Planet Design Contest Is Go!!!

It’s here!!! I am very excited to announce the first Planet Design Contest is now live. The way it works is you are presented with three tutorials that have been selected from the vast library of tutorials here on Planet Photoshop. After watching the tutorials your assignment is to use the techniques you learn from one or all of them to create an original piece of artwork. Feel free to be as creative as you want. Just think of these tutorials as a springboard as you proceed to create your original art. Most of all–have fun!!

Once you have completed your art. Go to the Submit Your Entries section on the contest page to enter. The grand prize is a full conference pass to Photoshop World, the Design Effects with Photoshop CS4 dvd, and the Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers by Scott Kelby. Also winners and finalist will be displayed on an exclusive gallery page right here on Planet Photoshop. You have until January 15, 2009 to enter so don’t wait. Good Luck!!!

January 2nd, 2009 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Deep Thoughts….by Corey Barker

As the year draws to a close I like to take a look back at the past and see how far we have come. What have we learned this year that has made us better Photoshop artists? Who inspired us? Who did we inspire? What can we bring into the new year? I believe that mastery in something, like Photoshop, is not a destination but rather a journey and it’s good to pause and see where we are on this leg of the journey and assess what we want to learn over the next year. I am always looking to learn something new and am always looking for that wow moment. So as you move forward, reflect on what we have learned over the past year and look forward to what we haven’t discovered yet. Because that is the most exciting part.

Also don’t forget the Photoshop User Awards deadline is just a couple days away. You have until 12:00 midnight December 31, 2008 to turn in your entry for a chance to win a trip to Barcelona, Spain. Here’s the link for more info.

December 29th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)

Holiday Greetings From Planet Photoshop

I want to thank all of you for joining me in all the fun that Photoshop can be here at Planet. I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and hope you enjoy what’s to come.

December 24th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (10)

New Course at Kelby Training

Some of you may have heard the name David Cuerdon before and some of you have not. He is a regular at Photoshop World and all around nice guy. But above all of these he is a wizard in Photoshop. Especially with artistic retouching. I had the pleasure of meeting Dave at Photoshop World a couple years ago and once I had a chance to see his work and I was blown away. Dave is a photographer who basically shoots for the edit. Meaning he shoots knowing he is going to greatly enhance his images using Photoshop. You have probably seen his work and not realize it. He even has done a couple covers for Photoshop User (pictured here). So it only made to much sense for him to do an online course for Kelby Training. His course is called the Beauty and Retouching Kit and I must say it is awesome. No matter how good you are at something you can always learn more and I certainly have. Do check it out! Click here for more info on the course and click here to see David’s site.

One more thing. So all you saw the little teaser for the upcoming Planet contest. Be sure to check back here soon for the details of the contest. This is going to be fun!!!

December 19th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

It’s Coming…

A Photoshop contest of galactic proportions.

December 17th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (5)

Photoshop On Alltop | Lightroom Update

Alltop is basically a site that collects the top stories and blog posts in a number of different categories. Everything from work, sports, hobbies, food, and you guessed it–Photoshop. That’s right, they just recently added a new category dedicated entirely to Photoshop and guess is at the top. Well I am sure it is merely because of the order they were given, but it’s still pretty cool. Check it out. It a great way to get a quick look at what’s new with the best Photoshop sites out there.

Also Adobe has released an update to Lightroom. This update includes support for additional camera models including the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon PowerShot G10, Panasonic DMC-LX3 among others. There are also a number of simple bug fixes discovered from the last release. Here’s are the links Mac | Windows.

December 16th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Lightspeed Tips: Image Processor

This is a little feature that I sometimes forget about, but it is such a gem. It’s called the Image Processor and it is located under the File menu under Scripts. This handy little tool is a huge time saver when it comes to re-saving files. For instance, let’s say you have shot a couple hundred photos and they are all JPEG’s, and you need them to all be TIFF’s. Well you could create an action and that will work fine, but the Image processor is designed for this very thing. Simply open the window and follow each numbered step. You even have the option of running an action such as an effect or a correction in addition to this function. Simply adjust the settings and click Run. Then go to lunch! Your colleagues will marvel at your efficiency and new opportunities will presents themselves immediately. Well, maybe not immediately, but it’s still a huge time saver!!

December 11th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (4)

Photoshop Book of the Week

I know a lot of you have been seriously anticipating this book for some time. It’s the all new Photoshop CS4 Book for Digital Photographers by the man who wrote the book on writing Photoshop books–Scott Kelby. Whether you are new to Photoshop or a seasoned veteran, this is the book for you. Everything you need to get Photoshop CS4 under your control in a hurry. No technical mumbo jumbo here. Just straight forward explanations with real word examples. Also available, for a limited time, you can order a special spiral bound version only at KelbyTraining.com.

December 8th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (1)

Photoshop User Awards | Elf Disco

It’s Friday…Hooray!!! Just a couple things really quick. First, there is still time to enter the Photoshop User Awards for a chance to win a trip to Barcelona, Spain. How cool is that? Bet you didn’t think your skills could take you places. You have until December 31, 2008 to enter your work. Yes I know the holidays are coming and things get crazy but don’t let the chance for this kind of exposure pass you by. You never know where it might take you. Click here for more info and good luck!!

Speaking of the holidays, I got this link from RC the other day. It’s a cool little animation of Scott, RC, Dave, Matt, and myself doing some elf holiday disco dancing. Sound crazy? Just watch it and you will see what I mean. Here’s the link.

December 5th, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (5)

Lightspeed Tips: Saving Spaces

Last week I did posted a little something about the new Configurator for Adobe. This cool little app lets you create your own custom panels right inside Photoshop. Well along with that is something else I like to use in Photoshop and that is something called work spaces. While the Configurator just creates custom panels, works spaces allow you to arrange those panels in a way that is more conducive to the way you work. Once these workspaces are arranged you can save them to use over and over. Workspaces aren’t new. In fact they have been around for a while. It just seems nobody remembers they are there. Photoshop comes with a few preset workspaces to get you started. There are spaces for video, web, automation among others designed for specific tasks but you will learn as you go what you need and don’t need. Once you have arranged your workspace to your liking, simply go under the Window menu to Workspace and then choose Save Workspace. Give it a name and there you have it.

December 1st, 2008 | Corey Barker | Blog | Comments (2)