Darren Hester of Pixel Perfect Digital sends this in: "I've just launched a brand new site called Free Web Page Headers that offers free 800x200 page headers for personal websites and blogs. I currently have 60 graphics in 7 categories. I think designers will really like these page headers. I especially think they will appeal to those who know how to work with CSS layouts and blogs. PixelPerfectDigital.com has been a huge success over the past 4 years. We're hoping to reach an even larger segment of the design community with FreeWebPageHeaders.com."

Headers are available in two sizes: 800x200 for "fixed" width designs, and 1600x200 for "fluid" designs. All images can be downloaded instantly as high quality JPG files. Registration is not required.

So 2 days ago someone asked me to help them with a blog header and I sent them to Darren's site and they came back with a great crayon image that we put some text on and placed online. All so effortless, just the way I like it. This is a sweet free resource for getting some very nice web headers done fast.

For more free blog resources, see our Blog Template Tutorial.
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments



Complete Photo Protection From New Online Photo Backup Service ProtectMyPhotos

ProtectMyPhotos launched its new online photo backup service. The company is focused on providing the most complete photo protection service for consumers.

"We started this company because we needed this service ourselves. Other backup solutions such as burning CD's, expensive online services, and companies that force you to order prints just didn't cut it," says Cliff Shaw, CEO of ProtectMyPhotos. "Our goal with ProtectMyPhotos was to create an affordable and easy-to-use service that allowed for seamless uploading and protection of customers' digital photos, and required zero maintenance. Market research shows that 97% of digital camera owners would be distraught if they lost their family photos, but only 18% have all of their photos backed up. I think that says a lot about the shortcomings of the current solutions. When it comes to backup, people want it to just plain work."

ProtectMyPhotos automatically uploads users' digital photos using their broadband connection, and continues to check for additions and changes. Photos are stored at secure datacenters in two geographic locations, and customers can access them anytime via the Web. In the event of data loss, photos are easily restored to their original form. Rare for online storage, ProtectMyPhotos also ensures pictures are restored with their original file locations and dates and with no reduction of quality. The service costs $5.95 per month and is available now at the company's web site, www.protectmyphotos.com.

"2006 will go down as the year that broadband finally fulfilled its promise, especially in online backup," says Shaw. "High-speed connections have always promised to deliver these types of solutions and the smart players are focusing on automatic and perfect end-to-end delivery. Our service helps users transfer thousands of photos with no guesswork. You will see us quickly change peoples' perceptions of what it means to upload thousands of files."

For more on Photo Backup & Recovery, see our Photo Recovery Resource Center.
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Announcing Aperture Library Spanner

[From creativepro.com] Although Apple's Aperture confines its internal library to a single drive, you can use a little under-the-hood trickery to span the library across multiple volumes. Ben Long has released a simple, free application that performs this trickery for you, allowing you to increase the size of your Aperture Library.

With a single click, the Aperture Library Spanner reconfigures your Aperture library so that it is stored across several currently-mounted volumes. If you later decide you want to return to a normal, single-volume library, you can easily undo the change from within Aperture itself. The Aperture Library Spanner is available for free at Ben Long's Complete Digital Photograph site.

For more on Aperture, see our Aperture Resource Center.
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | send comments

Photoshop CS4 & Photoshop CS4 Extended - Best Deals From Adobe

Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop CS4 Extended feature a newly refined, tab-based interface in a single, integrated window, with self-adjusting panels arranged in docked groups. Automatically keeping tools well organized and away from your work area means you get greater efficiency, less clutter, and better results, faster than before.

Delivering all the features of Adobe Photoshop CS4 software, including the new Adjustments and Masks panels, Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended also provides breakthrough 3D editing and compositing power to paint directly on 3D models, create 3D animations, convert 2D images to 3D objects, and more; richer motion graphics editing; and more powerful and flexible image analysis and tracking. Learn more on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page. To download the free trial, see details on our Photoshop CS4 Free Trial Download Page.

Find upgrade options and package deals at the Adobe USA Store. Teachers and students get special pricing at the Adobe Education Store. You can also buy in your country currency and language at the following Adobe International Stores:
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Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium - Complete CS4 Bundle

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium software is the designer's dream toolkit for print, web, and mobile publishing. Creativity is rarely confined to one medium, so put your vector illustrations in motion, moving fluidly between Adobe Illustrator CS4 and Adobe Flash CS4 Professional. And use Adobe Photoshop CS4 Extended to design and slice a web page for publishing with Adobe Dreamweaver CS4.

