Learning Photoshop

Lots going on

2006-06-06T15:24:00.000-06:00

You haven't seen much of me at this blog lately because I've been deeply embroiled in writing and teaching. Just finished up a year as a Visiting Assistant Professor of digital art in Denver. Now it's back to writing more books and magazine articles. You can catch my column, Photoshop for Educators, in each issue of Photoshop User magazine, my features in Photoshop Elements Techniques newsletter, and my software reviews in MacWorld magazine. Which reminds me -- it's time to get back to work.

I'm Guest Blogging the Digital Photography Blog

2005-06-07T20:37:00.000-06:00

Darren Rowse, of the wildly successful Digital Photography Blog, has asked me to guest-blog for him while he's away this month. I'll be writing Tips about Photoshop for you digital photographers. My first post describes a digital darkroom workflow. Come visit and comment.

I'm Pro Blogging at the Unofficial Photoshop Weblog

2005-06-07T20:29:00.000-06:00

I've turned pro blogger, as an official blogger on Jason Calacanis' Weblogs, Inc. blog network. I'm writing on the Unofficial Photoshop Weblog and the Design Weblog. Come visit me there. There's news, tips, reviews, ideas and more on Photoshop, other Adobe software, and design. Weblogs Inc. network also includes Engadget, which Steve Jobs purports to read every day, and the popular Autoblog, among others. Joining this well-run blog network has given me support, encouragement, and some financial incentive to blog.

Technolawyer features me in Member News

2005-06-07T20:21:00.000-06:00

Sara at Technolawyer wrote a very nice post about me, highlighting my double-life as Photoshop author and recovering attorney, under the banner: Member News: Jan Kabili Wows with New Photoshop Book.

Adobe Buys Macromedia

2005-04-19T11:55:00.000-06:00

Exciting news in the graphics software world. Adobe is buying Macromedia.The implications are huge. Will Dreamweaver and GoLive become one? Will Fireworks remain as a separate program? And just think of all the great things that could happen between Flash and Photoshop.

Unique Flickr Search Engine

2005-04-11T16:04:00.000-06:00

Check out this unique search tool for finding photos by tag on flickr.

How to use del.icio.us

2005-04-11T14:21:00.000-06:00

John Udell at weblog.infoworld.com explains how to use the social tagging service del.icio.us in this screencast. Social tagging services like this are changing how we move through posts on the Web, as we create the semantic web.

Connor O'Neill's Pub

2005-03-20T23:35:00.000-07:00

Site of The Shortest Parade in the World
Originally uploaded by kabili.

The Shortest Parade in the World

2005-03-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Originally uploaded by kabili.

Have I mentioned lately that I love living in Boulder. Here's another reason -- today's Shortest St Patrick's Day Parade in the World in downtown Boulder.

Flash Forward 2005 is almost here.

2005-03-20T22:09:00.000-07:00

The 13th Flash Forward conference and Flash film festival is happening April 6-8 at the Herbst Theater in San Francisco. Flash Forward is put on by Lynda Weinman's lynda.com. This is an education oriented conference, with opportunities to learn from the best Flash gurus. I remember working at the very first Flash Forward conference back in 2000. When I got to the conference center in SF the day before, I thought I was at a major rock concert, because the line was already around the block.

Flickr acquired by Yahoo

2005-03-20T21:50:00.000-07:00

Flickr, the online photo-sharing site, was just acquired by Yahoo. I love it when a good idea reaps its rewards. Flickr was a mom and pop operation, founded by a Candian husband and wife team on a shoestring. What's unique about Flickr is that it allows photo-posters to tag their photos with subject matter keywords so other users can easily find photos by subject. Users can comment on photos, creating a photo-based dialog. You can make your photos visible to the public or not. And you can use Flickr to post photos on your blog.

Visit with me at Photoshop World Las Vegas

2005-02-24T13:47:00.000-07:00

If you're at Photoshop World in Las Vegas, come hear me speak on the latest tips and tricks for using Photoshop and ImageReady for the Web. I'll be in the Peachpit theater in the Expo hall on Tuesday March 8 at 2 pm. You'll find my book How to Wow: Photoshop for the Web at the Peachpit bookstore and my CDs of the same name at the Software-Cinema booth -- all in the Expo Hall.

