Tip of the Week - Photoshop Madness for Lovers

I want to introduce you to a wonderful site, Graphic Design and Publishing Center. They have tutorials and information on Photoshop, design, typography, photography and more... You can access their tutorials for free, but for a $7 a month charge, you can get all the files used in their tutorials - a real time saver.

This month, they have several tutorials for Photoshop they are calling Photoshop Madness for Lovers. Try some - I think you will learn a lot and have some fun at the same time.

Let us know how you make out and share some of your results.

Constant Contact Webinars/Tutorials

Pam Doherty sent me a link to Constant Contacts webinars/tutorials. I'm sure you will find them helpful whether you are using Constant Contact or considering it as an option.

Acrobat and Office 2010

Someone mentioned in a meeting today that they could not save a Word document as a PDF. I have no problem with it and  in fact I have an Acrobat tab on my tool bar. I figured out where it was (File > Options > Customize Ribbon > All Commands). Acrobat is in the list and you add it to your main tabs. Sounds great, right? Well, unfortunately it isn't. Siobhan and I tried adding it to hers, but Acrobat wasn't in the list! So I did some searching and found that while Acrobat 8 and 9 works with Office 2007, they are not compatible with 2010. Only Acrobat X is at this time. I have Acrobat X, so that explains why I had it and Siobhan (Acrobat 9) did not.

I realize this is a pain, but at this point I'm not advocating the move to Acrobat X. I have just started using it and actually prefer version 9. I looked on the Adobe site, and it looks as if they have no intentions of fixing the problem. Their solution? Buy Acrobat X! Here's a link to their comments and some ways to print a PDF from Office 2010 with Acrobat 9. Stay tuned.....

Software Price List for UNHCE Staff

Siobhan has been receiving a lot of calls with requests for quotes. In order to save everyone time/phone calls, I wanted to let you know there is a form on our website that has a list of current prices. You can access it by clicking on  the software request form. Click on the software tab for the price list.

Creating a Transparent Background - Part 2

I didn't have a chance to record, but I did create a step by step document on how to add a transparent background for CS3-CS5 and another for earlier versions of Photoshop. You can download the PDF and follow it here. I haven't used anything older than CS3 in quite a while, so if you find any discrepancies let me know. Hope it helps. If you have questions/comments send me an e-mail or give me a call.

Creating a Transparent Background

Here is a demo that explains how to create a transparent background with Photoshop CS3-CS5. I think you will find that it is extremely easy to use. Tomorrow, I will record a demo using CS2.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Seminars are Coming!

Check out the training calendar for some upcoming seminars in Boston during October and November (and a few more expensive elsewhere, but thought you might want to know)! I plan on going, so let's get a group together and have some fun while we learn!

Tip of the Week: How to Convert from Print to Web with InDesign CS5

David Blatner from InDesign Secrets says:

"The New Document dialog box in InDesign CS5 includes a pop-up menu labeled “Intent” with two options: Print and Web. This option is misleading in several ways. First and foremost, the word “Web” is a misnomer; it should be “onscreen” or “interactive” or something more generic. The Web is only one place where interactive documents end up."

Read the whole article, which I highly recommend. It will help you create documents, such as newsletters, flyers, etc. for print and web without all the extra work.

Tip of the Week: Free Tutorial - Create Thermal Photo Effect

This is a great tutorial - easy to follow and you get to use some filters you may be unfamiliar with and learn a cool new technique. You may think, where would I use this, but your kids will love it! Here's what you get:

This is the image the instructor used. It is Kate Winslet. You will find it (ok to use, because you do not plan to publish) by going to Google, choose image, Kate Winslet. It's the first one. Of course, you don't need to use Kate's image if you have one you'd prefer. Print the tutorial at sourceDaddy and have some fun! Let me know what you think and how yours comes out. Let me know if you have any questions.

Tip of the Week: Free Webinar

Sign up for a free webinar - From Print to Web: Becoming Web Fluent. It's one hour long and gives a lot of helpful information on transitioning from print to web, the use of color, etc.