CROSS MEDIA

Masking photo with Photoshop

2018-11-12T21:10:00.002-08:00

In this Photoshop Effects tutorial, we're going to learn how to use a photo as a layer mask, essentially using the image to mask itself, something that Photoshop doesn't normally allow us to do. We'll be using it to give the image a nice soft glow effect, but if you experiment on your own, you'll find lots of creative ways to use this technique.

Step 1: Duplicate The Background Layer

As always, the first thing we're going to do is duplicate the Background layer so we're not touching our original pixel information. To do that, use the quick keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac), and Photoshop will go ahead and give us a copy of our Background layer, which it names "Layer 1":

Press "Ctrl+J" (Win) / "Command+J" (Mac) to duplicate the Background layer.

Step 2: Add A New Layer Below The Duplicate Background Layer

We're going to add a new layer between the Background layer and "Layer 1". Normally Photoshop adds new layers above the currently selected layer in the Layers palette, but we can tell Photoshop to add the new layer below it instead by holding down Ctrl (Win) / Command (Mac) and then clicking the New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Hold down "Ctrl" (Win) / "Command" (Mac) while clicking the "New Layer" icon.
We now have a new blank layer between the Background layer and "Layer 1":

The new blank layer appears between the two other layers.

Step 3: Fill The New Layer With White

Press D on your keyboard to reset your Foreground color to black and your Background color to white. Then, with the new blank layer selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Backspace (Win) / Command+Delete (Mac) to fill the layer with the Background color, which in this case is white. You won't see anything happen in the Document Window since "Layer 1" is blocking the new layer from view, but if you look in the Layers palette, you'll see the layer's thumbnail preview area now filled with white:

Press "Ctrl+Backspace" (Win) / "Command+Delete" (Mac) to fill the new layer with white.

Step 4: Copy The Image

Click on "Layer 1" in the Layers palette to select it. We're going to copy the image onto the clipboard. To do that, first press Ctrl+A (Win) / Command+A (Mac) to select the entire layer. You'll see a selection box around the edges of the Document Window to indicate that the entire area has been selected. Then press Ctrl+C (Win) / Command+C (Mac) to copy the image onto the clipboard:

Press "Ctrl+A" (Win) / "Command+A" (Mac) to select the image on "Layer 1", then press "Ctrl+C" (Win) / "Command+C" (Mac) to copy it to the clipboard.

Step 5: Add A Layer Mask

With "Layer 1" still selected, click the Add Layer Mask icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Click the "Add Layer Mask" icon at the bottom of the Layers palette to add a mask to "Layer 1".

Step 6: Paste The Image Into The Mask

We're going to paste the image we just copied a moment ago into the mask and use it to mask itself. Normally, Photoshop doesn't allow us to paste images directly into layer masks, but we can if we select the mask by holding down Alt (Win) / Option (Mac) and then clicking on the layer mask's thumbnail in the Layers palette to select it:

Hold down "Alt" (Win) / "Option" (Mac) and click on the layer mask's thumbnail to select it.
This will turn your Document Window completely white, and that's because you're now looking at the layer mask itself, not the layer contents (the image). With the mask itself visible, we can now paste the image into it using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+V (Win) / Command+V (Mac). The image will appear in black and white in the Document Window:

Press "Ctrl+V" (Win) / "Command+V (Mac) to paste the image into the layer mask.
It appears in black and white because again, we're currently looking at the layer mask in the Document Window, not the layer contents, and layer masks use only black, white, and gray. We can also see the image now inside the layer mask's thumbnail in the Layers palette:

The image now appears in the layer mask's thumbnail in the Layers palette.
Press Ctrl+D (Win) / Command+D (Mac) to deselect the image at this point.

Step 7: Invert The Layer Mask

If you click on Layer 1's thumbnail to select it, you'll see the image itself appear once again in the Document Window. The image is now being masked by a copy of itself, and it's being masked onto the white-filled layer below it, making it look something like this:

Click on Layer 1's thumbnail in the Layers palette to display the image in the Document Window once again.
Not exactly what we want, so we're going to invert the layer mask, making light areas dark and dark areas light. To do that, first click back on the layer mask's thumbnail once again to select it. No need to hold down "Alt" or "Option" this time. Then with the layer mask selected, use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+I (Win) / Command+I (Mac) to invert the mask. Your image in the Document Window should now look much better:

Press "Ctrl+I" (Windows" / "Command+I" (Mac) to invert the layer mask and improve the look of the image.

Step 8: Apply The Gaussian Blur Filter To The Layer Mask

The give our image a soft glow effect, all we need to do is blur the layer mask, and for that, we'll use the Gaussian Blur filter. With the layer mask still selected, go up to the Filter menu at the top of the screen, select Blur, and then select Gaussian Blur. This will bring up the Gaussian Blur filter's dialog box:

Go to Filter > Blur > Gaussian Blur to bring up the Gaussian Blur dialog box.
Drag the slider bar at the bottom of the dialog box left and right to increase or decrease the Radius value. The higher the Radius value, the more blur that's applied, which creates the glow effect. You can see a preview of the glow effect in the Document Window as you're dragging the slider. Drag the slider until you're happy with the effect. I'm using a low resolution image for this tutorial, so for me, a Radius value of about 6 pixels gives me a nice glow. If you're using a high resolution image, you'll probably want to use a value of 8 or higher. Click OK when you're done to exit out of the Gaussian Blur dialog box.

Here's my image after applying the Gaussian Blur filter:

The image after applying the Gaussian Blur filter.

Step 9: Merge "Layer 1" And The White-Filled Layer Below It

Press Ctrl+E (Win) / Command+E (Mac) to merge "Layer 1" with the white-filled layer below it, which combines both layers onto a single layer. You won't see anything different in the Document Window, but you'll see in the Layers palette that the two layers are now one:

Press "Ctrl+E" (Win) / "Command+E" (Mac) to merge the top two layers in the Layers palette into one.

Step 10: Duplicate The Merged Layer And Change Its Blend Mode To Multiply

The image is looking too light and washed out at the moment, so we're going to fix that. First, with the new merged layer selected in the Layers palette, press Ctrl+J (Win) / Command+J (Mac) to duplicate it:

Press "Ctrl+J" (Win) / "Command+J" (Mac) to duplicate the merged layer.
Then go up to the Blend Mode options in the top left of the Layers palette, click the down-pointing arrow to the right of the word "Normal", and change the blend mode of the new layer to Multiply:

Change the blend mode of the new layer from "Normal" to "Multiply".
This will darken the image, giving it more contrast and bringing back some of the color that was washed out. If you find your image now looks a bit too dark, simply lower the Opacity of the layer in the top right of the Layers palette. I'm going to lower mine to about 75%:

Lower the opacity of the layer if the image now appears too dark.
Here's my image after changing the blend mode to Multiply and lowering the opacity:

The image now appears darker with better contrast and slightly improved color.

Step 11: Boost The Color With A Hue/Saturation Adjustment Layer

The image is looking good, except for one thing - the colors are a bit dull. We can give them a boost using Hue/Saturation. To do that, click on the New Adjustment Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette:

Click the "New Adjustment Layer" icon at the bottom of the Layers palette.
Then choose Hue/Saturation from the list of Adjustment Layers:

Select "Hue/Saturation" from the list.
This brings up Photoshop's Hue/Saturation dialog box. I'm going to increase the Saturation by about 25% by dragging the Saturation slider bar to the right. Keep an eye on your image in the Document Window to see a preview of what's happening with your colors as you drag:

Drag the "Saturation" slider in the middle of the "Hue/Saturation" dialog box to the right to boost the colors in the image.
When you're happy with your Saturation value, click OK to exit out of the dialog box, and you're done! Here is my final result:

The final result.

Source: https://www.photoshopessentials.com

The Basics of Branding

2018-07-20T01:10:00.001-07:00

Branding is one of the most important aspects of any business, large or small, retail or B2B. An effective brand strategy gives you a major edge in increasingly competitive markets. But what exactly does "branding" mean? How does it affect a small business like yours?

Simply put, your brand is your promise to your customer. It tells them what they can expect from your products and services, and it differentiates your offering from your competitors'. Your brand is derived from who you are, who you want to be and who people perceive you to be.

Are you the innovative maverick in your industry? Or the experienced, reliable one? Is your product the high-cost, high-quality option, or the low-cost, high-value option? You can't be both, and you can't be all things to all people. Who you are should be based to some extent on who your target customers want and need you to be.

The foundation of your brand is your logo. Your website, packaging and promotional materials--all of which should integrate your logo--communicate your brand.

Brand Strategy & Equity

Your brand strategy is how, what, where, when and to whom you plan on communicating and delivering on your brand messages. Where you advertise is part of your brand strategy. Your distribution channels are also part of your brand strategy. And what you communicate visually and verbally are part of your brand strategy, too.

Consistent, strategic branding leads to a strong brand equity, which means the added value brought to your company's products or services that allows you to charge more for your brand than what identical, unbranded products command. The most obvious example of this is Coke vs. a generic soda. Because Coca-Cola has built a powerful brand equity, it can charge more for its product--and customers will pay that higher price.

The added value intrinsic to brand equity frequently comes in the form of perceived quality or emotional attachment. For example, Nike associates its products with star athletes, hoping customers will transfer their emotional attachment from the athlete to the product. For Nike, it's not just the shoe's features that sell the shoe.

Defining Your Brand

Defining your brand is like a journey of business self-discovery. It can be difficult, time-consuming and uncomfortable. It requires, at the very least, that you answer the questions below:

What is your company's mission?
What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?

Do your research. Learn the needs, habits and desires of your current and prospective customers. And don't rely on what you think they think. Know what they think.

Because defining your brand and developing a brand strategy can be complex, consider leveraging the expertise of a nonprofit small-business advisory group or a Small Business Development Center .

Once you've defined your brand, how do you get the word out? Here are a few simple, time-tested tips:

Get a great logo. Place it everywhere.
Write down your brand messaging. What are the key messages you want to communicate about your brand? Every employee should be aware of your brand attributes.
Integrate your brand. Branding extends to every aspect of your business--how you answer your phones, what you or your salespeople wear on sales calls, your e-mail signature, everything.
Create a "voice" for your company that reflects your brand. This voice should be applied to all written communication and incorporated in the visual imagery of all materials, online and off. Is your brand friendly? Be conversational. Is it ritzy? Be more formal. You get the gist.
Develop a tagline. Write a memorable, meaningful and concise statement that captures the essence of your brand.
Design templates and create brand standards for your marketing materials. Use the same color scheme, logo placement, look and feel throughout. You don't need to be fancy, just consistent.
Be true to your brand. Customers won't return to you--or refer you to someone else--if you don't deliver on your brand promise.
Be consistent. I placed this point last only because it involves all of the above and is the most important tip I can give you. If you can't do this, your attempts at establishing a brand will fail.

Source: https://www.entrepreneur.com/

Ten ways to build a brand for your small business

2018-07-20T00:46:00.003-07:00

Branding is just as important for small businesses as it is for big names. Indeed, many corporate brands try to look more like small firms in order to appeal to consumers that prefer to support independent brands.

Many small business owners we talk to already understand that branding is essential to their business, but a surprisingly high number of them don't really know why.

They recognise the link between successful businesses and strong branding, and aspire to build a brand that emulates similar success for themselves. And they understand that branding is not just a logo or how their business is perceived externally. But too few realise that successful brands have this branding at the heart of the business. So much so that in many ways you could almost substitute the word brand for business.

Branding is a way of defining your business to yourself, your team and your external audiences. It could be called the business' “identity”, but only on the understanding that it embodies the core of what the business is and its values, not just what it looks and sounds like. Customers of all sorts of businesses are so savvy today that they can see through most attempts by companies to gloss, spin or charm their way to sales.

The benefits that a strategically defined brand can bring are the same as when people fall in love with each other. When customers connect emotively - because they share the same values and beliefs of a brand - it leads to higher sales and better brand differentiation. It also leads to loyalty, advocacy and can even protect your price in times when competitors rely on promotional discounts to drive sales. It can also give you the ideal platform from which to extend your offering or range.

Here are ten tips on how to successfully implement branding for your business.

1. Start by defining your brand.

Review the product or service your business offers, pinpoint the space in the market it occupies and research the emotive and rational needs and concerns of your customers. Your brand character should promote your business, connect with your customer base and differentiate you in the market.

2. When building your brand, think of it as a person.

Every one of us is an individual whose character is made up of beliefs, values and purposes that define who we are and who we connect with. Our personality determines how we behave in different situations, how we dress and what we say. Of course for people it's intuitive and it's rare that you even consider what your own character is, but when you're building a brand it's vital to have that understanding.

3. Consider what is driving your business.

What does it believe in, what is its purpose and who are its brand heroes. These things can help establish your emotive brand positioning and inform the identity and character for brand communications.

4. Aim to build long-term relationships with your customers.

Don't dress up your offering and raise expectations that result in broken promises, create trust with honest branding - be clear who your company is and be true to the values that drive it every day.

5. Speak to your customers with a consistent tone of voice.

It will help reinforce the business' character and clarify its offering so customers are aware exactly what to expect from the product or service.

6. Don't repeat the same message in the same way over and over again.

Alternatively, aim to make your key messages work together to build a coherent identity.

7. Don't try to mimic the look of chains or big brands.

Try and carve out your own distinctive identity. There is a big consumer trend towards independent establishments, and several chains are in fact trying to mimic an independent feel to capture some of that market. Truly independent operators can leverage their status to attract customers who are looking for something more original and authentic, that aligns with how feel about themselves.

8. Be innovative, bold and daring - stand for something you believe in.

Big brands are encumbered by large layers of bureaucracy, preventing them from being flexible and reacting to the ever-changing needs of their customers. Those layers of decision-makers can make it hard for them to be daring with their branding.

9. Always consider your branding when communicating with customers.

Don't lose your pride or dilute your brand positioning with indiscriminate discounting. Try offering more, rather than slashing prices. Promotions are an opportunity to reinforce your brand mission.

10. The old way of stamping your logo on everything won't cut it.

The future of branding is fluid and engaging - respect your customers' intelligence by not giving everything away up front. Generate some intrigue and allow them to unearth more about your brand for themselves. This is the way to foster ambassadors who revel in telling other people what they have discovered.

Source: https://www.marketingdonut.co.uk/

Principles Of Design And How To Use Them

2018-07-06T00:32:00.001-07:00

Graphic design, like most skills comes with its own language and vocabulary. The principles of graphic design are used to describe broad concepts in the world and graphic design. By having a general standard for graphic design foundations, we can cut down on confusion and create designs that translate the message that we’re hoping to convey. By using specific terms to describe different parts of a design we can improve not only the communication between the designer and the viewer, but we can improve the communication from designer to designer. Remember, there are many forms of graphic design, and it is important to have certain things that translate from genre to genre without creating a situation that is prime for misunderstanding.

Alignment

Alignment in terms of design means making sure that every element on the page relates to something within the design. Good alignment means not having useless or arbitrary elements throughout your design. It’s also important to pay attention to how the elements are placed within the design. Think of your design as somewhat of a grid. Corresponding elements in a design should line up vertically, horizontally or diagonally. This is usually easy to accomplish within a standard design program such as Photoshop or Illustrator.

Balance

Balance in design refers to the distribution of the visual weight of the elements in a design. Every element in a design has visual weight. The visual weight can be determined by the elements size, lightness versus darkness and other attributes such as stroke weight. There are three types of balance: symmetrical, asymmetrical and radial. Symmetrical balance is when objects are placed evenly on the left and right or top and bottom of a design space or an area of the design space. Unlike symmetrical balance, asymmetrical balance is an uneven distribution of elements in a design space or area. Lastly, there’s radial balance. Radial balance is similar to symmetrical balance in that objects are distributed evenly, but with radial balance, the objects are radiated from a central point. Think of it like the radius and center point of a circle.

Contrast

Contrast is one of those self-explanatory design principles that are often misunderstood. In order to create contrast in design, you’ll need to make a series of careful choices. You can use different fonts, colors or even element sizes to create some contrast in your designs. The key is making sure that your contrast choices are logical and include good implementation of the other design principles.

Proximity

Proximity is the visual and spatial relationship of objects in a design. Having objects of a design grouped together helps to show the connection of those objects. If you group objects together, they will naturally draw the eye in a certain direction.

Repetition

Good design dictates some type of repetition. While is important to have a variety of elements that work well together, its also important to have elements of a design that repeat. You should be using a constant color scheme, fonts and element sizing throughout your design. If you aren’t using consistent and repeating elements throughout your design, than your design will appear disjointed and mismatched.
White Space

White space is simply the absence of any graphics, text or other design elements. This is also called negative space, and it’s one of the best ways to make a design look and feel more organized and professional. The use of negative space in a design is often overlooked. It’s important to remember that there is no reason to fill a page with unnecessary elements. More elements on a page doesn’t make a you a better designer; it just shows that you can put clutter into a small area.

Learning the principles of design can take years. It’s very similar to learning a second language, but with practice and exposure you’ll start to understand these principles better as time goes by. There is so much to say about each of the principles of graphic design, but there just isn’t enough time to truly go deep into each topic. Hopefully you found the article helpful as you continue to learn more and more about the world of graphic design.

GRAPHIC DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

2018-06-25T21:27:00.000-07:00

Graphic Design Technology comprises many different skills and disciplines in the production of graphic design and output. The diversity of the skills required in the industry are very broad: it is common for people working in this field to be specialists in a particular aspect. As a result, a team may cover the Graphic Design Technology process, with each member of the team having their own strengths, specialities and roles.

Graphic Design Technology involves working with external and internal clients to create solutions to their needs; it may also include the printing or online publication production. People working in this industry often work closely with their clients and must be strong communicators so that they can achieve the client’s objectives successfully. They require strong interactive, research, design and technical skills. In order to have these they need to understand the target audience, markets, trends and cultural differences and what the client wants. They must be able to work in either formal or informal teams, or stand-alone.

After completing the research and planning stage, a project is interpreted to form a design in appropriate industry specific software. The design must be set up with the correct technical specifications for output or online publication. It is essential that practitioners understand all phases of the procedure including the constraints of the specified printing process. These skills also apply to re-designing or updating a design.

There are various employment opportunities within the industry. This can include becoming a freelancer, business owner, or being employed by an advertising firm, a design firm, a printing company or a company with a design department. Practitioners may have a broad role, or specialise as a graphic designer, graphic artist, prepress operator, typographer, typesetter, type designer, image manipulation specialist, illustrator, art director, production manager, digital printer, information designer, publisher or packaging specialist.

Standards Specification

The Standards Specification specifies the knowledge, understanding and specific skills that underpin international best practice in technical and vocational performance. It should reflect a shared global understanding of what the associated work role(s) or occupation(s) represent for industry and business.

Creating an environmentally friendly Green Type Leaf

2017-11-30T21:06:00.001-08:00

Create a Leaf

Step 1

Now we're going to create some leaves. Start by drawing a leaf shape with the Pen Tool (P). Again, with the Pen Tool (P), draw a line that starts at the tip of leaf and ends in the middle of the bottom part of the leaf. After selecting the line and the leaf shape, press the Divide button in the Pathfinder panel, located on the bottom left side of the panel. Ungroup (Command + Shift + G) the objects so you have two separate shapes.

Step 2

Select both shapes and create the same colored Linear Gradient as the text. Next, select one shape and use the Gradient Tool (G) to click and drag at a 45 degree angle across the leaf half shape. Do this again for the other half of the leaf.

Step 3

With the Pen Tool (P) draw a highlight shape on the top leaf half. Change the highlight shape to a Radial Gradient. Change the left swatch to white and the right swatch to your green color (C=40 M=0 Y=100 K=0).

Step 4

With the Pen Tool (P), create a stem shape and send it behind the leaf shapes. Create a Linear Gradient, make the gradient the same colors as the leaf shapes, and adjust the gradient so the darker green is at the top of the stem.

Creating an environmentally friendly Green Type Treatment

2017-11-30T21:02:00.000-08:00

1. Create a Waterdrop

Next come the water droplets. Create an oblong ellipse with the Ellipse Tool (L). Then create a Linear Gradient using the same colors as the leaf and text. Adjust the gradient so the dark side is on the bottom left.

Create another ellipse on top of the previous ellipse and create a Radial Gradient with the same swatches as the highlight gradient. Adjust this gradient so the light part of the gradient is coming from the bottom left.

Create two more smaller ellipses with Linear Gradients matching the highlight gradient. Once you are done, group all the ellipses, scale and place them on the leaf shapes. You can easily copy the droplet by holding down Alt and dragging a copy.

2. Create a Cute Ladybug

Step 1

The next couple of steps deal with creating the ladybug. Create an ellipse and fill it with a Linear Gradient. Make the first swatch in the gradient a red (C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=0) and the second an even darker red (C=0 M=100 Y=100 K=35). Adjust the gradient so the red color is at the bottom of the ellipse.

Copy (Command + C) the ellipse and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Draw another bigger ellipse that overlaps the center of the original ellipse. After selecting one of the original ellipses and the overlapping circle, press the Intersect Shape Areas button in the Pathfinder panel. Make the intersected shape a Linear Gradient with the first swatch white and the second swatch red. Adjust the gradient so the white is at the top of the shape.

Step 2

Draw five more ellipses over the ladybug body shape and group them together. Copy (Command + C) the original body ellipse shape and Paste it in Front (Command + F). With the copied body shape and the five ellipse selected, intersect the shapes.

Change the dots to a Linear Gradient with the first swatch a really dark red and the second swatch a black red. Adjust the gradient so the lightest red is at the bottom of the combined shapes. Next, Copy (Command + C) the top highlighted shape of the body and Paste it in Front (Command + F).

Copy (Command + C) the dots and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Select the copied highlight and one of the dots copy and Intersect them. Create a Linear Gradient with the first swatch at 60% black and the second at 90% black. Adjust the gradient so the lighter black is at the top of the shape.

Step 3

Create another ellipse for the ladybug's head. Create a gradient the same as the top dots gradient and send the head behind the body shape. Draw an antenna shape with the Pen Tool (P) and place it behind the head. Copy (Command + C) the antenna and Paste it in Front (Command + F). Reflect the antenna by pressing the Flip Horizontal option from the pop-up menu of the Transform panel.

3. Position Your Elements

Step 1

Draw an ellipse roughly the size of the completed ladybug. Create a Radial Gradient so the inside swatch is black and the outside is white. Set the ellipse to Multiply from the Transparency panel and send it behind the ladybug to the bottom left, creating a drop shadow. After grouping the ladybug and drop shadow, place it on the leaf. Then scale and rotate the lady bug as needed.

Step 2

After selecting the leaf and all the elements on it, place them over your text. I placed mine over the first letter of the word.

Step 3

Copy (Command + C) the leaf and elements, except the lady bug, and Paste (Command + V). Flip the leaf horizontally and scale down the leaf. When scaling you don't have to constrain the proportions, this helps the leaf look different from the other. Repeat this step a couple of times around the text.

4. Add Detailing to Refine the Design

Step 1

For the other leaves we are going to create an Art Brush. You can draw these elements with the Pen Tool (P), but you'll find it more consistent and easier to use a brush.

Draw an oblong ellipse. Then with the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the right anchor point in the ellipse. When you select an anchor point the Control panel will default to the Anchor Point Options. Convert the anchor point to a corner (the first button to the right on the Control panel). Do this again for the left anchor point. Next, squish the ellipse down from the top to half its original size.

Step 1

Drag the oval into the Brushes panel and choose New Art Brush. In the Art Brush options change Colorization to Tints. This lets you change the color of the brush without creating a new brush. You don't need to change the colors of the brush strokes for this tutorial, but it is good practice.

Step 2

With your new brush, make a swirl shape for a leaf blade. You might need to change the stroke of the brush if it looks to small or too big. When you get a stroke you like, go to Object > Expand. You will also want to clean up the unfilled stroke. An easy way to do this is to go Object > Path > Clean Up. Also, make sure all the check boxes are checked and press OK.

Step 3

Select the expanded brush shape and create a Linear Gradient with the same swatches as the original text gradient.

Step 4

Repeat the steps for creating the leaf blade around your text. Try to vary the shape and size of the blades.

Step 5

Next we're going to add some more water droplets around the text. Simply Copy (Command + C) the droplets on the leaf you already made and Paste (Command + V) them around the text. Also, be sure to vary their size and shape.

Step 6

Now it is time to work on the dirt at the bottom of the text. Double-click on the Pencil Tool (N) in the Toolspanel to bring up the Pencil Tool Options. Change the Fidelity to 5 to get really smooth lines.

Use you Pencil Tool (N) to draw a small circular shape. Press Alt before you let go to close the shape. Next, create a Radial Gradient with the interior swatch a brown color (C=35 M=60 Y=80 K=25) and the exterior swatch a dark brown color (C=50 M=70 Y=80 K=70) . Place the spot on the first letter of your word. Scale the dot down smaller than one of the droplets.

Step 7

Repeat this till you have a pile of dirt spots on you first letter.

Step 8

Copy (Command + C) and Paste the dirt pile until you have covered the very bottom of all the letters.

Step 9

Draw a Radial Gradient ellipse like you did for the ladybug drop shadow. Squish the ellipse to about half the size. Send the ellipse behind all the artwork and set it to Multiply.

Step 10

Repeat this drop shadow under all the letters.

Step 11

For the background create a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M) that is the size of you document. Give it a Radial Gradient, make the interior swatch white and the second swatch a light green (C=13 M=0 Y=38 K=0).
Congratulations, You're Now Done!

Now you have a nice green type treatment!

What’s New with InDesign CC

2017-07-26T21:59:00.002-07:00

Small tweaks and fixes—along with a new file format—mark the 12th major version of InDesign.

Adobe seems to have some confusion about dates. Throughout 2016, the most up-to-date versions of InDesign CC have been called InDesign CC 2015. Now, just before the end of 2016, a new version arrives called InDesign CC 2017 (Figure 1). I think we can attribute this to the strange quirks of Adobe Marketing.

This new version is significant because it’s a major update that requires a new file format version. This means that if someone using InDesign CC 2017 creates a new file, and you open it using an earlier version of InDesign CC, the Creative Cloud will convert the file to your older version. (There were five versions of InDesign CC 2015. No conversion was necessary between those versions.) If you’re unfamiliar with the process, I’ll explain how it works at the end of the article.

Figure 1: Do not adjust your calendars; “2017” is arriving a little early.

That said, even though this is considered a major update, longtime users will be disappointed to hear that there are very few new features in this release. Instead, this update concentrates on bringing enhancements to existing features—including footnotes, OpenType features, arrowheads applied to strokes, and the appearance of the user interface.
Support for Spanning Footnotes

Ever since InDesign’s footnote feature was introduced, footnotes inserted into multi-column text frames were always placed in the same column where the footnote reference appeared. For many years, users have been asking for the option to span footnotes across all the columns of the text frame.

Now, in InDesign CC 2017, you can choose either column-wide footnotes or footnotes that span the full width of the text frame. You can also mix the two styles of footnotes in the same document (Figure 2).

Figure 2: You can now create both traditional single-column footnotes or footnotes that span the width of a frame.

In the Layout panel of the Document Footnote Options dialog box, there is a new option: Span Footnotes Across Columns. Choosing this option establishes a document default for all footnotes to span the width of the frame.

If you open an existing document, footnotes will behave as they have in the past, unless you select the new option to span columns. For a new document, the Span Footnotes option is selected by default, but you can match the old behaviour by deselecting the option with no documents open.

You can override the document default in the new Object > Text Frame Options > Footnotes panel for the current text frame. To override the document default, select Enable Overrides, and check or uncheck Span Footnotes Across Columns. This same panel also includes the choices for Minimum Space Before First Footnote and Space Between Footnotes (Figure 3).

Figure 3: You can override the document footnotes setting in the new Footnotes tab of the Text Frame Options dialog box.
To support this new feature, there is also a new object style option: Text Frame Footnote Options. In addition, this same option is found in the Find/Change Object properties.

Applying OpenType Features Contextually

OpenType fonts can include a wide variety of typographic features, but until now, it was a bit of a hassle to find out which OpenType features were available in a particular font. You had to go to the Control panel or Character panel menu, choose OpenType, and then check a list of possible OpenType features (sometimes in a submenu) to see which ones were available for the current font. In particular, stylistic sets (discussed below) were very difficult to use (Figure 4).

Figure 4: The traditional way to view and turn on OpenType options requires navigating though lots of menus.
InDesign CC 2017 builds on earlier OpenType enhancements, and it’s now possible to see contextually which features can be applied, and to apply them directly.

Adding an OpenType “Adornment” on Text Frames

The little widgets attached to objects in the InDesign interface (such as the in and out ports of text frames) are technically called adornments. They let you choose options “in context” instead of going to a menu or dialog box. Adornments we use already include the little blue box (Anchored Object Control) and yellow box (Live Corners) already on our frames. InDesign CC 2017 adds another adornment at the bottom right of a text frame to allow you to view and apply OpenType features (Figure 5). It uses the slanted “O” icon, already found in font menus, which indicates an OpenType font.

Figure 5: A new OpenType adornment gives you “in context” control of OpenType features.
If you select a single unlinked text frame, InDesign will try to determine which OpenType properties are applicable within that frame and provide options for you to apply them. (If your frame doesn’t contain an OpenType font, you’ll get the message, “OpenType properties are not applicable.”)

Clicking on the OpenType adornment opens a contextual menu showing a list of applicable attributes. You can choose to turn on attributes within the frame from the menu. The display will also attempt to highlight which characters will be affected by a particular attribute. In Figure 6, discretionary ligatures and OpenType fractions have already been checked, and a preview of those features shows in the display.

Figure 6: When you click the adornment, you can preview and turn on available choices.
In fact, the adornment is also available when you make a selection with the Type tool, and it appears at the bottom right corner of your selection.

Notice in Figure 6 that you may still have to tweak the type. Selecting Fractions in the contextual menu could convert every combination of “number-slash-number” to a fraction—even dates such as 9/11.

Contextual Menu for Ordinals and Ligatures

The InDesign CC 2015.2 update brought a contextual menu for alternate glyphs and for OpenType fractions. InDesign CC 2017 adds similar contextual menus for ordinals and discretionary or standard ligatures.

For example, if you select a letter pair like st in the word start, and a discretionary ligature is available in the current font, it will be suggested and can be selected (Figure 7).

Figure 7: Contextual menus are now available for ordinals and ligatures.
Similarly, if you select a number such as 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc., the menu suggests the ordinal versions if they are available in the current font. Currently, this feature is only available for the English language.

Using the Mysterious OpenType Stylistic Sets

Some OpenType fonts with many alternate characters have them grouped into stylistic sets. This rather mysterious feature is finally made accessible and understandable in this InDesign release.

Stylistic sets are preselected groupings which allow for the global insertion of anywhere from one to twenty sets of alternates. This eliminates the task of selecting each alternate character individually, which is time consuming in large amounts of text.

Unlike with character styles, you can apply more than one stylistic set to a single block of text. Turning on each additional set adds new alternates.

Some earlier OpenType fonts (such as the richly styled Gabriola font from Microsoft) may simply number the sets: Set 1, Set 2, Set 3, and so on. That makes them particularly mysterious, because you have to experiment to discover what the set actually does.

Other more recent fonts give meaningful names that make them easier and more efficient to work with. For example, Hypatia Sans Pro has 14 stylistic sets with names such as “Stylistic set: sans serif forms,” “Stylistic set: simple lowercase forms,” and so on.

In previous InDesign versions, if a font had named stylistic sets, only their numbers were displayed, and the names were ignored. Now they are named wherever they are referenced in InDesign. You’ll see them in the Glyphs panel Show menu (which displays glyphs by their attributes), in the Character and Control panel menus (OpenType > Stylistic Sets), and in the Character Styles and Paragraph Styles OpenType Features entries.

Even better, when combined with the OpenType contextual menu for a text frame or selection, you can see where the alternate forms will be applied, and turn them on and off easily. Figure 8 shows an example of two alternate glyphs for the letter a, one of the many sets included in Hypatia Sans Pro.

Figure 8: It’s now easy to see which stylistic sets are available in a font and to preview their effect. Above (top), you see the default lowercase a in Hypatia Sans Pro. Underneath, you see a preview of the alternate glyph “simple a” in Hypatia Sans Pro.

Turning Off Contextual Controls

Of course, not everyone wants to see the various adornments that InDesign turns on by default. Fortunately, you can turn off the Live Corners and Anchored Object Control adornments in the View > Extras submenu. Strangely, the new OpenType adornment is not listed there.

Instead, there are two new controls in Preferences > Advanced Type that let you turn off the contextual OpenType displays. The first one turns off contextual controls for character alternates, fractions, ordinals, and ligatures. The second one turns off the OpenType adornment on text frames (Figure 9).

Figure 9: Advanced Type preferences include controls to turn off OpenType contextual displays.

Arrowhead Scaling Control

Adobe Illustrator’s Stroke panel options were similar to those found in InDesign, but Illustrator has always offered more control over arrowhead scaling. Specifically, InDesign lacked the ability to do the following four things:

Scale beginning and ending arrowheads independently
Link the beginning and ending arrowheads so they could be kept in proportion as they are scaled
Swap the start and end arrowheads
Control how the arrowhead tips are placed in relation to the path ends

All these features are found in InDesign CC 2017 (Figure 10).

Figure 10: New arrowhead scaling controls in the Stroke panel now match those in Adobe Illustrator. #1, Start and End values both set to 100%; the Start value appears out of scale for the stroke weight. #2, with the Link option deselected, when the Start value is changed to 50% to produce a better result, the End value is not changed. #3, to scale both Start and End in proportion, click the Lock option. When the Start value is set to 60%, the End value is automatically changed to 120%. #4 has the same values as in #3, but the “Swap start and end arrowheads” icon is clicked.
Now, both the beginning and ending arrowheads have an option to set the percentage of scaling, found underneath the appropriate Start/End menu of arrowhead choices in the Stroke panel. As in other places in the InDesign interface, a “link” icon can be turned on or off. This time, the link is called “Link start and end arrowhead scales.” When the link is clicked on, if you enter a new value for the start arrowhead, the end arrowhead scaling will change in proportion.

Arrowhead alignment options

In addition, there are two new Align options: arrowheads can be aligned so the arrowhead extends beyond the path end, or aligns just to the end of the path. This setting applies both to the beginning and ending arrowheads. In example 3 in Figure 10, I selected the former option (and selected the Direct Selection tool to show the path ends).

Conveniently, this feature is also found in three other areas of the InDesign interface:

Object Styles Stroke & Corner Options
Find Object Format Options in the Object tab of the Find/Change dialog box
Eyedropper Options (double-click the Eyedropper tool); three new choices here are arrowhead tip alignment, scale factor for start arrowhead, and scale factor for end arrowhead

Reducing Eyestrain Redux

In the most recent release of InDesign CC 2015 (2015.4), various controls were increased in size and spaced farther apart. Making the controls larger worked well for users of HiDPI or Retina displays, but it caused havoc with others on older (and smaller) displays.

Because users can now see fewer controls on the Control panel, the Customize control (already available) has been made more discoverable. The control is now visible as a “gear” icon on the right end of the Control panel above the panel menu. Clicking it reveals the appropriate tool widget choices immediately, so less useful ones can be turned off.

Many users also complained that the height of window tabs (where the filename appears) had become too large. So there is a new preference: Preferences > Interface > Panels > Large Tabs, which can be turned off to make them smaller.

Hyperlink Performance Improvement

If a document has hyperlinks with destinations in other documents, InDesign must open those documents in the background to check them. Unfortunately, in long documents with many hyperlinks, this makes basic operations, like opening the Hyperlinks panel, scrolling through it, or editing hyperlinks, very slow.

The engineers have refined the algorithm for this process, and it has become much more efficient, giving a much improved performance over previous InDesign versions.

Opening InDesign CC 2017 Files in an Earlier Version

In the InDesign CC 2014.2 update (January 2014), a new feature made opening files from newer versions possible if you have a Creative Cloud subscription. If you are using the subscription version of CS6, or InDesign CC, CC 2014, or CC 2015 when you attempt to open an InDesign CC 2017 file, you’ll see a dialog box telling you that the file needs to be converted to your application version. It also warns that features in the newer version may be modified or omitted. All you have to do is click the Convert button, and the Creative Cloud will convert it.

InDesign CC 2017: Small Steps Forward

While this new release offers only incremental improvements, many of them are in response to long-standing feature requests. Try them out, and I think you’ll be pleased, especially if your documents include footnotes, hyperlinks, OpenType fonts, or arrows.

Source: https://indesignsecrets.com

The A to Z of Adobe InDesign

2016-07-15T04:37:00.002-07:00

Adobe InDesign is a diverse software programme for creating beautiful designs for print and digital. Most designers will have a tried-and-trusted set of InDesign tools they consistently use in their daily workflow (guilty!), but aside from the ever-faithful features there are also some exciting tools and tips you may not know about.

Whether you’re a newbie to the programme or a seasoned InDesign professional, there may be something in the following list that you haven’t yet discovered or used. Click the links to access detailed tutorials on some of InDesign's features.

Want to point out any more InDesign tools/tips/features that aren’t included here? Share them in the Comments below!

A

Align panel (Window > Object & Layout > Align): This panel gives the designer control over the arrangement of objects on a page in a document. Check out Gavin Selby’s great Quick Tip for the Align panel here.

Alignment (find Text Alignment options in the Paragraph Formatting Controls menu, in the top Application Bar): Use these options to set the Alignment of your text to Justified, Aligned Center, or Aligned Towardsor Away From the Spine.

Anchor Point (Tools Panel > Add / Delete Anchor Point Tool): As in Illustrator, you can apply an anchor point to a Stroke or Shape to manually alter its arc.

