Screencast - Photoshop CS6

I'm back again but this time with a screen-cast! In this screen-cast I will be talking about Photoshop CS6 and some of the more exciting new features that will be available in the next version. I also touch a bit on whether or not its worth the upgrade. I only show you a few of the features that I personally liked but there are way more then that. I hope you enjoy!

Video Notes: Just a quick note, I caution you about your volume when you listen. I have a great mic but at the same time it can pick up a lot of things. At around 2:40 and toward the end I encounter random loud static noises, every time I redid this screen-cast I encountered these randomly so you will just have to bare with them. Thank you and sorry if you are just now seeing this and I already ruptured your ear drum.

Have you used an adobe product before? (Google Spreadsheet Survey)

As an avid adobe product user, web designer, and just graphic enthusiast; I wonder how many more people out there in our class have some sort of experience or knowledge of any of the adobe products that I have listed in my spreadsheet that will be linked at the bottom of this post.

Please add a 1 to the quantity of adobe products that you have used before. Hopefully everyone who visits has at least used 1 of these products, but if not don't worry, there is a "None" option just for you, just add 1 to the quantity of none. Thanks!

Click here for my spreadsheet

My Photoshop/Illustrator Designs, In a Flickr Slideshow!

Click HERE to check out my slideshow I made in Flickr. It's a slideshow of 4 designs I made using Illustrator and Photoshop. I added tags and descriptions on each photo. Each photo was a design I made in my computer classes at CSN. I'm glad to have taken such great classes so that I could produce great designs like the ones in the slideshow. Althought two of the designs are made in Illustrator and my blog is mainly focused on Photoshop. I find them pretty similar and I did some work in photoshop on each of the designs so I hope its not a problem. Check it out!

Sams Teach Yourself Flickr In 10 Minutes - My Book Report

The book I read and that I will be reviewing today is Sams Teach Yourself Flickr® in 10 Minutes published by Sams Publisher. The author is Steve Holzner, an award winning author in the field of science and tech books. The book is sorted into 10 lessons with each lesson having subsections. The book goes step by step through Flickr which is a photo and video sharing website, web services suite, and online community that was created by Ludicorp in 2004.

The book is about Flickr and how to use it from start to finish. Don’t let the title mislead you, you can’t read this book in 10 minutes but the general idea is that it takes 10 minutes to learn how to use Flickr. He goes in depth about every aspect of Flickr in this book. By the time you get to the end, he provides troubleshooting tips and a Q&A session so you don’t read the whole book and then still have questions. 

Anyone who loves taking photos or shooting videos will love Flickr. Flickr also has a public library of photos that you can search from, so if you just want to look at other peoples photos you can. I recommend Flickr for anyone interested in these things. 

I found this book very helpful as I knew nothing about Flickr except that you could upload photos onto it. I didn’t realize it was so much more than just that. It’s a community that comes together to share photos, videos, and more. You can also edit photos, a feature I had no clue Flickr had. This book went step-by-step through every aspect of Flickr and going in-depth on each feature that Flickr has. From signing up, to uploading photos, to editing photos, working with videos, and troubleshooting any problems you have.

Flickr is a lot like another web 2.0 application that I’m sure most of you are familiar with, Photobucket. Photobucket is pretty much virtually the same in many aspects as Flickr. They both have public photos you can view and both have photo editing software. The main difference between the two is that Flickr is for sharing and networking, where Photobucket is for image storing.

The strong points of this book are simple. You will know how to use Flickr after reading it even if you are computer illiterate, people who don’t know anything about computers will even know how to use Flickr. It literally goes step-by-step on how to signup, upload, and use Flickr. I can’t really find any weak points in this book. It’s hard to when it does everything it was meant to do, teach someone how to use Flickr. I know if I just say that this book has no weak points it’s not very helpful but if I had to just add some criticism I would say that it was indeed boring and it felt more like a long tutorial rather than a book if that makes sense. 

