Photoshop Insider Tips

Illustrator is a powerful program, but it can be overwhelming or confusing at times, simply because of everything that is possible. If you’re new to Illustrator, taking the time to understand the basics and how to use the specific tools will go a long way towards setting you up for success.

List of resources

Adjustment Layers in Photoshop

2010-03-16T16:17:00.000-07:00

good example on understanding different Adjustment Layers in Photoshop.

http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/techniques/a-basic-guide-to-photoshop-cs4-adjustment-layers/

Saving images for the Web in PS

2010-02-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

On the surface, saving images for the web can be a pretty straightforward process. However, if you dig deeper there’s a wealth of information and techniques you might be missing out on. This article will focus primarily on the diverse features of Photoshop’s “Save for Web & Devices” command along with some best practices related to saving images that are optimized for web use.

Guide to saving images for the Web in Photoshop

20th. Anniversary for Photoshop! Amazing!

2010-02-23T12:05:00.000-08:00

very good article on compression, image types, etc

2010-02-03T20:33:00.001-08:00

Image compression/file type article

Cute article on creating poor websites

2010-02-03T09:03:00.000-08:00

Funny article on poor web design...

All about Photoshop brushes

2009-11-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

Click for article.

40 PS tuts for creating backgrounds/textures!

2009-11-10T06:43:00.000-08:00

Photoshop provides designers with unlimited options for creating unique and attractive backgrounds. One of the most popular approaches is to create some type of textured background, and fortunately there are a number of helpful tutorials to teach you all the tricks you need to know.

Follow link for great tutorials!

Huge collection of custom shapes for Photoshop!

2009-11-09T12:08:00.000-08:00

Click to enjoy!

Designing a logo in Photoshop. Good or bad?

2009-11-08T08:57:00.000-08:00

Photoshop is a raster graphics software and very limited when it comes to image scalability. A logo needs to be in vector format for easy enlargements and reductions without losing pixels and quality.
Vector files are very compact and small in size as opposed to Photoshop files which tend to be larger. This makes them very easy to transfer, manage and share.
Even if you design in Photoshop, you will have to convert it to a vector format by re-creating it in a vector software like Illustrator or Coreldraw. So why waste time and effort doing something twice that you could’ve done once and done it well. You also risk not creating it exactly the way you created it the first time around. Continued....

Click here for article.

Good to great in Web Design!

2009-11-03T18:07:00.000-08:00

The difference between good and great webdesign is relatively small. The average person may not be able to explain the tangible differences that make up great design, but they can usually spot a design they like. By examining some awesome sites, I’ll attempt to put my finger on some of the small details that make up the difference.

http://www.myinkblog.com/2009/11/02/6-ways-to-take-your-webdesign-from-good-to-great/

McDarby's creative process in Photoshop

2009-10-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

A detailed process of Phil McDarby's process of creating his art in Photoshop.

http://www.philmcdarby.com/index.php/blog/article/the_green_man_awakens_-_a_walkthough

How to even out lighting in photos w/ PS

2009-10-13T18:22:00.000-07:00

Here's a new free Photoshop tutorial from Photoshop Daily on how to even out lighting in a photo. This technique will work in any version of Photoshop. It enables you to quickly brighten up underexposed sections of the shot without burning out correctly exposed areas.

http://www.photoshopsupport.com/photoshop-blog/09/cs4-10/even-lighting-photo-tutorial.html

Design Inspiration: Splatter Effects!

2009-10-07T21:23:00.000-07:00

Splatters can be used in web and graphic design to create interesting effects that grab your attention. In this post we’ll showcase many examples from a variety of different types of design. One of the easiest ways to use this type of effect in your work is to take advantage of the Photoshop brushes that are readily available.

Click here for examples.

how to choose colors for websites

2009-09-30T20:10:00.000-07:00

One of the most challenging aspects of design for many web designers is color selection. The color scheme of a site can have a huge impact on the overall look of the site, and it will have an impact on visitors as well. There are a number of different methods that can be used for finding the right color scheme for a particular project, and in this post we will look at several of those methods. Throughout the post you will find links to helpful resources that you may appreciate.

How to choose a graphics tablet??

2009-09-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

There are many things that factor into play when choosing your tablet.
The most relevant technical specification is pressure sensitivity. The more, the better.
Smaller tablets are better, cheaper, easier to fit into your desktop, and they work just like the bigger ones. I would only choose the big model if you're going to use it for CAD.
Think about the use you'll give to your tablet. If you want if for painting, coloring and photo manipulation, it will be 100% useful. For drawing, only Cintiq models are really good, and for designing, you need no more than a mouse.
There are second hand markets or brand new old models. They are really worth checking.

