Photoshop Quickies

You can convert any design / shape / pattern into a brush in Photoshop. Simply select the area (or don’t select anything to use the entire canvas) and go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. If you have a favorite brush that you use, but wish that it was facing a different direction or was rotated in some way, this is the technique you will use to change that. Of course you can always rotate and flip things after the fact, but that can be a pain.

In order to invert an Adobe Photoshop Brush’s direction:

• Create a brand new document that is at least larger than the brush shape you are changing.
• Select the brush tool in the shape and size you need. The bigger the better because you can always scale it down. But if you start small, scaling it up won’t be as pretty.
• Create a new blank layer
• Click once without dragging to “stamp” the layer with the brush
• Press Command (mac) or Control (PC) - T to “Free Transform”. Here you can flip it around scale it, do whatever you want to it.
• When you are done, go to Edit > Define Brush Preset. Here you can name it and you’ll have a new brush at your disposal!

For anyone who doesn’t know how to use the pen tool very well but wishes they did, allow me to point you to a recent article over on Veerle’s blog. She offers up an Adobe Illustrator file where she has some exercises layed out for you to start learning how it all works. If any of you know me, you know I live by the pen tool. To me, it is one of the most powerful tools in the creative suite and mastering it is a powerful tool for any designer.

Check it out.

For certifications like 642-445 as well as 70-526, previous credits are of significance. Now a 650-178 will ensure your entry into he programs. You will then be able to go on for advanced courses like 642-565 as well as 1z0-032.

I gotta admit, the Art History brush is not one of my go-to tools in Adobe Photoshop. It just seems to me that anything I could do with that, I could accomplish chronologically a different way, instead of working backwards like the Art History brush does.

It is far from useless though. Jennifer Farley from Laughing Lion posted a great, very simple tutorial on using the Art History brush to recolor certain parts of a photograph that you previously turned grayscale. Plus she has an awesome Irish accent, so that’s worth checking out alone =)

This is what I consider to be a pretty serious bug. Sometimes when opening a new application in OS X 10.4, instantly every single one of my applications will unexpectedly quit.

I wish I had an answer for myself on this one.

Basically online marketing prefers some prerequisites. They are having a wireless
router. Of course there are perks like wireless
speakers etc but more important is the set up of a secure network. Then a
trusted hosting service like hostgator
should be used. With this step, you will be able to download
software of your choice in no time, whether it is a mobile phone
software or something heavier like Google earth.

I am getting in the habit of screen capturing the unusual dialog boxes Photoshop and Illustrator give me during my design adventures. Here are a couple I’ve gotten in the last few days:

Erasing Hole:

If you have a really large image with a really large selection active, and then move that selection, it can take a while for Photoshop to erase the “hole” or the area that used to have image and now does not.

File Damaged:

&#@#$! Why, Illustrator? Why must you damage your own files so?

If you use use the Save for Web & Devices export in Photoshop, you’ve likely seen this “error”:

Some names of the files being saved contain non-Lain characters. These file names will be incompatible with some Web browsers and servers.

Photoshop is trying to be helpful and tell you that you are saving a file that uses a character in the file name that some servers won’t like. Since that file is an image intended to be used on the web, the end result is that the image will not display in the browser.

The problem is that this error sometimes gets triggered when saving filenames that are completely normal and contain no irregular characters at all. WTF? My solution is to just check the Don’t Show Again checkbox and be done with it. Just avoid using any weird characters like /\!@#$%^&*()+=~<> and stuff like that.

What is up with that?

There might be a better way, but my current solutions is just to do the dang text in Illustrator, rotate it there, and copy and paste it in as a smart object to retain it’s editablility.

If you are looking for a unique domain name, then definitely dotster is where you should be. Not only does it come with its own free antivirus software but backup as well. You can also get chat software installed. In fact if you get a wireless service too, not only will you b able to enjoy mobility but perks like wireless speakers as well. All you need to do is install zone alarm for a secure connection.

LazyMask is a service for graphic arts professionals who need a quick and cost effective way to cut clipping paths on images. They have a 24-hour turnaround, so simply upload files to them (using the very simple YouSendIt service) and you’ll have them back within 24 hours all clipped out. Check out the before and after:

That image is classified as “simple” and only runs $2.57. Prices range up to about $10.00 for advanced clipping paths (like the dreaded hair clipping paths). Payment can be made with bank transfers or with PayPal.

Advanced services like restoration are also available for an additional charge.

A 310-200 is basic knowledge and a prerequisite for 642-565 and 642-104. On the other hand, you can skip 310-200 if you have already done 1D0-441.

Someone called psychochild on the North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club, Inc. Forums (randomly) has posted a tutorial on photoshopping up your own car like a car from the Disney movie “Cars.”

A bunch of people followed up and did up their own cars, it’s worth a look!

Now how am I supposed to troubleshoot that?! =)