In conclusion, I have learned a lot about Flickr that I didn’t know before. I had no problems following the steps that the book laid out and it even had a Q&A section for any questions that I had. I recommend this book only if you want to know how to use Flickr without having to figure it out yourself. I enjoyed reading this book and I hope you choose to check it out.

Filter Forge 3.0

What is Filter Forge you ask? Filter Forge is a powerful third-party plugin for Photoshop that allows you to do some pretty amazing things with filters, and even create your own. We all know that Photoshops current default filters and effects are pretty bland and boring. Filter Forge comes with a visual editor allowing you to create your own filters, textures, effects, distortions, backgrounds, and etc. You also get access to their online library that has over 8000 user submitted items.

While it is a pretty expensive program to buy, it is currently 50% off for the next 2 days. If you are a graphic designer or digital painter, I would say this is a great tool to use to give your designs realistic textures.

Adobe Photoshop CS6: Sneak Peek

Adobe Photoshop CS6 sneak peek videos have been up on youtube for about a month now. They seem to release new ones to show new features they are working on for CS6. We do know that the new version of Photoshop will have a darker interface for a couple of reasons; to help showcase the artwork that you are working on, and to make it more consistent with other Adobe applications.

They have also upgraded the performance in the new version. Those who work on high res images will have less lag and performance issues (that is if you have a good computer). They have included a bunch of new blur, liquify, and color enhancing tools.

Check out the video series here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBIf9KljT68&feature=youtu.be

Goes up to #6 I believe..

Adobe Announces Iris Blur

Adobe announced a new tool for Photoshop CS6. It will have a new Iris Blur tool that lets you quickly add blur to an image that fakes a shallow depth of field. It’s a one tool-process that skips the traditional method where you would use masks, layers, and depth maps.

This will be a great new tool for photographers that want to add depth to their photos with a click of a button. I myself am not a photographer but to mess around with this tool with pictures will be very fun. I'm glad to see CS6 shaping up to be something great.


Read more: http://psd.tutsplus.com/articles/news/adobe-announces-iris-blur-for-photoshop/

Review of Good Photoshop Websites to Visit

Hello, I'm back to talk about some key Photoshop websites that I visit for all my Photoshop needs.

The first one is www.psdtuts.com, this is a great site that I've been following for years. You can subscribe for 19 dollars a month to get the premium content that includes premium tutorials, brushes, art packs, and etc. They bumped up the price big time since the last time I was a premium user, I'm not sure what the price increase is for, maybe they are adding more content. Anyways, It's also free! The free content is great, they don't just keep the good stuff for the premium users, it's loaded with tutorials and Photoshop addons available for your download. Psdtuts is just a part of the huge network of sites they operate, from web design to illustrator to flash, they have a specific site for each program that has great content. Psdtuts isn't just a tutorial site, it's also a blog, they roundup things around the web, interview artists, and just blog about all things Photoshop. Be sure to have a look around if you are interested in design.

My next site is www.smashingmagazine.com, this is a all-in-one site that has a lot of content and an active blog. It includes a coding section for CSS, HTML, and Javascript. Not only do they cover Photoshop, they cover illustrator! This site is pretty much the same exact website as Psdtuts, has tutorials, inspiration section(artist block anybody!?), and they even have a job board! Check out this site if you want to follow a true blog on all things design/coding.

I'm no writer so I may not get my point across as words can't describe these websites and how useful they truly are. Well that's it for today, check out the sites, let me know what you think.

Introduction

Hello all, my name is John and I am a computer design enthusiast. I am currently majoring in Web Design at CSN in Las Vegas. This is my first blog ever, so bare with me!

I have been using Photoshop since I was a freshman in High School and I hope to share my experiences and helpful tips to those who are new at Photoshop! I also dabble in Illustrator, Flash, and of course Dreamweaver but I want to focus mainly on Photoshop because I have the most experience with it then anything else and its where my true love lies.

On my blog list includes 3 websites that I really think you should check out if you are interested in design or coding. I will expand on these 3 websites in my next post, until then, I hope to see you around.