Beginners Tutorial Taking a Look Inside Adobe Photoshop CS5

Photoshop Creative Suite 5 can be described as greatly improved edition brought out by Adobe. This specific edition is specialized in assisting video, film as well as multi-media experts. With its more efficient features and potent cropping and editing applications, Photoshop CS5 has made possible a revolution in the field of video recording / photo cropping and editing and formatting. Highly appropriate for architects, scientists, engineers, web designers, graphic artists and the medical community, this variation gives you the high end, and very simple to use composite and also fast selection applications to make your own modifying understanding an enjoyable experience.

Photoshop CS5 is actually targeted to aid amateur photography enthusiasts and movie publishers obtain excellence within their career. Here is a summary of some of its exclusive features:

Smart cropping and editing tools: Using its smart editing tool box, you are able to easily do whatever it takes to get perfection in your resourceful productivity with regards to a video as well as graphic. Right from modifying shades, to clouding as well as perfecting areas of the graphic, as well as correcting the image resolution on the photo, this particular edition is certainly packed with so many modifying resources imaginable. This modifying tool helps it be one of the better versions to date regarding picture as well as movie cropping and editing.

Painting and sketching software: With a variety array of artistic paint brushes, drawing applications, paint configurations can easily change the elegance and excellence of the picture. Using these types of easy to gain access to brushes, you'll be able to create exclusive photographs out of your regular pictures.

Edge refining and selection applications: Picking an area of the graphic couldn't be simpler using these types of resources. The actual advanced refining highlights of Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite 5 enable users to choose a certain area of the actual picture with merely a click to perfect it to perfection.

Compositing characteristics: With this feature, you are able to quickly line up components within your picture to include a special impression.

Enhanced printing quality: The particular superior coloring software features allow you to bring life to the otherwise normal looking photo. With more effective print preview windows and more features inside the print option, ones printed photo will genuinely match up to the standards of a specialist ten-on-ten picture.

In addition to the above functions, this Photoshop Creative Suite 5 version is certainly packed with more user friendly functions like Smart Objects, Red Eye Reduction tool, InDesign, Healing Brush, ImageReady, Illustrator, After Effects, and so on. These functions renders this edition totally user aimed. This software program is highly compatible with virtually all the formats of photos, that is, TIFF, PSD, BMP, OpenEXR, LPEG2000 and JPEG.

Did you enjoy this Adobe Photoshop CS5 Tutorial? Interested in finding professionally made Photoshop CS5 Tutorials? Well now you can. Read this Photoshop FREE Report and discover David Peters Photoshop CS5 Tutorials today!

All About Adobe Photoshop CS3

Adobe Photoshop is a well known high quality software package for working with raster graphic images and bitmaps. Most people consider it a superiour product when compared with the existing competition and almost certainly the markets leading programme of its type. Photoshop is frequently used as a tool in graphic design, for manipulating and editing images and has wide applications. CS3 is the latest and greatest version of Adobe Photoshop at this time. CS3 which stands for "Creative Suit 3" is available with various developed software programmes and bundles from Adobe. There are several different bundles available but most of them are not incorporated with the version of either Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended. It should also be noted that the Apple Macintosh computers and PC's running current versions of the Microsoft windows operating system are supporting the versions of CS3.

You can have quick advance compositing and quick selection tools by the use of Adobe Photoshop CS3 software. It comes with powerful editing tools, work flow enhancements and has a streamlined interference. The CS3 extended version provides great help to graphic and web designers, engineers and scientific researchers, medical and manufacturing professionals.

Several useful features like spot-healing brush, smart objects, red-eye reduction and illustrator are all loaded into Adobe Photoshop CS3 software.

Broadly speaking the products contained in Adobe Photoshop CS3 are intended for professional use but thats not saying you need proper training to get most out of this software.

With Adobe Illustrator CS3, you can create sharp edged artistic illustrations like clip arts, cartoons and other geometric complex patterns. You can have complete color exploration environment with the help of this software, along with that it allows you to apply colors dynamically to selected objects.

It should be noted that Adobe Photoshop CS3 is a very powerful programme which can in turn make it difficult to learn due to its sophistication.

Article by Kevin M. Sugrue

[http://www.tutorialhell.com]

Adobe Photoshop CS3 (PC) Full Version for PC

The Adobe Photoshop CS3 software offers you new advanced Compositing and Quick Selection tools. It has a streamlined interface and comes with powerful editing tools and workflow enhancements. The software is available in two editions - the Adobe Photoshop CS3 the Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended.

The CS3 version is aimed for professional and amateur photographers. It can be of great help to graphic and web designers. The CS3 Extended version is meant for film, video and multimedia professionals. It can be of great help to graphic & web designers, medical & manufacturing professionals, architects, engineers and scientific researchers.

The Adobe Photoshop CS3 software is loaded with several useful features like Smart Objects, Spot-Healing Brush, Red-Eye Reduction Tool, InDesign, Illustrator, ImageReady and AfterEffects. The software is available in six separate suites viz. Design Premium, Design Standard, Web Premium, Standard Production, Premium and Mater Collection. You need an Intel Pentium 4 processor, a DVD-Rom Drive and 1024 x 768 pixel monitor resolution to run the software.

