Deke’s Techniques

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

Aligning to Point Type in Adobe Illustrator

Deke demonstrates the immense usefulness of Adobe Illustrator's new Align to Glyph features, which give you better control when aligning to point or area type.

Blending Vectors with a Pixel-Based Photograph in Photoshop

Deke uses layer effects and some meticulous masking in Photoshop to make text on the side of his van look like it belongs there.

Drawing Arrows in Photoshop 2021

Deke takes you on a road trip with Photoshop's Line tool and points the way with a quasi-dynamic arrowhead.

Combining the Best of JPEG and Raw iPhone Photos

Deke shows you how to use Photoshop to combine the best parts of a detail rich raw photo and well-processed JPEG version taken from your mobile phone.

Using Camera Matching Profiles in Camera Raw (or Lightroom)

Hidden inside Adobe Camera Raw (or Lightroom) are camera matching profiles that can give you a good head start for developing your raw photos.

New Ways to Scale Type in Adobe Illustrator 2021

Deke explores the new feature in Illustrator 2021 that allows you to set the height of your fonts based on things like x-height or Cap height.

Color Grading: Blending and Balance

Deke demonstrates, as only he does, the Blending and Balance sliders for the Color Grading feature of Camera Raw and all its Adobe cousins.

Color Grading in Camera Raw

Deke shows you how to apply color adjustments with the new Color Grading feature in Camera Raw (and Lightroom, too)

Illustrator on the iPad: Gradients and Repeats

Deke returns to Illustrator on the iPad one more time in order to build the sun of hope and civility with the Freeform Gradient tool and Repeat feature.

Illustrator on the iPad: The Drawing Tools

Deke explores the fun and distraction of Illustrator on the iPad, including the Pencil tool, the Pen tool, and the not-too-blobbety Blob brush.

Introducing Illustrator on the iPad

Deke celebrates the new year and his 10th season with a look at the actually fun and useful Adobe Illustrator for the iPad

Creating a Candy Cane Rhinoceros in Photoshop

Deke uses the candy cane pattern he created last week in Photoshop to make a festive holiday rhinoceros.