve a problem, or when you simply converse with someone, you’re creating something very real from almost nothing. You, and everyone around you, are in a constant state of transforming microscopic chemical processes into art, and poetry, and emails, and conversations, and music, and products, and everything between.
Today, as you work or write or create – whatever it is you do today – take some time to realize exactly what it is you’re doing. That you’re taking intangible, nearly indescribable reactions between chemicals in your brain and making something you (and the world) can see or touch or hear or taste or experience.
Whether the results are big or small, the process is amazing.
The Movable Magnifier in InDesign
While working on a layout...
1. Press Cmd-Spacebar to invoke the temporary Loupe tool
2. Drag to draw an area
3. While keeping the mouse button down, release CMD-Spacebar
4. Drag to slightly change the size of the drawn area
5. Press again Cmd-Spacebar and then move the mouse
The result is you can move the selection that you drew to another area while keeping the size of the drawn area!
It seems that you only need step 4 the first time you do the trick. If you want to continue to move the zooming selection area, steps 3 and 5 are enough and you can skip step 4.
1. Press Cmd-Spacebar to invoke the temporary Loupe tool
2. Drag to draw an area
3. While keeping the mouse button down, release CMD-Spacebar
4. Drag to slightly change the size of the drawn area
5. Press again Cmd-Spacebar and then move the mouse
The result is you can move the selection that you drew to another area while keeping the size of the drawn area!
It seems that you only need step 4 the first time you do the trick. If you want to continue to move the zooming selection area, steps 3 and 5 are enough and you can skip step 4.
Punch out holes in your extrusions! in Adobe Photoshop CS5 Extended
In 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.
Prevent a B&W document from separating to CMYK
If your B&W document separates to CMYK, then there must be color in there somewhere. Perhaps you're using a "rich" black (with CMYK values) or the Registration swatch instead of the Black swatch. Or maybe there are phantom (hidden) color objects.
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.
Fill and Stroke Shortcuts in InDesign CS6
D = Default (no fill, black stroke)
X = Exchange (activates fill or stroke, whichever was not selected)
Shift+X = Exchange (swaps the fill/stroke values)
/ = None (sets fill/stroke to none)
, (comma) = Applies last used color
. (period) = Applies last used gradient
Down to the wire in Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5
Flash Catalyst contains numerous wireframe drawing tools and pre-built components that you can use to create interactive wireframes. Pre-built components are fully functioning buttons, scrollbars, checkboxes, and other user interface items that let you quickly mock up the layout of your finished project. You can find these in the Wireframe Components panel.
Create Stop Motion Animation in Photoshop
Stop Motion Animation is often regarded as one of the easiest and simplest type of animation that we can ever create. Since it makes use of home environment, digital cameras and easy to use locomotive objects, Stop Motion Animation (SMA) can be probably created by anyone.
Principle
A Stop Motion Animation is based on the principle that serial frames of pictures and photographs will give the viewer an illusion of motion. In simple words, Stop Motion Animation is nothing but a series of individual photographs of a movable object. And, today we will see a tutorial about how to create a Stop Motion Animation clip using objects of your choice using Photoshop.
Principle
A Stop Motion Animation is based on the principle that serial frames of pictures and photographs will give the viewer an illusion of motion. In simple words, Stop Motion Animation is nothing but a series of individual photographs of a movable object. And, today we will see a tutorial about how to create a Stop Motion Animation clip using objects of your choice using Photoshop.
8 common mistakes when working with color
The Color Purple. Such a great story and a fantastic movie.
Unfortunately, as designers, we don’t have the luxury of talking about colors figuratively. Our world is mostly RGB, CMYK or hexadecimal, with regular trips to HSB.
It might not sound fun but it’s a serious business. Working with color is an essential part of the graphic design industry and mistakes with color can be a big financial loss in the print industry.
Dash away all in Adobe Illustrator CS5
The new dash adjustment option for strokes will make dashes look as if they were carefully and correctly placed-evenly distributed on a path and cleanly bisecting any corners, even on complex shapes such as a 20-pointed star. To turn this option on, go to the Stroke panel (Window>Stroke), click the Dashed Line checkbox, and select the second icon to the far right: Aligns Dashes to Corners and Path Ends, Adjusting Lengths to Fit. Want to keep that setting turned on for future object creation? Deselect New Art Has Basic Appearance from the Appearance panel's flyout menu (Window>Appearance).
Tips for useful quick look Leopard 10.5
Quick Look is likely the only feature in Leopard 10.5 that I actually notice and something I would certainly miss if I went back to 10.4, it’s just too useful. We've listing usage tips, some are built right in and won’t require modification, while others will require 3rd party plugins to use. Here’s the full list, minus the detail:
1. Identify files on remote machines.
2. Preview the contents of Zip files (plug-in required).
3. Preview the contents of a folder (plug-in required).
4. Examine snippets of code with syntax highlighting intact.
6. Prep your iWork documents for use with Quick Look.
7. Enhance TextMate.
8. Preview fonts.
9. Quick Look and Cover Flow.
10. Send images to iPhoto.
2. Preview the contents of Zip files (plug-in required).
3. Preview the contents of a folder (plug-in required).
4. Examine snippets of code with syntax highlighting intact.
6. Prep your iWork documents for use with Quick Look.
7. Enhance TextMate.
8. Preview fonts.
9. Quick Look and Cover Flow.
10. Send images to iPhoto.
How to Choose the Right Color for Your Site
The Internet is an almost inexhaustible source of applications and sites and given the current trend the future will bring a steady growth both in numbers but also in importance. The winner of this avalanche of possibilities is definitely the Internet user who will decide who will thrive and who will require a rethinking or changing of strategy.
