Photoshop

Photoshop Top 40: The Final 10 Contest

Submitted by deke on 2 February 2010 - 12:30pm.



For those unaware, Photoshop Top 40 is my reverse-order countdown of the most essential features in Photoshop, starting with Feature #40: Reset & Purge and working my way up to #1. And lest you think it sounds like a trivial concept ("hey gang, Feature #38 is Vector Type cuz type in Photoshop is scalable, ain't that just the swellest?"), I go into detail and share tips and tricks on every topic. For free, because my name starts with a G for Giver (not Geek, although I embrace that too).

Now that I'm poised to unveil the Final 10 Features, I thought I'd ratchet things up a notch with a contest. And not just any contest either. The best contest possible. One with a winner every week with gobs of prizes from a host of sponsors.

The Final 10

You'll need to be a member to see what's in store. Which is a lot. Read more » 

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Photoshop Top 40, Feature #11: Opacity and Blend Modes

Submitted by deke on 2 February 2010 - 12:15am.
Feature #11: Opacity and Blend Modes

Welcome to a block of the most powerful options inside Photoshop: Opacity and Blend Modes. These include the options at the top of the Layers palette, not to mention those associated with the brush tool, the Calculations command, and a whole lot more. What these options do is blend pixels together, entirely parametrically--meaning no harm done--using math. Beautiful, lovely, gorgeous math. Read more » 

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Martini Hour 50, In Which Colleen Discovers Real Men Like to Share

Submitted by colleen on 28 January 2010 - 12:15am.

No we didn't overindulge on cocktails to the point of spilling our darkest secrets on air (which would probably be way more boring than it sounds), rather we spent this week's Martini Hour talking about sharing photos with two of our photographer friends, Ben Long and Mikkel Aaland.

Oh, sure, "sharing" has a bit of a group-hug vibe about it (and of course we did plenty of that), but it's really the best catch-all word we could come up with to describe that last phase of the digital workflow---actually getting your work off the computer and out where others can see them. And this week's conversation is about the myriad ways you have at your disposal these days for letting your images go out into the world---whether the purpose be making people happy, communicating your important message, or bringing home truckloads of cash (yes, Deke added that last one...twice). 

Here's what we have to share this week: Read more » 

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Photoshop Top 40, Feature #12: Camera Raw

Submitted by deke on 26 January 2010 - 12:15am.
Feature #12: Camera Raw

A couple of years ago, I petitioned a group of 50 or so photographers to seed me with raw images for some Camera Raw videos I recorded for lynda.com. The project went swimmingly, but I was troubled by the number of photographers (12? 15?) who told me they didn't shoot raw, even though they owned digital SLRs. Why not? Because the few raw images they had captured didn't look as good as the equivalent JPEGs.

Fair enough I guess. But it's rather like saying that your film negatives don't measure up to your Polaroids. The first are waiting to be developed and the second are processed by robots. Initially, you may marvel at the work of the robots--machines are a clever lot!--but in time you'll discover that you can do a better job yourself. Read more » 

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Photoshop Top 40, Feature #13: File Info

Submitted by deke on 19 January 2010 - 12:15am.
Feature #13: File Info

This week comes Lucky Feature #13. A feature so great, I forget to use it all the time. Seriously, don't be like me: Every night as you go to bed--right after you finish saying "Good-night, Mary Ellen" and "Good-night, John Boy"--I want you to promise yourself, "I will remember to use File Info." Because if you're sending files out to clients or posting them on the Web, you need to document them. Complete with author and contact and copyright and, best of all, URL. Otherwise, when that image makes its rounds (as it inevitably will), who the hell will know who (you!!) made it? Read more » 

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