When I don’t get a chance to make my own tutorials, I still appreciate the work of others. Graphics.com has posted a nice tutorial on using the History Brush to control where Filter Effects…um… affect your image. Check it out!
http://www.graphics.com/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=1007
Great workflow app for anyone who does digital photography. New version released today.
$149, or upgrade for $79, Educational Price is the same as the upgrade price.
http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/201203/030612AdobeLightroom4Available.html
According to Deal News Daily, Adobe is offering an additional 80% off select education titles. The discount code is “SAVE80EDU”
As I’d only owned the CS5 Design Suite, and want the Master Suite, AND I know CS6 is being released soon, I called to confirm that the educational version would make me eligible for an upgrade price (vs. the educational price) on CS6 (the upgrade price is often better than the Educational price, nowadays). They did verbally confirm that the Ed version of CS5.5 is upgradeable when the new version is released (they would not provide any prices though). Then, they said they’d just been informed that this pricing is a mistake and they could not offer it.
However, I purchased it online – and the Educational version of the CS5.5 MASTER SUITE is shipping for $202 including tax. Of course, they need to verify my educational status, which may take a few days – and may be long enough for them to decline the pricing – but it was worth the attempt, IMO.
If you’re interested in trying for an AMAZING price, and can qualify for educational pricing, check out the article on Deal News at
http://dealnews.com/Adobe-Coupon-Extra-80-off-select-education-software/551827.html
My students all know I’m a fan of Layers Magazine. In my general perusing today, I’ve found a nice tutorial on Fitting Images to Frames in InDesign. Last week, my InDesign students were asking for some tips. This may be useful to you. Enjoy!
http://layersmagazine.com/autofit-images-in-indesign-cs5.html
Today marks Photoshop’s 22nd Anniversary. This amazing program has changed the course of photography, digital imaging, motion graphics, video and animation, web design… and countless other creative ways of life. It took way fewer years for Photoshop to become so ingrained in our culture that it became an actual VERB!
On the 20th Anniversary, Russell Brown, the Senior Creative Director for Photoshop, created an amazing video, commemorating the history of Photoshop to that date. It’s worth remembering here:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/photoshop-20th-anniversary/2010-a-photoshop-odyssey/
This video by the Photoshop Senior Product Manager, Bryan O’Neil has shown me why I may want to spend the big bucks for CS6! Check this out!
A friend of mine is hosting an HDR and Panoramic Compositing in Photoshop webinar on January 24th. Knowing Stephen, this is going to be excellent. To register, visit:
http://bit.ly/x7t2cd
My students know that one of my Photoshop class mantras is that “Ain’t Nuthin’ Real Anymore”. Well, this excellent video by Jesse Rosten spoofs the use of Photoshop in a hilarious manner. I highly recommend viewing this one!
Demo image made in 4 minutes with Fumy and Photoshop
Here’s a little program I love! I bought a program named Smoke some time ago, at a discounted price. I thought it looked like a cool, fun toy of a program, but it’s so much more! Smoke underwent a name change. It’s new name is Fumy, and the newly released version is Fumy 2.0.
Painting in Fumy is like painting with smoke, or waves, or patterns or light. Version 1, with all it’s point updates was very cool – choose a style and some colors and then paint. You could place the end results into Photoshop documents (or simply create a stand-alone graphic). The only “real” limitation was that the end-result image was opaque. You could use any color background, but you created an opaque image for which you might have to use Blending Modes in Photoshop to influence the result.
Now, with version 2.0, we have layers! This means that not only can we create images with transparent backgrounds, but we also have some limited blending modes inside the program, and we also have the ability to export individual layers of our image.
The names of the controls present a bit of a learning curve: names like “Flow”, “Range”, “Intensity”, “Density”, “Fluency”, “Gravity”, and “Quality” may not make immediate sense, but that’s part of the idea of working in this Fumy. It’s all about experimentation (you all know that’s a BIG teaching point of mine anyway, right?)
Version 2.0 just came out a few days ago, so there’re still a few “issues” to resolve. For example, the tooltip names don’t align and so you have to trust the icon more than the name of the tool. Also, there seems to be a bit of a problem with the function of exporting individual layers, but you should also be aware that the developer is extremely responsive. I’ve had a few questions over the past couple of versions, and I received response emails the same day!
On top of all this coolness and fun, here’s the real kicker – I’d originally bought this program for $6 via Maczot.com. It was also included in a software bundle I’d purchased at MacLegion.com. But I never needed the new version. Every update has been free – and the recent UPGRADE was ALSO FREE! Any developer with such a cool product, who is so responsive, and has such generous upgrade policies should be commended! I encounter so many programs with ridiculous and draconian upgrade costs, I’m especially impressed by this (see Adobe’s new upgrade policies, for example!)
Despite the few bugs in this new version, I highly recommend it – and the developer. If the regular $19.99 seems a bit much, wait… you’ll see it in a bundle, I’m sure. Also, Neatberry (the developer) seems to have a slew of other cool programs. I’m looking forward to checking them out.
Oh, and the image you see in this post was done using a stock image from stock.xchng, and a quick image from Fumy 2.0, created and composited in about 4 minutes using Photoshop.
Check out Fumy 2.0. Let me know what you think!
Scott Kelby, the President of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and the most prolific Photoshop author has written an open letter to Adobe regarding their impossible, draconian upgrade policies and plans for CS6. I completely agree with him and hope that Adobe pays attention.