Anchored Object (Object > Anchored Object): You can attach/anchor items (such as text frames, or images) to specified text in a document, in a series of positions, including Inline, Above Line and Custom.

Application Bar and Application Frame (Window > Application Bar / Application Frame): The Application Bar sits at the top of your screen when InDesign is open and contains menus, a Workspace switcher and other application controls. The Frame is a modern InDesign interface which groups all the Workspace elements together as one unit. You can switch this on or off in the Window menu.

Arrange (Window > Arrange / Ctrl-Click [Mac] or Right-Click [PC] > Arrange): This allows you to send a selected item (e.g. a text frame/shape/image frame) to the back or front of your document within the same Layer.

Articles (Window > Articles): Articles (from CS5.5 onwards) provide a way of setting the order between elements in a document that is not restricted to the usual left-to-right reading of a traditional typeset document. This is useful for exporting a document to EPUB, HTML, or Accessible PDFs. You can drag and drop items, such as individual text frames, into the Articles Panel in the correct order before exporting.

B

Baseline Shift (in Character Formatting Controls Panel): A Baseline is the invisible line on which a text character sits; you can shift this up or down using the Baseline Shift option, pushing a character upwards or downwards.

Bleed (File > New Document > Bleed and Slug): A Bleed can be set up extra to the boundaries of a document. It allows text, images and color to extend past the boundary of the document, allowing for any minor trimming inaccuracies post-printing to appear less noticeable.

Book (File > New > Book...): You can create a ‘Book’ file in InDesign. This creates a grouping of separate documents, such as chapters or sections, while maintaining the numbering sequence of pages.

C

Character (Window > Type & Tables > Character): You can apply attributes or Styles (see ‘S’, below) to text. By selecting individual characters, words or sentences you can change the Font, Size, Leading (see ‘L’, below) etc. using the options available in the Character Formatting Controls panel (see below).

Character Formatting Controls: Find this panel in the Applications Bar which runs along the top of the screen. It is indicated by an ‘A’ icon on the left-hand side of the Bar.

Color: Find out how to manage Color in InDesign.

Columns (Layout > Margins and Columns...): When creating a New Document you can set the number of Columns in a document as well as the Gutter spacing between them. This can be used to more easily arrange columns of text, for example for a newspaper or brochure layout. Check out Martin Perhiniak’s tips for designing layouts with columns.

Content Collector Tool (B) / Content Placer Tool: Available from CS6 onwards, this useful pop-up panel allows you to ‘collect’ and distribute content across a document. For example, you may want to use an image several times throughout a long book; you can ‘collect’ the image in the Content Collector and drop it in easily where needed.

Corners (Object > Corner Options): Use the Corner Options menu to set the Size and Shape (e.g. Bevelled, Rounded) of the corners of an object, such as a text or image frame.

D

Direct Selection Tool (A): Allows you to directly select anchor points of a shape or stroke to apply more flexible transformations.

Drop Cap (in Character Formatting Controls Panel): A Drop Cap is a striking typographic effect which extends the size and line-depth of a single or multiple characters at the start of a paragraph. You can set the Number of Lines and choose to effect One or More Characters.

E

Effects (Object > Effects): You can apply a number of Effects to an object, such as a text frame, image or shape, such as applying a Gradient Feather, adjust Transparency or add a Drop Shadow.

Ellipse Tool (L): Use this tool to create an ellipsical or circular (by holding down Shift) frame suitable for color and text.

Ellipse Frame Tool (Tools Panel > Under Rectangle Frame Tool drop-down menu): Use this tool to create an elliptical or circular (by holding down Shift) frame suitable for placing images.

Erase Tool (Tools Panel > Under Pencil Tool drop-down menu): Get rid of unwanted sections of path using the Erase Tool. You can’t erase paths which you have converted to Type on a Path (see ‘T’, below).

Export (File > Export...): Use this option to export your InDesign document to PDF (Print or Interactive), as an image file (e.g. EPS, PNG, JPEG), to HTML or to a number of other formats.

Eyedropper Tool (I): Hover the Eyedropper Tool over a colored area of your document, such as part of an image, to pick up a replication of that color which you can then add to your Swatches panel.

F

Facing Pages (File > New Document > Check Facing Pages): Compared to other design software, like Photoshop and Illustrator, InDesign was created to facilitate the design of print layouts, e.g. for books, magazines, leaflets. Check ‘Facing Pages’ to create spreads that begin on a single right-hand page and have two-page facing spreads throughout.

Fill (X): Set a color Fill for an object, such as a frame, or text. You can also set this from the Swatchespanel and the Character Formatting Controls panel.

Fitting (Object > Fitting): In InDesign placed content, such as images, are positioned within a frame. Use the Fitting options to dictate the size and extent of visible content within a frame. If you’re unsure what to select, Fill Frame Proportionally is usually a safe option.

Free Transform Tool (E): Use this tool to manually Rotate (see ‘R’, below) an Object (see ‘O’, below).

G

Gap Tool (U): This can be used to alter the space between and around Objects. See Gavin Selby’s Quick tip for more info.

Glyphs (Window > Type & Tables > Glyphs): View all the Glyphs/Symbols available for your selected Font. You can also view recently used glyphs and create new glyph sets by going to the drop-down menu in theGlyphs panel.

Gradient Feather Tool (Shift-G): Use this tool to soften the Gradient effect applied to an Object (see ‘O’).

Gradient Swatch Tool (G): Use this tool to apply a simple Gradient effect to an Object (see ‘O’) or alter an existing Gradient.

Grids (View > Extras > Show Baseline Grid/Show Document Grid): The Baseline Grid is used to align columns of text and is visible on the document, but not the pasteboard. The Document Grid is used to align Objects and extends across the whole of the Pasteboard (see ‘P’). You can edit Grids using the Grid Preferences (Edit > Preferences > Grids [Windows] or InDesign > Preferences > Grids [Mac]).

Group (Object > Group / Ungroup): Grouping Objects, Frames and/or other elements together is a useful way of applying Effects to a group of items simultaneously or to simply group items for convenience.

Guides (Layout > Create Guides... or manually drag from the Rulers): Use Guides to create informal guidelines for placing content on a spread. For example, if you wanted to mark out the spine of a book cover, this is often much simpler to achieve using Guides than marking out fiddly Column Widths. Learn more about using Guides and Rulers (see ‘R’, below) here.

H

Hand Tool (H): Use the Hand Tool (found in the Tools panel) to ‘grab’ the document and navigate more flexibly across a spread or between pages.

Hyphenate (in Character Formatting Controls and Paragraph Formatting Controls Panels): Check the Hyphenate option while your Type cursor sits in a given paragraph to allow words to break across lines.

I

Info (Window > Info): Open the Info panel to get more detailed stats on the number of Characters, Words, Lines and Paragraphs in your document.

Intent (File > New Document > Intent): You can set the Intent of an InDesign document to Print, Web (for desktop websites) or Digital Publishing (for designing for tablets, smartphones and eBook readers). You can choose a specific option from the Page Size drop-down menu.

J

Join (Object > Paths > Join): As in Illustrator, you can use the Join option to unite two strokes as a singleShape or Stroke, preventing any unsightly overlaps of Strokes or visible Ends.

K

Kerning (in Character Formatting Controls Panel): You can reduce or increase the Kerning, or space between individual characters, using this option.

L

Language (set Language in the Paragraph Formatting Controls Panel, at the far right): Changing the Language setting in this menu will change the default dictionary used by InDesign. This can affect how words are automatically broken by hyphenation for example.

Layers (Window > Layers): It is good practice to create Layers for different elements in your document, andLock those Layers that are not currently being edited. For example, separating text and image elements into different Layers can make individual items easier to edit. Learn more about the Layers panel.

Line Tool (\): The Line Tool creates a single stroke that can be edited using the Stroke panel (Window > Stroke, see ‘S’ below). Hold down Shift as you drag for a straight vertical or horizontal line.

Links (Window > Links): Images are not embedded in InDesign documents but linked instead. The software creates a ‘Link’ between the ID document and the image file in its folder. The Preflight panel (Window > Output > Preflight, see ‘P’, below) will alert you before exporting if any Links are missing. You can use the Relink icon in the Links panel to relocate the relevant file.

Liquid Layout (Window > Interactive > Liquid Layout): Allows you to flexibly adjust your content to different page sizes. Check out Martin Perhiniak’s video tutorial for using Liquid Layouts in InDesign.

Lock (Object > Lock): Select any elements on a page you would like to be locked (and not move at all) and choose this option. This is really useful for when you don’t want to mistakenly move an element on a page while you’re editing something else.

M

Margins (Layout > Margins and Columns...): Define the Margins of a document in the New Documentwindow, or later on from the Layout menu (note: select all the Pages you want to adjust the Margins for before going to the Layout menu, by clicking on the relevant page icons in the Pages panel).

Markers (Type > Insert Special Character > Markers): You can transform a simple text frame into a dynamic Page Number or Section Marker by going to the Markers menu. A useful tip is to create a small text frame on your Master page(s) and insert a Page Number marker there, which will then appear on all pages that have that Master applied to them.

Master Pages (see top of Pages Panel [Window > Pages]): Masters are a simple way to manage longer documents that have common features across pages (e.g. Page Numbers, Headers, Footers, background colors/images etc.). A default single-page Master (named ‘A-Master’) appears in the Pages panel when you create a New Document. You can add more Masters by going to the drop-down menu in the Pages Panel and checking New Master...; you can then drag and drop Masters onto the Page icons below.

Measure Tool (K): The Measure Tool calculates the distance between any two points in your document. The distance value will appear in the Info panel (see ‘I’, above).

Mini Bridge (Window > Mini Bridge): Mini Bridge is an extension that allows you to manage your images more efficiently and drop them into InDesign more easily. Find out more about how to manage images in Mini Bridge.

Nested Styles (find in drop-down menu at far right of the top Application Bar > Drop Caps and Nested Styles): You can apply a Nested Style to text at the beginning of a paragraph, or apply a Nested Line Styleto one or more lines in a paragraph. Check out Cheryl Graham’s Quick Tip for Nested Styles.

Note Tool (Tools Panel > Fourth Section Down): Use the Note Tool to mark out text you want to make temporarily invisible. In the Notes panel (click on the Note symbol that appears next to your note with theType Tool selected) to review your Note and have the option of reinserting it.

Numbering & Section Options (Layout > Numbering & Section Options): When putting together a longer document in InDesign, such as a Book, you will probably want to divide the document into Sections and perhaps define different page numbering options for different sections. Open the Numbering & Section Options window to make these adjustments.

O

Object (see Object drop-down menu in top menu): An Object is any element on a page that can be edited directly by the designer. For example, this may be a text frame or an image frame. Refer to this menu to apply Effects, Edit Paths, Lock/Unlock/Group/Ungroup Objects, etc.

Optical Margin Alignment (in Story Panel - Window > Type & Tables > Story): Check the Optical Margin Alignment to slightly shift any text characters, e.g. punctuation marks, which can fall outside of the text frame border to create a cleaner line against the Margin.

Overprint (View > Overprint Preview): If you're using Spot Colors in your InDesign document, it’s a great idea to check the Overprint Preview to see a more accurate view of how your Colors (see 'C', above) will actually print.

P

Package (File > Package...): If you’re sending your InDesign document to another person, another computer, or just as an exercise in good practice for your own files, you should always Package a document once you’ve finished editing. This brings together all the image files, fonts and optional printing instructions in one handy folder.

Pages panel (Window > Pages): Navigate through your document using the Pages Panel. Add, Delete orDuplicate Pages by referring to the icons at the bottom of the Panel. Explore more about Page Numberingwith Gavin Selby’s Quick Tip.

Page Tool (Shift-P): The Page Tool allows you to change the page size and layout of an individual page in a document without effecting other pages. Check out Gavin Selby’s take on the Page Tool.

Paragraph panel (Window > Type & Tables > Paragraph); plus in drop-down menu, Paragraph Composer options: Format individual paragraphs using the options in this menu; you can edit Alignment, Hyphenation, Indentation, Drop Caps etc.

Paragraph Formatting Controls (find in the top Application Bar): This is a long menu you can find when using the Type Tool. Click the icon below the ‘A’-symbol on the far-left of the panel to bring it up.

Paste (Edit > Paste / Paste in Place): Self-explanatory, but Paste can be a very useful option for carrying content across pages. Check Paste in Place if you want to maintain the original position of the frame. Avoid pasting images from other programmes, as this will not be Linked (see ‘L’, above).

Pasteboard (View > Entire Pasteboard): The Pasteboard is the whole area of the InDesign document plus the space available for dropping non-printed content. Use it as an artboard for keeping elements on stand-by you may or may not use as you make edits.

