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Securing Ajax Applications

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 12:27:00 -0700

July 2007
$49.99 US, $59.99 CAN
ISBN: 9780596529314
250 pgs
Shelving: web programming
User Level: intermediate to
advanced web developers
Will Sell Like:
0596101805, Ajax Design Patterns
Securing Ajax Applications
By Christopher wells

In addition to the responsiveness that makes Ajax so appealing, Ajax can also create
security laws that need to be addressed at the development stage. Securing Ajax Applications examines the challenges created by the new generation of web development, exploring these structures and looking for dangerous gaps.
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MANAGING THE METADATA OVERLOAD

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:16:00 -0800

The Metadata palette provides much more information than the average person will ever need. If you don't need all this "metadata overload," you can set it up so it only displays the data you care about, giving you a more orderly, easier-to-read Metadata palette. To do this, go to the Metadata tab, click on the right-facing triangle button to the right of the tab, and from the pop-down menu, choose Metadata Display Options. In the dialog that appears, uncheck any fields you don't need displayed, turn on the Checkbox at the bottom for Hide Empty Fields, and click OK.

HAVE PHOTOSHOP SELECT THE SHADOWS AND HIGHLIGHTS

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 21:05:00 -0800

This is a trick we use for prepress and for photo retouching because it instantly lets you select all the shadow areas (or highlight areas if you wish) for a particular image, and it's so easy because Photoshop does all the work. To have Photoshop select just the shadow areas in your image, go under the Select menu and choose Color Range. When the dialog appears, in the Select pop-up menu, choose Shadows, and click OK. The Shadow areas are instantly selected. This is ideal for situations where your scanner has plugged up the detail in the shadow areas (pretty common in most sub-$1,000 desktop scanners). Once the shadows are selected, you can "open them up" by going to Levels and moving the Midtone Input Levels slider to the left to bring back some of the shadow detail lost in the scan.

TROUBLESHOOTING ACTIONS? SLOW DOWN!

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:44:00 -0800

If you're an advanced user, chances are you're no stranger to using actions, and in fact, you probably create your own (rather than using the default actions that ship with Photoshop, many of which redefine the term "useless"). If you do create your own actions, you've already found that you spend more time troubleshooting your actions than you do creating them in the first place. Well, this little tip makes the troubleshooting process a lot easier, and saves you both time and frustration. The problem is (and this won't sound like a problem) Photoshop runs actions so quickly that you don't see each step, or each dialog, so tracking down a missing or wrong step is just about impossible. Luckily, you can actually slow down your action, or even put a pause between each step, by using Photoshop's Playback Options dialog found in the Actions palette's pop-down menu. When it appears, you can choose to play your action Step by Step, seeing everything as it happens, or you can choose to enter the number of seconds you'd like it to pause. Then, when you replay the action, you can see everything step by step and track down the culprit.

ACCESSING GRAYED-OUT FILTERS IN CMYK

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:40:00 -0800

One of the bad things about converting from RGB mode to CMYK mode is that many of Photoshop's coolest filters can only be applied in RGB mode, and once you're in CMYK mode, many of them are "grayed out" in the Filter menu, so they can't be accessed. So what do you do if you really want to use one of those filters? (Whatever you do, don't convert back to RGB mode, then back to CMYK. That's image suicide.) Instead, try this tip: In the Channels palette, click on the Cyan channel. Go to the Filters menu and you'll notice that all those grayed-out filters are now suddenly available. All you have to do now is apply the filter you want to each channel individually (once each on Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and finally the Black channel), and the filter will appear as though you applied it to the entire image (in reality, you didyou just did it the more laborious way). One way to speed up this process is to create an action that will do it all for you with one click of the mouse.

MORE CONTROL OVER FILTERS

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:35:00 -0800

We love Photoshop's Fade command (which acts like an "undo on a slider"), and when it comes to applying filters, we use it all the time to gain more control (including blending mode control) over filters we apply. The only downside to the Fade command is you can only use it one timeyou get one opportunity to Fade, or choose a Blend Mode, then you're stuck. Here's a tip to keep the control of your filters for as long as you'd like: When you're about to apply a filter, make a duplicate of the layer where you're applying the filter, then apply it. This keeps the application of your filter fully editableyou can change Blend Modes as often as you like, change Opacity, add a Layer Mask to determine where the filter shows and where it doesn't, or even toss the layer in the Trash and start all over.

ASSIGNING METADATA TO MULTIPLE FILES

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:33:00 -0800

Want to assign metadata to more than one photo at a time? (Perhaps you want to embed your copyright info into 30 or more photos at once.) Just Command-click (PC: Control-click) on all the photos you want to affect, then enter the custom info you want (in one of the IPTC fields in the Metadata palette) and that info will be added to every selected photo at once.

