Displaced Effects

Here is a quick and easy way to use displacement maps to create a cool grunge look. Continue Reading »

October 26th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Effects, Tutorials, Videos | Comments (21)

Contests Everywhere

Happy Friday out there! First off, today is the final day to submit entries for the iPhone Photo Contest. You can submit up to three photos taken on your iPhone for a chance to win a $500 gift card to the Apple store. You have until 11:59 tonight to submit your pics. Click here for the submit page.

Also, you have one more week to submit entries for the Layers Magazine Back Page Design Contest. This contest is open to anyone 18 and over. Simply go to the site, download the image, and let your creative energy run wild as you design a Flash banner ad using this image. You can add to it anything you like–go crazy, but the supplied image has to be worked in there some way. The grand prize for this contest is an Epson STYLUS PRO 3800. Click here for full details and to download the image.

October 24th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Couple Quick Things

First Adobe has posted updates for Camera Raw 5.1 and Lightroom 2.1. These updates include support for a number of new cameras and fixes a few minor bugs in Lightroom that were in the initial release of 2.0. Click here for the update.

Also, speaking of Camera Raw, there is a nice video over at LayersMagazine.com on using graduated filters in Camera Raw. It is in Photoshop CS4, but is just as relevant in CS3. Check it out.

October 23rd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

MAX Is Coming | New Video Tutorial

The Adobe Max Conference is coming soon. Yes, this massive event is going to be in San Francisco on November 16-19. That’s pretty much right in Adobe’s back yard. What does that mean? Well it means that there will probably be a lot more Adobe people to network with. Not only that, it’s a great conference. I went to last year’s Max in Chicago and it was awesome. There are numerous courses in design, developing, and business management and you have the chance to network with thousands of people just like you. Find more here. Oh, and San Francisco is an awesome city to visit.

Also there is a new video tutorial here on Planet. This video explores more fun with custom brushes. Once you realize the amazing possibilities with brushes, you can just have a blast coming up with new discoveries. Check it out.

October 21st, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

More Fun With Brushes

Here we will explore another aspect of custom brushes to create a cool background effect. Continue Reading »

October 20th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Effects, Text, Tutorials, Videos | Comments (20)

Where to Learn More

I am noticing that a lot of people are really enjoying the tutorials over here at Planet and some are asking where they can learn more. For more in-depth training, go over and check out the Kelby Training site. We offer fully-involved online courses and DVDs, as well as a large selection of books by the best in the biz. There is also information about the Photoshop seminar tour. I attended these seminars a while back and the training is worth its weight in gold. All these training resources are reasonably priced and you get an even greater discount as a NAPP member.

Another good site for free training is LayersMagazine.com. There are not just Photoshop tutorials, but videos on the other Adobe apps as well. However, in my experience, the training can only get you so far. The very best thing to do is experiment and make your own discoveries. Check these out and happy learning!!!

GO RAYS!!!!

October 20th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

New Design Effects Course at Kelby Training

I am excited to announce my newest course over at Kelby Online Training: Design Effects with Photoshop CS4. This course is for artists, graphic designers, and even photographers who may want to do a little more with their photos. It is jam-packed with techniques on creating some of the most popular effects around. The cool part is that this course is non-version specific. Which means that even though some lessons utilize new features in CS4, they will still work in earlier versions.

Also, check out my other new course: Photoshop CS4 for Beginners. This course not only covers the basic components of Photoshop CS4, but also covers practical techniques that will have you correcting and retouching your images in no time at all. Check them out here.

October 16th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

CS4 Shipping Today

The wait is over! The entire Creative Suite 4 is shipping today. This includes Photoshop and Photoshop Extended and all the other apps that make this suite the standard for design, photography, and web. Be sure to check on which versions you currently have to make sure you qualify for an upgrade. You can use the eligibility tool over at the Adobe site to be sure. Also, check the site for more info on all the individual apps in the Suite. There are so many options now, you’re gonna want to be sure you get only what you need.

Don’t forget to check out the new NAPP Photoshop CS4 Learning Center to get up to speed on all the new Photoshop features, as well as, the new Creative Suite 4 Learning Center over at LayersMagazine.com

October 15th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Calling All Pen Scrappers!

If you do digital scrapbooking then you are definitely gonna want to check out the Wacom website. They are hosting an interesting contest where you can showcase your best digital scrapbook work and have a chance to win a new Wacom Bamboo Fun. There are a number of artists already in the gallery and you can look at their work and get ideas. Some of the artists’ profiles even feature a video on how they created their pages. Really interesting stuff! So whether you are heavy into scrapbooking or just play around with it, this could be a fun thing to get involved in. Check it out here.

October 14th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

New Video: Halftone Smudge Brush

I am always trying to figure out new ways to use brushes in Photoshop. There are so many cool things you can achieve with creating unusual custom brushes. Here, in this tutorial, we will look at turning a halftone pattern into a brush, then using the Smudge tool we can get interesting streaks of color. This is just one the numerous way you can use the brush engine in a creative way. So experiment with this feature as much as you can. You never know what you will discover.

October 12th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)