Photoshop for the Web Training CDs at Software-Cinema

2005-02-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Software-Cinema just published a set of 4 of my training CDs on Photoshop for the Web. You can buy them one at a time or spring for the whole set from the Software-Cinema site. This is info you won't find on any other training CDs, illustrated with amazing artwork by my friend Colin Smith of PhotoshopCafe fame.

Algonquin Park, Canada

2004-11-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

Arowhon Pines Lake
Originally uploaded by kabili.

I've joined www.flickr.com so that I can post images to this weblog. Here's one of my favorite places in the world -- Arowhon Pines lake in Algonquin Park, Canada. I took this photo very early on a summer morning. You could hear the loons.

Mac Design Jan/Feb 2005 Designing Web Graphics Column

2004-11-09T16:21:00.000-07:00

Pick up the next issue of Mac Design to read my regular Designing Web Graphics column. In the next issue (Jan/Feb 2005) I'll show you how to make your photos into classy-looking framed and colorized thumbnails. Use the photo thumbnails as links on a Web page, or as a way to display a collection of photos on a Web page.

How to Wow Photoshop for the Web finished!

2004-11-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

I've just finished writing my latest book -- How to Wow Photoshop for the Web. Order your copy now at amazon.com. It will be published by Peachpit Press by Christmas. This book is part of Jack Davis' How to Wow series. Jack's book How to Wow Photoshop for Photography is selling like gangbusters.

2004-10-26T06:16:00.000-06:00

Enjoy these links to popular blogs. This post is inspired by a post on quotesexchange.com about making small blogs more visible.

1. Minding the Planet
2. Wireless LAN
3. Writing Resources
4. BillBoard
5. Stock Quotes Stock Trading Stock Help
6. Christmas All Year
7. Quotes from Famous People
8. Recipes at World Famous Recipes
9. Jobs and Employment
10. Quotes
11. Jokes and Humor
12. 480 Area Code Guide
13. Phoenix Arizona East Valley Community Index
14. HTTP in Phoenix AZ
15. Daily Bible Verse
16. Love Poems
18. World Famous Recipes
19. Recipes Recipe
20. Members Space
21. Search Engines - World Search News
22. Home Improvement and Home Remodeling Ideas and Tips
23. Famous Quotes And Famous Sayings Network Weblog
24. Life Story Writing
25. Links Page Link Exchange Manager Site
26.Photoshop Books by Jan Kabili
27.Digital Art by Jan Kabili

Another 5 star review from noted publisher John Feld

2004-09-23T14:44:00.000-06:00

John Feld, publisher of the respected PC Graphics Report, penned this review of Photoshop CS Complete Course:

August 31, 2004
Reviewer: John Feld "Writer on graphics" (Berkeley, CA USA)

Adobe Photoshop CS: Complete Course by Jan Kabili is a well-written book by a very knowledgeable teacher. First, Kabili's extensive teaching experience comes across in her lucid writing. The exercises are detailed, well illustrated, and completely self-explanatory. She does not talk down to the reader, nor does she make assumptions about skill levels. The book is divided into 16 sessions, each of which could be a complete class. And therein lies the problem: by deciding to limit the course to 16 sessions, many topics are not covered in the book. Although not purporting to be a reference book, it does not cover such topics as taking images to print or working with other applications; even Illustrator and GoLive are barely touched upon. However, as a course for learning Photoshop basics, the book is excellent. We imagine many teachers will choose it for their students. The book is one of a series published by Wiley in conjunction with Seybold.
From a review in PC Graphics Report

5 Star Review of Photoshop CS Complete Course

2004-09-23T14:42:00.000-06:00

This kind reader posted this 5 star review of my book Photoshop CS Complete Course on amazon.com:

September 3, 2004
Reviewer: Simone Lange (Anchorage AK)

The book is laid out in seven main sections and then broken down into subsections within those sections, there are two bonus sections in the back of the book. A great tutorial CD is also included in the back of the book. You get an overview of what you can do with Photoshop and how to configure Photoshop for your particular working style in the beginning section. Then each section goes through a somewhat logical progression into the many tools and techniques that you start adding to your arsenal of knowledge.

