Trusted reviews: personal computers, internet and web, webmastering
September 11th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: Mart Gil Abareta
We know that with Photoshop, we can do everything that we want in terms of web and graphic design. This software has become a valuable tool in every designer’s works of art. Now, I have here the procedure from www.absolutecross.com in creating a pretty cool text effect to make it seem to melt into or “pop out of” your website’s background.
May 21st, 2005 — Graphics Software, Photos, Images, Fonts
Author: kay zetkin
Grotesque and ungainly images onscreen ignites in us different emotions and creates quite a stir on our moods. In fact, grunge manipulation are common in horror pictures and gothic scenes. Dark, mysterious, haunting, even sinister images have their own charm once they are used appropriately or as a certain site calls for it. Our web design need not entail that everything should be bright, happy, shining and attractive. In fact, it is also quite necessary to create the exact opposite of these bright and attractive images.
Images that scream of grotesque shapes against a dark aura have very shattering effect our senses that the way it was done often escape our notice. If we observe closely enough, these kinds of horrible, washed up or torn images are made out of very ordinary textures that we encounter everyday.
May 19th, 2005 — Graphics Software, Photos, Images, Fonts
Author: kay zetkin
Now, you can create your very own slideshow, store them, add suitable audios for them and distribute them all around for your friends to see. Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0 offers you this exciting prospect – indeed!
Image enhancement and organization are among the popular features of Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0. Also, this image editing software has a lot of tools that perform many a task. In fact, due to its many features, some of them are quite overlooked
So, we got out this feature into light for you. We know that you would enjoy this very much. Photoshop Elements allows you to create slideshows out of your digital still images. Since digital cameras have become less costly and more folks have been able to acquire them, the next question would naturally be — what other things can you do with your digital images? Slideshow presentations are one way of immortalizing memorable occasions and experiences. Anything you want to store up and treasure forever, in beautiful order, digital slideshows will be an effective alternative for you.
May 19th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: kay zetkin
Photoshop offers lots of drawing, illustrating and imaging tools for a web designer to take advantage of. In this tutorial, we will be given an opportunity to learn how to use the Pen Tool for tracing images in your computer and apply them to create a vector graphics effect by tracing.
May 16th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: BLUR LOTERIÑA
Are you tired of doing the same task over and over, say scanning? You might be wondering whether there’s a program that will repeat the job for you. Well, there’s one, the Actions by Photoshop. Curious? Then, read on.
An action is referred to as a recording of a series of commands that is used to capture repetitive tasks. These commands are to be applied to a series of files and will guide users in a step-by-step manner. It also allows you to play back recording. Here are some techniques.
May 13th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: BLUR LOTERIÑA
Do you want your image to have that commercial look? If you want to learn how to make a stunning background like what you always see on posters, follow these simple steps.
When you read a magazine, try to focus on the ad pages. Can you see cigarette ad with valleys and lakes for a background? Or a waterfall that was set behind a bar of soap? These images are called silhouetted images. When you say silhouette, it means that an image does not have a background of its own. It uses either text or other images as its environment. But before you can make this kind of image in Photoshop, you will have to create a Clipping Path first.
The first step is to put your image before a white background. You can do this by cutting an image from one document and pasting it to another document with a white background and make the necessary modifications. But, it is much better if you photograph your desired image and put a plain white paper or something for a background. Then, you can add text to serve as its background.
That was easy. But what if you are required to use another image as a background? This can be solved by the Clipping Path. How do we use this?
>From the Selection icon located at the bottom of the Path palette, click the Make Work Path. This converts any selected area in the image into a path. You can use the other selection tools to select an image. To select the white areas of the background, use the Magic Wand Tool.
>From the Select menu, choose Inverse to select the opposite areas. When you click on the Selection icon at the bottom of the Path palette, the selected image will be made into a path. Use the Pen tool to adjust your image.
Now, you will have to set your path to Clipping Path. To do so, from the path palette submenu, choose the Clipping Path. A dialog box will open. This allows you to choose which path to use as a Clipping Path. Now you can save the file in EPS or TIFF file format. This will mask your bitmap image when placed into page layout drawing programs or drawing software. Through this, any bitmap image will have high quality and will be resolution-independent.
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May 12th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: Maricon Williams
The special layers in Photoshop that applies adjustment onto its own layer is called adjustment layers. With them, you can adjust color balance, hue/saturation, levels and other essential factors of an image.
Adjustment is necessary when an image needs a premeditated change or modification. It quickly and easily enhances photographs and graphics to create an outstanding graphic design. Editing and retouching made easy – that’s the importance of layer adjustment.
There are two ways to do this. The first is the usual adjustment and the second is adjustment layers. Adjustment can be created on the actual layer itself by going under Image > Adjustments > and then choosing an adjustment. It will not work on shape layers (vectors) thus, duplicate the original layer before you make any adjustments. Adjustment layer can be created on top of the original. By this the original layer is preserved and the adjustment layer can easily be discarded.
An adjustment layer applies to all of the layers under it. If you had 10 layers of a complex design and you selected the uppermost layer in the layers palette and then created an adjustment layer, the change in color balance that you have selected applies to the 10 layers. However if you made a selection, then the adjustment layer will spread across the document on the special layer. If you make adjustment on a particular layer, it will only apply to that layer. To do this, simply press Ctrl or Cmd on the layer icon and select the layer. Create an adjustment layer of your choice and it will apply to your predetermined layer.
