News From Adobe

Adobe has released Camera Raw 4.1 for both the Mac and Windows versions of Photoshop CS3. It features expanded support for additional cameras and has improved noise reduction and sharpening capabilities. You can get more info and download the update here.

Also, Adobe is offering a momentous discount (33%) to all NAPP members that purchase Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom™ between May 1, 2007 and August 30, 2007 through Adobe’s online store. When you do the math, it means that current US NAPP members can purchase Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 1.0 for $199 (a savings of $100) throughout the entire summer (Canadian and International members read disclaimer for restrictions).

May 31st, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Extended Plug Ins from Strata

Strata, makers of the powerful 3D app Strata 3D CX, have three new plug-ins for Photoshop CS3 Extended that will be coming out soon. They are Strata Design 3D[in], Strata Foto 3D[in], and Strata Live3D[in]. Strata Design 3D[in] will allow you to create and edit 3D models from scratch utilizing the same 3D rendering technology as found in the full version of Strata 3D CX. Strata Foto 3D[in] lets you generate a 3D model from multiple photographs of any given subject. In Strata Live 3D[in] you can create full, interactive 3D content for websites and PDF documents. These plug-ins are going to be a great way to take full-advantage of the 3D capabilities inside Photoshop CS3. You can find out more about Strata and these plug-ins here.

May 29th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

RC in the House!!

Well, just in case you hadn’t heard yet - All of us here at the NAPP welcomed a new Photoshop Guru: Rafael Concepcion. Rafael (he prefers RC) comes from New York and brings another dimension of creative content. He made his introductory appearance on this week’s episode of NAPP TV, and will also be generating all new content for NAPP publications and websites. I may even be able to get him to do something for us here at Planet Photoshop.

Also, we will soon be expanding the scope of our video tutorials with all new Photoshop CS3 Extended content. We will be getting into some creative applications of 3D and Video, with a few surprises along the way. Stay tuned…

May 25th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Kuler is Cool!!

Well, if you haven’t heard of Kuler, then you are missing out on what is possibly going to be a big deal in the world of color. Kuler is a fully-interactive web app for creating and sharing color sets using Adobe’s newest color engine. This is the same new color engine as seen in the newest version of Adobe Illustrator. The site gives you the ability to create your own color sets, or you can search through a library of color sets submitted by other users. It’s a good way to see what others are using and what color trends are popular. Check it now here.

May 23rd, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Free Acrobat eSeminars

From Adobe.com: Adobe is hosting free eSeminars on the new Acrobat 3D. These will be held May 22 at 11am-12pm PST, May 23 1pm-2pm PST, and May 24 at 1pm-2pm PST. You can find out more and register for the event here.

May 22nd, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

User Tip:

If you have ever worked with guides, or even any of the drawing or selection tools, you have probably encountered situations where the cursor is always “snapping’ to the edge of the document or to a guide line. This happens because the Snap To feature under the View menu is activated. It is a useful feature and it’s probably a good idea to leave it on, but you can temporarily disable it by pressing and holding down the Control key [PC:Ctrl]. This will allow for more control near those edges.

May 18th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

No More Freeehand

With the acquisition of Macromedia and the overwhelming grasp that Adobe Illustrator has on the current market; Adobe has no plans to further develop Freehand. The vector based program has been around for a very long time, in fact, I first started using Freehand in college but migrated to Illustrator just a couple years later. This perhaps may come as a bit of a surprise to some Freehand users, but I think those users who have been keeping up-to-date saw this day coming. A while back Adobe published the FreeHand to Illustrator Migration Guide, which is a downloadable PDF document and is a good primer if you’re unfamiliar with Illustrator.

May 17th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Lightroom Daily Doses!!

All you Lightroom users out there, be sure to check out Matt Kloskowski’s Adobe Lightroom Killer Tips podcast. It’s jam packed with video tutorials, written tips, and all kind of industry-related news. You can subscribe through iTunes or just go here. If you want to stay on top of what’s new with Lightroom, this is where you need to go.

May 14th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!!!

I just wanted to take a little break from Photoshop related news and send a shout out to my MOM. Happy Mother’s Day and I Love you.
Also to all mothers out there, I wish you the very best and have a Happy Mother’s Day.

May 12th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Scott Kelby Location Kit Video

Scott Kelby has posted a video on his blog that demonstrates how to set up his new light location kit: The Lastolite Scott Kelby Location Kit. This is the same kit that Scott himself uses on all his location shoots. This kit is available from B&H Photo in New York city.

May 9th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

“Suite” Desktop Pictures

Terry White, who produces the Creative Suite podcast, just posted some really cool CS3 desktop pictures/wallpaper. You can download different sets that are based on the individual premium packages or the Master Suite. They are pretty neat. Check them out here.

May 8th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

See the Possibilities!!

Adobe Systems has a very interesting page on their website where you can hear individual stories from Adobe® Photoshop® CS3 users in a variety of fields, talking about how they get the most out of not just Photoshop®, but the entire Creative Suite. You will hear from designers, production artists, web designers, architects, medical professionals, and amateur photographers. They all have very interesting takes on this powerful software bundle. Check it out here.

May 4th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Command-Option-~(Tilde)

I have used this keyboard shortcut several times in my tutorials to load the image luminosity as a selection and a lot of people have been unable to make it work on a Mac system. This is because the Mac OS has this particular keyboard command assigned to another system function. To fix this you can go into the Mac OS System Preferences under the Apple menu. Go to Keyboard and Mouse and click the last tab called Keyboard Shortcuts. Scroll down and twirl down Keyboard Navigation, then scroll down to ‘Move focus to the window drawer’. Turn this feature off by unchecking the box next to it. Now this keystroke will work inside Photoshop.

May 3rd, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (3)

CS3 Channels Online Training

My all-new online training course: Using Channels in Photoshop CS3 is now available online. This course gets you up to speed fast on using channels to generate intricate selections and masks. I also talk about image correction, black & white conversion and sharpening techniques. While a few topics are specific to Photoshop CS3, most of this course is relevant to Photoshop CS and CS2 as well. Find out more about this course here.

April 30th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

SAVE $100 NOW

After April 30, 2007 Adobe will no longer be offering Adobe Photoshop Lightroom at the introductory price of $199. It will go back up to its original price of $299. This is still an amazing offer and you have only 2 days left to take advantage of it. So don’t be one of those people that waits and then wishes they had done it. You can find out more here.
Also, if you want to get up to speed in a hurry, check out Scott Kelby’s new book: The Adobe Photoshop Lightroom Book for Digital Photographers. This is the definitive guide. It will get you past the techno-babble and will have you correcting images within the first few pages.

April 28th, 2007 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)