They advise that you load the tutorial onto your system instead of working from the CD. Of course the CD works on both MAC and PC environments. Every session in the book is setup in a step by step format. The bold type indicates the steps you should do, the non-bold type gives more of an explanation of that step. The steps are illustrated with a hot pink number and those numbers correspond to the illustration. Also offered in hot pink are caution, notes and tips.

As many Photoshop users know there is usually more than one way to do something in Photoshop. In some of the sessions you can find which step works best with the way you work. I got a nice refresher course on some of the tools and learned some new and faster ways to get some of my work done.

I would have liked some more info on some of the other programs in CS but this was a Photoshop CS book and not a Creative Suites book. This book is not a reference book either while it gives some really good info for those that are new to the Photoshop world it does not offer much for the more advanced users of Photoshop. This would definitely be a good book for beginning graphics classes. This book whets your appetite for more in-depth features that Photoshop has to offer.

Photoshop Elements Complete Course-Reader Praise

2004-08-11T10:02:00.000-06:00

I just travelled through your book, Photoshop Elements Complete Course, and must thank you for the great journey. I saw a few books on Photoshop Elements the past year and must say this was the best, but for all most enjoyable, book I saw. I learned a lot about the program and it makes me want want to put things in practice. So now I’m starting on Webdesign Complete Course. Thank you again and I hope you will be able to publish more on this subject in the future.
Regards,
Jan Herps, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Mac Design Magazine column - Sept/Oct 2004 Issue

2004-07-02T11:05:00.000-06:00

Look for the Sept/Oct 2004 issue of Mac Design Magazine, in which my Designing Web Graphics column tackles another new feature in ImageReady CS -- Slice Sets. Lots of you have wondered what this feature is for. I'll show you how to use Slice Sets in conjunction with Layer Comps to output multiple Web pages from a single file. This is cool!

Mac Design Magazine column - current issue

2004-07-02T10:58:00.000-06:00

Most of you know that I'm a regular columnist for Mac Design Magazine. My Designing Web Graphics column in the July/August 2004 issue--currently on the newstands--covers a little known new feature in ImageReady CS that you can use to make multiple versions of a rollover navigation bar. I show how to output multiple HTML files with rollovers from a single psd file using the Selected rollover state and the Output Multiple HTML Files output setting.

Article in October 2004 Photoshop Fix Newsletter

2004-07-02T10:51:00.000-06:00

The October 2004 issue of Dynamic Graphic's new Photoshop Fix Newsletter features a Studio column by yours truly. In this piece I show how to prepare a photograph for publishing on the Web. Photoshop Fix is devoted entirely to Photoshop. It's packed with illustrated tutorials and advice by Photoshop experts. The Studio section offers a broad perspective by trainers like Katrin Eismann (and me) on how to use Photoshop to solve a real-life problem. Check it out.

Article in SBS Digital Design - Aug 2004 Issue

2004-07-02T10:44:00.000-06:00

Look for my article on using Photoshop to change the background of a portrait in the August 2004 SBS Digital Design Newsletter. It shows how to use Photoshop's Extract feature to select complex objects like fly-away hair. SBS Digital Design is a publication of the well-respected Dynamic Graphics group. The In-Depth section is a special monthly pull-out section on a current hot topic in digital design. The topic for August is Selections in Photoshop. I'll be contributing to this publication in the future, so keep an eye out for my articles.

Presentation for Adobe

2004-07-02T10:39:00.000-06:00

I just returned from the Technology in Education Conference at Copper Mountain, Colorado, where I gave a class for Adobe Systems on using Photoshop Elements and Album in the classroom. The audience of K-12 educators packed the room and was very enthusiastic. Thanks to all who attended and to Holly Harris Monk of Adobe for asking me to speak.