You can easily adjust the adjustment layer attributes by double clicking on the adjustment layer or simply throwing it away or hiding it if you do not want to see it. This has the same effect as creating an adjustment on the layer except the fact that it is more flexible. You can also consider exploring various adjustment layers on a layer but you have to pre-select the layer itself if not the adjustment layer will apply to the whole document.
You can also try layer masking to create harsh and distinctive variations from the rest of the document. If you are already accustomed with creating and using adjustment layers, they can save your time and effort. Adjustment layers are religiously used to ensure the efficiency and splendor of graphics as well as marketing ads.
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May 11th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: Lala C. Ballatan
Want your images to have effects that’ll make it stand out more and show up well on every background tones? With Photoshop, you could achieve these effects for your images by its features that work on light and dark edges. These allow you to work on bringing out the best edges of your image – lighten or darken it, anyway you please to match on background tones and make it stand out more.
Through highlighting edges of your photo, you also highlight its details. The method of unsharp mask and others like the difference of Gaussians increase the change in brightness close to each step. This technique’s standard version adds a bright halo along the bright edge of the step and a dark halo along the dark edge. Depending on what effect you’d like for your image, there are advantages in just using one or the other. Using both may not do very much to improve your image, though.
There are several advantages of using any of the effects for the edges on real images. One is that it reduces interference between steps or detail and the haloes from other, nearby steps. Another thing, the light or dark haloes make other features of the image stand out better from the background.
Start doing this effect on your images using Photoshop by following several procedures: 1st step is duplicate the layer holding the image 2nd step - apply the conventional unsharp mask 3rd step - set the layer blending mode to “Darken” or “Lighten”.
However, you must understand that this only works for 8 bit per channel images – those that can be put into layers but it could function also on 16 bit per channel pictures with Optipix plug-in that allows direct selection of dark or light edges.
If you are not sure about which edge halo to use, there are general rules regarding such: 1. On light background tones, light edges don’t show up well and vice versa on dark ones. 2. The halo should lie on the background, not on the foreground. This technique helps the feature stand out without having to change its brightness values. Sometimes the following rules are in conflict. It is necessary, then, to try several combinations to decide which is best. You can try both edges, light edges only, dark edges only. You can experiment since different regions of your image may call for different answers.
As you experiment for the best results, you’ll come to know that using unsharp mask filter may drive you to add too much additional local contrast. Understand that though adding some local contrast can make a bland image turn into a good one, adding too much creates a disaster. Take care not to add too much and make the image appear more like caricatures than photos. Remember that what looks best on the computer screen may not be the same in print since the process somewhat compresses contrast and blurs detail.
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About the author: Lala C. Ballatan is a 26 year-old Communication Arts graduate. Book reading has always been her greatest passion — mysteries, horrors, psycho-thrillers, historical documentaries and classics. Her writing prowess began as early as she was 10 years old in girlish diaries. With writing, she felt freedom – to express her viewpoints and assert it, to bring out all concerns — imagined and observed, to bear witness.
May 11th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: Shaun Pearce
People often ask me: What image file formats will Photoshop open or save in? What are the advantages/disadvantages?
Photoshop has the capability to open and save many different graphic files. Here are some of the most popular ones.
Note: When you open an image file other than a Photoshop one, that image will default to the background layer.
May 10th, 2005 — Graphics Software
Author: Maricon Williams
You can use your Adobe Photoshop in creating 3D images. Since 2Ds are obsolete and 3Ds are in, you might want to start enhancing your skill in computer graphics.
You can start making a cube. Your aim is to create an image of cube that is viewed in such a way that the three sides, left, right and top, are shown. Then, learn how to put different effects on it, like shadow, to make it more realistic.
Adobe Photoshop is an ideal program for making two dimensional (2D) images. But it does not limit you to this type of image. You can also create your three dimensional image, or the so-called 3D image, by using the 3D Transform. This will allow you to create simple 3 dimensional shapes or wrap an image in a 3D shape.
To access 3D transform, go to Filter, select Render and choose 3-D Transform. The editing box will appear. This is where you can find the primitive tools. These tools are used to edit the three kinds of primitives, which includes sphere, cube and cylinder. Also, these tools will allow you to create basic images and editing tools, such as Select and Direct Select. The Select tool enables you to move objects, while the Direct Select tool lets you to make adjustments by dragging the anchor points.
If you want to preview your work, use viewing options like pan camera. There is also the trackball that is used to move the 3D render around from different angles.
For the 3D shapes, create first the new layer. Fill it with color. On the 3D shapes layer, create some drop shadows or darker shades of color fills. And because 3D transform only distorts the pixels, you might need these fills to see the effect.
If you want to create 3D effects on your text, use the different transform functions. You can use the shortcut key Alt + E/F and then hold down Ctrl as you drag any of the handles to any desired direction.
Before you add filters or layers effect, you might want to rasterize your text layer. To do this, right click on the layer in the layers palette. Then, choose Rasterize Layer. You will notice that your text will be converted into a normal layer so that you can freely edit it. Create a backup copy because you cannot edit the text after rasterization.
Experiment on images. There are a lot of ways in which you can create 3D shapes, objects and text.
About the author: For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.ucreative.com