Category: Design
Branding a Brand
This technique largely grew out of frustration because, a while back, I was doing a project and needed a really realistic branding effect on a wood grain. Every tutorial I found just fell short of…
Double Processing to Create the Uncapturable
Excerpt from The Adobe Photoshop Book for Digital Photographers (for Versions CS6 and CC) NOTE: YES there is a newer version of this book, but this one has a landscape. ☺ As good as digital…
Photographic Toning Effects (from Sepias to Split Tones)
By Scott Kelby Excerpt from The Adobe Photoshop CC Book for Digital Photographers (2014 Release) One of the most under-used adjustment layers has got to be the Gradient Map. For years, I’ve only used it…
How To Prepare Your Artwork for Special Print Effects
It’s every print designer’s dream to work on a project that involves special print effects. Varnishes, fluorescents, foils and embossing are just some examples of cool finishes that can be applied by industrial printing companies, but the added cost makes these projects quite a rarity. If you’re lucky enough to have an adventurous client, or […]
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Using the Dodge and Burn Tools
Excerpt from The Adobe Photoshop CC Book for Digital Photographers (2014 Release) In older versions of Photoshop, when we wanted to dodge and burn, we had to jump through a bunch of hoops (creating special…
Showcase of Stylish Single Weight Line Art Illustrations
I love the abstract style of line art illustrations. It’s amazing how just a single stroke weight can be used to create intricate patterns and recognisable drawings with basic geometric shapes. In today’s showcase I …
Designing Wedding Templates with Smart Objects
Let’s face it. The designs you can create with Smart Object layers are not, from a visual aspect, any different from what you could create with regular layers. However, this is one of those tutorials that will blow your mind from an automation standpoint. The way that Smart Object layers can be used to create reusable templates is way cool and truly showcases the power of Smart Objects.
Geometric Effects
One of our senior graphic designers, Margie Rosenstein, asked me to watch the new season intro for So You Think You Can Dance so I could see the geometric, vector-looking video graphics that were used in it. They combined a da Vinci-style mechanical rendering with a Minority Report-like computerized vector effect that was freakin’ cool.
Desaturated Bleach Bypass Look
This can be done in either Camera Raw (part of Photoshop and Photoshop Elements) or Lightroom’s Develop module.
Quickly Trim Eyebrows in Photoshop
This retouch requires you to pick up one part of your image to cover up another part of it, and, of course, Lightroom doesn’t have any way to do that. But, luckily, this is the stuff Photoshop is made for. This technique is actually very simple and very quick, but has a big impact when it comes to your subject having perfect eyebrows every time.
xScope 4
The Iconfactory and Artis Software developed the first version of xScope for the purpose of designing layouts and measuring or inspecting onscreen graphics. This simple tool had only Ruler, Guide, Frame, and Screen modules that worked across all applications. Now there’s xScope 4, which truly enables a fluid workflow.
Softening Skin & Adding Texture Back In
This one takes a few steps, but it’s not hard at all. In fact, it’s simple, so don’t let the number of steps throw you. Also, at one point it does have a teeny, tiny bit of blur in it, but not enough to hurt anybody.
30 Inspirational Chalk Lettering Designs & Wall Murals
In this age of digital design I find the old analogue techniques of hand lettering and sign painting extraordinarily impressive. The use of traditional mediums such as chalk require real talent, which is why professional …
Removing Eye Veins
Technically, you can remove some eye veins while you’re in Lightroom using the Spot Removal tool, but if you’ve ever tried it, it’s pretty tricky and the results are…well…let’s say there’s a reason we almost always jump over to Photoshop for a retouch like this.