Adobe Creative Suite 4 Design Premium combines essential tools for producing everything from professional page layouts to rich interactive experiences in a unified, intuitive environment. Also includes Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro, Adobe InDesign CS4, plus Adobe Fireworks CS4.

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Enter our exclusive discount coupon code - PSSPPT06 - during the checkout process at onOne Software for an instant 10% discount on any onOne product. This includes Genuine Fractals and their amazing Photoshop Plug-In Suite.

onOne Software's Plug-In Suite combines full versions of six essential software tools — Genuine Fractals Print Pro, PhotoTools Pro, PhotoFrame Pro, Mask Pro, PhotoTune and FocalPoint — an affordable combination that includes everything a photographer needs to make their images look their best.

Why do you need plugins? Photoshop is an amazing image editing application that has forever changed graphic design and digital photographic editing, but like any tool, if you don't have time to fully learn it, you can't get the most out of it.

Plugins for Photoshop allow you to either do something that you cannot do with the features included in Photoshop or they allow you to do something easier, faster or better than you could do in Photoshop without the plug-in. Whether it is color correction, resizing, masking or creating an effect, you can find a Photoshop plug-in that can help you be more efficient with your time.

Did You Know You Could Create An Entire Website In Photoshop?
SiteGrinder Photoshop Plugin - Create Websites Instantly

There often seems to be a strict division of labor within the world of web design and development. Creative professionals tend to stick to the Photoshop domain, while those well-versed in scripting are left to the task of implementing their work. Indeed, the two realms are quite different from each other, to which any of us even vaguely familiar with either can easily attest.

Essentially, Photoshop is a no-holds-barred design studio, offering the artist a seemingly endless array of creative options. On the other hand, HTML, CSS, Java and the like follow strict rules of engagement, requiring the developer to take any number of esoteric concerns into consideration in order to ensure that designs are properly displayed on the web.

Turn Photoshop Into A Complete Web Design Tool
SiteGrinder seeks to bridge this gap between design and development. Basically, this program turns Photoshop into an easy-to-use and fully functional web design tool. With SiteGrinder, designers will now have the freedom to totally let their creativity loose and then, without skipping a beat, transfer their designs to the web. Bringing esthetic concerns together with more practical considerations, this program is an amazingly powerful tool that would make a fantastic addition to any web designer's bag of tricks.

Generate Your Web Pages Directly From Photoshop
By generating web pages directly from Photoshop, you'll be able to spend much more time on the creative end of the spectrum, since you'll know right off the bat how well particular designs will translate to the web. No more going back to the Photoshop drawing board after getting a phone call from your development team, telling you that what you had envisioned doesn't have a chance of being displayed on the web. You can immediately visually and interactively test your designs, which permits you to then make changes to either esthetics or functions while it's still relatively early on in the design process.

Pricing and Availability
Mac OS X and Windows versions of the SiteGrinder unlockable demo are available now via download. SiteGrinder can be ordered from Media Lab's online store.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Available At The Adobe Store

Adobe has announced the immediate availability of Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 software, the photographer's essential toolbox for managing, adjusting and presenting large volumes of digital photographs. With new enhancements such as dual-monitor support, radical advances in non-destructive localized image correction, and streamlined search capabilities, Photoshop Lightroom 2 is a compelling upgrade that simplifies photography from shoot to finish. Visit the Adobe site to download a free 30 day Photoshop Lightroom trial free download.

As Adobe’s first application to support 64-bit for Mac OS X 10.5 Macintosh computers with Intel processors and Microsoft Windows Vista 64-bit operating systems, Lightroom 2 also provides improved memory performance for dealing with large scale images. Find the latest Lightroom 2 tutorials on our Photoshop Lightroom 2 Tutorials page.

Photoshop CS4 Book - Photoshop CS4 Essential Skills - By Mark Galer And Philip Andrews

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Skin Retouching Tips In Photoshop CS4
Transforming Smart Objects In Photoshop CS4
Find more Photoshop CS4 tutorials on our Photoshop CS4 Tutorials Page.

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Adjusting Exposure in Adobe Camera Raw CS3
Photoshop CS3 Tutorial High Dynamic Range

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