Pen Tool (P): This functions in the same way as the Illustrator Pen Tool does. Create custom lines, andAdd or Delete Anchor Points to a Line using the drop-down options in the Tools panel.

Pencil Tool (N): As above, but with more flexibility to create fluid and organic shapes. Hold down to create a line with numerous Anchor Points.

Place (File > Place...): You should always Place images into an InDesign document rather than Opening orPasting. This allows the file to remain Linked (see ‘L’, above). Create an image frame of a desired size before you go to Place.

Polygon Tool (Tools Panel > Under Rectangle Tool drop-down menu): Use this Tool to create a 6-sided polygon shape, suitable for adding Color or Text.

Polygon Frame Tool (Tools Panel > Under Rectangle Frame Tool drop-down menu): As above, but suitable for placing Images into.

Preflight (Window > Output > Preflight): InDesign prompts you to Preflight (check your document for errors) before exporting or packaging. Learn more about Live Preflight.

Profiles (Edit > Assign Profiles... / Convert to Profile...): You can alter the Color Profile of your document (with RGB or CMYK options) from here.

Q

Quick Apply (Edit > Quick Apply): Allows you to select from a list of commonly used functions, e.g. Basic Paragraph Style, Chapter Number etc. at the click of a mouse.

R

Rectangle Tool (M): Use this to create a frame suitable for Color, Effects and/or Text. Hold Shift to create a perfect square.

Rectangle Frame Tool (F): As above, but suitable for placing Images.

Relink (at bottom of Links Panel [Window > Links] or Opt-Click to Relink all Missing Links): Sometimes image files are moved or renamed, prompting InDesign to flash up an error warning in the Preflight panel. Use the Relink icon in the Links panel to locate the lost file.

Revert (File > Revert...): Revert back to the previous saved version of your InDesign document.

Rotate Spread (View > Rotate Spread): Alter the view of a given page/spread. Can be rotated a full 180 degrees or 90 degrees CW or CCW.

Rotate Tool (R): Select an Object and Rotate it manually using this tool.

Rulers (View > Show Rulers): Rulers lie along the top and left-hand side of the document window. You can drag Guides from them to mark out sections of a document.

S

Scale Tool (S): Use this tool to Scale an Object along the X or Y axis, or both.

Scissors Tool (C): Use this tool to split Shapes, Paths and Frames.

Screen Mode (View > Screen Mode): You can tap the ‘W’ key to switch between the two main modes,Normal and Preview. You should always make edits while in the Normal Mode.

Selection Tool (V, Escape): Drag the Selection Tool across elements in a document to select them.

Separations (Window > Output > Separations Preview): This is a great tool to use before Preflighting andExporting a file for print. Select Separations from the drop-down View menu to view all the Colors being used in your document. Here, you can identify stray Spot Colors etc. and also switch off the visibility of individual colors to check color overprints and knock-outs are working correctly.

Shear Tool (O): Use this to skew an Object horizontally, creating the illusion of 3D depth.

Slug (File > New Document > Bleed and Slug): The Slug is the area which falls outside the Page and Bleed. It’s a suitable place for inserting print instructions, sign-off info or anything else that won’t appear on the final printed document.

Smooth Tool (Tools Panel > Under Pencil Tool drop-down menu): Drag the Smooth Tool along a section ofPath to smooth the line, and remove any unnecessary Anchor points.

Story (Window > Type & Tables > Story): The Story panel gives you access to the Optical Margin Alignmentcheck-box (see ‘O’, above).

Stroke (Window > Stroke): Open the Stroke panel to access more formatting controls for affecting Linesand Paths. You can set the Weight, Type and even alter the appearance of the Start and/or End of a Line(such as adding arrow ends).

Styles (Window > Styles): You can set ‘Styles’ (formatting rules) for Paragraphs, Characters, Objects, Cellsand Tables. They are a great way of lifting formatting and applying it throughout a long document, and are an essential time-saver! Check out Cheryl Graham’s Quick Tip for creating Paragraph Styles. You can also read more about using Styles.

Swatches (Window > Color > Swatches): The Swatches panel allows you to create and organise Colors, Gradients, or Tints, and apply them. It’s important to note that Swatches behave similarly to Paragraph andCharacter Styles; any edits you make to a Swatch will effect all the elements/Objects which have that Swatch applied to them.

T

Table (See ‘Table’ in the main menu > Insert Table; and Window > Type and Tables > Table for the Table Panel): You can create a Table from the main menu and format features such as the number of columns/rows, height /width of cells and inset values using the Table panel. You can also save these formats as Cell and Table Styles (Window > Styles > Cell Styles / Table Styles).

Text Threads (View > Extras > Show Text Threads): Text Threads show the connections made between text frames, for the flow of text. You can create a Text Thread by clicking in the bottom right-hand corner of a text frame and clicking again in a second text frame. Explore Gavin Selby’s Quick Tip for Threading.

Text Wrap (Window > Text Wrap): You can wrap text around an Object using the Text Wrap Panel. Check out Martin Perhiniak’s useful tutorial.

Tracking (in Character Formatting Controls Panel): Tracking reduces or increases the spaces between characters in a whole block of text.

Transform (Object > Transform or Cmd-Click [Mac] / Right-Click [PC] > Transform): The Transformation options in InDesign give you a bit more freedom with the position and appearance of an Object. You canRotate, Flip, Move, Scale, or Shear an Object.

Type Tool (T): Use the Type Tool to create a text frame (just click and drag) for inserting text or click once on an existing frame or shape to transform it into a text frame.

Type on a Path Tool (Shift-T): The Type on a Path Tool allows you to flexibly apply text to the shape of aPath or Object. Just hover over where you would like your text to begin and click once.

U

Units & Increments (InDesign > Preferences > Units & Increments...): Set your preferences for measurement units here. Millimeters are the industry standard for print, but pixels should be used for Web / Digital design. Setting the Intent (see ‘I’, above) of the document will also set this for you before you begin any work.

V

Variables (Type > Text Variables): In the Text Variables window you can find a number of preset text variables that you can insert in your document. The Variables change according to the context, such as aChapter Number or Page Number. These Variables can be edited, or you can create your own.

W

Workspace (Window > Workspace), also find at top right of Application Bar: The Workspace defines which InDesign panels you see on your screen. ‘Essentials’ is the default option and can be Reset from the drop-down menu. You can create your own custom Workspace for future use by selecting New Workspace...from the drop-down menu.

X

XML (File > Import XML...): XML (Extensible Markup Language) works as a sort of translation tool for data. InDesign works with XML files, and you can also tag content in your InDesign file, and save and export it as an XML file for use in another application. Go to the Structure panel (View > Structure) to view imported XML data.

Z

Zoom Tool (Z) / Manual Zoom - The Zoom keyboard shortcut is a really useful way of navigating over a page or spread, and should become an integral part of the way you use InDesign every time you open a document.

How to Create a Simple Geometrical Pattern in Adobe Illustrator

2016-05-20T00:56:00.001-07:00

What You'll Be Creating

In this Quick Tip tutorial, I'm going to show you how to create a simple and trendy geometrical pattern, the quick and easy way. First, we will create a special repeating shape, and then we will move this object using the Smart Guides tool. In the end, we will have a pretty and modern pattern that we'll recolor.

Using this technique, you can create many simple but beautiful geometrical patterns. Get your inspiration at Envato Market!

I'm showing you an old method in case you have an older version of Adobe Illustrator. However, if you have a more recent version of Illustrator, you can create a seamless pattern using the Pattern Options function.

1. Create a Background for the Pattern Template

We will start by drawing a background for our pattern. Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click on your art board. In a new dialogue window, enter 100 px Width and 100 px Height. Then click OK.

I chose a mint color, but if you'd like something else, feel free to make a square using any color.

2. Create a Repeating Shape for the Pattern

Step 1

Now let's create a repeating shape for our pattern. Delete the fill color and set a black stroke color. Later we will change it to white, but now we want to see it clearly.

Take the Ellipse Tool (L) on the Tools panel and click on the art board. In the new dialogue window, enter20 px Width and 20 px Height, and click OK.

Holding down the Alt (creating a copy) and Shift (moving straight) keys, move down your circle. See? Now you have two of them. Keep them selected. Hit the Rotate Tool (R), and then on your keyboard, press theEnter key. A new dialogue window will pop up asking how many degrees you want. Enter Angle 90 degreesand press Copy.

We're almost done making our shape—just need to turn them into one shape. Go to the Pathfinder panel and press Unite. Now we have our repeating shape.

Step 2

Place the shape on the mint background that we created in the previous step. Change the black stroke color to white. Set the stroke Weight on the Stroke panel to your liking and when you are satisfied, expand the stroke of the repeating shape (Object > Expand).

Let's align everything here. Be sure to check the Align to Selection option on the Align panel. Keep these two objects selected (the background and the repeating shape), and press Horizontal Align Center andVertical Align Center.

3. Create the Pattern

Step 1

Now we want to move our repeating shape freely. But to move it precisely, we need to enable the Smart Guides. So let’s go to View > Smart Guides (Control-U).

Press down the Alt key and move the repeating shape (now we will call it just RSh) from the middle of the square upwards. You need to hold down the Alt key, because this helps to create a copy. The Smart Guideswill help you to put the center of the RSh exactly on the upper side of the square.

Step 2

This time, press down the Alt key again and move down the RSh.

Step 3

Holding the Alt key, move the RSh to the left.

Step 4

Holding the Alt key, move the RSh to the right.

Step 5

In this step, I didn't take the original RSh from the middle, because it's hard to drag the shape exactly diagonally. That's why I took the left RSh and dragged it up.
Below, you can see how it looks when I tried to drag the original middle RSh diagonally. You can see thatdY is not 50 px, but 49.67 px, which is not precise. If yours looks like mine, just take another RSh that you can move straight, not diagonally.

Step 6

Holding the Alt key, drag the upper RSh to the right.

Step 7

Holding the Alt key, drag the right RSh down.

Step 8

Holding the Alt key, drag the left RSh down.

Step 9

If you select everything (Control-A), you will have the same picture as below. Select all the RSh (first select just one, then go to Select > Same > Fill Color) and group them together (right-click > Group). We want to group them, because later it will help us to crop easily.

Step 10

Now select just the mint background and make a copy in front (Control-C, Control-F). Then cut out this new copy (Control-X) and place in front of everything (Control-F). Keep it selected and then select the grouped RSh. Go to the Pathfinder panel and press the Crop button. Your result should look like this:

Step 11

To create a pattern from this, you need to drag the entire pattern to the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches). Select everything (Control-A) and using your mouse, move it to the Swatches panel.

4. Create the Pattern

Step 1

Since you've created a new swatch pattern, you can safely delete everything from your art board. Then take the Rectangle Tool (M) and create a square with 600 px Width and Height. Go to the Swatches panel (Window > Swatches) and choose the new pattern that you just created. Look how adorable it is!

Step 2

Now, let’s see how we can change the color of the pattern.

Select the square with the geometrical pattern and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor Artwork. In the new dialogue window, press the Edit button, and then press the tiny button that looks like a chain, Link harmony colors (located at the bottom right), and then simply drag the color handles to your choice of color. Enjoy how the color is changing on your pattern!

Look how beautiful it is with this sky blue color:

Step 3

If you want the same pattern but with smaller RSh, select this pattern and right-click > Transform > Scale. Enter the following options in the new dialogue window:

We are done! Now you can call yourself a master of geometrical patterns. Because you have learned how to create an original shape for your pattern template, you now know how to make a swatch template from the pattern template, recolor and even scale your artwork! I'm certain that you are an expert already.

Convert Illustrator artwork to grayscale

2016-03-29T21:22:00.002-07:00

I'm often asked how to turn full color Illustrator artwork into a grayscale equivalent. This is simple if you know where to look:

1. Open your color .ai or .eps file in Adobe Illustrator CS3/CS4

2. Select the artwork that you want to convert to grayscale

3. Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Convert to Grayscale

That's all there is to it. If the colors in your original artwork don't map to pleasing grays, you can try one or more of the following to adjust the tonal values of the grays:

* Convert your file from CMYK to RGB or vice versa by choosing File > Document Color Mode before you convert it to grayscale. Even though the colors may not look much different in RGB or CMYK on the screen, they will convert to different grayscale tones.

* Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Adjust Color Balance before or after you convert the artwork to grayscale

* Choose Edit > Edit Colors > Saturate after you convert the artwork to grayscale.

Illustrator Tip: Duplicate a shape along a circle

2016-03-28T23:15:00.001-07:00

This is one of those little workflows that can be a complete pain on the rare occasion that you need it. So I’m making this as much as a reminder for myself and our design team as it is a tutorial.

