dekeBlog

One of the best things about Photoshop CS4 is the new features in the latest version of Adobe Camera Raw.  And the latest latest version, ACR 5.2, has a few more tricks up its sleeve, as previewed by John Nack to the gang at ADIM@MAX and announced for all the world on John's blog last week. In addition to the new output sharpening (ACR sends sharpening info along to Photoshop for printing) and adding support for a bunch of cravable cameras (including the Canon 5D Mark II), the ACR team has lifted a couple of other useful Lightroom-like features for this latest release: the ability to make snapshots and a targeted adjustment tool.

The Adobe Help for these features can apparently be a little hard to find, so Photoshop PM Shangara Singh has posted links here so that you don't have to use the (apparently currently ineffective Adobe) search. You can also see how these nifty features work in this screencast from Friend of Deke and O'Reilly Evangelist Derrick Story. My exhaustive internet search (which consists of plugging ACR 5.2 into Google during my quick break from working on Channels and Masks), reveals Derrick is first on the scene with this tutorial. Click the image above with Derrick's striking cactus flower to check it out. (Note: If you're CS4-compliant, the ever-present Adobe Updater will hook you up with ACR 5.2 next time it wakes up.) Deke meanwhile has about a week to go before I can let him play with any new toys. (The fans need their Channels and Masks, Oh Wise and Wonderful One.) Read more » 

 Colleen and David Futato and I are in the final death throes of Photoshop CS4 Channels & Masks One-on-One. I'm sitting here working on the introduction to the final lesson, Lesson 12, "Masking the Tough Stuff." By way of demonstrating arbitrary maps, which can be quite useful for "throw down" masking, I assembled this nifty composition. It's a photo from David Politi subject to two varieties of arb maps, one applied using Gradient Map and the other with Curves. Isn't she pretty?

It has nothing whatsoever to do with masking -- just introduces a topic -- but I'm rather transfixed with it at the moment. Takes me back to my teónanácatl-tinted halcyon days. So naturally I had to share.

Anyway, we're shooting to get the book to the printer any day now. We'll keep you apprised. Read more » 

Hail, dekeOmmunity. I'm thrilled to announce that Adobe InDesign CS4 One-on-One, the book, is now in stock. The timely appearance (as well as, literally, the generally awesome appearance) of this book is creditable in large part to the collaboration of our resident Design Mastermind, David Futato. David has been in charge of the final design of the One-on-One books since the beginning, so he's got cred on the streets of dekeVille (where he's running for City Council). As soon as we stop keeping him up all night working on books, he's planning on joining us here as a contributor.

In fact, unbeknownst to him, he already has. I posted an excerpt from the book wherein David explains the new features of the Links palette over in dekeStuff. You can read the excerpt of the excerpt just below, but you need to be a registered member of our community to read the whole thing. (And then you need to get the book to read the whole, whole thing.) Welcome David, and congratulations, and thanks!

Read more » 

So one of the things I saw demo-ed at Adobe max earlier this week was the new Pixel Bender plug-in for  Photoshop CS4. The plug-in allows you to collect a bunch of very cool filter effects and access them through your Photoshop Filters menu. It's pretty dang cool as you can see from my groovy effect (CircleSplash) applied to this photo from Monday's keynote.

Read more » 

Just back from two days at Adobe MAX (I know MAX is a fake acronym and Deke and I toyed with making it "Max"; But I apparently got brainwashed by the giftbag, t-shirt, and MAX logo everywhere I turned for the past two days). Despite is unfortunately capitalized name, MAX  going on in beautifully useasonably warm San Francisco. The theme for the show this year: Connect. Discover. Inspire. MAX is traditionally a developer heavy show, but this year many of the sessions were geared toward design-types. The keynote featured Adobe's CTO Kevin Lynch, and the First Lady of California, Maria Shriver. This shot does not feature either of them.

While Adobe MAX can be a bit developer-focused, I did find an enclave of design types at Russell Brown's ADIM@MAX (whatcha gonna do with those caps, Deke?) ADIM, as some of you may know, is Russell Brown's notorious Art Director's Invitational Master class where creativity and sometimes clothing run free. The ADIM@MAX version was a little tamer, only naked 3D dinosaurs running free, while the people remained clothed, perhaps in 3D dinosaur shirts they created during the two day class. The real benefit was of course that everyone in the seminar got a copy of Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One, and the five people who accurately told me what object I am holding in the book (no, I am NOT that lady with the paddle at the end, sheesh!) won copies of Adobe InDesign One-on-One hot off the presses to-day. (I haven't even removed the shrinkwrap on my copy yet.) Read more »