APPLYING MULTIPLE FILTERS? NOT ON MY LAYER!

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:30:00 -0800

Thinking of applying a number of different filters to a particular layer? Don't do it. Instead, make a copy of your layer, then apply the first filter. Make another copy of the layer and apply the second filter; make another copy, apply the third filter, and so on. You can use Photoshop's Layer Blend Modes to get the effect that one filter is applied on top of the others, and now you've got full control over each individual filter applied. If you don't like one of the filters, just drag that layer into the Trash. Better yet, you've got Blend and Opacity control you wouldn't have by simply applying filter over filter.

NEW SNAPSHOT, THE MISTAKE INSURANCE POLICY

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:29:00 -0800

The great thing about Photoshop's History feature is that you can (by default) undo your last 20 steps. Perhaps even more important is that you can always return to how the image looked when you opened it, so you never really do any permanent damage (as long as the file is open). However, what if you opened an image, worked on it for a while, and it was really looking great, but about 10 minutes later, it took a turn for the worse (this happens to us more often than we'd care to admit). If you undo the last 20 steps, it may not take you back far enough to the point that you want to return to, and the only other choice is to go all the way back to where you started. Here's a tip to keep you from pulling your hair out: Any time your image is at a stage where you think it looks pretty good, go to the History palette, and at the bottom of the palette, click on the New Snapshot button. Think of it as an insurance policy so that if things go bad, you can at least return to that spot and try again. It's not a bad idea to create a new Snapshot about every five minutes when you're working on a big project. To keep from loading up on snapshots, when you create a new one, delete one or two snapshots before it.

3D PRINT EFFECTS (AND WHERE TO GET THOSE GOOFY GLASSES)

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:12:00 -0800

For a brief time back in the 1950s, 3D movies were all the rage, but it was short-lived, probably because you had to wear those cheesy-looking 3D glasses to experience the effect. Although 3D has come a long way since then, unfortunately you still have to wear the cheesy glasses. Be that as it may, the 3D effect is starting to appear again in print ads in trendy magazines, which generally include the paper 3D glasses in the magazine. This effect can be created in Photoshop, no problem. The hardest part is finding a supplier for 3D glasses (okay, we'll help on that part too. Try 3D Glasses Direct at www.3dglasses.net). Here's a tip on how to create the 3D effect in Photoshop: Open an RGB image, then go to the Channels palette and click on the Red channel. Go under the Filter menu, under Other, and choose Offset. For Horizontal enter 5 and leave Vertical set to zero. For Undefined Areas, choose Repeat Edge Pixels, then click OK. In the Channels palette, click on the RGB channel to reveal the effect. Then, lastly, you have to determine which part you want to appear as "coming out of the image" toward the person viewing it. Switch to the History Brush and using a soft-edged brush, paint over the area you want to "jump out" from the image. As you paint with the History Brush, you'll see your original untouched image paint back in (don't sweat it; that's what it's supposed to do). Now all you have to do is order the glasses.

CREATING REUSABLE DIAGONAL GUIDES

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:10:00 -0800

If you've used Photoshop's rulers at all, you know that you have your choice of either a vertical or horizontal guide. That's not a bad thing, but there's one thing missinga diagonal guide. Since Photoshop doesn't have one, here's a tip for making your own: Start by creating a new layer, then set your Foreground to R=74, G=132, B=255 (the color Photoshop uses for its built-in guides). Switch to the Line tool found in the Shapes tools, and on this new layer draw a diagonal line where you want your guide to appear (make sure you have Create Filled Region selected in the Options Bar). It's not a bad idea to copy that layer into a separate document and save it on your driveso any time you need a diagonal line, you can just open that document and drag it right in.

LOCKING YOUR TABLET BRUSH SETTINGS

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:07:00 -0800

Since Photoshop 7, the one thing that drove Wacom tablet users insane was that you couldn't lock in your pressure sensitivity settings without saving a special custom brush. Luckily, that all changed in Photoshop CS, and you can now lock in your pressure settings. Go to the Brushes palette and choose Expanded View in its drop-down menu. Then, in the left column of brush options, you'll see a little lock icon to the right of each category. Turn on Pen Pressure (or any of the tablet settings from the pop-up menus) then click the lock icon, and as you change and tweak brushes, your Pen Pressure stays locked in

THE SECRETS OF SEARCHING IN THE BROWSER

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:05:00 -0800

Don't get caught in the trap of thinking that you have to assign keywords to your photos before you can start using the File Browser's Search function (although keywords certainly make it easier). But to find out just how much power the search function really has, just click on the binoculars icon in the Toolbar at the top of the File Browser, then click-and-hold the first Criteria pop-up menu. If you remember you shot the photo you're looking for with a certain camera, you can search the EXIF data for that make and model. You can also search by Rank, whether it was flagged or not, and a host of other criteria.

