Adobe- Illustartor, Photoshop, Indesign

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There is a variety of different software pertaining to Adobe that can be utilized in business.  Understanding what each type of software does is your first step in successfully using each to its full potential. In fact the reason I am writing this post is because up until now I hadn’t really ever had to break down the concept and purpose of each Adobe software.  However, most recently I was contact by a limousine company in Phoenix, they were looking to design and make their own business cards for their company. After a couple of attempts with a printing business they did not get the results they wanted in terms of design etc. so they set out to create their own.  When contacting me their question was, “Which Adobe software is best to use to create business cards, Illustrator, Photoshop, or Indesign?” In a nutshell ALL of them. Here’s why:

Illustrator- Basically this software creates branding, logos and graphics using vector graphics.  What are vector graphics? They are polygons with 2D points that signify computer graphics.heart-2670685_640

Photoshop- This software basically allows the manipulation of an digital image, whether it’s been scanned or is a digital photo.  It can also manipulate raster graphics? What are raster graphics? raster graphics are basically a bitmap image that is formed by a dot matrix structure.  It allows for computer monitors to show color, and such where the user wants it.

Indesign- is the software that creates the layout onto a screen or size sheet.  It generally places the logos that are created in Illustrator, and the raster images enhanced in Photoshop.

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Social Media Filters…All The Rage?

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With the emergence of Instagram and SnapChat the word filters and it’s meaning have taken on a whole new light! In fact the filters offered for your photographs on both of these apps have in my opinion helped to strengthen social media and the amount of users on these platforms everyday.  How so? With a much more pronounced importance put on appearance in today’s society people want to present literally there best face to the camera. With millions of people able to view multiple profiles that are centered around you, your pictures and activities it’s no wonder filters are all the rage!

 

icon-1562136_640Instagram-  With various filters to choose from, all by different names, individuals are able to choose what filter they like the best and to better present the picture they are choosing to post. Now if you don’t like the affects of the instagram filters you can download other apps that will help you digitally enhance your photo before they even make it to the instagram app!

SnapChat- It’s safe to say we all love Snapchat probably the most because of its various filters.  From puppy ears to fairy eyes, and a headband of flowers, you look cute and flawless at the same time.  Because it’s the norm and both men and women choose to use snapchat filters you don’t feel at all silly when you are snapchatting puppy ears and tongues with your bestie!

Some wonder what this says for society as a whole.  Is there too much prominence being placed on image and how you are viewed by others?  Some parents feel as if it put more pressure on their adolescents and teenagers to conform to perfection and what society deems as beautiful, or attractive.  Perhaps those involved in the digital world understand the concept a bit more, because haven’t we entered the digital age? What is safe to say however, is that photoshop and filters on various platforms for magazines and modeling catalogos have been around forever.  Magazine pictures are digitally altered and enhanced on a regular basis. Now, however, with the addition of filters on social media platforms they are just available to the mainstream public. Afterall if professionals, celebrities and models to name a few can use them why can’t everyone else?  


Vehicle Photoshop Designs

best-truck-vinyl-wraps-lewisvilleAdobe Illustrator & Adobe Photoshop are image and vector editing software that allows the designer to create large digital images for many applications, from billboard designs to brochures. They work hand and hand and and help create beautiful wrap designers to install on vehicles. Vehicle vinyl wraps have become increasingly popular and more and more businesses are using them to brand their business vehicle, representing their brand and company info.

My good friend is experiencing the benefits of his recent vehicle wrap for his water damage company. He said it is one of the best return on investments he’s experienced. I mean think about it. You are essentially creating a mobile billboard, allowing thousands upon thousands of people see your business information.

That begin said Illustrator and Photoshop allow designers to get very detailed when producing a graphic wrap for one or twenty vehicles.

Our buddy, both a photoshop guru a wrap installer, does a lot of commercial vehicle wraps in the Dallas area. He says Photoshop offers a great way to show a mock up design to the client, as well as provides the installer with an overall idea of how it will look on the specific vehicle.

Photoshop and Illustrator really allow you to create nearly anything!

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when designing a vehicle wrap with Adobe’s image and vector graphics editing software.

You  must have an accurate template. These templates are available online and are 100% essential. They make sure you create the correct size for your project. Make the scale 1:10. meaning for every inch of space on your screen equates to 10 inches real space.

Setting up your template correctly with all the layers is also essential.

The vehicle wrap will be viewed from different angles and locations. With this is mind when designing the wrap, you will be able to ensure no weird or unexpected results.

When working with Photoshop, use only high resolution images (720dpi), much higher than typical offset printing.

Be mindful os state laws. Each state law determines the area of windows that can be legally wrapped. make sure you take this into consideration when designing the wrap.

Simple tends to be better. Getting overly detailed or coming up with a super complex design can not only be confusing and messy for people visually, but can also be hard to install.

Watch the corners! Your design needs to be tiled into panels, so keep corners in mind.

Allow for bleed area (at least 3 inches).

Double check measurements with file and actual vehicle. Work closely with your installer or printer to make sure that things are where they need to be. This is a key factor in avoiding expensive mistakes.

 

 

 

 


Authenticating Digital Images

Photoshop is a wonderful tool to work with, that is widely used by many companies, business’, and people alike.  While most like the enhancement the tool can provide to photos, videos, and such, there are those that feel as if it promotes false advertisement.  Where do we draw the line between perfecting our marketing images and promoting an image that isn’t really true to form?  That was a question two computer scientists from Dartmouth College took upon themselves to answer. Or perhaps rather made the opportunity to decipher a Photoshopped image possible for those who wanted to know.  

Hany Farid, an Associate Computer Science Professor, along with Alin Popescu, a graduate student from Dartmouth developed a mathematical scale to determine the difference between an “original” image and one that has been altered or enhanced.  They say that all digital images have statistical clues that are left on them, and that the algorithm they have developed is able to read the altered statistics.  While both scientists agree that digitally altering photos is a technique that is only becoming more and more advanced their main concern is to help that of the legal system. While they realize they have developed a tool that can be used against marketing ads and the like, they are working more towards the legal aspect of it. Hany Farid believes that we are still quite in the dark when it comes to really making a great deal of advancement in showing the proof that images have been altered. He hopes to strengthen his and Alin’s tool so that it may be used in the court of law and hold up against the legal system. He makes a point by saying, “If a photo can be altered to depict a picture of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein shaking hands, what else can be done to manipulate photos.  He and his partner hope to help the legal system when reviewing images that can help to greatly affect a case in court.  

As a matter of fact these Dartmouth scientists are being funded by Alfred P. Sloan fellowship, The U.S. department of Homeland Security, and the National Science Foundation.  They will continue to work with law officials and other government representatives to aid in the growing knowledge of authenticating digital images.

So while Photoshop is a great tool being used to help with marketing it also has it’s darker effects. In all actuality if an image can be altered it was only a matter of time that there was a tool made to decipher image altering as well.

 


Brand Your Business

Like I’ve discussed before, Photoshop can offer those who come to learn it awesome careers in design. There are endless utilities that Photoshop can offer to a business or brand, and you can be the magician who puts it to use for small or large companies. I previously talked about my friend who does vinyl wraps, and I wanted to share another post that is related, and it’s about branding. Branding is massive! Every big company knows this and it is why they spend millions on branding every year. The thing is however, you don’t need to be a big company to effectively brand, especially with the help of Photoshop. My friend who I mentioned in an earlier post is like a branding machine, and it’s not because he went to school for marketing, it’s because of his expertise with Photoshop. He recently branded this company www.phoenixwaterdamage.org and made them a custom vinyl for their truck. The company was previously paying a large marketing firm in Arizona and paying them $15,000 a month! I forget how my friend met the business owner, but upon realizing how much he was paying for branding quickly offered him comparable services for less than half the price. Within two months the business owner told him he was more satisfied with the work my friend was doing than he was with the work performed by the big agency. My friend said it was simply because he knew photoshop so well and could design exactly what the business owner had in mind.

It takes years to develop the type of skills my friend has, but keep in mind it takes years to get a degree in a related field, and their is no promising you will be an expert when you come out. Especially if you simply get a marketing degree. I’m not downing higher education, but simply stating that the value of specialized knowledge with a tool like Photoshop is unparalleled. It’s like saying, do you want a cinematographer who studied it in school or someone who knows the equipment in and out. Take time to master Photoshop and the job opportunities and career opportunities are endless.

Here’s another quick tip to help you master Photoshop.

Merge Two Images In Photoshop

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Free Transform (command + t)

Hey guys,

I want to talk about a pretty cool aspect of Photoshop that will come in handy when you are trying to contort images. It’s called free transform and it allows you to grab on the outside of an image and stretch, move, and resize it to your hearts content. I most commonly use free transform to resize images making them smaller or larger but it has many applications. The path for getting to free transform is simple, it’s just edit > free transform. Once you have clicked free transform you will see your image has little squares at each corner, and on each side of the image. You can grab anyone of these squares and stretch the image to your desired length. I strongly suggest getting in the habit of holding shift before doing so because it will maintain the proportions of the image. However there may be many instances where maintaining the proportion of the image is not necessary or not desired. A cool example of this is when you see people fitting images into tablets or phone screens to make it appear the screen is displaying a certain image. This has become wildly popular online and I’m sure you have seen many examples of this. Here is an example!

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The monitor is a stand alone image, but someone has placed this image on top pretending to be what is showing on the screen. In this scenario placing an image on top would be fairy easy since it is only one dimension. You could simply grab the corner of the image and stretch or shrink it accordingly to fit into the frame of the computer monitor. More difficult contortion would be if screen were at an angle with some dimension. For example the image below.

