Welcome to the February 2006 Newsletter. At the end of this newsletter you'll find some software specials for you from AV Bros. Plugins (discounted plugin bundles), and a Special Discount for Fluid Mask, which is now available for Windows.
Photoshop Blog - Featuring Free Tips
Our Photoshop Blog offers the latest Photoshop and Digital Photography news and software updates, tips and tutorials, and random thoughts from graphic artist, digital photographer and Photoshop expert Jennifer Apple. The Blog also features an RSS feed.
Visit the Photoshop Blog
Photoshop Top Support Issue
Here is the latest top issue from the Photoshop Support Knowledgebase:
Photoshop CS2 Or The Editor Of Photoshop Elements 4.0 Freezes Immediately After You Start (On Windows)
Issue: Adobe Photoshop CS2 or the Editor of Adobe Photoshop Elements 4.0 freezes immediately after you start it.
Visit the Photoshop Support Knowledgebase for the latest information.
You can also register to receive automatic updates at the Adobe site.
Camera Raw 3.3 & DNG Converter Now Available
Photoshop Product Manager John Nack has posted to his blog that Camera Raw 3.3 is available for download. The upgrade includes the DNG Converter. He notes that "some glitch with the download page has caused the 3.3 beta to remain available alongside the final version of 3.3, but that may have been fixed by the time you read this. The final version has a posting date of January 19, 2006."
You can find the MAC version here, and the Windows version here.
My Vintage Valentine - Free Brush Set From Kirsty To Make A Valentine's Day Card
The inspired and inspiring Kirsty of 500ml Brushes has done it again - creating another exclusive brush set for us. This time our brush Diva has come up with a magnificent collection of love symbols and romantic gestures for you to use in your upcoming Valentine's Day cards.
And what exactly will you find to express your tender feelings? Sweet little ducklings, sublime rose pedals, "kiss me" and "be mine" hearts, magical swans, and drawings of Valentine cupids on a very secret mission. And for those of you who think Valentine's Day is just another narcissistic, consumer spending trick, there's a vintage hot air balloon dressed up with flowers and flags.
With 11 individual brushes to work with, you can create a beautiful love letter with subtle images floating in the background, or be bold and stamp a huge heart across the entire sheet, or print on only half of the page and then fold and deliver as a card. If you're leaning more toward Goth or grunge, splatter the page with a million little images and scrawl the details of your demented crush in giant letters. The possibilities are endless, just like love. Thanks Kirsty!
Download the My Vintage Valentine Brush Set (zip/1.8MB).
For more brushes, see our Photoshop Brushes Page.
For more brushes from Kirsty visit 500ml Brushes.
Interview With Ben Willmore - Adobe Photoshop Studio Techniques CS2 Edition
When you tap into Ben Willmore you tap into a deep well of Photoshop knowledge and resources. For starters he has an excellent blog, "Where Is Ben?" where you can find his musings on Photoshop, info on digital photography and the latest cool gadgets, and assorted tidbits on living the mobile life. He also runs another site called Digital Mastery, where you can find a free PDF - "Where's My Stuff?" - which is a guide that tells you what happened to many of the features that were available in the previous version of Photoshop. The site also offers a selection of Ben's Photoshop Training DVDs.
And then there are his books. Ben has written a lot of books and they tend to garner rave reviews. If you want proof, just see this page of quotes for his CS2 Up-to-Speed book. Convincing, to say the least.
One of his most popular books is Adobe Photoshop Studio Techniques. The book is a comprehensive guide to not just learning Photoshop techniques but in helping you understand and grasp concepts. It's also written in an elegant, clear style that makes learning enjoyable. Here's some of what Jay Nelson says in the introduction:
- "For the past several years, Ben has traveled across the United States, presenting his unique Photoshop seminar. Unique, because it focuses on real-world jobs done every day by Photoshop users, and unique because Ben explains concepts and techniques in a way that everyone in the room can understand.
"I attended his seminar and was especially impressed by his ability to avoid technical jargon and his uncanny knack for answering questions before they're asked. Ben is a rare teacher; even advanced users are satisfied, and rank beginners never feel lost."
If you'd like to find out whether this is the right Photoshop book for you, have a look through a sample chapter that Peachpit Press has made available online. The sample chapter — How Layers Work — is a complete overview of layers and walks you through creating and manipulating layers in Photoshop. From the opening section:
"At first glance, layers might seem complex, but the idea behind them is rather simple. You isolate different parts of your image onto independent layers. These layers act as if they are separate documents stacked one on top of the other. By putting each image on its own layer, you can freely change your document's look and layout without committing to the changes. If you paint, apply a filter, or make an adjustment, it affects only the layer on which you're working. If you get into a snarl over a particularly troublesome layer, you can throw it away and start over. The rest of your document will remain untouched.
"You can make the layers relate to each other in interesting ways, such as by poking holes in them to reveal an underlying image. I'll show you some great techniques using this concept in Chapter 13, "Enhancement," and Chapter 15 "Collage."
