Deke's Techniques

Today's episode of my weekly thing is a bit out of the ordinary. In it, I show you how to create an optical effect in which a person's face at first appears to be normal, but when flipped around does not. When I showed this technique to a few folks at my beloved video publisher, the reviews were mixed. Some said: "That is weird." Others: "How is this a Photoshop technique?" And still more: "When exactly did you start pounding the hard drugs? Please let us know when we should intervene." Read more » 

Have you ever wanted to take a photograph of a client, friend, or loved one, and make that person appear to emerge from water, in Photoshop? Like that she or he is looking at you from inside some sort of very happy natural hot springs? Well, sure you have.

And if not, at the very least, today's technique includes a comical intro.

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

Today marks my first-ever video recorded in Illustrator CS6. And it's all about a topic as old as the hills: the dark art of creating type along both the top and bottom of a circle. Which hasn't changed since, seriously, I don't know. Like when FreeHand was still a baby.

(Just joshing. FreeHand had type on a path back when Illustrator was nothing more than a point-text-making toddler.)

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

Having returned safely from a memorable weekend at Jazz Fest in New Orleans (half horrible :-( half awesome :-) I promise to share more later this week), it is once again time to share with you a very special technique. This one's about creating type that reflects in junk 'n' stuff in Photoshop.

Here's the official description from lynda.com: Read more » 

Today, I show you how to create brushed-metal text in Photoshop. I'd tell you more, but lynda.com content curator Colleen Wheeler did such a brilliant job of it that I figure I'll just turn you over to her:

This week's free Deke's Techniques falls into my favorite category of effects: those that create something from nothing. In this case, the "something" is elegant, cool, weighty letters that appear to be made of brushed stainless steel. The "nothing" is a window full of black pixels (to which you apply a couple of Photoshop filters to make a pattern), a few text and shape layers, some layer effects, and a couple of very important blend modes. Read more »