Now that you Windows users have heard that there's a beta of Adobe Lightroom for you (a free download from Adobe), you're probably hungry for some Windows specific training. As usual, NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) is right on it. They've updated their Lightroom training page with some new videos that show the Windows version of Lightroom, including Matt Kloskowski's Intro to the Develop Module, Secrets of the Tone Curve, and Magic of Split-Toning. Mac users will benefit from these videos too, because Lightroom's settings are similar across the platforms.
And if you want to see what other users are saying about the Windows beta or post your own impressions, join in on Adobe's Lightroom Beta Windows discussion board.
Lunacore offers a unique, detailed tutorial that shows how to create an animated airplane flying through clouds. The tutorial uses layer masks in a sophisticated way to create the illusion that of depth--a technique can be used with still images, as well as animations. To top it off, there's even a contrail that follows the plane on its journey.
I'm a fan of creating web page mockups in Photoshop before creating the actual pages in a site-building program. Photoshop Lab offers some useful tips for mocking up a web page in Photoshop. The post includes instructions for creating design elements in Photoshop like dotted and dashed underlines. It shows how to clip Color Fill layers to content layers to color individual elements on a page mockup. And it offers a technique for creating an image placeholder using clipping groups.
My buddy Eddie Tapp is working on a new book, Photoshop Workflow Setups: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography. You can download a chapter of the book from creativepro.com, in which Tapp shows you how to set up efficient workspaces in Photoshop and Bridge.
There's lots of good stuff here, including Tapp's suggestions for setting up different palette combinations for different types of work, like color correction, masking, or retouching. The chapter includes instructions for using the Match Zoom feature (Window>Arrange>Match Zoom) to view multiple images at the same magnification, using Full Screen Mode to show your client an image against a clean black background (F, F, Tab, and then Command/Control+zero to center), and using the New Window command (Window>Arrange>New Window) for detail work.
There are so many Photoshop books that rehash the same old lessons, that it's refreshing to see a book on a unique topic like workflow setups.
Sites like digg.com and the new Netscape beta (from some of our own here at Weblogs Inc.) are doing great things for the world of social news and bookmarking, but if you're looking for something a little more in tune with the designer in you, point your clicks towards Pixel Groovy. This site brings the social bookmarking and voting (or: 'grooving') paradigm to the world of design, with categories for everything ranging from web developing languages, design applications like Photoshop and GIMP, and even 3D and video editing apps like Final Cut and 3D Studio Max. It looks like a fun addition to the design community that's just getting its foot in the door, so give it a look and start grooving for design sites and tutorials.
I am blown away by these ultra-realistic, technical
illustrations by Kevin Hulsey made with Photoshop and Illustrator.
Hulsey shares Photoshop and Illustrator techniques for creating his technical illustrations, including this cutaway of a cruise ship, and this transparent illustratiion of a car. This surely raises the
bar of what's possible to accomplish with these applications.
Although Photoshop doesn't offer the features you'll find in a real 3D program, Sorenson shows you how to use
Photoshop to simulate a 3D scene. He achieves convincing results using Shape layers, layer styles, patterns, gradients,
and brush work. I find that tutorials like this one, that pull together multiple Photoshop features and techniques to
create an entire image, are valuable learning tools. It will be worth your while to walk through the steps of creating
this scene with Sorenson. You'll find all three parts of this tutorial at the Layers Magazine web site.
Colin Smith, who co-authored How
to Wow: Photoshop CS2 for the Web with me, is also the host of Photoshop
Cafe, a long-standing Photoshop site. Check out this multi-part super-tutorial in which Colin leads you step
by step toward the creation of this photorealistic interface.
This tutorial uses some advanced techniques,
but Colin makes it all relatively easy with his clear instructions. Colin's photorealistic Photoshop illustrations have
won several coveted Photoshop Guru awards from the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. So he knows whereof
he speaks. Here are direct links to each part of the tutorial: 1234
Episode 21 of Photoshop TV
has landed, and in addition to the usual roundup of handy tips and tricks is a special guest: Eddie Tap, who
demonstrates some new greyscale conversion techniques. Further, if you'd like to play along with a restoration tutorial
from Scott, you can grab a copy of the image he uses from their site. Neat.
