Tip of the Week - Who's Your Hero?

This week, Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider Guest Blog Wednesday featured renowned photographer Matthew Jordan Smith. Mr. Smith talked about the importance of having a hero for your photo. He shows several examples to give you an idea of what he means. It started me thinking about my photography and who my heroes are. I never thought of it that way before. I plan to start paying more attention.

Read the article and then take a look at the photo to the left and decide who's the hero? It could be different than the person you think or not.

Tell us who you think it is and why. I will take all reasonable answers and select one using our raffling software and send the winner a prize. So, be sure you post something!

Tip of the Week - Design Inspiration

We all have those days when we need a little inspiration. The Photoshop Facebook page recommended (and I concur) The Design Inspiration. It's a great site with ideas on logos, illustrations, patterns, fonts and more. There are also lots of great articles. So check them out and let me know what you think.

Another inspiring website you should check out is Spoonflower. You can create a design (example to the left of one I created using the Photoshop custom shape tool), upload it to the site and make a few choices (i.e. material and pattern type) and create your own material pattern. You can then order it and they will send it to you. The price depends on the material, but just think you can easily create a one of a kind pattern for your own sewing/creative needs. You can try it out and get a quick visual of your design choices. My niece has created some beautiful scarf fabrics using the site.

Do you have any inspirational sites you'd like to recommend?

Tip of the Week - Preparing Accessible PDF's with Adobe InDesign

From Adobe InDesign's Facebook page:
Preparing Accessible PDFs with Adobe InDesign CS5.5:

Part 1: New accessibility features in InDesign CS5.5. Take a step-by-step look at the new features in InDesign CS5.5 that make preparing files for accessibility a much faster, easier, and more efficient process:

• Part 1

Preparing Accessible PDFs with Adobe InDesign CS5.5- Part II: Exporting and Finalizing Your PDF. Take a step-by-step look at the new features in InDesign CS5.5 and Acrobat X Pro that make preparing files for accessibility a much faster, easier, and more efficient process:

• Part 2

Photoshop Webinar June 22nd

Just a reminder - I am teaching a Photoshop Webinar on June 22nd, 10-12. I have 25 signed up so far, but wanted to make sure those who forgot/didn't know had a chance to join. It's free, so shoot me an e-mail if you want to join. It should be fun.

Auto Save your Photoshop files with PsdAutoSaver

Although we should all save on a regular basis, you know how it goes. You get busy and forget and then lose the file when Photoshop or your computer crashes. Unfortunately, Photoshop has no setting as yet for auto-save. Electric Iris (as recommended by psdtuts+) has a great little application, PsdAutoSaver,  you can download that makes auto-save in Photoshop easy. It costs $19, but you can try it out for 30 days to see what you think. It's easy to set the time, etc. and can be really helpful for those of us who forget to save on a regular basis. Check it out and see what you think.

Tip of the Week - Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photographers Using Photoshop

So, you all know that Scott Kelby is one of my Photoshop "Gods". Here's a short clip of
Scott from the Photoshop Insider talking about techniques from his new book - Professional Portrait Retouching Techniques for Photoshop. I highly recommend Scott's books and his blog.

Also, a reminder about my webinar - Photoshop Tips and Tricks on June 22nd. I have a good crowd already, but if you haven't signed up and want to, shoot me an e-mail. It should be lots of fun. :-)

Photoshop Tutorial: Using the Extract Filter (or not)

The extract filer no longer exists - at least not as it did previously. Watch the following YouTube tutorial to see how you can extract images from complex photos and add them to another image relatively quickly with cutout and refine edge:

Adding Audio and Video Content to EPUB from InDesign CS5.5

From Adobe TV: