The Best Mag Anywhere

If you are a Photoshop user, (and you must be if you are at this site), then you probably have heard of Photoshop User magazine. If you haven’t heard of it, then you must have a look. This is the official magazine of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals and it is loaded with the coolest techniques anywhere. It’s all the good stuff and nothing else. There are really cool tutorials, right within the first few pages. I write the Classic Photoshop effects column and the occasional Down & Dirty Trick. This publication is included with a NAPP membership or can be purchased at major newsstands everywhere. Click for here for more info and an interactive preview of the magazine and click here for more info on the NAPP.

June 23rd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

Photoshop DVD of the Week

Yeah, yeah I know. I usually spotlight a Photoshop or computer book, but I thought I would throw in DVDs because Scott Kelby just recently released his newest title: Adobe Photoshop CS3 for Digital Photographers. This is the resource for finding out those cool pro techniques to fix the most common image problems. This has been one of the most anticipated DVDs of the year, by novices and professionals alike. That’s right, professionals. Hey, they had to learn it from somewhere. Anyway, check out the DVD here and don’t hesitate to add it to your arsenal of Photoshop training. For even more, check out his book of the same name.

June 19th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Membership Has Its Privileges

Ask any NAPP member and most will tell to that one of the best reasons to join the National Association of Photoshop Professionals,besides the awesome Photoshop training, is the discounts. The NAPP has a long list of retailers offering exclusive discounts only to NAPP members. We’re not talking about mom & pap shops either. No these are major retailers like CDW, Apple, Adobe, OnOne, iStockPhoto, Wacom, B&H Photo, Epson just to name a few. Speaking of Epson, right now NAPP members can take advantage of an great deal from Epson. You can get the extremely powerful Epson Stylus R1900 for $75 off the suggested retail price and free shipping. Here’s the catch, this offer ends on June 28, 2008. So there is time, but if you are a NAPP member, don’t wait. If you are not a NAPP member and are interested in joining. Click here.

June 17th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

It’s Almost Like Being There…

A new class was just posted on the Kelby Online Training site and it’s called Photoshop World Live. The tireless video department assiduously ran over all the footage of classes and interviews from the most recent Photoshop World in Orlando. The segments were put together and now have been posted as a new training course on the site. This offers a great opportunity for those who have yet to experience a Photoshop World to get a taste of what it’s like. Each lesson features a live, full-length tutorial or an exclusive interview. Very cool stuff. This course is available exclusively on the the Kelby Training site and is also available to NAPP members at no additional cost. Simply input your NAPP username and password and you will have full access to the course. How cool is that?! Now, if you’re not a NAPP member (Why, I don’t know) and are perhaps interested in the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, we have a snazzy info page right here on Planet Photoshop. Check that out here and join today.

June 12th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

DreamColor for DreamWorks

A few weeks ago, Chris Main of Layers Magazine and I went out to Los Angeles to attend a Hewlett-Packard event where they were going to reveal a new product. Only a select few were invited to the event and I somehow convinced him to let me go. The reason was that the event was being held at the DreamWorks Animation studio in Glendale, CA. The product was HP’s new DreamColor display which was developed in collaboration with DreamWorks. Hewlett-Packard has been a long time technology partner with DreamWorks and DreamWorks animators were still working on CRT monitors. This is because the black level and color contrast looked much better than even the newest LCD’s. So HP developed the DreamColor display to remedy this problem. Now despite visiting one of the coolest studios anywhere, Chris and I had the chance to play around with these displays first-hand and I must say I was blown away. The interesting thing is that the display contains built-in color spaces for animation, video editing, photography, graphic design, etc. You can also load up your own custom spaces as well. The display also has a tri-color LED backlight which produces deeper, richer colors with a color gamut 46% greater than standard LCD displays. Throw in a 30-bit color accuracy and a 1000:1 contrast ratio and I can honestly say that it is a sweet display. The cool part is that this display will be available to the pro-sumer market at a suggested retail of around $3500. Read the full press release here.

Oh, by the way, while we were out at DreamWorks, we got a special pre-screening of Kung Fu Panda. It was a really cool movie!!!

June 10th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Cool Scripts from the Doctor

Here’s your Monday morning dose from the Doc. Russell Brown, Creative Director over at Adobe has a really cool site hosted by his alter ego. The vivacious Dr. Brown. If you haven’t seen Dr. Brown in action then prepare yourself. His zany and unorthodox style make his tutorials both entertaining and informative. In addition, Dr. Brown has also put together a powerful collection of free scripts for Photoshop. These scripts are specific to Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. They are true time-savers and I use them all the time especially the Extended scripts. Go and download them now and try yourself. Dr. Brown even provides tutorials on using the scripts creatively. Here’s the link.

June 9th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Photoshop Book of the Week

This week I have to call attention to The Creative Digital Darkroom by Katrin Eismann and Sean Duggan. This book brings the techniques and the vernacular of the traditional darkroom into the digital realm. While it’s not necessarily a Photoshop book in the traditional sense, this book focuses on only the photographic aspects of Photoshop, taking the fluff out of using superfluous tools and getting right into making your photos the best they can be. This book is intended for the intermediate to advanced user and will appeal to the artist and photographers alike. Incidentally, Katrin has just released a new course on Kelby Training called Creative Panoramic Photography where she teaches all aspects of creative awesome panoramic photos.

June 5th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Wednesday Inspiration

You really must check out Scott Kelby’s blog today. On Wednesdays he has a guest blogger and so far he has had Vincent Versace and Joe McNally. Well, this week I am thrilled to see that the guest blogger is John Paul Caponigro. John Paul is, without a doubt, one of my favorite photographers and Photoshop gurus. I had the chance to actually chat with him at the last Photoshop World in Orlando and what a treat it was. He is really a great guy and an awesome Photoshop teacher. I love his lectures because he talks from a deeply emotional and philosophical standpoint. This is evident in his guest post, which is titled: Making the Visual Verbal. It’s an interesting read on verbalizing your images through words, both written and spoken. If you are a writer, or aspiring to write, don’t miss this post. Check it out here.

June 4th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Training, Training and even more Training!

Lately I have been inundated with questions on where people can get more training in Photoshop. I can think of only one other place: KelbyTraining.com. This site is your one-stop shop for the best training by the best people. Check this out, there is an awesome online training library featuring some of the biggest names in Photoshop. Names like Scott Kelby, Katrin Eisman, Bert Monroy, and….Corey Barker. (Ok, so it’s shameless plug.) Anyway this site doesn’t just offer online training. There is also a DVD store with a wide selection of unmatched training material. In fact, Scott Kelby’s newest DVD: Photoshop CS3 for Digital Photographers just became available this past week. The site also features a bookstore where you can find the latest books on Photoshop such as Matt Kloskowski’s new Layers Book. In fact, if you order from this site you can get a signed copy. If you are in to live training then check out the seminars section to see if there’s gonna be a Photoshop seminar in your town. Whew!! I don’t think there is much more I can say, just check it out and enjoy.

June 2nd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

New Tryouts at Adobe Labs

For you web developers out there, Adobe has just recently made betas available for Dreamweaver CS4, Fireworks CS4, and Soundbooth CS4. These can be downloaded over at Adobe Labs. Just remember, they are beta so there is always the chance of mishaps here and there. At any rate, it’s a great way to get to know the program and perhaps provide some feedback so they can make the program better for your needs. Also if you have never been to the Adobe Labs site before, you really ought to look around. All the newest stuff that Adobe develops is on this site. You never know what you might find. Check it out and have fun.

May 30th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)