The Illustrator CS3 is a vector graphics editor that allows you to create sharp-edged artistic illustrations like cartoons, clip-arts and complex geometric patterns. It provides you a complete colour exploration environment. Its Live Colour dialogue box allows you to dynamically apply colours to selected objects. The Control Panel automatically displays the options that are most appropriate for your current selection. This feature makes it easier for you to find the tools that you need for the task at hand. It eliminates the need to open a full panel of tools and reduces your workspace cluster. It also makes you more efficient as you need not dig deep into menus to find what you need.

The Adobe Photoshop CS3 software is available on a DVD format and requires 1.5 GB of disk space for installation. The software features a streamlined interface and Camera Raw enhancements. It has unparalleled editing powers that include live filters, powerful cloning & healing tools and precise colour correction. The software comes with improved Photo merge technology. It allows you to edit your 3D content. You can then incorporate those changes into your 2D compositions as well. The Adobe Photoshop CS3 also comes in a Student Edition. You need to submit a proof that you are a student to get the Student Edition at lower rates. You cannot use the Student Edition for commercial purposes.

Jayson Pablo, a dedicated writer of Rupizcompare.co.uk which provide information on computer software [http://www.rupizcompare.co.uk/computers-and-accessories/software.aspx] like Adobe computer software [http://www.rupizcompare.co.uk/computers-and-accessories/software.aspx?brand=adobe].

Become a Photoshop Expert in 10 Steps

After working with Photoshop since version 4 in 1999, I realize that nobody really knows every thing that Photoshop can do. This makes it a great toy and tool, because there's always something new to discover. But you can learn most of it and keep learning. I recommend the following habits if you want to become a Photoshop Expert.

For this article, I'm defining expertise as being able to:


imitate something from real life (e.g. how shadows and light really work, how glass and water bend light).
guess with reasonable accuracy how a particular effect was created by someone else in Photoshop.
troubleshoot your own errors as well as someone else's.
manipulate pixels non-destructively.
work efficiently through the proper use of shortcuts, panels, actions, and tools.
know how and when to use most of the features in Photoshop.

Here are the 10 things I recommend you do if you want to be a Photoshop expert.

#1: Own the latest version of Photoshop

It's pretty hard to really experiment with Photoshop if you don't have your own copy at home. Having the latest version is important too. Particularly with the last two versions, CS3 and CS4, new features are added all the time. These features usually either make your job easier (like the Adjustments panel), or give you tools that didn't even exist in prior versions (like some of CS4's 3D capabilities).

I do recommend you purchase your own copy. Please don't used pirated stuff. If you are a teacher or student who is not using Photoshop for commercial purposes, you are allowed by Adobe to purchase the educational version at about half-price. It is as fully-featured as the non-educational version. You can usually buy this version at college book stores, or online at sites such as creationengine.com.

You are allowed to run your Photoshop software on two machines. I have one copy on my desktop PC and one on my laptop for travel.

#2: Play and Make Mistakes

Experimentation and play is the key to learning something beyond the basics. Try out all kinds of tools and filters, and see what they do with different settings. You can't really ruin Photoshop. And if you do, you can reset all the defaults by closing Photoshop, then pressing and holding the Shift+Ctrl+Alt keys (Mac: Shift+Cmd+Opt) while Photoshop restarts.

Take a bunch of photos from your camera (or online) and throw them together. See how blend modes change an overall image as layers are moved around. Try all of the layer adjustments, and every filter combined with another filter. Don't worry if it's ugly. You're learning. And there's always the History panel to allow you to back up several steps and try something else.

#3: Take a Class

To be honest, I had an awful Photoshop teacher. He did little beyond schedule what we were supposed to complete in the textbook. I stopped going at one point. I had learned how not to teach, and four years later I was teaching Photoshop. What a good teacher can do is give you assignments you never dreamed you could do (and enjoy!) More importantly, a good instructor can give you personal guidance when you don't even realize you made a mistake, or there's a typo in the textbook, or you accidentally skipped something, and something goes wrong.

Finally, a good instructor will give you projects to do that give you real-world scenarios and specifications. This prepares you for making real money with Photoshop.

#4: Go to Seminars

Kelby Training provides absolutely fantastic seminars all over the United States. I have had teachers such as the amazing Bert Monroy and Dave Cross. These seminars have increased my creativity and efficiency in Photoshop beyond belief. The day-long seminar is always fun and very inspiring. Go to one of these seminars if you can, or find something comparable in your area.

#5: Read Photoshop Magazines

Photoshop User Magazine from NAPP is the undisputed master when it comes to American Photoshop publications. You can find it for $10 at book stores, or you get an automatic subscription when you become a NAPP member. You will need that NAPP membership to access the tutorial files online. Each issue has a bunch of tutorials at all levels, plus reviews of products and news about the industry. The magazine caters to photographers, designers and hobbyists alike.

Layers Magazine is great too, but does not cater just to Photoshop users. It addresses almost all of the Adobe design products. It only has a couple of Photoshop tutorials per issue. If you work with Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, and Dreamweaver as well, this mag's for you.