Click for article.

17 Photoshop tutorials for creative ad designing

2009-09-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

Advertisements often display a lot of creativity in design, and Photoshop is an excellent tool for those who are designing advertisements. Fortunately there are a number of tutorials specifically for designing advertisements, and others that demonstrate techniques that are effective for for these purposes. In this post we’ll feature 17 different tutorials that can help you in your own ad design.

Click here for list! Enjoy.

20 Great Tuts for Web Designers!

2009-09-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

As a Web Designer, it is very important for you to stay on top of your game from a visual standpoint. The more Photoshop tricks you have up your sleeve, the more versatile you can be with your designs. Here is list of tutorials that will help you do just that.
Here for the list!

How to use Layer Masks in Photoshop

2009-09-13T05:27:00.000-07:00

In this short tutorial you will learn what layer masks are and how to utilize them for working faster and more efficiently in Photoshop.
Lets consider what masks do: They hide or show things. Masks in photoshop work the same way: they can hide or show parts of images. In general filling a layer mask with black hides a part of the image. Filling a layer mask with white shows a part of an image. Filling the mask with gray will show the part of the image with varying opacity based on how light or dar the gray is.

Click here for article.

7 Rules for mixing different fonts in Web Design

2009-09-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

Typography can be one of the most creatively rewarding parts of web design, but it can also be one of the most frustrating. Working with just one or two fonts can be challenging enough for most web designers, yet some still insist on using three, four, seven, or even more fonts in their designs. Some people excel at creating sites with complicated typography, while others fail miserably. Read on to find out tricks to creating fantastic website designs with complicated type, as well as some great examples of sites that get it right, and those that get it wrong.

Click for article.

17 Photoshop tutorials for creative ad designing

2009-09-01T17:11:00.000-07:00

Web Designer's Typographic library

2009-08-30T14:22:00.000-07:00

Though there are some great examples of web designers writing on typography recently, one thing that I’ve always wanted is a quick little reference to help me remember both the terms and how the typographic toolkit should be used. This is the beginning of such a reference.

Read article here.

Ultimate collection of Grunge Photoshop brushes!

2009-08-21T09:02:00.000-07:00

We’ve gone ahead and again rounded up all of the nicest and best grunge Photoshop brushes that you would ever need.
Simply hover over the images and see the name of the specific Photohop brush set. Click it and you will be directed to the place where you will be able to download it.

Click here for list!

All Adobe shortcuts in one application.

2009-08-18T14:31:00.000-07:00

Can’t remember your shortcuts? No worries. Introducing the Adobe Shortcut App, an amazing new tool from Adobe that lets you find and gather the shortcuts you need on your desktop. So they’re right where you need them, when you need them, allowing you to create your masterpieces with ease.

Click here for download information.

Huge collection of Photoshop tutorials!!

2009-08-16T15:18:00.000-07:00

This contains the collection of the Best Photoshop Tutorials from various different websites.
Click here for list. Enjoy!

Photoshop technique-Cutting out a person's hair

2009-08-12T09:24:00.000-07:00

This tutorial will show you a proper technique to cut out an image’s hair. In fact, lots of people may struggle on trimming out fine hairs. In this example it is going to use the common Channel technique to trim out this lovely lady. Very good!

Click here for tutorial!

Free Barbed Wire PS brushes

2009-08-11T08:16:00.000-07:00

Here is a set of barbed wire brushes. Each brush was created from photographs. I hope you find some cool uses for them.

Click for download.

Top 10 mistakes Web Designers make!

2009-08-04T17:04:00.000-07:00

There are plenty of mistakes web designers (especially new ones) make when designing websites. Everything from poor design to simple oversight happen every day. But with a little diligence, they can easily be avoided.
Below are ten of the most common mistakes web designers make, along with examples of sites who do things right.

View list here.

40+ Photoshop tutorials for animation:)

2009-08-02T16:56:00.000-07:00

Photoshop is very important tool for all type of designers. It can be used for web, print and more. You can even create gif animations in Photoshop. here is a list a various different tutorials that teach animation!

Click here for list!

25 important web design tools

2009-08-02T16:53:00.000-07:00

Here are 25 very helpful web design tools which will help you accomplish your tasks easily and quickly!
Enjoy!

Click here for list!

How successful is your logo design?

2009-07-30T17:00:00.000-07:00

I receive many questions from both clients and other designers asking me “What makes a good logo?” Instead of focusing on what makes a logo look good (because we all know we can argue that point for days based on personal taste), I thought it would be best to focus on what makes a logo work well – a better question to ask yourself while designing a logo is “How flexible is the logo?”
Click to view.

How to use bevel and drop shadow in PS

2009-07-28T16:59:00.000-07:00

If you want to be taken seriously as a designer, you cannot use the Bevel or Drop Shadow tools in Photoshop. What most of these advice givers really mean to say, is that you should not use the default settings for these tools. Here I am going to show you a side-by-side comparison of the default settings and some custom settings after taking you through the tutorials to achieve the desired effects.

Enjoy!

Click for tutorial.

Free PS Hawaiian Leaf brushes!

2009-07-24T12:16:00.000-07:00

Click here.

300 creative patterns from Behance.

2009-07-23T05:47:00.000-07:00

Click here for huge selection of patterns.

Creative Web/Blog Footers for Inspiration

2009-07-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

Some of the examples shown here use visual elements to make the design of the footer more interesting, and others simply focus on providing navigation or information in the footer that will help visitors.

Click to view list.

Create Vector Type Logo in PS

2009-07-20T08:39:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial we will explore the idea of creating custom (vector) logos in Photoshop. We will explore the idea of font manipulation as well as adding custom shapes to the mix.

(*note: This tutorial assumes you know how to use the Pen tool enough to make your way around comfortably inside paths.)

Click for tutorial.

Explaining Blending modes in PS.

2009-07-19T16:48:00.000-07:00

The definitions used here are from the Photoshop help files, with a few bits of added explanation here and there.
The Blend Modes control how pixels in two separate layers interact with and effect each other. It’s helpful to think in terms of the following colors when visualizing a blending mode’s effect:

* The base color is the original color in the bottom layer.
* The blend color is the color being applied by the upper layer.
* The result color is the color resulting from the blend.

Click here for full article.

How to create an animated GIF insidePhotoshop CS4

2009-07-17T10:21:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial, we'll take a look at the Photoshop animation feature to create a nice animated GIF.

Click here for tutorial.

Create a cool glowing effect in Photoshop!

2009-07-11T10:07:00.000-07:00

This tutorial will teach you how to come up a cool glowing effects on your artworks. Lets take a quick preview first on the final result.

Click here for tutorial.

How to use the histogram to better understand your pictures.

2009-07-09T05:11:00.001-07:00

Click here for article.

Video-How to place an image perfectly into another image!

2009-07-06T09:23:00.000-07:00

Click for video!

Principles of Navigation Design in websites.

2009-07-06T09:06:00.000-07:00

10 Principles Of Navigation Design And Why Quality Navigation Is So Critical

If content is the heart of every website publication, navigation is its brain and a fundamental pillar of information architecture design. When dealing with large quantities of content, the critical importance of navigation cannot be overestimated. Content that can’t be found can’t be read. If content can’t be found and read, this means a lot of cost but zero value.

Navigation is the website’s “table of contents”. In traditional publication you have page numbering to help you navigate. You can hold the publication in your hands and flick through it. If its large publication there is usually an index at the back that can be used. You can’t hold a website in your hands.

Click to view article.

Free 4 week photography course!

2009-07-04T10:46:00.000-07:00

I’m delighted to announce a new 4-week Digital Photography Course starting in two weeks! This special course is taught by photographer John Greengo from the PBS series Art Wolfe’s Travels to the Edge.

July 15: Week 1 - Overview. Life of a World Traveling Photographer.
July 22: Week 2 - Your Camera.
July 29: Week 3 - Your Technique.
Aug 5: Week 4 - Composition Secrets.

Want to enroll? Sign-up here:

Cool Splatter Photoshop brushes!

2009-07-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

This is a set of five great-looking splatter brushes, each with a unique splatter effect, from round splatters to subtle scratches.

Click here for download.

50 Dirty, Filthy Grunge Photoshop Effects

2009-06-26T08:32:00.000-07:00

The grunge movement in design combines rips, tears, decay, smears and scratches to form a dark and gritty result. Here is a collection of fifty of the best ever Photoshop grunge tutorials for your enjoyment and education.

Click here for tutorials.

11 Tutorials for creating business cards

2009-06-25T18:01:00.000-07:00

This selection of tutorials will show you some techniques for designing business cards, as well as give you all the information you need to get set up the right way to make the design a success.

Click for list.

Introduction to CSS video.

2009-06-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

Very informative video from the people at Adobe.com

MAC Photoshop brush preview software

2009-06-23T18:03:00.000-07:00

Brush Pilot™ is a fast and easy application for previewing Adobe® Photoshop® and Adobe Photoshop Elements Brushes (.abr), built exclusively for Mac OS X. Brush Pilot is designed to save you time by allowing you to instantly preview your brushes without having to load them into Photoshop.