"But first, you need to pick up on the basics — the foundations — of layers. If you've used layers for a while, you might find some of this chapter a bit too basic. On the other hand, you might find some juicy new tidbits."
We sent Ben some questions and here's what he replied... (read the interview)
New Wacom Intuos3 12x19 Pen Tablets Announced
Wacom Technology Corporation's new Intuos3 12x19 pen tablet is specifically designed for photographers, designers, artists and engineers who are using multiple large monitors or a large widescreen display such as the 30" Apple Cinema HD display.
Like the recently introduced Intuos3 6x11, the Intuos3 12x19 features an active area with an aspect ratio (height-to-width) that is a great match to the screen aspect ratio of either a widescreen display or standard displays used together. This provides optimal pen control and efficient use of the entire tablet. Additionally, Intuos3 12x19 users reap the benefit of a unique feature for extra-fast navigation.
Also announced is the Intuos3 12x12, which meets a mix of specialized needs, the most obvious of which are those of certain segments of the computer-aided design (CAD) market. Many CAD and other professionals find that the square size ideally meets their needs and they appreciate the ability to insert templates under the translucent overlay for digitizing.
In addition, an optional lens cursor is available for 12x19 and 12x12 users for highly detailed work and the 6D Art Pen is also an option for artists and illustrators looking to add to their creative arsenal.
Looks like another great product release from Wacom. For more info, read the full press release.
Photoshop Killer Tips With Matt Kloskowski
The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) has released yet another useful Photoshop resource. This one is a video podcast (via iTunes) called Photoshop Killer Tips With Matt Kloskowski, and it offers a Photoshop tip each and every weekday.
So far we've watched 5 episodes, which included a tip on using the Shadow/Highlight Filter, on finding individual photos from a shoot using Bridge, on how to get a complicated selection back after inadvertently losing it, on adding points to a curve to adjust photos, and a tip on how to pick color from almost anywhere on your desktop. Sweet.
These are bite-size tips, all of the clips so far are under 2 minutes, which is just right to learn something new each day without putting a dent in your schedule. But do these guys ever sleep?
To subscribe go to Apple's iTunes Music Store and do a search for "Photoshop" in the podcast directory search or go directly (link opens iTunes app). You can also see summaries of the shows on the Photoshop Killer Tips site. Matt Kloskowski can also be seen on the wildly popular Photoshop TV podcast.
Alien Skin Software Releases Exposure
Alien Skin have released Exposure, an all-new plug-in for Photoshop and other compatible host programs. Exposure brings the look and feel of film to digital photography. Digital photographers can now simulate current and discontinued film stocks, as well as recreate their signature look as a one-click effect.
Exposure also simulates darkroom and studio effects such as push and cross processing. Moreover, saturation, light temperature, dynamic range, softness, sharpness, and the addition of realistic grain can be managed in one place.
Foremost a film simulator, Exposure is based on the detailed analysis of real world film stocks. A photographer can now quickly and easily evoke the vivid colors of Velvia, the rich blacks of Kodachrome, or the sensitivity of Ektachrome. Exposure includes presets that emulate the warmth, softness, and realistic grain of dozens of real world film stocks, both color and black and white. Plus, any preset can be the starting point for a signature look, adjusted to suit a particular subject, or applied to a batch of images using Photoshop Actions. To see the features of this plugin have a look at the Exposure Samples Page.
For more info on Photoshop plugins, see our Photoshop Plugins Page.
Take A First Look At Adobe's Lightroom' By Ben Long
Creativepro.com has an informative and detailed article by Ben Long that takes you on a tour of Lightroom — and discusses some of the pros and cons. From the intro:
If you're a fight fan — be it heavyweight bouts, professional wrestling, or schoolyard squabbles — then the next several months should be very interesting for you as Adobe and Apple square off against each other in the photography workflow market. You could say that Apple "started it" with their release of Aperture last November (read my review here), but Adobe has come back swinging with the announcement of Lightroom.
Intended as a complement to Photoshop (or any other image editor), Lightroom provides a single environment for comparing and sorting images, performing basic image editing tasks and Raw conversions, and outputting your images to print or electronic media.
If that sounds familiar, it's probably because it's the same market that Apple identified with their release of Aperture. However, Lightroom is a program that has been rumored to be floating around Adobe in one form or another for well over a year. Aperture appears to have put the fire to Adobe's feet and led the company to get its product, previously known as "Shadowland," to market. To capture mindshare sooner rather than later, Adobe announced the first public beta of Lightroom on January 9. Currently, it runs only on Mac OS X, but Adobe says it will launch a Windows public beta in the future.
All cynicism aside, Adobe's decision to openly beta test Lightroom is a very good one. Workflow is a difficult market to design for because there's no one "best" approach. The user feedback that will come from public beta testing will go a long way toward helping Adobe craft a better final release.
Please note that this is not a review. The goal of this article is to help you understand Lightroom's overall approach to photography workflow, and to outline what the current release's capabilities are. Lightroom is a long way from release, and any issues I identify here are not meant as a criticism; instead, they're to help you decide if you want to start working with the current beta, or wait for an update.
