Buy. Download. Create. Get Photoshop CS3 now at the Adobe Store.
Photoshop for Students. Get super savings at the Adobe Academic Store.

The Photoshop Blog offers the latest Photoshop news and software updates, Photoshop tips and tutorials, and random thoughts from graphic artist and Photoshop expert Jennifer Apple.




March 29, 2008

Here's my latest collection of Photoshop tips, news and tutorials...

Justin Seeley.com
Layers Mag Contest
Attention designers, Layers Magazine is running a very interesting contest that gives you the opportunity to design their back page. Not only do you get your work featured in the magazine but you also get a $300 from Kelby Training. This is a great opportunity to get your name out there and have your work seen by thousands of industry professionals. For more information check out the Layers Magazine Site.

PSDTuts
Adding Flames and Effects to Make an Image with Impact
Instead of riding snow, this boarder is flying through flames. In this tutorial we’ll create fire and smoke without using any photos. You’ll learn how to combine both to create a flaming, dynamic image that jumps right at you.

How to Create a 3d Shelf Element Similar to Dragon Interactive
In the reader suggestions recently, I found a request to see how to produce the shelf interface on the incredibly cool Dragon Interactive website - a Los Angeles based creative agency. So here’s a method for producing the shelf effect.

Quickly Build an Abstract Background of Colored Bars
Oftentimes there’s a need for a quick but unique design. In this tutorial, I’ll be showing you a short but attractive way to create a graphic for backgrounds, wallpapers, greeting cards, designs, and all that other good stuff. You will learn a simple photoshop trick that you can easily manipulate for your daily needs.

Super Fast and Easy Facial Retouching
In this tutorial I will show you how to repair some image noise from a low quality shot and I will show you an extremely quick and easy way to smooth out a person’s face. The woman in this shot is not a model and she has a lot of character so we don’t want to over do it with the smoothing. We will make it look real and natural.

PluginsWorld.com
Perspective Transformations by MV's Plugins: plugin for Adobe Photoshop
This filter performs perspective transformations. Flat images can be tilted e.g. to create 3D compositions. Similarly, images taken at an angle can be rectified (e.g. tall buildings). You can rotate the image with the mouse or using sliders around three axes, then reposition and resize it. Grid lines can be displayed both before and after transformation.

Contrast Mask by MV's Plugins: plugin for Adobe Photoshop
This plugin enhances images with too much contrast by applying a technique known as contrast masking, which results in brightening underexposed areas and dimming too bright regions. One frequent issue with contrast masking is the formation of halos around dark objects. This plugin has a specific built-in algorithm for detection and suppression of potential halos.

Brusheezy
Godspeed Brushes by 2xgu - Photoshop Brush (10 in set)
Say hello to my latest set in a while. It’s been almost four months?? Sorry about the lack of brushes guys! The colors reminded me of a wallpaper i made long ago named Godspeed. I named this pack that in its honor. Contains some 10 brushes. Use with care, ya?

Ligth Brushes by rubinaarts.tk - Photoshop Brush (1 in set)
Ligth Brushes For adobe Photoshop CS2 & CS3.

PixelPerfect With Bert Monroy
PixelPerfect - How to Create a Reptilian Evil Eye in Photoshop
This week, Bert heads to the dark side and teaches you how to create a reptile-like evil eye.

BittBox
Illustrator Workflow: “Persistent” Brush Palettes
Workflow is always important for productivity. Avoiding as many clicks as possible is an everyday battle, and, with this little Illy tip, I hope to help you avoid yet another 3 clicks. For some reason, the folks at Adobe decided that Illustrator shouldn’t have a ‘Preset Manager’ like Photoshop, so here we are working around it. I’d like to share with you one way I get around a lack-of-a-preset-manager in Illustrator when it comes to brushes.

Free Vectors: Flowers
I’ve got some new vectors for everyone. I’ve been playing around with a new Wacom tablet for a few days now (still experimenting) but I’d like to share some of my first creations with everyone. Hope you can put ‘em to good use ;) Download After the Jump. (EPS & SVG)

Inspiration: Neil Duerden Updates
I was recently contacted by Neil Duerden, an internationally famous and talented UK designer. He informed me that he has updated his site with loads of new finished pieces and wanted to share his work with everyone. Neil is a master of the collage style, and is always pushing the limits of design, not only in his personal work, but his commissions as well.