Click here for info.

Create Neo-Constructivist Poster in PS-Video

2009-06-22T19:47:00.000-07:00

Constructivism is about using bright colors, playing with lightness, perspective, geometrical forms, besides photo montage techniques and digital collage. This video explains the process

18 Awesome text affect tutorials

2009-06-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

This is a collection of my favorite Photoshop text effects that look pretty sweet. I would recommend experimenting with these styles if your looking for something a little bit different.

click to view.

Creative web footer designs!

2009-06-17T16:45:00.000-07:00

Website designs have so many different elements that work together to convey information in a usable and organized manner. For a website to be effective, every element on the page, from the header to the footer, needs to add to its overall usability and readability.

In this article, we’ll take a look at the footer and see what exactly makes for a good website footer. Keep in mind that just because the footer is at the bottom of the page doesn’t mean you should slack off with good design practice.

We’ll look at what to include in footers, the importance of site maps, usability practices and styling ideas and trends. Here are almost 50 well-designed footers to give you ideas and inspiration for your own footer designs.

Click here for list!

Logo inspiration with Type!

2009-06-13T07:52:00.000-07:00

I love logos! They encompass so much branding identity into one tiny graphic. They are incredibly difficult to create, but when done correctly, they stand the test of time. Well-created logos often look seamless and effortless, but you can be sure that a ton of time went into the planning, research and development.

Click to enjoy!

Candy coated text tutorial

2009-06-12T10:49:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial I’ll teach you how to make a web 2.0 logo so damn sugary sweet it’ll give your website a cavity.

Click here for tut!

30 Photoshop Video Tutorials in graphic design

2009-06-09T09:19:00.001-07:00

Sit back, relax. Watch and learn from the pros of graphic design, as they show you advanced Photoshop techniques, taking the simplest elements and creating something beautiful as well as tutorials on advanced drawing and illustration techniques.

Click to view!

How to make tiled backgrounds super easy!

2009-06-07T18:52:00.000-07:00

There are lots of background image generator sites out there, but this one is just so easy and simple, I felt compelled to say something about it. I’m not sure how long it’s been around, but BgPatterns.com makes it super easy to make a seamless tiled background image. There are plenty of elegant controls for the user including rotation, texture, color, opacity and more. So if you’re in the market for a seamless tile, or just want to save a little time, I recommend this site to anyone.

Click here to use the site!

Must see!!! Creative photographs that inspire

2009-06-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is a mix of some creative advertisements, creative photo manipulation and just some stunning photography in general.

Click here to enjoy!

Free copy of Adobe Coldfusion 8 for students and educators

2009-06-02T14:56:00.000-07:00

Get a free copy of Adobe Coldfusion 8 if you are a student, faculty, or staff at an eligible educational institution, a $1,299 value!
Here's the scoop: Adobe ColdFusion 8 for Education is available for free to educational customers to use for learning purposes only and not for production purposes. This includes all qualified students, faculty and staff of eligible education institutions.

click here for details!

May-- Best of the Web 2009

2009-05-31T10:51:00.000-07:00

A lot of the tutorials featured this month used some of the most basic tools in Photoshop to create stunning designs for all levels of designers. This was also a special month for freebies because there is an extremely detailed and high quality icon pack that everyone should check out. Finally this month features articles that are informative for every type of designer, whether you are into logo design, or webpage design.

Check it out!

45 How-to Web Design Tutorials in Photoshop

2009-05-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

While many web designers create mockups in Adobe Fireworks and Dreamweaver, no design program gives you quite so much control as Adobe Photoshop. The lessons collected here will show you how to create gorgeous and functional complete websites, blogs, layouts, nav menus and headers in Photoshop.

Click here to enjoy full list!

Free 10-Week Adobe Illustrator Course!

2009-05-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

This class will be taught by Steve Laskevitch, founder and lead instructor at Seattle’s Luminous Works Training Center. Steve is consistently rated one of the top 5 Adobe Certified Instructors in the world.

Want to enroll? Sign-up here:

10 Typography rules every designer should know!

2009-05-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

No matter how many bells and whistles you’ve built into a website, everyone relies on text to accomplish whatever they’re visiting the site to do.
That alone should make typography, the art of arranging type, a priority for any web designer.
In this article we take a look at 10 easy rules to keep in mind when designing your next web project.

Click here to view article.

Basic Introduction to Typography

2009-05-23T10:28:00.000-07:00

Typography plays a big role in graphic design and many designers are very passionate or opinionated about it. For this reason it is a very hot topic in design circles.