DRAG-AND-DROP CURVES FOR QUICK CORRECTION

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:01:00 -0800

If you're color-correcting a number of images that are basically the same (for example, catalog shots or high school yearbook shots, where the lighting and composition are pretty much the same), you may want to apply the same Curve setting to a number of images. Rather than saving the Curve setting and loading it each time, try this tip: Use a Curves Adjustment layer, and then just drag-and-drop that layer from your current image to your target image.

ACTIONS POWER TIP: ADD AN ACTION TO YOUR ACTION

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:59:00 -0800

Here's an Actions power tip: Did you know that you can build an action that will include an existing action? Here's how it's done: As you're recording your action, just go to the Actions palette, click on the existing action you want to include in your current action, and press the Play button at the bottom of the Actions palette. The existing action will now be added as a step in your current action (pretty scary stuff).

PREPRESS CLEANUPSIN A SNAP

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:55:00 -0800

This is a great tip if you're zoomed in close to an image for retouching, or checking it in prepress for spots or specs, because it lets you check the entire image in a very methodical wayusing your keyboard to navigate zone by zone. Here's how:

Press the HOME key to jump to the upper left corner of your image window.
Press the END key to jump to the lower right corner of your image window.
Press the PAGE UP key to scroll upward one full screen.
Press the PAGE DOWN key to scroll downward one full screen.
Press Command-PAGE UP (PC: Control-PAGE UP) to scroll one full screen to the left.
Press Command-PAGE DOWN (PC: Control-PAGE DOWN) to scroll one full screen to the right.
Once you've learned these shortcuts, you can start by pressing the Home key (jumping you to the upper left-hand corner of your image). Clean that area then press the Page Down key to move methodically down the left side of your image until you reach the bottom of your window. Then press Command-Page Up (PC: Control-Page Down) to move one screen to the right, clean that area, then press the Page Up key to move methodically up the image until you reach the top. Repeat these steps until you're finished. The advantage of doing it this way, besides the sheer speed of using keyboard shortcuts, is that you'll see every area of the image without missing a spot.

BLEND MODE POWER TIP

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:53:00 -0800

Once you understand layer Blend Modes, you wind up using them all the time. Chances are by now you know which individual modes you want to use (such as Overlay, Multiply, Soft Light, Hard Light, Screen) and which ones you'll probably never use (such as Dissolve). If you know which ones you want to use, you can use a keyboard shortcut to jump right to the Blend Mode you want. For example, to jump to the Overlay mode for a layer, press Shift-Option (PC: Shift-Alt) and the first letter of the mode you want, in this case, the letter "O" (making the shortcut Shift-Option-O [PC: Shift-Alt-O]). For Screen mode, you'd press Shift-Option-S (PC: Shift-Alt-S), and so on. (Note: If you have a tool selected that has a Blend Mode in its Options Bar, the keyboard shortcut will change that Blend Mode instead of the layer Blend Mode.)

MAKING CHANGES TO RAW PHOTOS WITHOUT OPENING THEM

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:49:00 -0800

This is a pretty slick trickediting Raw photos without actually opening them in Photoshop, well, technically. Here's how it's done: Open the Raw digital camera image from within the File Browser, and it brings up the Camera Raw dialog. Make the tonal processing changes you want within the Camera Raw interface, but DON'T click OK. Instead, hold the Option key (PC: Alt key) and you'll see the OK button change into an Update button. Click on it (when it says Update) and Camera Raw will close, without the photo opening in Photoshop, but the changes you made will be visibly applied to the thumbnail in the File Browser. (Note: Like all changes in the Browser, they will not be applied until you actually open the photo in Photoshop.)

NO MORE CREATING TYPE IN CHANNELS

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:48:00 -0800

If you've ever tried to create and format type in a Channel, you know what a pain it can be. Especially because, when you're working in a channel, it doesn't create an editable Type layer, so you're really limited as to how you can format and of course, edit your type. So instead of creating type in a channel (which many special channel-type effects call for), just create your type on a layer as usual. In fact, don't go to the Channels palette at alljust pretend you're not using channels. Once you've got your type formatted and adjusted just the way you want it on your regular Type layer, Command-click (PC: Control-click) on your Type layer's name in the Layers palette. This puts a selection around your type. Now you can go under the Select menu and choose Save Selection. When the dialog appears, click OK, and it saves your perfectly formatted type as (you guessed it) a channel. Now you can delete your Type layer, and you're left with an Alpha channel with perfectly formatted type.