Read Take A First Look At Adobe's Lightroom by Ben Long at creativepro.com
For more on Adobe Lightroom, see our Lightroom Resource Center.
Free Photoshop Elements Summits Announced
[Press Release] Adobe and the Photoshop Elements Techniques newsletter have teamed up to show people interested in photography, scrapbooking and video the fantastic new features of Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements and the wonderful projects you can create with them. Summit Attendees can look forward to three free hours of tips and tricks for the popular Adobe photo- and video-editing programs.
The instructor for the summits will be Photoshop Elements Techniques contributor Larry Becker. Those who attend will learn how to take control of their photos and videos and get professional-looking results, regardless of your skill level. In addition to the free education, the events will feature many giveaways and discounted educational materials. All summits are open to the public, anyone may attend, and there is no need to pre-register.
For more information, those interested in attending can go to the Photoshop Elements User website or call Photoshop Elements Techniques Subscriber Services at 866.808.2793.
- Photoshop Elements Summit Schedule
All Summits are from 2 - 5 PM
Orlando, FL, Monday, February 13th, 2006
Orange County Convention Center
Atlanta, GA, Monday, February 27th, 2006
Cobb Galleria Centre
South San Francisco, CA, Tuesday, April 18th, 2006
South San Francisco Conference Center
Los Angeles, CA, Wednesday, April 19th, 2006
Los Angeles Convention Center
New York, NY, Friday, May 5th, 2006
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
Chicago, IL, Friday, May 19th, 2006
Donald E. Stephens Convention Center
In addition to writing for Photoshop Elements Techniques, Larry Becker is the Executive Director of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and a regular contributor to the Photoshop User magazine. Above and beyond his Photoshop expertise, Larry is one of the leading trainers for PDA and smartphone users. He has also written several technology books and has been interviewed as a technology expert in newspapers and on talk radio.
Layers Magazine Announces MacBook Sweepstakes
Layers Magazine have announced that they will give away the latest technology from Apple, a MacBook Pro, in their Layers MacBook Sweepstakes. The MacBook Pro features a dual-core Intel processor and boasts processing speeds of 4 times greater than its predecessor, and 8 times the graphics bandwidth.
Sponsored by CDW, the Layers MacBook Sweepstakes is open to residents of the United States and Canada and no purchase is necessary to enter. The deadline for entry is February 28, 2006 and the winner will be announced March 1, 2006. For all the fine print read the Official Rules and Sweepstakes Entry at Layers Magazine.
Exclusive Discount Price For Fluid Mask - $239
Vertus Software is offering Fluid Mask at a special discounted rate of just $239. This is an exclusive offer to visitors of PhotoshopSupport.com and also includes 12 months of free upgrades. Sweet. To qualify all you have to do is visit the Fluid Mask Discount Price page.
For those who don't know, Vertus' Fluid Mask is a tool that allows a user to accurately cut out objects from images in a matter of seconds. It's based on breakthrough technology which is similar to the way the eye, optic nerve and brain perform visual processing.
When an image is loaded, Fluid Mask's engine analyses the distribution of colors, finding the natural groups according to the content of the image. Together with information calculated about edges, gradients and texture a model is constructed which divides the images into regions.
The software has been getting a lot of good buzz, and you can read more about it in this Software Overview, the Official Press Release (featuring jumbo versions of the frogs), or this Interview with co-creator James Carr-Jones.
Discount Codes (10% Off) From AV Bros. Plugin Store
The AV Bros. have given us special links where you can get a 10% discount on the purchase of their plugins. Just use the following links to purchase the individual products or packages at a discount.
AV Bros. Page Curl 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Page Curl Pro 2.0 for Windows
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0 for Mac OS X
AV Bros. Puzzle Pro 2.0 for Windows
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - cross-platform
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - for Mac OS X
Bundle A (Page Curl Pro 2.0 & Puzzle Pro 2.0) - for Windows
To learn more about the products, visit the AV Bros. site.
Tip Of The Month: Steal Color From Anywhere
In previous versions of Photoshop, you could click the Eyedropper tool (I) on any color within your image, and it would steal that color and make it your new Foreground color. The only drawback was you could only steal colors from within an open document window.
Back in Photoshop 7.0, Adobe cut the Eyedropper tool loose from the chains that bound it, and now as long as you click within an open image first, you can drag right out of your image window and sample a color from, well, anywhere. That includes sampling colors from other applications, Photoshop's own Toolbox and menu bars, and even your computer's desktop pattern. Just remember to click in your image first, and then drag the Eyedropper to a new world of color delights that dare not speak its name.
A Thank You To Our Friends, Partners & Sponsors!
We'd like to thank our friends, partners and sponsors: Google, Hostway, Apple, Total Training, Peachpit Press, O'Reilly Media, Wiley Publishing, Macromedia, Creativepro.com, The PhotoshopHelp Blog, CreativeBits, Heathrowe, CreativeGuy, The Photoshop Roadmap, Power Retouche Plugins, Vertus Fluid Mask, Template Monster, onOne Software, AV Bros. Plugins, AutoFX, and The National Association of Photoshop Professionals.