Developing your own skills in typography will take time and it can be one of the hardest things to get right. It is best to get a solid understanding of the basics as soon as possible in your education and career.

Click here to view articles.

30 Best Photoshop Abstract Effect Tutorials

2009-05-22T09:17:00.000-07:00

PhotoshopLady.com has come up with the 30 Best Photoshop Abstract Effect Tutorials of All Time. This is a great collection!

Click to view list!

Dekepod video-Photoshopping High Art

2009-05-19T14:42:00.000-07:00

Experienced photo retouchers make small fortunes by Photoshopping models and celebrities to make them appear even thinner and more youthful than in real life. In this dekePod video, Deke takes us back to a time when ideas of beauty were very different, the High Renaissance, back when body fat was a thing to be envied. He takes the ample proportions of Raphael’s Maddalena and transforms her into a well sculptured, slim and trim, modern day beauty.

What are layer styles in Photoshop?

2009-05-15T17:13:00.000-07:00

Layer styles are special effects that can be quickly and easily applied to individual layers in Photoshop to drastically change the appearance of something in very little time.

Click to read more!

5 creative reflections all created in Photoshop

2009-05-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

You see reflections everywhere in design, whether you realize it or not. You see them used in graphics, commercials, products, and even websites. This tutorial will outline how to create 5 of the most widely used types of reflections in design. Feel free to download the attached PSD if you’d like to work on the same document.

Click here for tutorials.

Artist uses Photoshop to create amazing self-portraits

2009-05-12T13:13:00.000-07:00

Pierre Beteille, a talented French artist, creates remarkable images by digitally modifying his self-portraits in Adobe Photoshop.

Click here to view his work.

How to remove zits in Photoshop

2009-05-10T18:42:00.000-07:00

This teaches how to improve photos in easy steps.

Click here to follow.

Color tools and Resources for Photoshop

2009-05-09T14:53:00.000-07:00

Choosing a color scheme for your project can be one of the most difficult and most important decisions that you make during the design process. Within the last several years there have been quite a few advances in technology and resources related to this subject. This article is a roundup of some of the best new applications, resources, articles, and tutorials for choosing a color scheme for your project.

Click here to view.

15 AWESOME Photoshop brush websites

2009-05-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

Click here for list! Enjoy!

How to create Photoshop brushes!

2009-05-08T14:04:00.000-07:00

Creating Photoshop brushes is surprisingly easy. To do it well, though, takes planning, creativity, and talent. The tutorials below cover the basic steps for creating Photoshop brushes.

Click here for article.

Free Chapters PS CS4 for Photographers

2009-05-05T18:14:00.000-07:00

Here are some free sample chapters from the new book Real World Adobe Photoshop CS4 for Photographers. You'll learn about blending modes, dodging and burning by hand, using history to make adjustments, and soft-proofing an image for print...

Click here and scroll down..

ULTIMATE collection of Free PS shape downloads!

2009-05-02T19:57:00.000-07:00

Photoshop users are able to benefit from the vast amount of high-quality resources that are freely available to the community. Brushes get a lot of attention, but custom shapes are also extremely useful in the right situations. Finding a custom shape that has already been created can save you some time and headaches in your design, and fortunately there is a very wide variety of custom shapes available.

Click to view list.

1000 Free Photoshop brushes! High quality..:)

2009-04-30T10:38:00.000-07:00

Hundreds of thousands of incredible Adobe Photoshop brush sets are all over the web. Due to this phenomenally vast amount of Photoshop brushes available, you can now add patches of dirt, rust, floral effect, swirls, mold, oil stains in your artworks and photos to give them an aged, damaged, dreamy or any look you want.

Here is a great collection I'm sure you will enjoy!

Click to download..

ProTips for Improving Photoshop’s Performance

2009-04-25T16:43:00.000-07:00

In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at the Photoshop Preferences to increase our Performance. With more and more features and important improvements, Photoshop gets more effective than ever.

Click here for tutorial..

Comprehensive Introduction to the Type Tool

2009-04-22T10:45:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't know the Type Tool? This is maybe one of the most powerful and useful tools of Photoshop. We've all used it at least once, but do you know all its potential?

Here is a comprehensive collection of Text/Type stats to expand your knowledge.

Click here to explore..

Free Photoshop Music Brushes

2009-04-21T08:19:00.000-07:00

Cool set of musical brushes...

Click here to download..

30 Text effects tutorials for Adobe Illustrator

2009-04-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Adobe Illustrator provides designers with an excellent opportunity for creating amazing effects with text. This post features 30 of the best tutorials on the subject.

Click here to view the list.