Couple Monday Goodies

There is a new episode of the hilarious “You Suck at Photoshop” series or should I say, the award-winning series. Anyway this time takes a stab at Smart Objects. One of my most favorite Photoshop features and as usual you can expect the same raw humor delivered in his patented irreverent style. Isn’t t that what made it famous though. Check it out. Just don’t let your boss catch you.

Last week Scott Kelby posted a couple segments of a phone interview he had with attorney Ed Greenberg regarding the legalities of copyrights, model releases, shooting in public, etc. If you are a professional photographer, you may find this very interesting. Check it out here.

July 7th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

John Nack | Illustrator Stuff

Yesterday John Nack was the guest blogger over at Scott Kelby’s blog. For those of you that don’t know, John is the Senior Product Manager for Adobe Photoshop and he is definitely the one who is in the know when it comes to everything Photoshop. I was in California a few weeks ago with RC and we had the chance to sit and chat with John for a couple hours just talking shop. Super cool guy! Any check out his post here. Really interesting stuff. He even addresses the results of the poll that Scott took on features you would like to see in Photoshop.

A few people have been asking me if had any Illustrator tutorials online. The answer is yes I do. You can find them over at LayersMagazine.com. As this site is just Photoshop, the Layers site contains other tutorials using other apps in the creative suite. You can view my Illustrator tutorials here.

July 3rd, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Cool Mac Video + CDW Deals

This is cool. Somebody must have gotten really bored over a long weekend put together a rather clever little music video. The interesting thing is that it is done on a Mac…literally. They used the various Mac apps and even some Adobe apps (Photoshop) to edit together a music video right on screen. I simply can’t imagine how long this must have taken but it is just cool. Click here to see.

Right now if you upgrade to CS3.3 you get Fireworks and Acrobat 9. However, if you buy the upgrade at CDW you will also get a free month of Kelby Training (through July 30).
Now’s a great time to think about that upgrade!

• Call CDW at 888-491-4239 toplaceyourorder, or visit www.cdw.com/adobe
• Email a copy of your CDW invoice to cdwoffer@kelbymediagroup.com
• Once your CDW invoice is received, Kelby Training™ will email you a unique code—giving you unlimited access to its library of online classes for one full month.

July 1st, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Exporting Video

Last week’s tutorial featured creating a background animation using Photoshop CS3 extended. A few people were writing in and asking how they can output the file once the animation is complete. Well would you believe that Photoshop CS3 Extended will export video files such as Quicktime. Simply go under the File menu and go to Export and choose Render Video. Here you can choose what file type whether it be Quicktime or MPEG. Be careful when using the Flash video (flv) format. Is has been known to be a little buggy and can crash Photoshop. If you need a Flash file simply export a Quicktime and render in the Flash Video Encoder or Visual Hub (Mac Only).

For more info Photoshop for Video, you may want to check out Richard Harrington’s site Potoshop for Video. Check it out here.

June 30th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

TGIF…WTD!!!

Ok, so I normally don’t speak in acronyms but hey it’s Friday and you know what that means…I don’t either. Well a couple things today. First you may or may not have heard of this really funny and clever comic strip What the Duck. It’s a rather humorous take on the graphics and photography industry. You could almost say it’s like Dilbert for artists and photographers but with a slightly more irreverent tone. I mean the name alone is hilarious. I can only say so much just go check it out here and enjoy.

Second thing, Scott Kelby has posted a rather interesting poll on his blog today. It’s about what new features you would like to see in future versions of Photoshop. I casted my votes just a moment ago. It’s rather interesting, you read some of these and you wonder why they aren’t in there already, but as we all know, when things start to make sense that really confuses people. Even if you don’t want to vote go check out the results and see what others are wanting.

June 27th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Camera Raw 4.5 Release Candidate Available

Adobe has just released the new Camera Raw 4.5 as a release candidate over at Adobe Labs. What is a release candidate? Basically it is a near finished version that could stand a little more scrutiny just to smooth out the rough edges. Adobe would love for you die hard Raw users to experiment with the plug-in a little bit and provide any final feedback before it’s final. It’s over at Adobe Labs as a free download. Check it out here. Also here is the link to the feedback forum.

June 26th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (0)

Wednesday…Yes It’s Wednesday

You know what that means…It’s guest blogger day over at Scott Kelby’s blog. Today’s guest blogger is my friend and fellow NAPP guru: Matt Kloskowski. Matt’s post today is an interesting take on what he would like to see if he could re-engineer the Photoshop interface. He even provides really cool sample images that he doctored up himself. I gotta admit after looking through them, there are quite a few I seriously think would be welcome additions to the app. Check it out here and if you can’t get enough of Matt you can check his very own blog over at LightroomKillerTips.com. Do enjoy and have a good one!!!

June 25th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

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)