I also like to buy those really expensive ($15) imports from the U.K., such as Advanced Photoshop and Photoshop Creative. These can be found at book stores too. Unlike Photoshop User, they include a CD-Rom with every issue that provides all the resources for the tutorials, plus brushes, textures, and the like. These magazines sound like an awfully big expense at first, but they are so worth it. The tutorials are always very well done, and gorgeous to boot.

#6: Read Photoshop Books

Some Photoshop books out there are not so great, but most of them are really top-drawer. When considering a Photoshop book for purchase, look for three things:


Are the images really beautiful or interesting? I have a book here I taught from before I really evaluated the images. They are bordering on ugly. Find a book that makes you feel like you can't wait to create those images.
Is the book written to your level? It can be really frustrating if the instructions are too easy or too hard for your experience level.
Does the book match your learning style? Some books use blocks of text and others make each step into a bullet point. Some have more step-by-step images than others. Decide what works best for you and look for books written that way.

I do have three specific book recommendations. Each of the books below contains wonderful tutorials, and is written very well.

"Layers: The Complete Guide to Photoshop's Most Powerful Feature" by Matt Kloskowski

"Photoshop Fine Art Effects Cookbook: 62 Easy-to-Follow Recipes for Creating the Classic Styles of Great Artists and Photographers" by John Beardsworth

"Adobe Photoshop CS4 One-on-One" by Deke McClelland

#7: Do Online Tutorials

I love doing online tutorials. Some good places to find Photoshop tutorials are psd.tutsplus.com, good-tutorials.com, and tutorialized.com. If you work with online tutorials enough, you find some favorite writers. Look for tutorials writers who provide enough images, proofread their work, and don't leave steps out. You should be able to create a result that looks much like the one promised by following exactly what they have written. As with books, look for tutorials written to your skill level. But push yourself to do more challenging stuff than you're used to.

#8: Be a Community Member

This can take many forms. Sometimes I like to check out online Photoshop forums and see if anybody needs a question answered. I often find cool ideas for myself as well. I also hang out on Twitter, and follow a large number of fellow graphic and Web designers. They are always feeding me new links to incredible online resources. I have RSS feeds I read from my favorite design blogs, and I comment on all of the articles that move me. I read everything by smashingmagazine.com and minervity.com.

There are design communities in the offline world too, of course. I am a member of the local group called ADAC. When I had more time a few years ago, I was even a board member. Real-world design clubs are a great opportunity to learn all about design in addition to some of the business aspects of freelancing (ADAC once had a great talk from an intellectual property attorney about copyright law for artists.) More importantly, you can come away inspired with fresh ideas by looking at the works of others.

#9: Learn Other Adobe Programs Too

Photoshop rarely works in a vacuum for most designers. There are many times when a Photoshop project is enhanced by the contributions of artwork done in Illustrator, for example.

Learn how to save your work for the press using Acrobat. Learn how to create vector artwork in Illustrator and import the paths into Photoshop. Learn how to place your Photoshop files into InDesign. Learn how various Photoshop plugins can expand your design horizons or make your work easier. These are but a few examples. A thorough understanding of Photoshop must include an understanding of how well it plays with others.

#10: Teach Photoshop

I wasn't a Photoshop expert when I started teaching Photoshop. I am now, thanks in part to having taught it. Teaching Photoshop helped me develop my expertise in ways that no other experience can. When you have to communicate how to do something to someone else, you come to understand it in a way that sets it in concrete in your brain.

I often get my students to find something new to learn, and then have them turn around and teach it to another student. And when both students make mistakes during this teaching process, they both learn more. Writing tutorials - and finding out if someone can follow them - takes this concept step further.

Dawn Pedersen
Blue Lobster Art and Design
Web Design, Graphic Design, and Design Tutorials
BluLob.com

Photoshop Tutorial - Photoshop Tutorial to Turn Your Photos Into Watercolor Paintings

I cannot say enough good things about my best friend in the digital world: Photoshop. Suffice to say, I love it! As a Graphic Designer, I use it in 99% of all my projects, and now I enjoy using what I do to make Photoshop Tutorials for others.

You don't need to be a professional or even and "artist" to create works of art. Nowadays, you don't even have to know how to draw! I intend to create a series of tutorials to illustrate several ways to use this program for creating beautiful pictures and illustrations just by using photographs. In this particular tutorial, I will be showing you how to turn photos into watercolor paintings in a few easy steps.

The only materials needed to follow along with this tutorial are:

--Photoshop. I use Photoshop CS3, but you can use whichever version you have.

--A photo. Either a photo of your own or a stock photo. Some really good stock photos can be found for free at Stock Exchange.

That's it! I find a graphic tablet a nice tool for all work I do in Photoshop and they are fairly cheap these days, but it is definitely not necessary.

This tutorial does assume that you have some basic knowledge of Photoshop. Having a basic "beginner knowledge" of the program will help a lot. Also, there is a link in my bio for you to see photos that walk you through everything.