Making a shape mathematically duplicate itself along a circle sounds like something illustrator would handle flawlessly. Well it is, if you can find it. This not very well documented procedure I have the need for maybe 3 times a year but every time its a challenge to make Illustrator do what I want it to do. That is until I discovered this little method. Follow these easy steps to duplicate a shape along a circle perfectly every time.

1. Create your shape, in this case I made a teardrop shape to rotate and look like seeds of an orange.

2. Create your circle that will define the path for rotation and orient the two so that your shape is seated the way its soon to be clones should be.

3. With your shape selected hit the [ R ] key or select the Rotate Tool from your toolbar.

4. While holding Option down click on the center of the circle you made.

This will open up a dialog box like the one below. What you want to do here is choose the degrees that your shape should duplicate across and how many instances of your shape will span that circumference.

Angle: [ Degrees / Number of shapes ]

This is important. When you are done - hit COPY. (not “OK”) - Hitting copy will create a single copy of your shape.

Then hit CMD-D to duplicate the rest of the way until you have perfectly rotated your shape around a circle in the exact increments you wanted. And if you don’t like the shape or number of shapes. It’s an easy process to replicate until you do.

30 Photoshop secrets to improve your skills

2016-02-26T00:47:00.002-08:00

Power up your skills as we reveal 30 Photoshop secrets that will increase your productivity overnight.

If you've decided to give your best pencils a little rest and jump into digital art, you'll more than likely need some photo editing software. Photoshop is an amazing piece of software and a popular choice, being used by thousands of designers worldwide on a daily basis. It's such a flexible bit of kit that you could spend a week learning new features, doing Photoshop tutorials and experimenting with Photoshop brushes and still have only scratched the surface of what's possible.

Once you've overcome the beginners' learning curve, however, there are some real gems hidden inside Photoshop that can help you speed up your work and get more out for less effort. Here we've rounded up 30 of the best Photoshop secrets to help sharpen your skills and improve your productivity.

01. Control your panels

Did you know about this hidden menu?

In the top right hand corner of every panel is a little icon that reveals a fly-out menu, giving additional options that you might not have seen before. You can use this menu to set your layer panel thumbnails to be larger, crop to artwork and much more – experiment!

02. Paste in Place

Paste in Place is one of those functions that you'll use all the time if you know about it, but if you don’t it will come as a revelation! After you've made a selection either in your current document, or in a second document if you're combining artwork, copy as usual by choosing Edit>Copy, or by using the shortcut keys Ctrl+C (Windows) or Cmd+C (Mac).

Once you're viewing the document you want to paste into, use the shortcut keys Ctrl+Shift+V (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+V(Mac).

03. Bird's Eye View

If yo'’re doing detailed work such as cloning or edge refinement, it can be easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. Equally, if you're working at a high zoom level, navigating around the document can become tiresome when you need to get back to your high-level zoom.

With the Bird's Eye View feature, when zoomed in you can press and hold the H key on your keyboard, and click and drag with your mouse to temporarily zoom out to a bird's eye view. When you let go, you'll zoom back in to the level you were working at.

04. Interactively set styles

Move the shadow around by clicking and dragging on the canvas

When you're adding a drop-shadow layer style, move the dialogue box to one side. By clicking and dragging on the canvas you can use your mouse to interactively move the shadow around relative to the layer casting the shadow.

05. Repeat Transformations

Once you've made a transformation to a layer or object using Edit>Transform, you can very quickly repeat that same transformation on another layer or object. Simply pressCmd+Shift+T on a Mac, or Ctrl+Shift+T on Windows, and Photoshop will repeat the same transformation on the currently active layer.

06. Solo your layer

Here's how to preview a single layer

If you'd like to preview a single layer, you can quickly get a look at it on its own by Alt+clicking on the layer's eye icon in the layers panel. Alt+clicking on the eye icon again will return you to the previous layer visibility state. Note that if you accidentally click on another layer's eye icon you'll lose the ability to revert back to the previous state.

07. Enable visibility history

Enable the history state for layer visibility

If you want to avoid the problem of losing layer visibility settings while previewing individual layers, you can tick a setting in the History Panel options dialogue box that will enable history state for layer visibility. Once checked, you can use Cmd/Ctrl+Alt+Z to step backwards through your history as you always have, but you'll find changes to the visibility of layers is now included within that history.

08. Merge vector shapes

Merge two vector shapes together and keep the result as an editable vector

If you're lucky enough to have Photoshop CS6 at your disposal, you can merge two vector shapes together and keep the result as an editable vector. Simply select the two shape layers and hitCmd/Ctrl+E on your keyboard to merge them together. In previous versions this would have resulted in a rasterized layer, but Adobe updated the functionality for CS6.

09. Quickly finish editing text

Press Cmd+Return on your keyboard to finish editing text and move focus outside the text field

When you're working with text boxes in Photoshop it can be frustrating to move between tools as your shortcut keys won’t work. A great little secret tip is that you can pressCmd+Return on your keyboard to finish editing text and move focus outside the text field. This allows you to quickly select other tools using their shortcut keys as appropriate (e.g.V for the move tool).

10. Organise your files properly

It's easy to become sloppy with the way you name and organise files. But if you have to hand over your work to others, this can rebound on you, giving you a bad rep as people struggle to work out what's going on. Follow our advice on how to organise your files properly here.

11. Draw dotted lines with the brush

Drawing straight dotted lines with the brush tool is a neat trick

A common Photoshop technique is to use the brush tool to draw straight lines. With the brush tool selected click to place a point, then hold down Shift+click at a second point to draw a straight line between the two points. You may not know that you can open the brush panel and set the brush spacing to 150%+ to draw a dotted line instead of a solid one!

12. Change brush size and hardness

It's quite well known that you can use the square bracket keys [and ] to change the size of your brush inside Photoshop. What you may not know is that if you hold down the Shift key while tapping these same keys, you can also affect the hardness of the brush without having to visit the the brush panel!

13. Reset dialogue boxes

When you're using a dialogue box with a pair of buttons that read OK/Apply and Cancel, it can be frustrating to undo changes you've made. Often you'll want to hit Cancel and then re-open the dialogue. Many of these modal pop-ups allow you to hold down the Alt/Opt key on your keyboard to change the Cancel button to a Reset button, returning the settings to how they were when you opened the dialogue.

14. Scrub values

One of the best time-saving features in Photoshop is the ability to scrub your mouse over input values. If you want to change the opacity of a layer, for example, rather than click into the opacity field of the layers panel, click and drag on the value for opacity. A scrub to the left reduces the opacity, a scrub to the right increases it.

15. Copy layer styles quickly

As well as copying a layer to a new layer, you can do the same with layer styles

If you've been using Photoshop for a while you'll know you can copy a layer to a new layer by holding down Alt/Opt and dragging a copy of the artwork across the canvas. You can use this same trick for layer styles: simply hold down the Alt/Opt key and drag the FX icon in the layers panel from the layer with the styles to the target layer - the styles will be copied right over!

16. Open a document quickly

Rather than navigate to File>Open to open a document, double-click on the pasteboard inside Photoshop (the bit outside the main canvas) to automatically bring up the Open dialog box. Inside recent versions, this trick only works when you don't have another document open.

17. Close documents quickly

You can also close your documents quickly. You're probably familiar with the shortcut combination Ctrl+F4 (Windows) orCmd+W (Mac). This closes the current document, but if you add a second modifier key you can automatically close every document.

Hold down Shift+Ctrl+F4 on a PC, or Alt+Cmd+W on a Mac to close all open documents. If you have multiple documents with changes you'd like to discard, check the Apply to All box when choosing Don't Save to avoid having to confirm each document.

18. Share with friends and colleagues

Share your screen with colleagues or friends easily in Photoshop

One of the nicer features that arrived recently in Photoshop is the ability to share your screen with other users. Choose File > Share My Screen and log in with your Acrobat.com username/password. Your web browser will open and a new online meeting will be set up automatically to which you can invite friends and colleagues.

You'll be able to chat, share webcam footage and your screen to make for productive collaboration – even if you're the opposite side of the globe to your friends.

19. Quickly change measuring units

When you open a new document in Photoshop you can set the measuring units to match your needs, but sometimes you'll need to switch between different units. The normal way to change is to select the options Photoshop>Preferences>Units & Rulers (or, on a PC, Edit>Preferences>Units & Rulers). But there is a quicker way! Just right-click on a ruler (Cmd+R/Ctrl+R will show your rulers if they're not already visible) and choose the new measuring unit you need.

20. Fill with scripted patterns

Pattern fill includes handy Scripted Pattern option

Photoshop CS6 introduced a new pattern fill option based on a script. First isolate an object on a transparent background and define it as a pattern (Edit>Define Pattern). Next, access the fill command as you normally would (Edit>Fill or Shift+F5). Choose Pattern as the fill type, then select your isolated object from the patterns drop-down.

Finally, tick the Scripted Patterns checkbox and choose one of the options from the predefined scripts. All bar spiral will add a colour and brightness shift randomly to your object as part of the fill operation. You can also write your own scripts to use in this dialogue!

21. Insert Lorem Ipsum

Use placeholder text to help utilise text boxes

A small new feature that will help save time when you're producing mockups inside Photoshop is the handy new Lorem Ipsum function. Select the type tool and draw an area type box by clicking and dragging out a selection. Now choose Type > Paste Lorem Ipsum to automatically fill your type area with faux Latin text.

22. Use space to move selections

Once you've made a selection inside Photoshop using any of the standard tools, such as the marquee tools, you can easily move it around on your canvas. Simply hold down the space bar and use the selection tool you've got active to move the selection around.

23. History Snapshots

Snapshots ensure you can return to any point in the history of your work

If you're accustomed to using the history feature in Photoshop when you've made a mistake or want to back-track a few steps, this tip will allow you to take complete control of your artwork. Open the history panel, and click on the camera icon each time you reach a milestone in your artwork. This will create a history snapshot that you can return to at any point. Snapshots can also be used as the source for the history art brush!

24. Style text easily

Photoshop CS6 introduced a great feature that makes it simple to achieve consistent text styling. The latest version of Photoshop introduces paragraph and character styles. ChooseWindow>Paragraph Styles to open the panel, then click on the new style icon to create a new style. Double-click on the style to set font, colour, leading, kerning, open type features and hyphenation options. To apply to text, simply highlight the text and click on the desired style.

25. Apply blending modes simultaneously

If you're rocking CS6, a new feature that can save a bit of time is the ability to set blending modes for multiple layers simultaneously. You could always do this with opacity, but it's only with CS6 and above you can select more than one layer (by holding down the Cmd/Ctrl key and clicking on each layer in turn inside the layers panel) and change the blending mode for all selected layers at the same time.

26. Crop non-destructively

Your cropped areas need not vanish into the ether with CS6

Another nice addition to CS6 is the ability to crop without throwing away the bits of image outside your crop area. Choose the crop tool and uncheck the new Delete cropped pixels checkbox. Now when you apply your crop, the areas of image outside the crop will simply be hidden for later retrieval. To get access to the area outside your crop, simply choose the crop tool again and change your crop accordingly.

27. Hide other layers quickly

You can quickly get a preview of the current layer by turning off all other layers without losing track of which layers were visible and which were hidden. To do so, hold down the Alt/Opt key and click once on the eyeball icon in the layers panel for the layer you want to isolate. When you Alt/Opt and click again, the other layers will switch back on again, remembering which you had hidden.

28. Quickly create 3D extrusions

3D extrusions can now be easily added using CS6's new tool

You can now add punch to your titles using 3D extrusions in Photoshop CS6. The 3D interface has been overhauled to make it more friendly to non-3D modellers, and it's now really easy to create high-quality, textured 3D type by simply creating a type layer and choosing 3D>New 3D Extrusion from selected layer. Shadows and reflections are easier to control too, making it a great way to create engaging display type in a hurry.

29. Use actions for common tasks

One of the most powerful features in Photoshop is its ability to record macros of common tasks, allowing you to automate mundane manipulation work. Open the actions panel to see a list of pre-defined actions that can be run. Click the New button at the bottom of the panel to record your own action!

30. Add selective focus

Blur gallery in Photoshop CS6 has made adding focus easier

With the new blur gallery in CS6 you can selectively blur and, by extension, add focus to your image. Individual focus points can be added to your image, with the amount of blur, fall off and iris size all edited directly on the canvas using the HUD. You can also add special effects such as lens bokeh with ease, making it simple to draw attention to the parts of an image you're interested in.

Photo Manipulate an Eye Catching Poster Design for Earth Hour

2016-01-26T00:58:00.002-08:00

Photo Manipulate an Eye Catching Poster Design for Earth Hour

In this tutorial, we will learn how to create an conceptual earth hour photo-manipulation. We are going to learn the process of creating depth of field using a few advanced tools. We are going to learn how to blend images so seamlessly that it would look like a single image using the Brush tool, masking tools and several adjustment layers. We will learn how to create light and darkness to make the background look seamless. We are going to learn how to use textures and give life to our image, and we are going to learn how to create a moody, dreamy tone using a few adjustment layers and lighting effects.

Step 1

Create a new file with a width of 650 px and a height of 950 px at 300 dpi (Dots per Inch). Background Contents should be White.

Step 2

First off, create a new layer and name it “background”. Fill it with black color.

Let’s open the ‘Dark’ image from the resources section for this tutorial. We will be using girl from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Activate the Magic wand tool (W)

Take color sample from the highlighted area.

Now you can see that black area is selected so now invert the selevtion (ctrl+shift+I) and activate move tool (v) and drag the girl image to the canvas and change the layer name to “girl”.

The result should be similar to this:

Step 3

We did not need the bulb so let’s remove it

Now let’s activate clone Stamp tool (S)

Hit alt and take sample from the highlighted area then paint over the bulb.

Zoom your canvas and do it properly see as below:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 4

Now duplicate girl layer (ctrl+j) and name it “Girl2″ then activate a pen tool and delete the neck part of girl.

Hide the original girl layer:

Now make a selection around the girl’s face and make a duplicate (Ctrl+j) of it and name it “Girl face”.

Now make a selection around the girl’s body and make a duplicate (Ctrl+j) of it and name it “Girl body”.

Step 5

Now,let’s open the Bike stock in Photoshop. We will be using some metal part from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Click the bike and press P to activate the pen tool and then make a selection around the some metal part and then click V to activate the Move Tool. Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “metal part1″.

The result should be similar to this:

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “metal part1” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Now make a duplicate of metal layer1 and name it “metal layer2″

The result should be similar to this:

Step 6

Now,let’s open the Wires stock in Photoshop. We will be using the wire from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Activate magic wend tool and click on the white part of the image .

The result should be similar to this:

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “wire” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Drag the wire little bit up.

Step 7

Now activate new layer and name it “Eye” then activate pen tool and make a selection around the eye and fill it with #1cc15c color and change the layer mode to color dodge :

The result should be similar to this:

Step 8

Now,let’s open the Bulb stock in Photoshop. We will be using the sky from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Now goto Select > Color range:

When the Color range box opens, input the following:

Drag it to the main canvas and name it “Bulb”.

The result should be similar to this:

Step 9

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “Bulb” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 10

Now, let’s open the black Edition stock in Photoshop. We will be using the earth from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Use magic wand tool and click on the black part.

Drag it to main canvas and change the layer name to “Earth”.

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “Earth” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 11

Now create an Outer glow which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 12

Activate a new layer and name it “Reflaction”.

Activate pen tool (p) and draw 4 squares and fill them with white color (#ffffff).

Change the layer mode to “Soft color” and reduce opacity to 75% .

The result should be similar to this:

Step 13

In this step, we will add a source light to our image . To start, create a new layer (Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N) and name it “cloud back”.

Now, activate the Brush tool (B) and open the brush set: “Brush Set – Clouds v1″ by – Ryoku15. To load them, simply, right click on our canvas through any layer and then click on the drop-down button as shown below:

This will prompt the contextual menu to pop up and once you see that, just click on Load Brushes.

You will now be prompted to this directory: Adobe Photoshop > Presets > Brushes so make sure that you have put the brushes within this folder. Now locate the brush set and click OK. Right click on the canvas again using your Brush tool (B) and now you’ll notice that you have lightning brushes. Now, let’s choose a brush:

The result should be similar to this:

Now create a new layer and name it “cloud front”.Choose any cloud brush and make a cloud.

Now load bird brush and make a new layer “Birds” and paint them.

Step 14

Now,activate a new layer and name it “Random shapes”.

Now activate pen tool and draw some shapes like circles etc and fill them with #507b43 as color.

Now reduce the opacity to “75%”.

Step 15

Now,let’s open the sxc.hu stock in Photoshop. We will be using the circuits from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Click the sxc.hu stock and press V to activate the Move Tool. Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “circuits”.

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “circuits” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

Then activate pen tool and make a random selection on circuits, activate a layer mask and then choose black as forground color and erase the areas beyond the bounds of the woman’s face using a soft black paintbrush.

The result should be similar to this:

Now creat a Inner shadow which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 16

Now Create a new Curves adjustment layer from the bottom of layers palette.

When the Curves box opens, input the following:

Press Alt+left click in between 2 layer’s (circuits layer and Curves) to make a mask.

The result should be similar to this:

Now Create a new Hue/Saturation adjustment layer from the bottom of layers palette.

When the Color Balance box opens, input the following.Press Alt+left click in between 2 layer’s (circuits layer and Hue/Saturation) to make a clipping mask.

The result should be similar to this:

Step 17

Now, let’s open the Moss on concrete image from the resources section for this tutorial. We will be using the Moss from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Now go to Select > Color range.

When Color Range box is open put this settings

Change the layer name to “Moss”.

The result should be similar to this:

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “Moss” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

Step 18

Now let’s reduce the opacity of moss layer to 35%.Then activate pen tool(p) and take the girl’s thumb as a referance and make a selection around it then again activate a layer mask from bottom of layer palette and mask off the waste part .

The result should be similar to this:

Now activate burn tool and paint over the highlighted area .

The result should be similar to this:

Repeat the same process and make other fingers.

Step 19

First off, let’s open the Butterfly stock in Photoshop. We will be using the Butterfly from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “butterfly”.

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “Butterfly” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 20

Now activate a new layer and name it “leaser1″.Now activate Elliptical marquee tool and make a selection around the girl :

Then go to Edit>Stroke:

When the Stocke box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Now activate a layer mask and use your brush tool (b) with these settings Now let’s erase :

Brush size: 100px

Hardness: 0%

Opacity: 70%

Flow: 100%

Color: #000000

Now create an Outer glow which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Step 21

Now,let’s open the Blue planet from Planets Stock Pack in Photoshop. We will be using the planet from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Click the Blue planet and press V to activate the Move Tool. Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “Planet1″.

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “Planet” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

Now create an Outer glow which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Add some more planets :

Step 22

Now, let’s open the Nebula Effects Fractal Stock in Photoshop. We will be using the Nebula from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Click the Nebula Effects Fractal Stock and press V to activate the Move Tool. Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “Nebula”.

Add a vector mask to the layer

Now Brush tool (B) with these settings Now let’s erase :

Brush size: 400px

Hardness: 0%

Opacity: 50%

Flow: 100%

Color: #000000

Now paint over the highlighted area.

The result should be similar to this:

Add some more layers of nebula and repeat the process.

Step 23

Now, let’s open the Rocket Stock image in Photoshop. We will be using the rocket from this stock image so we will need to transfer it to our main canvas.

Use pen tool then click on the white part then invert the selection (ctrl+shift+i)

Then press V to activate the Move Tool. Left-click the image and drag the image to the main canvas and change layer name to “Rocket”.

Next, activate the Transform tool (Ctrl/Cmd +T), then while the “rocket” layer is selected and then resize it as shown below:

The result should be similar to this:

I have already showed you how to load a brush so load the smoke brush and paint a smoke behind the rocket

Then use brush tool with #6092ae as color and pain the light flash behind the rocket

Step 24

Now let’s work with our font.

So now activate text tool(t) and Write “60″:

Now open black Edition then remove the black part from this image.

Now goto Edit>Define Pattern then name it as earth.See as below :

Now create a Pattern Overlay which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Now create a Bevel and Emboss layer style which can be found by pressing on the Create New Blending options layer button shown on the layer window:

When the Blending options box opens, input the following:

The result should be similar to this:

Now add some more text and logo’s.

source: http://psd.fanextra.com/tutorials/photo-effects/photo-manipulate-an-eye-catching-poster-design-for-earth-hour/

Apply shading to alternate rows in a worksheet

2015-08-28T00:37:00.001-07:00

This article shows you how to automatically apply shading to every other row in a worksheet. You can apply the shading by using a simple conditional formatting formula. Alternatively, you can apply a predefined Excel table style to your data.

Technique 1: Apply shading to alternate rows by using conditional formatting

One way to apply shading to alternate rows in your worksheet is by creating a conditional formatting rule. This rule uses a formula to determine whether a row is even or odd numbered, and then applies the shading accordingly. The formula is shown here:

=MOD(ROW(),2)=0

On the worksheet, do one of the following:

To apply the shading to a specific range of cells, select the cells you want to format.

To apply the shading to the entire worksheet, click the Select All button.

On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the arrow next to Conditional Formatting, and then click New Rule.

In the New Formatting Rule dialog box, under Select a Rule Type, click Use a formula to determine which cells to format.

In the Format values where this formula is true box, enter =MOD(ROW(),2)=0, as shown in the following illustration.

NOTE If you want to apply shading to alternate columns instead of alternate rows, enter=MOD(COLUMN(),2)=0 instead.

Click Format.

In the Format Cells dialog box, click the Fill tab.

Select the background or pattern color that you want to use for the shaded rows, and then click OK.

At this point, the color you just selected should appear in the Preview window in the New Formatting Ruledialog box.

To apply the formatting to the cells on your worksheet, click OK

NOTE To view or edit the conditional formatting rule, on the Home tab, in the Styles group, click the arrow next toConditional Formatting, and then click Manage Rules.

Technique 2: Apply shading to alternate rows by using an Excel table style

Another way to quickly add shading or banding to alternate rows is by applying a predefined Excel table style. This is useful when you want to format a specific range of cells, and you want the additional benefits that you get with a table, such the ability to quickly display total rows or header rows in which filter drop-down lists automatically appear.

By default, banding is applied to the rows in a table to make the data easier to read. The automatic banding continues if you add or delete rows in the table.

If you find you want the table style without the table functionality, you can convert the table to a regular range of data. If you do this, however, you won't get the automatic banding as you add more data to your range.

On the worksheet, select the range of cells that you want to format.

On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Format as Table.

Under Light, Medium, or Dark, click the table style that you want to use.

TIP Custom table styles are available under Custom after you create one or more of them. For information about how to create a custom table style, see Format an Excel table.

In the Format as Table dialog box, click OK.

Notice that the Banded Rows check box is selected by default in the Table Style Options group.

If you want to apply shading to alternate columns instead of alternate rows, you can clear this check box and select Banded Columns instead.

If you want to convert the Excel table back to a regular range of cells, click anywhere in the table to display the tools necessary for converting the table back to a range of data.

On the Design tab, in the Tools group, click Convert to Range.

TIP You can also right-click the table, click Table, and then click Convert to Range.

Source: https://support.office.com

Alphabetizing Menus in InDesign

2014-12-29T20:06:00.003-08:00

Ever have trouble finding a particular item in one of InDesign's menus? Maybe you know the item is there somewhere, but can't quickly locate it. Or maybe you just think it was there, but you're not really sure. In either case, you can track down the item faster by displaying menu items in alphabetical order.

To do that, just hold Command+Shift+Option/Ctrl+Shift+Alt before clicking on the menu title. Alphabetizing a menu also removes the divider lines that group related items together.

View Menu normal order

View Menu alphabetized

Or you can just view a submenu in alphabetical order by pressing Command+Shift+Option/Ctrl+Shift+Alt before clicking on the submenu.

Corner Stroke Effects

2014-12-29T20:05:00.006-08:00

Ever wish you could make a stroke only applied to the corners of an object? Here's how.

Use the Stroke panel to create a new dashed stroke style. For now, just give it a name and click OK.

Next, apply your new stroke style to an object in your layout with the desired stroke width.

Reopen the Stroke Styles dialog box and double-click on your new stroke style to edit it.

In the dialog box, set the Pattern Length to a large value (larger than any frame you expect to apply the stroke style to). For the Corners option, choose Adjust Gaps.

Make sure Preview is selected, and then just the Length value until you see the desired effect.

By playing with the values, you can make strokes that appear only in the corners of objects, or even strokes that appear to bracket frames.

Reordering Paragraphs With GREP in InDesign

2014-12-29T20:05:00.002-08:00

Ever have a sequence of paragraphs that you needed to put in a different order? If it's just one or two paragraphs, you could copy and paste. But what if you need to make the same change dozens, or even hundreds of times? In that case, it's time to use a little GREP Find/Change. The key is to use the Found Text expression.

Here's a sequence of paragraphs of contact information.

Say you needed to rearrange the last two paragraphs so the email address comes before the Twitter handle. No problem.

Open the Find/Change dialog box and click on the GREP tab. In Find What, search for a sequence of five paragraphs using the expression, one or more of any character, followed by an end of paragraph .+\r

Enter this five times and put each one in parentheses to group them into separate sub-expressions.

