MacPhun Luminar Released Today – Download a Free Trial

MacPhun has released their new photo editing product – LUMINAR. If you want to explore a new way to start editing your images – with some really excellent presets to start, or do your own. Layers, filters…. with an unequalled ease of use – check out a FREE Trial at:
http://macphun.evyy.net/c/321616/320119/3255

FREE On1 Plus Training Videos Available

For those who are seeking an alternative digital photography workflow, or an adjunct to their usual Lightroom/Photoshop workflow – NEW! ON1 Photo RAW is going to be the option for you. RAW won’t be available for release until November 23rd, but in the meantime, you can learn all  about what the On1 Workflow can do for you – and now – for FREE (limited videos in free option). 250x250This is a great opportunity to see what options are available to you, and take a look into On1’s own training and information site. Please click the banner for more information on On1 PLUS!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Excellent Demo of On1 Photo RAW vs On1 Photo 10.5

On1 has created an excellent video on the relative speed of processing a photo using their new (coming soon) Photo RAW software, vs their existing On1 Photo 10.5 (which I’ve been using, and loving). Check out the video here.

On1 is offering an excellent deal – a Presale of Photo RAW prior to it’s release – buy Photo 10.5 now, and the upgrade to RAW is FREE on release. Click the link below to check out the deal!
ON1 Photo 10 now + ON1 Photo RAW Free (Fall 2016)

On1 Sweepstakes is Starting!

Click the banner 300x250gif and enter each week to win:
On1 Photo RAW and a Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive Pen and Touch
12.9 inch Silver 128 GB Apple iPad Pro
$1000 B&H Photo Gift Card
Sony Alpha a6300 Mirrorless Digital Camera with a 16-50mm lens
$1000 Amazon Gift Card
DJO PHantom 4 Qudacopter with 4K/12MP Camera

And, in the meantime, click ON1 Effects 10 FREE to download a free version of the On1 set of Photoshop plugins

A Great Photoshop Plugin has a Great Sweepstakes Coming

As an avid Photoshop user, as well as teacher, I’ve become enamored of a few of the best plugins available for various purposes. One of my main Go-To plugin suites is the On1 set. I’m planning on doing quite a few tutorials on this set, and will be speaking a lot about it in the coming months.

They’re about to release a brilliant new RAW processing app, which will complement their suite. It can be used as a replacement or adjunct to your normal Photoshop or Lightroom workflow, and it promises to be terrific.

To encourage people to check out their software, On1 is going to be launching a new SWEEPSTAKES this Sunday, September 18th. They’ll be giving away all sorts of things – iPads, cameras, drones, software… and I encourage you to enter the sweepstakes! To do so, please click the banner on this post.

In the meantime, I also suggest checking out their ON1 Effects 10 FREE plugin for Photoshop

You know how I like FREE!!!

Click this banner to enter the On1 Sweepstakes this Sunday!
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FREE Photoshop Brushes that are Truly Useful!

As my Photoshop students have already learned, brushes can be made using any set of pixels and can be manipulated almost unendingly with the Brush panel. But sometimes, it’s very helpful to have a starting point. Grutbrushes.com provides some beautifully made starting points! The detail and settings of his brushes are unique in their realism and detail in use. They work well with just a mouse, but like any brush, take on their real strengths when using a pen tablet like the Wacom brand of tablets.

Normally, I pass by a lot of the ads I see on Facebook, but a few months ago, I decided to click on one and found an excellent resource.

At Grutbrushes.com, the (very responsive) developer Nicolai has made sets of brushes, ranging from inks to calligraphy, to natural media, and more. He even provides a Photoshop Extension to open a panel in which you can organize your brushes into sets as you like them. Just recently, I used just one of his cloud brushes in a project, and created very realistic clouds. He offers a LOT of freebies, and if you sign up for his email list, you can get even more. He sells sets of them as well. His full set is a VERY reasonable $22.

Remember, all of the brushes are just starting points – Presets – from which you can use the Photoshop Brushes panel to manipulate them, resize them and alter how they work.

You all know, I LOVE Free stuff – and here, there’s a plethora of freebies along with the paid content. I think any Photoshop user will find a great deal of use and enjoyment of these. Plan on seeing some lessons on this within a few weeks.

Grutbrushes.com

 

Nik Collection – Photoshop Plugins FREE to Everyone!

Today, Google announced that their excellent Photoshop Plugin “The Nik Collection” is going to be free to everybody.

This excellent collection includes: Analog Efex Pro, Color Efex Pro, Silver Efex Pro, Viveza, HDR Efex Pro, Sharpener Pro and Dfine – professional level controls to refine your images. I’ve been using it for several years (along with some other plugin sets) for efficient control over my effects, sharpening, noise removal and more.

For those of us who use Photoshop on a regular basis, getting this (previously $149) plugin for FREE is a boon!

Check out their post at: https://plus.google.com/+NikCollection/posts/AFGsG2Di7EK

FREE Photoshop Techniques Ebook!

Jeffrey Tranberry’s Adobe Blog has posted a VERY nice 214 page ebook about Photoshop Techniques. It specified “screen designers”, but the techniques and ideas can be applied to any media. You can find the download here: http://blogs.adobe.com/crawlspace/2014/03/pixel-perfect-precision-useful-design-tips-photoshop-techniques-for-screen-designers.html?PID=2159997 There are also “Extras” that can be downloaded for the book, which can be downloaded here: PPP Extras (scripts, etc., 0.5MB) Don’t you just LOVE FREE!!!

A Guide to Using Waveform Monitors as Artistic Tools in Color Grading

For my students who’re color grading their footage using an external waveform monitor – Tektronix has just posted a Primer on Color grading theory and techniques.

AND, it’s my second favorite price- FREE!

http://www.tek.com/regional-page/guide-using-waveform-monitors-artistic-tools-color-grading?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=publications&utm_content=guidetocolorgrading&utm_campaign=aimclear