1. Open Photoshop. Then go to File-->Open, select the picture you want to work with and then hit "Open".

2. On the layers palette (on the right side), right click on the "Background Layer" and select duplicate. Do this twice.

3. Click on the first duplicate layer (this should be your middle layer), then go to Image-->Adjustments-->Desaturate . Then click on the second duplicate layer(your top layer) and do the same.

4. On the top layer, go to Image-->Adjustments-->Invert.

5. Still on the top Layer, set the blending mode (located within the layer palette, looks like this: ) to "Color Dodge".

6. Still on the top Layer, got to Filter-->Other-->Minimum and set the radius to 1.

6. Now duplicate the bottom layer(the one that still has color) one more time and drag it to the top of your layers. Go to Filter-->Blur-->Gaussian and set the radius number in the box anywhere between 1 and 5. Usually the more detailed the picture, the lower you will want to set the radius. Then set the layer blending mode to "Multiply".

7. Select the Paint Brush Tool, select the soft round or "fuzzy" brush shape at the top and set the size to fit whatever area you are working on. Set the opacity to 20%.

Go to Layer-->New Layer and name your final layer whatever you wish and hit "OK".

Then select the color you wish to paint with and paint the area to improve or change colors.

Each picture you do will have different results. Have fun playing with different levels and colors! I hope you found this Photoshop tutorial easy to follow. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Of things are better when you have pictures to follow, so I put together a set of free reference pictures to go along with this. They can be found here

The Top Photo Editing Software Is Still Photoshop

Over time since Photoshop initially became available, several different companies have attempted to make photo editing software to contend with it, however, pretty much all have failed. Microsoft even tried bundling Corel with all the PCs it was selling and even that didn't work. Individuals who purchased those personal computers still acquired and mounted Photoshop and would either uninstall the Corel or just never use it again. Photo editing software just does not get much better than Photoshop. Regardless if you are a novice only trying to make your Facebook pictures look better or a professional photographer you'll appreciate all to the impressive stuff that Photoshop can do.

With all the digital cameras available around the world in these days, downloading images directly into Photoshop has totally replaced scanning, sending scanner sales and prices falling. So, who needs a scanner when there aren't any hard copy prints anymore? The days are gone of driving to the store and dropping off your roll of film to be processed. Even pros who had their own darkroom are now able to digitally download photos right from their very costly, high-end digital SLRs. No more working in the dark with poisonous chemicals and messing with paper prints. A lot of printers offered today can print high-resolution images straight onto photo paper in various sizes so all the user needs to do is download the images straight from their digital camera to the photo editing software, adjust the levels, then print out the digitally retouched photo. What a time saver!

The photo editing software that you obtain when you buy Photoshop is second to none when it comes to various stuff that you can do to your photos. Most people will never use the advanced functions of Photoshop like learning how to mathematically alter the curves so the image is retouched to Art Director specs, but it is nice to know you could if you need to.

Designers and Graphic Artists love Photoshop as it is the easiest to use digital tool in making drop dead gorgeous collages and photo illustrations. There are some outstanding artists using Photoshop as their canvas and creating awe inspiring works of art. Galleries all over the world right now feature the work of these modern-day artists who earn a living manipulating pictures in Photoshop.

The fundamental concept of Photoshop is the fact that you can use it to improve or add to a genuine picture. In the same manner, Photoshop can be used to add things such as color or light. Photo editing software such as Photoshop enables you to use Filters in order to retouch and modify existing photographs and illustrations. You can run a photograph through one of these digital filters, such as Brush Strokes, or Charcoal and the end result will look like a brush stroked painting or even a charcoal drawing. You can also make photos negative or polarize them. You can saturate colors or improve colors completely. Pretty much anything you want to do can be done in Photoshop, the world's best photo editing software.

There are so many websites that offer various forms of advice on how to use Green Screen Background but most of them are not very detailed or specific. Make sure to check out my own reviews and posts on all you need to learn about Green Screen before following other advice.

Best Image and Photo Editing Software Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop - My Reviews

"Photoshop" has gone beyond being merely a brand name to become a regular household word, a verb and a noun. However, Photoshop is really just a brand of fancy image editing software. Fancy, and expensive, image editing software. Adobe Illustrator is a standard vector graphics editor, and Adobe Photoshop is a standard photo editor for pretty much everything else. According to Adobe.com, Standard Adobe Photoshop (not the Extended Version) is $599 and Adobe Illustrator is $699. The Design Standard Suite is over $1,000. What are your options for photo editing software if you can't afford Adobe Photoshop?

Below is a list of my favorite image editing software, including a couple of online photo editors:

1. IrfanView

Experience Level Required: Novice

Pros: Fast, compact, uses minimal resources, many features (even more with plugins installed), many easy keyboard shortcuts available, functions as a viewer as well as a basic image editor, batch conversions, slideshow creation, precise cropping, variety of screen capture options, handles tons of file types, straight forward and easy to use.

Cons: Does not seem to do background saves (file saving requires overwriting the previously saved version every time), photo edits apply to entire image even if only one area is selected.

My Review:

IrfanView is far and wide my absolute favorite image viewer/editor. It is not for advanced edits but IrfanView has many useful features for basic and somewhat advanced editing. It's the most fast and efficient viewer I've seen or used, with the editing functionality that is lacking in many general image viewers. IrfanView is quick, compact, and not a resource hog. Rotating and flipping can be done with a single key.