Now rearrange the sub-expressions by replacing them with the code for Found Text 1-5, indicated by dollar sign plus the number. And simply put the fifth found item $5before the fourth $4.

Run the find/change and voila, the information is reordered.

The one "gotcha" you have to be careful of is that GREP find/change will mess up any text formatting you have applied to individual words or paragraphs. So you should do this before you apply formatting!

Give your black and white art the outline it's missing

2014-12-04T01:11:00.005-08:00

Give your black and white art the outline it's missing

While line art works best in the stained glass technique, don't let a good design slip by because it doesn't have an adequate outline. If you have a design with a lot of solid areas of black, it's easy to transform that into more refined line art for this technique. We'll show you how using Photoshop's custom shape, Ornament 2.

To create the custom shape:

Press D to set the default foreground color to black.
Choose the Custom Shape tool from the Tools panel.
Click the Fill Pixels button on the Custom Shape tool options bar.
Choose Ornament 2 from the Shape preset picker, located in the Ornaments set of the Custom Shape Presets.
Press and hold down [shift], and draw the custom shape on your canvas.

To refine the lines:

Select the Magic Wand tool from the Tools panel.
Deselect the Contiguous check box and set the Tolerance to a low number; we used 1.
Click on an area that's black to select all the black pixels in the shape.
Choose Select > Modify > Contract.
Enter 10 in the Contract By text box and click OK. Depending on the resolution and complexity of your image, you may need to enter a different amount.
Press [delete] ([Backspace] in Windows) to delete the extraneous black pixels.

Don't flip flop between RGB and CMYK (CS3/CS4/CS5/CS6)

Multiple conversions between RGB and CMYK color space can degrade your image file since Photoshop rounds off the color values each time it makes a conversion. The best workflow is to make all of your image adjustments in RGB mode, then convert images to CMYK if you need the files separated that way for printing purposes.

Quickly select a table & display table headings at the top of every page in MS Word

2014-12-04T01:08:00.003-08:00

Display table headings at the top of every page in MS Word

When you create a lengthy table, Word doesn't display the table's headings (i.e., the table's first row) at the top of each page that contains a portion of the table. This can make multi-page tables hard to read. However, you can easily configure Word to repeat a table's heading row wherever the table breaks across pages.

If you'd like to use just the first row of your table as a repeated heading, place the insertion point anywhere within the table's first row. Or, if you'd like to use more than one of the table's top rows as your table headings, select them first. Next, choose Table | Heading Rows Repeat from the menu bar.

When you do, Word automatically repeats the selected row contents wherever the table breaks across pages. In addition, Word automatically adjusts the placement of repeated heading rows so that when you add or remove rows from the body of the table, the repeated heading rows always appear at the top of the page.

And keep in mind that Word doesn't display repeated row headings onscreen when Normal, Outline or Web Layout view is active. This behavior is by design; even though repeated row headings aren't displayed in these views, they're still applied when you print your document.

Several ways to quickly select a Word table

When working with tables, you often have to select the whole table to perform actions such as applying formatting or deleting the table. Actually, there are several methods you can use to select the entire table. Here's a collection of your choices. To select a Word table, do one of the following:

Place the insertion point in any table cell, and then choose Table | Select | Table from the menu bar, or using the keyboard, press [Alt]A, followed by C, followed by T.
Switch to Print Layout view or Web Layout view, and then hover the pointer over the table. Click on the table's selection icon when it appears near the table's upper-left corner.
Hold down the [Alt] key, and then double-click on the table. (This method doesn't work in Print Layout view or Web Layout view.)
Make sure your keyboard's NumLock key is turned off. Place the insertion point in any table cell, and then press [Alt]5 using the numeric keypad.
Create a custom toolbar button or shortcut menu item that uses Word's built-in TableSelectTable command to select the current table. To do this, choose Tools | Customize from the menu bar to open the Customize dialog box, and then choose Normal.dot from the Save In dropdown list. (If you want to add the command to a shortcut menu, click on the Toolbars tab and select the Shortcut Menus check box.) Next, click on the Commands tab and then select All Commands from the Categories list box. Now, drag the Table | Select | Table item from the Commands list box to any toolbar. (Or, if you're adding the command to a shortcut menu, drag the TableSelectTable command to the Shortcut Menus toolbar and drop it in the Table | Table Text shortcut menu.) Customize the button as desired, and then close the Customize dialog box. To use the command, place the insertion point in any table cell and then click the button you created. (Or, if you added the command to a shortcut menu, right-click on the table and choose Select Table from the resulting shortcut menu.)

Zoom to a specific magnification without the Zoom tool in QuarkXPress

2014-12-04T01:05:00.000-08:00

You don’t need to select the Zoom tool to zoom in or out on your layout page. Instead, press [ctrl]V ([Ctrl][Alt]V) in Windows) and type the zoom magnification you want Quark to display. For example, if you want to zoom out to 50 percent magnification, type 50 and press [return] ([Enter] in Windows). If you want to zoom in to 200 percent magnification, type 200 and press return ([Enter] in Windows).

Easy way to import an image into QuarkXPress

To import an image into a QuarkXPress document, you don’t need to first create a picture box. You can easily just choose File > Import, or press [command]E ([Ctrl]E in Windows) to open the Import dialog box. But if you do decide to draw the picture box first, you still have options. Not only can you use the same import commands, but you can also double-click on the picture box to open the Import dialog box. Before you do, however, make sure the Picture Content tool is selected in the Toolbox!

Advanced Hair Selection Using Channels in Photoshop

2014-10-17T00:44:00.001-07:00

Masking out images with complex edges from their background in Photoshop can be daunting for some designers and Photoshop users — especially working on images with very detailed edges and textures that even Photoshop’s pen tool, at its finest, can’t handle. Good thing Photoshop never ran out of ways to make things easier for us.

In this short tutorial, I will show you an old but reliable method of masking out complex images using Photoshop’s channels. This is a great tip for all the newbies and even for intermediate users out there so heads up!
Having said that, let’s start our tutorial on how to make an advanced selection using channels in Photoshop. For this tutorial, I will be using this stock photo from Shutterstock.

Step 1 — Open our stock photo in Photoshop. We will mask out the model from its background using Photoshop’s channels. This method is more effective on images with uniform tone or color and a clean background . So images taken from an indoor studio are the best samples. It is important to analyze the differences of your main subject and background in terms of light and dark parts, colors, and contrast; these factors will play an important role when creating a selection using channels.

Step 2 — We will start creating a selection using our channels. So with that go to the channel’s tab. Then click each channel one by one and look for which channel has the maximum amount of contrast. The channel that has the greatest amount of contrast—particularly between the hair strands and the background—will work the best for this one. Now in this particular sample, I choose the Blue channel for it’s great contrast particularly on the hair stands although the Red channel is a strong candidate if not only for it’s whiter skin tone. Later in this tutorial, you will understand why we have to avoid such in this instance.

Step 3 — Now we have to duplicate the Blue channel by dragging it down to the “create new channel” button. Then change the name to “mask.” We don’t want to work directly on the original channels because any modifications on it might cause us some unwanted results later.

Step 4 — Now basically our aim here is to make this image purely black and white as much as possible. We will invert our selection later so better think that all the black parts of the image will be the opaque parts and all the white parts will be transparent. So we will start this by strengthening the contrast in this channel. To do that go to IMAGE > ADJUSTMENTS > LEVELS or hit (Ctrl + L) to open up our levels window. Now move the dark point slider towards right to darken parts of the hair. Then move the light point slider slightly towards left to lighten up all the grey tone areas. You have to play with the point slider back and forth to get the right settings for this one (see ideal settings below).

Step 5 — Now we have to fill in the whole body of our model with black to include this on our selection. This is why we didn’t choose the RED channel earlier because it’s skin tone is almost white. The skin will disappear after the adjustments in levels and we will have a hard time recovering those details. Unlike in the Blue channel where details are still visible after some adjustments in levels because it has a darker skin tone.

So now grab the BRUSH TOOL and set the foreground color to Black then paint and fill in our whole model with black. Be careful when painting near our hair strands. Adjust your brush size when necessary. At this point we have to grab the DODGE TOOL and set the range to Highlights and exposure to around 25%. Paint on the hair strands to eliminate all the gray tones around the hair thus making it cleaner. Look closely while painting on thin hair strands and avoid diminishing the details too much.

Step 6 — Now that we have a fined black-and-white image. We can now activate the selection by holding (Ctrl) then clicking on the mask’s thumbnail. Running lines should be visible by now.

Step 7 — Now go back to our layers panel. we will create a mask for the selection. While the selection is active, hold (Alt) then click on the “new layer mask” button. This will invert the selection while making a mask out of it. And just like that, we just extracted our model from its background.

Step 8 — Now we can add more volume on the hair strands by duplicating the layer at least three times. To do that, select the layer then press (Ctrl + J) three times. Notice that the volume of the hair strands are gradually increasing each time you duplicate the layer. You can merge all the three layers by selecting all the layers and hitting (Ctrl + E).

Step 9 — Now for fine tuning, we have to adjust the color of the hair strands for it to blend well, especially when we place the new background later. To do this, create a new layer above our model and name it “edge.” Change the layer’s blending mode to COLOR. Pick up the brush tool and sample a color of the hair by holding (Alt) and clicking somewhere on the hair. Now start coloring the outer parts of the hair. Remember you can adjust the opacity so you can control it. After that, hit (Ctrl + U) to access the Hue/Saturation window. Now adjust the saturation and hue if further modifications are needed (see ideal setting below).

Step 10 — And lastly place a new background behind our model. You can erase some hair strands to clean it up a bit. Notice how detailed the hair is opposed to using the pen tool for selection. Not to mention the amount of time and effort you have to exert in order to have a selection like this using pen tool.

There you have it! An easy method for extracting images out of their background. This method can also be used—not only to when dealing with hair selection—but anything that is just too complex for the pen tool to handle. Hopefully this will help in making your Photoshop sessions much easier next time around.

Source: http://www.youthedesigner.com

Revealing Hidden Objects With Preflight Profiles

2014-07-22T21:37:00.000-07:00

Normally, once you hide an object in an InDesign document (via Object > Hide, pressing Command+3/Ctrl+3, or clicking the object’s Show/Hide button in the Layers panel), it leaves few traces of its presence. Hidden objects aren’t printed or exported, and they won’t show up in a Find/Change. They can, however, still affect other objects with text wrap.

But if you really want to give these objects nowhere to hide, use a preflight profile to reveal them.

From the Preflight Panel menu, choose Define Profiles. Click the + (plus) button to create a new preflight profile. Give your new profile a name, and in the IMAGES and OBJECTS options, select Hidden Page Items (plus whatever other conditions you want InDesign to check for).

Click OK, and then select your new profile from the panel menu. If there are any hidden objects, they will be listed as errors and you can double-click them in the panel to jump to their location in the document.

But you still won't see them until you show them (by pressing Command+Option+3/Ctrl+Alt+3, or choosing Object > Show All on Spread, or clicking the object’s Show/Hide button in the Layers panel).

With tools like these you can be the World Champion of Hide and Seek
(at least inside InDesign).

Using Gridify With Multi-Page Documents

2014-07-22T21:35:00.003-07:00

Did you ever need to create a grid of pages from a multi-page document, like perhaps thumbnail images of pages from a book?

InDesign's Gridify feature seems like the perfect tool for this job, but if you try it with a multi-page document like a PDF, it seems not to work (you can only draw one frame at a time instead of a grid of them). But there are two simple tricks you can use to make the magic happen and create a grid of pages.

1. When you select your multi-page file for placing (PDF, INDD, or AI), turn on the Create Static Captions checkbox in the Place dialog box.

2. Or simply select a second file to place in addition to the multi-page document.

With either method, make sure you also select Show Import Options (or hold down the Shift key when you click Open in the Place dialog box) so you can select All pages.

Then use Gridify as normal: click and drag to define the height and width of the grid, and use your keyboard arrow keys to define the number of rows and columns.

If possible, make a grid with the exact number of pages you want to place. Then just switch to a different tool to dump either the captions or the extra file (the one that you loaded just to trick the Gridify feature into working).

If the number of pages in the document you're placing is less than the number of frames in your grid, you'll have to delete the extraneous captions/image.

Rotation: Clockwise or Counter-clockwise?

2014-07-22T21:34:00.001-07:00

Have you ever had that moment of doubt as to which direction InDesign’s rotation angle is going to move your object? Are positive numbers clockwise or counter-clockwise?

I can’t remember myself, but there’s a little cheat that helps me look smart in front of a class. Just take a quick peek at the Rotation tool in the Tools panel. Notice that it indicates a counter-clockwise direction.

That’s your clue that positive numbers rotate objects counter-clockwise.

Negative numbers go clockwise.

This half-second glance saves me a lot of undos.