LET PHOTOSHOP TELL YOU THE HIGHLIGHT AND SHADOW

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:47:00 -0800

We use this tip to have Photoshop help us determine which are the darkest (shadow) points and which are the lightest (highlight) points in an image when we're color correcting. We start by choosing a Threshold Adjustment layer from the bottom of the Layers palette. When the Threshold dialog appears, we drag the slider all the way to the left and the image turns completely white. We then slowly drag the slider back to the right, and the first black pixels that appear on screen are the shadow areas. We make a mental note of that area as our shadow point. Then we drag the slider all the way to the far right (the image turns black). As we drag slowly back toward the left, the first white pixels that appear are the highlight points in the image. We note them as well. We now know where the shadow and highlight points are in the image, and we can use them, along with the Eyedropper tools in the Curves dialog, to set the proper shadow and highlight areas to remove any color casts. Note: When you've determined where the shadow and highlight areas are, you can then delete the Threshold Adjustment layer by dragging it into the Trash icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.

USING THE LASSODON'T STOP TO NAVIGATE

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:45:00 -0800

If you're using the Lasso tool, you have a surprising amount of navigation control, even while you're dragging out your selection. For example, if you're drawing a selection and you need to scroll over a bit, just press-and-hold the Spacebar, and right where your cursor is, the Hand tool will appear and you can move the image while you're still selecting (try it once and you'll see what we mean). When you let go of the Spacebar, you're right where you left off, and you can continue your selection. Here's another Lasso tip: If you're drawing a selection and reach the edge of your document window and need to scroll over, hold the Option key (PC: Alt key), let go of the mouse button, move your mouse to the edge of your image window, and you can nudge the screen over (again, this is one you have to try once to understand it). It's like you're using the Lasso tool to slide the image over. When you're done sliding, press the mouse button and release Option/Alt to continue selecting. Incidentally, while selecting, you can also use the Command- + (plus) and Command- (minus) zoom in/zoom out tricks (PC: Control- + and Control- ).

LOAD ANY SAVED SELECTION WITHOUT THE CHANNELS PALETTE

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:38:00 -0800

If you're working on an RGB image and you've saved a selection (by drawing a selection and choosing Save Selection from the Select menu), you can instantly reload that selection at any time, without going to the Channels palette. If you have only one saved selection, just press Option-Command-4 (PC: Alt-Control-4), and the selection will instantly appear onscreen. If you have a second saved selection, press Option-Command-5 (PC: Alt-Control-5), and so on. The key to remember is that the RGB channels take up the first three spots, so always start with 4 to load your first Alpha channel. Note: If you're working with CMYK images, remember to always start with 5, because the CMYK channels take up the first four spots.

PLOT MULTIPLE CURVE POINTS IN JUST ONE CLICK

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:31:00 -0800

Earlier in the book, we showed you how Photoshop will plot a point on the curve for you if you Command-click (PC: Control-click) on a color in your image you want plotted. However, there's a power tip that we waited until now to shareif you add the Shift key, making it Shift-Command-click (PC: Shift-Control-click), Photoshop will add a point for that spot on all the color channels for you. This works in both RGB and CMYK modes.

TOUGH SELECTION TIP

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:29:00 -0800

If you're struggling to make a selection of an image that's against either a background of a similar color or a very busy background, here's a masking tip to make the process easier: Add a Levels or Curves Adjustment layer above your image layer, and use it to dramatically increase the contrast in the image to help make the edges stand out. This will often help make the difference between the object's edge and the background more obvious. The great part is, you can totally damage the look of the image because you're using an Adjustment layer. When your selection is in place, just drag the Adjustment layer into the Trash icon to delete it, and your image is back to normal, but you've got that "impossible" selection still in place.

MAKING THE COLOR PICKER SHOW CMYK

noreply@blogger.com (Blogging Free Software) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:27:00 -0800

If you're working in CMYK mode and you go to the Color Picker, it still displays RGB colors. This is a bit of a problem, because you think you're picking one color, but when you start to paint or fill with that color, you get the CMYK desaturated version. Here's a tip to get around that. When you're in CMYK mode and you go to the Color Picker, press Command-Y (PC: Control-Y), which is the shortcut for Proof Colors (found under the View menu). When you do this with the Color Picker open, it changes all the colors in the Color Picker to CMYK colors. That way, when you pick a color in the Color Picker, it looks the same when you paint or fill with it in your CMYK image.