IrfanView also offers a variety of screen capture options that prove very handy. The screen capture function gives you a choice of capture area (whole screen, current window, foreground area) as well as method of capture (timer, programmable hot-key). IrfanView gives you the option between capturing with or without the cursor. Screen capture and zoom are done with another tap of the key.

Editing in IrfanView is basic, but convenient. Rotate, flip, crop, brighten, sharpen, resize, simple bevels, saturation, hue, add text, etc. Basic editing is simple enough even for a novice to perform without reading a lengthy manual.

One of my favorite features is the crop tool. Unlike cropping in some Windows programs, IrfanView allows you to see the pixel size of the area you've selected. If you try to crop a selection and find out it's still too large, the Resize/Resample function allows you to size it down to the exact proportions you want. Resize/Resample also offers some popular preset size options to help you make your decision. The Resample option allows you to resize images without losing the image quality.

A unique feature in IrfanView I use very frequently is IrfanView's Batch Conversion/Batch Rename function. The Batch Conversion feature is invaluable for resizing multiple photos at once. Likewise, Batch Rename is great for organizing those large groups of camera-named images. IrfanView even an option to rename your converted files. This is exceptionally useful if you are trying to make a photo CD for someone and have folders full of high-resolution, 1MB+ sized images that need to be shrunk a bit.

All this packaged into one compact - FREE - little program

2. Inkscape

Experience Level Required: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Relatively easy to use, variety of in-depth editing features, supports a variety of input and output types including support for Adobe Illustrator.eps files, filters make professional looking edits with ease, many features are easily tweaked to accommodate your particular needs, many options for exporting bitmaps.

Cons: Some features are more technical than novices may be comfortable with (prior experience with Adobe Illustrator would likely be helpful), resource intensive program, viewing files at full size has to be done carefully to avoid locking up the program, cropping took some time to figure out.

My Review:

I'd like to start by saying that I'm still only a beginner with Inkscape. Yet despite of my lack of knowledge about vector graphic editors, and vector graphics in general, Inkscape is still a convenient and simple way to create professional, impressive looking logos and buttons with little technical expertise or knowledge of graphics editing software. The simplest way to do this is to use the text tool to type out what you want, choose a nice font, and then play around with the various filters until you get the effect you want.

One filter is nice, but multiple filters can make something even more impressive looking. The logo on my blog is a result of doing just that. The rainbow-swirled paint splash is actually the product of a square with a gradient and several different filters stacked on top of each other. You'd never know by looking at it that it started as a square (a gray square even, if I remember right). Working with text is pretty simple with Inkscape and you don't need to rasterize it to use the filters.

Filters are in abundance. Options include the very basic (lighten, darken, sharpen, blur, etc), textures, colorize, "non-realistic 3D shaders," overlays, materials, bevels, and more. Resizing and rotating individual components is a breeze, but cropping them can be a bit confusing. Cropping in Inkscape is actually called "clipping" and it doesn't function exactly the same as most cropping tools. I had to conduct a Google search to figure it out, and even then I only found one or two sites that explained it in a way that made sense. I have re-posted it on my blog for your convenience.

You also have to watch your actual file sizes in Inkscape. If you work without setting the canvas size and go mostly freeform, you can end up with a very large image file without realizing it. If you've done this and try to zoom in, Inkscape's performance reduces significantly, depending on your computer's technical specs. It corrects itself well, but you may have to give it awhile.

The most advanced part of Inkscape is working with paths and nodes. Admittedly I am not experienced with paths and nodes yet. I have used them a little in experimentation, but for the most part I can't give a good review on the usage of paths and nodes with Inkscape. Flattening layers is also something that I imagine is possible, but I have yet to figure it out exactly. That's where the "Advanced" recommendation comes in. If you are comfortable using Adobe Illustrator, figuring out paths and nodes in Inkscape should be simple. I never got comfortable enough with Adobe Illustrator to have a definite opinion on the paths and nodes functions in Inkscape (and have not had a reason to use them much in Inkscape, either).

3. GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program)

Experience Level Required: Intermediate to Advanced

Pros: Great feature list, hover tips explain feature icons, supports a variety of input and output types including support for Adobe Photoshop.psd files, variety of filters for professional looking image edits, clean and efficient interface, generally faster load time than Adobe Photshop, many tweakable features for enhanced control, ability to easily reset defaults, supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts, results using GIMP are generally comparable to using Adobe Photoshop.

Cons: Lacks some features of Adobe Photoshop, certain functions take some getting used to, recreating some Adobe Photoshop type results may require additional steps.

My Review:

After familiarizing myself a bit with Adobe Photoshop, it took me a while to switch gears from Adobe Photoshop to GIMP, and a couple tools took me a little Google-searching to figure out. I can't say it's because GIMP is that hard to learn, but rather that I was frustrated and impatient.