One of the most important factors in attracting customers is the color; its eye-catching power can convert visitors into regular users or customers. Choosing a color scheme for a site is not easy, this being emphasized by the importance of color in the whole ensemble.
One of the most important factors in attracting customers is the color; its eye-catching power can convert visitors into regular users or customers. Choosing a color scheme for a site is not easy, this being emphasized by the importance of color in the whole ensemble.
Hands-On With The New iPhone 5
It’s not as earth-shatteringly different than the iPhone 4S, to be sure. While the real benchmarks and games aren’t quite available yet, folks who haven’t used the 4S will notice a bump.
Solving the Mystery of of Overset Text in InDesign
Did you ever come across text that mysteriously became overset when you copied and pasted it to another page (or document). Sometimes text can go from OK to overset even if you just nudge its text frame a tiny amount. What's going on? A text crime has been committed! Round up the usual suspects!
View two colors modes in Photoshop
When creating a document that you'll eventually convert from RGB to CMYK, it can sometimes be difficult to picture how the colors will look upon conversion. To eliminate the guesswork, here's how to work on your RGB document while previewing it in CMYK:
Open an RGB image in Photoshop. Then, choose Window > Workspace > New Window for document name.
Doing so opens a second view of your document. Next, choose View > Proof Setup > Working CMYK. Now go back to your original document and work away while previewing
everything in CMYK.
Open an RGB image in Photoshop. Then, choose Window > Workspace > New Window for document name.
Doing so opens a second view of your document. Next, choose View > Proof Setup > Working CMYK. Now go back to your original document and work away while previewing
everything in CMYK.
Generating Website Thumbnails in PHP
In recent web browser developement, one of the new features is the generation of site thumbnail images displayed in a gallery. In Opera, it has a feature called Speed Dial Thumbnail, in Google Chrome, it has a page that displays thumbnail for Most Visited, Recent Bookmarks and Recently closed tabs, while in Internet Explorer 7, they call this feature as Quick Tabs. This promotes easier recall for users rather than remembering the exact URL address.
Quick, Totally Awesome (and Creative) Management Ideas
Here is a taste of some of the effective techniques
• How to eliminate tardiness and administrative rework- While managing a sales team I found that my employees were routinely late to meetings (at times not even showing up) and often sloppy with admin responsibilities. After addressing the issue over and over (and OVER) again, I decided to get creative. In response I created the “Team Event Fund.” Any time someone on the team was late to a meeting they paid $1 per minute late to the fund. If I had to send back an expense report they did wrong (after I gave them the template to use) they had the “opportunity to contribute” $5. If someone did not show up to a call or meeting and had not let me know ahead of time then they owed $25. The lists continues, but you get the point. Then a couple times a year I would take the money and sponsor a team event (a lunch or after work activity) and I would use the “Team Event Fund” money to pay for things (adding in some extra money of my own if the cost was higher. As time went on it became clear who the biggest offenders were and eventually these issues began to go away.
• How to eliminate tardiness and administrative rework- While managing a sales team I found that my employees were routinely late to meetings (at times not even showing up) and often sloppy with admin responsibilities. After addressing the issue over and over (and OVER) again, I decided to get creative. In response I created the “Team Event Fund.” Any time someone on the team was late to a meeting they paid $1 per minute late to the fund. If I had to send back an expense report they did wrong (after I gave them the template to use) they had the “opportunity to contribute” $5. If someone did not show up to a call or meeting and had not let me know ahead of time then they owed $25. The lists continues, but you get the point. Then a couple times a year I would take the money and sponsor a team event (a lunch or after work activity) and I would use the “Team Event Fund” money to pay for things (adding in some extra money of my own if the cost was higher. As time went on it became clear who the biggest offenders were and eventually these issues began to go away.
A Script to Show Overridden Items in InDesign
Generally speaking, InDesign's scheme for handling master page items works very well for most users. It gives you the flexibility to locally override some aspects of master page items (like position, stroke/fill, etc) while leaving other aspects controlled by the master page until you specifically override them. It's the best of both worlds; you have global control over formatting that hasn't been changed locally.
Microsoft updates SkyDrive, adds new features and apps
Microsoft spent years treating SkyDrive like the black sheep of the family. It was hidden in the corner, no connection to anything else, and no notable features to speak of. SkyDrive finally got some attention recently, and it’s going to be built into Windows 8. But now we’re really getting the goods as Redmond is rolling out a new version of SkyDrive with a ton of improvements.
13 Tips for Working Smarter, Not Harder
Effective, not neat. Clutter free and neat. Handle paper once. These three rules - plus 10 more on working smart - can make you more productive and effective. One more: Beware the lure of perfection. That's not smart work.
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