I often see people
struggling with brushes in Photoshop. Brush
control is essential for many tasks besides
painting, you’ll need precise control for
masking, retouching, and creating selections.
With this in mind, here are my favorite shortcuts
for getting things done.
For
more on Photoshop, check out the latest
book:Understanding
Adobe Photoshop CS4
The book is
on sale atAmazon for 37%
off, and adds some great new
stuff.
There are
lots of shopping deals this weekend.... Here are
a few that I’ve already taken advantage of.
Delkin Devices–25% off and free
shipping. This includes a Blu-ray burner,
multiple types of card readers (I ordered a 4
card reader to load from 4 Compact Flash cards
at once)! Use the code HOLIDAY during
checkout.
equinox– Makers
of useful software utilities like Coverscout (to
get iTunes artwork) and several templates for OSX
mail. I ordered the tube stick bundle for $99
that lets you record over-the-air digital TV
signals to your Mac, then transcode them for use
on iPod or iPhone. Several bundles that are 50%
off.
Mophie– Get
the JuicePack for iPhone and iPod Touch. Doubles
your battery life and makes for a long day of web
work on the device. Take 25% off this weekend.
Use the code gobblegobble3G.
Hop you enjoy... I get nothing from links... this
is just what I spent money on and thought the
deals were good.
I’m a big fan of
what’s possible with Adobe Bridge. The
latest edition has added great web galleries
and contact sheets. Adobe has tweaked Bridge
CS4 and added headers and footers to PDF
contact sheets and slideshows. The web
galleries are also tweaked to offer smaller
file sizes. You can download the update
forMacandWindowsfrom Adobe.com.
Additionally, Camera Raw for Photoshop CS4
(Mac|Win) adds some much-requested
improvements
Targeted
Adjustment Tool (TAT) for on-image
adjustments
Output
sharpening for print or screen
output
"Snapshots"
for saving multiple sets of settings per
file
I am proud to announce
that my new book, Understanding Adobe
Photoshop CS4 is now shipping. This is the
second edition of the book and it is fully
updated for CS4 (even if you’re using
CS3, you’ll find it a big help.) The
book covers all sorts of great new features
in Photoshop and I significantly revised it
with nearly 100 new photos.
The book is on sale atAmazon for 30%
off,
and adds some great new stuff.
The book is on sale atPeachpit’s website for
35% off.If ordering from Peachpit,
use the discount code UAPTWO at checkout.
We’ve made our podcast series totally
interactive for our book readers (more in a few
days).
You can access a free chapter on
Automationhere.
You can view an excerpt from a chapter on color
correctionhere.
The books are in my hands and shipping from
bothPeachpitandAmazon.
If you like the book... PLEASEwrite a review(I’d
really appreciate it).
We’ve partnered with
the cool folks over at mDialog to bring you
our Aperture show... now on Apple TV and the
iPhone. To view our episodes on your phone,
just download the free mDialog application
from the iTunes App Store.
“The mDialog application is always
available as a
free download worldwide from Apple's App
Store on iPhone and IPod Touch, or at
www.itunes.com/appstore/ or click on the
link on the mDialog site.”
Be
sure to download and try it out.... it works
great and is absolutely free.
Saturday, November 15, 2008 Filed in:
Apple| Business
I know some of you hate
iPhone posts (sorry)....
But here’s something I just had to gush
about.... Themophie Juice PackiPhone battery
is shipping. I had the original battery pack,
but with the new form-factor for the 3G
phones, I had to upgrade. Here’s the
specs:
Standby Time
– Up to 350 hours
Talk Time
– 6 additional hours on 3G | 12 hours on
2G
Internet Use
– 6 additional hours on 3G | 7 hours on
Wi-Fi
Audio
Playback – 28 additional
hours
Video
Playback – 8 additional hours
This device is absolutelyawesomeand lets me get through a
long day of business.
Noted
author Scott Kelby has released his annual gift guide.
What’s great about the list is that
there are some really cool tools on there
for photogs and even hobbyists. It’s
nothing but the coolest photography and
Photoshop gear.
“Since many of you are new to the
gear guide, I wanted to let you know how I make
my picks each year, and why I think it’s
different than most other guides you’ll
find out there these days. Put simply, every item
in here is stuff I actually use, it’s stuff
I’m crazy about, and now it’s become
stuff I can’t live without (which is sad,
in a way), and it’s the same stuff I
recommend to my friends (well, my friends with
room on their Visa cards).”
I agree with several of his picks, already using
things like the Hoodman Loupe and Boda Bag
myself. Be sure to check it out.
Looking for a great
article on mixing exposures? Then be sure to
check out thisgreat articleby Sean Duggan.
“One classic technique that digital
cameras make very easy is blending more than
one exposure together for contrast control,
increased dynamic range, or creative purposes.
A variation on this technique is to apply
different RAW-conversion settings to a single
RAW file and then combine the files into a
single image. Let’s explore both
approaches and look at the proper camera
technique behind the scenes.”
Besides repairing, the
Retouch brush in Aperture offers the ability
to clone within an image. This works well to
copy pixels from one area of an image to
another as a way to hide imperfections or
repeat objects. The cloning option is fast
because it doesn’t attempt to blend
pixels.
1 Press X to select the Retouch tool.
2 Select the Retouch HUD and click the Clone
button.
3 In the Retouch HUD, adjust the brush Radius and
the Softness.
4 Hold down the Option key and click the area you
want to sample.
Tip
It’s often better to take a few strokes to
build up the texture. Be careful as you clone so
you don’t introduce stray strokes.
5 Brush over the area you want to clone.
6 Repeat brushstrokes as needed.
Tip
If you get an unintended stroke,
you can choose Undo. If you return to a retouched
image you can also delete a Retouch brush stroke
at any time by clicking the Delete button in the
Retouch area of the Adjustments pane. Note that
brush strokes can be deleted only in reverse
order because they’re recorded
sequentially.
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