Selection, crop, layers, filters, set the image size, etc. are all pretty easy. Gradient, fill (color and pattern options), clone, blur, smudge, airbrush, and various selection tools were also easy, but the clone and gradient tools took me some trial and error to figure out. The brush sizes also originally seemed to be lacking.

Once I experimented a little more, I was very pleasantly surprised with the ability to tweak the brush in a wide variety of ways. This helps greatly with pixel-by-pixel editing around curves and edges. You can tweak the hardness, opacity, angle, shape, aspect ratio and radius of the brush. GIMP even lets you add spikes and make uniquely shaped brushes. Editing the brush sizes and shapes proved to be an invaluable feature when using the clone tool to capture a very specific portion of an image. The brush editor allows you to create a brush up to a huge 1,000 pixels in size.

Another convenient feature of GIMP is the ability to open new images as layers, and open multiple images simultaneously. The locator icon (not sure its actual name) in the bottom right hand corner is also useful. If you zoom in too far on a given image and want to locate a specific portion, you can drag the cursor around the icon and go right to the desired spot in the image.

I didn't find as many filter options in GIMP as I did in Inkscape, or maybe they just weren't as cut-and-dry, but there are still a good range with many options. The real power to GIMP comes very similar to Adobe Photoshop. Layers and masks are allow you to create a wide variety of effects that are not necessarily built in.

Many of the realistic, elegant, or impressive effects can be created with layers. Just like using paths and nodes in Inkscape, layer and mask functions require a more advanced level of knowledge (layers and masks are present in Inkscape as well). You can use layers and masks to create more subtle effects than what I have had to use personally. Rays of sunlight, shiny and/or colored hair, realistic looking shadows and more can be created with these functions.

4. Pixlr - Online Photo Editing Software

Experience Level Required: Novice to Advanced

Pros: Offers 3 different types of editors - Pixlr O-Matic, Pixlr Express, and Pixlr Editor - ranging from novice level to advanced, creates beautiful photo effects without the hassle, allows you to save your files online, downloadable plug-in allows you to edit images "grabbed" off the web, variety of preset settings, lighting effects, frame effects, more advanced editing options available, allows you to edit images from anywhere, easy to use interface, many languages available, no registration required.

Cons: Pixlr Editor (advanced) and Pixlr Express (novice to intermediate) may run slowly when applying certain effects, functionality of Pixlr Editor is not as in-depth as GIMP or Adobe Photoshop, requires internet connection, may resize your original photo.

My Review:

Reviewing Pixlr is almost like reviewing 3 separate graphics editing software programs. I found and tested out Pixlr O-Matic first, which contains many preset settings for the photo style, then light effects on the photo, and finally a framed appearance around the photo. The photo styles all have interesting names, and some seem too unusual to be useful, such as having your entire photo in a double-vision appearance.

Using Pixlr O-Matic on a particular photo, I eventually decided on the "Melissa" setting, with a Vignette, and set the frame as "Cornered". Combined, the three effects made the person in the photo stand out with a hazy, dark background and a torn appearance around the edges of the photo. All in all, it gave it an elegant, aged appearance and all in only three quick steps.

Pixlr Express offers the same image effects, but allows you to edit them some. It offers basic image editing functions (rotate, crop, etc) and breaks down some of its other effects that are combined in Pixlr O-Matic. While Pixlr O-Matic is extremely fast, Pixlr Express may take a little longer to apply some of the effects to your image. Pixlr Express is still good for the novice user as it is quick, easy and very self-explanatory.

Pixlr Editor on the other hand resembles an online version of GIMP or Adobe Photoshop. There is a toolbox, layers, brush options. advanced editing, and more. It is not nearly as robust as GIMP, but just as with Pixlr O-Matic and Pixlr Express, its presets make more advanced editing possible in fewer steps. You can edit the brush, layers, masks, etc and also use the filters and other basic image editor functions.

As with Pixlr Express, Pixlr Editor ran slowly when applying effects, since it is an online editor. When I was testing each version out, Pixlr O-Matic had no delay, Pixlr Express had a delay while applying some effects (not others), and Pixlr Editor got held up a few times trying to make edits or test out various effects. When all is said and done, Pixlr can make time-consuming work into child's play.

The only issue I had with Pixlr was when it ended up shrinking my photo unexpectedly. It had been reduced in size by roughly 50%, maybe even more. I may have just overlooked an option to prevent that though, so I can't say that it would happen every time.

5. Picnik - Online Photo Editing Software

Experience Level Required: Novice to Intermediate

Pros: Easy to use even for a novice, basic editing options, lots of filter effects; ability to create collages, calendars, and other professional looking photo-imprinted items; no registration required, doesn't resize your photos by default, photos can be edited from any computer.

Cons: Many features and effects are not available unless you upgrade to a premium account, tweaking options may not be enough for advanced users, registered accounts only allow 5 photos to be saved.

My Review:

Aside from the landing page, Picnik looks and acts, in many ways, almost identical to Pixlr Express. The filter options are generally pretty similar, although Picnik has more framing effects. Some of the image effects are drastically different than those found in Pixlr Express. On the other hand, many fancy features require you to be a registered, paying user. Granted, registration doesn't exactly require a month's pay. Picnik's premium features are advertised at a price of "as little as $2.08 a month".

The feature list advertised (for Picnik Premium) sounds pretty robust, and the benefit is the additional features with the same ease of use. Picnik Premium includes more effects, collage styles, advanced editing tools, "stickers", frames, and more. Picnik Premium also lets you work without ads, and offers touch-up tools (burn, dodge, etc aren't included in Picnik by default), batch uploading, and special fonts. Prices start at $4.95 for one month, to $24.95 for 12 months (where the "$2.08 per month" pricing comes in). $19.95 for 6 months, if you want to get half a year less for the cost of one extra month. The 6 month plan almost sounds like an insult.

$25 a year isn't a lot if you're a novice user wanting to do a lot of photo edits. If you have more advanced skills, it may be worth it to you to minimize the amount of time you spend editing any one photo. Then again, if you are well versed in photo editing software, you may find Picnik's features to be too constrained and prefer more control over your images.

Overall, the basic free version of Picnik is an incredibly useful tool that anyone could use. If you don't want to register at all, you don't have to. You couldn't save your edited photos and edit history in Picnik, but you can always save your originals in one folder and then download your edited photos in another to maintain backups.

So which graphics editing software is really the best? You'll have to decide for yourself. Each of the ones I've listed (with the exception of Pixlr [Express] and Picnik [Free Version]) have their own defined purpose, and they all have their own unique qualities.

The best image editing software for you depends on your expertise, the amount of time you are comfortable spending, how often you'll need it, and what you'll typically use it for. Try each one and decide for yourself. Or better yet - use them all.

If you are looking for more tutorials, how-tos, and other troubleshooting help, be sure to check out Techie Beginners - a site made just for those who are just starting out in the techie world. Techie Beginners offers help with blogging, computing, and problems - like this one - that you might encounter.

Heather Bjorkman has worked with all walks of the techie life, from absolute beginners to those that are over her own head. She enjoys helping people better understand technology and sharing the information that she knows with other people.

Wrap 2D Images Onto a 3D Object Using Adobe Photoshop CS4

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based drawing program created to assist any user in editing with greater effects for the image. Similar to Adobe's Photoshop, Illustrator uses a vector-based program instead of using a bitmap-based program such as Photoshop. Many users do not understand the difference between bitmap and a vector-based program, so here it is. A bitmap image-processing program is ideally used for creating, modifying, and then outputting digital images of any type of photography/ graphic.

Though Adobe Photoshop contains many tools and various abilities to create, edit, and output wonderful images, the tools are nothing compared to that of Illustrator's. Typically, users purchase Adobe Photoshop for digital photography editing while Illustrator is purchased for creating images and graphics. Both can be used for each other's purposes and will do each other's job; yet they are specified for their abilities. It is recommended to purchase both instead of using Photoshop for Illustrator's purposes. Top new features for the CS4 version of Illustrator include the new transparency in gradients. This feature gives the user the ability to reveal underlying objects and create a richer color and texture when mixing multiple layers then covering them up with fades.

Following this there is a Blob Brush tool which will allow you to sketch with a brush then allow it to generate a clean vector shape which will even show the overlapping strokes. This will allow a smoother finish towards the end of your project. Refined Graphic styles will allow you to combine styles for unique looks, which will not disturb the object's current experience. Through this you may use an In-Panel editing tool which will give you access to editing tools directly onto the appearance panel, eliminating the necessity of opening fill in/ stroking/ or other tools which require more RAM (Random Access Memory) for opening. Overall, that feature will give the user the ability to finish quicker and run Illustrator more efficiently.

- www.trialversiondownload.com

http://www.trialversiondownload.com

Make Easy Money Online Through PhotoShop

I guessed it right! You are a proficient Photoshop artist! So why not use this talent for some fruitful cause or rather why not make easy money online using this talent of yours! Trust me, there are a number of ways through which you can make easy money online. Check out this article to know more about this concept. So here we go...

Hey why not create Photoshop brushes and sell them online: These brushes sell like hot cakes. Artists and designers crave for brushes. Unfortunately, there are many brushes available online and that too for free. So you in order to sell your product online you need to create something unique so that people go nuts over your brushes. Browse through the net, jot down the ideas and create something unique, something that stands out from the crowd. Instead of creating too many average quality brushes you may instead create one with superb resolution. I agree that actions, patterns, textures as well as other Photoshop related goodies aren't that popular yet you are free to build a remarkable collection using those. After creating your product, try selling it. There are innumerable downloadable and shareware software payment processing services, which takes care of the entire payment process.
Use your artwork for creating your personal gift store. There are innumerable services through which you can sell gifts using your personal content or artwork on a "print-on-demand" basis. You don't require spending too much by creating a stock base of products. In fact, the good news is that with these services you don't require to spend a penny. All you need to do is choose your desired product, upload the content, and choose a couple of options followed by setting your pricing. If would be better if you buy some of your personal products in order to check the quality of the output.
Why not participate in contests? This is believed to be an ideal way as you can easily submit your work to contests. However, for participating in such contests, make sure to give your best. If successful, you are sure to win some cool prizes, so for it!
Writing personal tutorials is yet another way. All you need to do is write them and post them into your blog or website. This helps you to attract a hoard of traffic to your blog and website and earn money in the process.
You can also earn money by selling your illustrations or photographs. There are many illustrations and stock photography stores that will pay you on per sale basis.
So friends, what is it that is restraining you...go for them and pave you're way to make money. With adequate effort on your part you are sure to reap the benefits. Jus think how good you'll feel when you make money through your own talent...don't you think that it's a wonderful feeling that you should take pride! In addition to those mentioned above, there are many more ways to earn easy money online with Photoshop.

Ready to learn how to make easy money online? Visit http://www.zerofrictionmarketingshow.com today!

10 Seamless Plaid Patterns for Illustrator and Photoshop

Posted in: Freebies,Pattern Swatches,Plaid Pattern Swatches,Vector Freebies

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Photoshop Plan Graphic Illustration Technique - Soft Light Stylized Edges

There are many techniques for creating unique plan illustration graphics in Photoshop. I'd like to share one that has come in handy for producing graphics similar to ones seen in magazines such as Time or Newsweek, but with a fun graphic flare. (Note: this technique does not have to be limited to architectural illustration. Try it out on general graphic design projects, and most importantly, have fun experimenting!

The first step is to create your graphic as you usually do, complete with shadows from trees and other elements. I have found that using very detailed brushes (ones that show tight detail when zoomed in closely) work well with this technique. Sometimes using abstract filters from the filters pull-down menu can make smaller details disappear, but this technique actually highlights details nicely.

If you have created your graphic using multiple layers (which I highly encourage you to do so as to take advantage of the full capabilities of Photoshop), you'll need to create a flattened version for this next step. I recommend making a separate file by saving your layered.psd file, flatten the image, then save as a second.psd file so you can experiment freely with this technique.

Make a copy of your layer containing your graphic. On the layer that you copied (which is above the original layer), click the Filter pull-down menu, select "Stylize", and select "Find Edges" from this submenu. Type Ctrl+U to pull up the Hue/Saturation sliders, and slide the saturation all the way to the left to remove all color. Finally, select "Soft Light" from the layer styles pull-down menu, and adust the opacity down a bit, roughly 80-90%.

You can play with the saturation of your original graphic, which stays beneath the Soft Light Edges layer, and see what unique adjustments you come up with. This technique takes a good looking graphic and turns it into a great looking, uniquely stylized one that looks as though it took twice the time to create as it actually did. Have fun!

Eric Howard is an architectural illustrator and owner of Solis Studio, http://www.solis-studio.com/. Eric has been designing and illustrating professionally for 14 years, serving clients across the country. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in design and a Masters degree in landscape architecture. Eric is a member of the American Society of Architectural Illustrators and the National Association of Photoshop Professionals.

4 Ways to Make Money With Photoshop Brushes

Creating your own designs using Photoshop brushes with commercial license is a number one prerequisite for each of the money making ideas we will present in this article.

There are various ways to make money creating your own stuff on-line. Everyone knows about various on-line services that let you upload your designs, apply them on various items like, mugs, apparels, t-shirts, personal gifts and so on.

Let's just mention cafepress.com, zazzle.com, fotomoto.com and similar.

However, not everyone is aware of four additional ways to make money with your designs even if you are a total newbie and don't know much about Photoshop or similar graphic design software.

These are:

Rubber stamping
Paper design
Wallpaper design
Logo design
Now, here is how it works.

Let's say you want to go into Rubber stamp business, but you are not so good with Photoshop or similar software. Or, you even might be good at these but you are going through some kind of creativity block. Don't let that stop you from doing what you want to do.

All you need is Photoshop, a good collection of PS brushes with commercial use license and a little bit of time.

1. Rubber stamping

There is a whole deal of sites explaining how to about rubber stamping, which is, by the way, increasingly popular in US. So, if you don't really have an idea on the shapes for the stamp, just find some cool Photoshop brushes (for instance floral or swirls) turn them into rubber stamps and - voila, you have your own product for sale.

2. Paper design

You guessed, same applies here. With Photoshop brushes you can create patterns for paper design. Then, you can sell that design on sites like picturepaper.com

3. Wallpaper

designers earn from $30.000 - $80.000 per year. So, if you are thinking about starting a career there, again, Photoshop brushes will get you up to speed in no time.

4. Logo design

There are a bunch of places where you can compete in logo design contest. One of my favorite one is crowdspring.com. But don't miss eLance or FreeLancer either. Again, if you own a good collection of Photoshop brushes with commercial license - jump in!

Of course, there are, virtually, unlimited ways to use Photoshop brushes in creative process. Especially if you are just a beginner, but also if you are experienced in Photoshop going through a creative block - Photoshop brushes will be here to save your day. As I said in the beginning you just need to be sure that the brushes you use come with the commercial use license.

Interested in Photoshop brushes with commercial license? Visit the Graphics-Illustrations.Com Blog for help with photoshop brushes, as well as Adobe Photoshop.

Darijan Gasevic is an experienced copywriter, graphic designer and business consultant. Also, Mr. Gasevic is co-owner of several graphics design related web sites.