John Nack has linked to a few tutorials that will
teach you how to tweak Photoshop for a better output to the web and Flash. One set of video-based tutorials in Adobe's
Motion Design Center (which I recommend checking out if, like me, you're into motion) covers the
topic of color - and how to maintain it - when moving an image from Photoshop CS2 into Flash 8. Another set of Photoshop Flash tutorials John links
to hail from Michael Ninness, a friend of John's, and they cover quite the gamut of go-between topics including PSDs,
JPEGs, Flash's bitmap features and pre-import optimization tips.
With so many tutorials lined up, you have
your work cut out for you. Go forth and learn the mighty ways of the Photoshop and Flash Color Ninja™.
Adobe
Proxy is a slick quarterly interactive design magazine (PDF) I wish they'd
publish more often. If you aren't familiar, check out our other posts on past issues to get a feel, or simply dig right in, you really can't go wrong.
This latest issue packs a
Photoshop Vanishing Point filter tutorial, rendering delay improvements in the Production Studio suite, tips on
converting InDesign projects into websites with GoLive, an interview with Alex Gelman on his Japanese design interests,
tips on type and more.
You can head over and download past and
current issues, as well as sign up for email notifications of the next issue.
Yesterday I found an interactive
DVD CS2 training series that sells for $99, so how about going to the other end of the gammut with some free online
training videos? Lombergar.com, which I admittedly have never heard of before, offers over twenty free online video tutorials (QuickTime required)
covering a wide range of topics from creating a "believable rain" effect, photomerging and matching color,
text on a path, lense blur, creating sketch effects and more. They look like interesting tutorials, some of which I
haven't seen covered in video form anywhere else.
A
new addition has been added to the Digital Media Training Series in the form of Inside Adobe Photoshop CS2: Project Based
Training. This particular series focuses on the new features in CS2, in particular Bridge, Vanishing Point, Smart
Objects, Lens Correction, Warp, and Video Actions. The video and animation aspects of the
DVD-based training are particularly interesting to me, as inputting/outputting video and creating still images for
video are covered.
The 6-hour training DVD will run you $99 and is shipping now. Check out their site for
full training detains, including a table of contents.
I found a really slick tutorial at the Adobe Spot
explaining how to create a text montage. I know there
are simple methods of accomplishing a similar effect, but the tutorial goes a bit further in-depth, using a combination
of specific channel selections and color tweaking to fill an image or selection with text of varying values. It's short,
sweet and produces a nice effect. Check it out.
I was looking for a 'shooting star'
effect recently, for some video work, and found this soopa doopa tutorial. The basics are pure art principals, as
in create depth utlizing a horizon line, but you can adapt this basic idea to create different shooting effects from
text, etc. Good basic primer for people who are new to graphic design.
Now that you Windows users have heard that there's a beta of Adobe Lightroom for you (a free download from Adobe), you're probably hungry for some Windows specific training. As usual, NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) is right on it. They've updated their Lightroom training page with some new videos that show the Windows version of Lightroom, including Matt Kloskowski's Intro to the Develop Module, Secrets of the Tone Curve, and Magic of Split-Toning. Mac users will benefit from these videos too, because Lightroom's settings are similar across the platforms.
Lunacore
I'm a fan of creating web page mockups in Photoshop before creating the actual pages in a site-building program. 
My buddy Eddie Tapp is working on a new book, Photoshop Workflow Setups: Eddie Tapp on Digital Photography. You can download a chapter of the book from 
Sites like 
I am blown away by these ultra-realistic, technical
illustrations by 
There's an interesting-sounding, relatively new
Photoshop book on the market--
Colin Smith, who co-authored 
Adobe
Yesterday I found an 
A
new addition has been added to the Digital Media Training Series in the form of 
I found a really slick tutorial at the Adobe Spot
explaining 
I was looking for a 'shooting star'
effect recently, for some video work, and found this soopa doopa tutorial. The basics are pure art principals, as
in create depth utlizing a horizon line, but you can adapt this basic idea to create different shooting effects from
text, etc. Good basic primer for people who are new to graphic design.