Graphics.com
Adobe Sweepstakes Awards Prizes Weekly
A promotion running until June 1, 2008, will award owners of Adobe software with hundreds of prizes each week, from a product prize pool that includes 500 Apple iPhones, 2,000 2 GB SD flash cards and 5,000 $40 Adobe Online Gift Certificates. There is no charge to enter, with participation simply requiring registration. Each registered copy of Illustrator CS3, Photoshop CS3, InDesign CS3, Dreamweaver CS3, Flash CS3 and Acrobat 8.0 provides another shot at winning.

Smashing Magazine
Adobe Photoshop Video Tutorials - Best Of
The best thing about Photoshop video-tutorials is that they allow you to observe professionals just as if you were standing nearby and looking over their shoulders. You can see step-by-step how buttons, collages or even paintings are created. Instead of reading through books describing what needs to be selected, activated and clicked, you can simply imitate mouse clicks knowing exactly that you are actually doing the right thing.
The learning curve is easier to climb and the result is easier to compare. More than that: you can observe how it is done from the very beginning to the very end and (sometimes) you can get explained why it is done in exactly this way.
We’ve searched through dozens of video-sites, forums, articles, blogs, portfolios and communities. And we selected 80 excellent Adobe Photoshop video tutorials which you can use as a starting point to improve your skills or observe how professionals do their job. Among other things, below we present Photoshop video tutorials about speed painting, design of buttons and interfaces, beauty retouching, digital matte painting, photo manipulation, effects and much more.

As always, a special Batgirl thank you to James Jean
posted by Jennifer Apple | permalink | RSS feed | bookmark | comment

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.

Photoshop CS3 Upgrade Options And Bundles From The Adobe Store

Photoshop CS3 Extended is ideal for film, video, and multimedia pros and for graphic and web designers using 3D and motion. Get the full version for US $999, or upgrade for US $349. The standard version of Photoshop CS3 is available for US $649, or as an upgrade for US $199. See all upgrade options at the Adobe Store. See our CS3 Resource Center for free Photoshop CS3 tutorials.

Photoshop Extended is also available as part of Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium, which combines all-new CS3 versions of Photoshop, Flash Pro, Dreamweaver, Illustrator, InDesign and Acrobat 8 Pro. Upgrade options for customers in Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Asia can be found at the Adobe International Store.

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Available At The Adobe Store

There are tons of new features in Adobe Lightroom 1.0 that you won't find in the beta version. From Clone and Healing functionality to metadata browsing, you'll be able to free-up post-processing time like never before. Get it now at the Adobe Store. Customers in Europe, the UK, Australia, New Zealand and Asia can find special pricing and offers at the Adobe International Store. For free Lightroom tutorials see our Lightroom tutorials page.

Photoshop Masking Plugin Fluid Mask 3 - $15 Discount Special

The 4 1/2 out of 5 star review of Fluid Mask 3 at MacWorld begins by saying that this "Photoshop plug-in takes the pain out of extracting backgrounds," and goes on to recommend the latest version, stating that "Fluid Mask 3.0.2 is a very effective tool for separating objects from their backgrounds. It offers a variety of useful features for tackling almost any difficult image, from wispy hair to complex foliage. Online video tutorials and live training sessions help ease the learning curve."

Our friends at Vertus, the makers of Fluid Mask 3 Photoshop Plugin, have set up a special exclusive discount for PhotoshopSupport.com. Just follow this discount link and instantly get $15 off your purchase of Fluid Mask 3.

Fluid Mask 3 is designed for photographers, image editors, graphic designers and all those who take digital image editing seriously. In a streamlined interface and workflow, Fluid Mask 3 instantly shows key edges in the image and provides comprehensive easy to use tools that work with difficult-to-see edges and tricky areas like trees & lattices. Features include: