Deke’s Techniques

Your weekly quick-fix of Deke, with ideas you may inspire or inform your own projects.

Flipping a Face to Create New Identities

Deke flips and mirrors a model's face to explore human facial symmetry in Photoshop.

Continuous Rainbow Faces in Photoshop

Deke applies a gradient adjustment layer to give his five-headed beauty the rainbow treatment in Photoshop.

Repeating a Face So that It Shares a Common Eye in Photoshop

Deke uses Photoshop's Free Transform command, a layer mask, and a secret shortcut to create five repeating faces blended into one.

Drawing a Pool Cue in Illustrator

Deke finishes up his "pool hall pool themed" clock in Adobe Illustrator by making the cues that will become the hands.

Rotate versus Transform Each in Adobe Illustrator (as Applied to Billiard Balls)

Deke clicks another hour closer to finishing his imaginary pool-themed clock by using Adobe Illustrator's Rotate and Transform Each command to get the hour balls in place and upright.

Turning a Sphere into a Colorful Pool Ball in Adobe Illustrator

Deke makes progress on his pool hall clock in Adobe Illustrator this week, by turning the cue ball into a 6 by applying color and text.

Drawing a Gradient Sphere as a 2D Shape in Adobe Illustrator (aka “The Cue Ball)

Deke begins his imaginary pool hall–themed clock by drawing a cue ball for the center in Adobe Illustrator

Creating a Photographic Painting in Photoshop

Deke finishes up his leopard seal project by adding the final bits of digital painting in Camera Raw.

Two Images are Better than One

Deke takes a leopard seal from one GoPro frame and some floating ice from another to make a composite "digital painting" inspired by a real photographer.

Rescuing a Frame from a GoPro Movie with Camera Raw

Deke takes the camera he has (a GoPro) and develops into a once-in-a-lifetime shot in Camera Raw.

The Photoshop 2020 Freeform Warp Enhancements

Deke uses Photoshop's new free transform warp enhancements (that he's been begging for for years) to manipulate a landscape to his liking.

Creating a Metadata Template in Bridge

Deke uses a text editor to fix some gotchas in the standard metadata template process in Adobe Bridge.