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In this case on would have to stretch the image to make it appear to have some dimension. This would not be an instance where you would want to hold the shift key. In this scenario the best thing to do would be to hold (command+t) on a mac (ctrl+t) on a pc and grab the corner of your image, which in this case is a screenshot of a website, and drag it’s corner to the corner of phone screen. Do this separately with each corner and you will have an image the has dimension and appears to be congruent with the dimension of the phone. It may take some playing around but eventually you will be able to simulate the actual screen projection with what ever image or screen shot you desire.

Free transform is a super useful tool for beginners and experts alike. From simply resizing the image, to dramatically altering the contour of an image, free transform can do it all. Play around with the tool today and let me know what you think. Again sometimes it takes a little messing around to get it perfect, so don’t get discouraged if you are having a difficult time at first, expertise comes to those who are patient.


Beginer Tutorial

Good Afternoon, Morning, or Evening where ever you are time zone wise. I wanted to share a cool easy beginner tutorial I came across while browsing the web. This is a great tutorial for those of you who are new to photoshop and want to take advantage of some of its capabilities but don’t necessarily want to go through tons of schooling or workshops in order to do so. Photoshop has a lot of powerful tools right out of the box that can be a huge asset to professionals in many industries including print advertising, web development, photography and so on. This tutorial is geared towards the latter and shows users how to take advantage of some useful photoshop tools to really enhance your photos. Being a professional photographer does not demand elaborate equipment and software like it once did. Developments in the Photoshop software and the dramatic price reduction in its cost has made it widely available to start up businesses and entrepreneurs. Fortunately the internet has also offered users of photoshop a huge resource in the form of online tutorials. Instead of shuffling through user manuals and books to learn specific photoshop tools, people can now go to youtube or other places online to learn specific tools, including on our site. The ability to watch as someone performs the task through video is a tremendous advantage, and has made photoshop more appealing to a larger market. People who have been previously intimated by the software can now learn the program at their own speed through endless tutorials. I know these types of tutorials have been a huge help to me through my process of learning and coming to understand Photoshop and I know they have helped countless others. Below is a great beginner tutorial that goes over a lot of the basic functions of photoshop, and some tools that have application on almost any project that one would be working on with Photoshop. If you have questions don’t be afraid to ask, and if you find it useful please share with others.

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Get a Job Using Photoshop: Leverage a Portfolio!

Photoshop is now the tool of choice for many large industries, and it has become a professional pursuit for many to understand the full capacity of what Photoshop has to offer. My hats off to those who use Photoshop in a professional setting sharing digital art with the world, and getting paid to do so. I have a friend and long term Photoshop buddy who is putting his skills to work at a vinyl wrap shop in Phoenix. He is one of the best graphic artists I know, and it’s awesome to see him really able to explore his creativity and his abilities by creating designs for unique luxury automobiles. You can check out some of his work at phoenixautowrap.com and see his versatility. Look how fun this must be to spend your days designing wraps like these ones.

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Thank you Photoshop for giving creative people, a great way to make a living!

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News: Photoshop Plugin For Pexels

I’m not sure if everyone is familiar with Pexels, a stock photo library filled with thousands of beautiful stock images. Primarily high quality photography grade images, and not just generic stock images. Out of all the stock photo libraries on the web Pexels is certainly one of the most quality. As a WordPress developer I have become aware that I am not the only one who has caught onto this, because a majority of the stock images used in WordPress themes are Pexels images. That being said, many web developers and photoshop editors will be excited to learn about the new Photoshop Plugin For Pexels. As described on their site, the plugin is designed to allow editors to seamlessly have Pexels images available for use in Photoshop. Users can easily navigate through different categories and select a desired image on their photoshop platform. Pexels will conveniently sync the photos that you have liked on the website with your plugin so you can easily navigate to photos that have stood out to you in the past. The plugin is probably one of many to come from both Pexels and other stock photo websites. It allows for seamless integration making designing website and images way easier. The plugin comes with a $2 subscription fee if you purchase for the year, or you can pay $4 per month if you go month by month.

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News: The Ethics of Photoshop

So we all know how awesomely amazing photoshop is and the unbound capabilities of this tool, and how we can contort and distort just about anything. However the role of photoshop in our mainstream media is perhaps a little disheartening. Due to the capabilities of photoshop, people are now able to dramatically change the images of celebrities and front page models to look even more stunning then they already are. Not even the best looking and most fit of all of them is suitable enough to not be mildly altered by the photoshop editors behind the big magazine brands. Most of the models and stars make little fuss of this, and take it as part of the industry now. However some stars are down right furious with the distortions these editors are making to their bodies. Not too long ago Zendaya, the Disney channel star aired her frustration with edits that had taken place on her cover photo for Modeliste magazine. From the picture you can see that the editing personnel dramatically altered the size of here hips to make them appear skinnier. Zendaya was outraged by this alteration and the body shaming effect it could have on her fans and others who would see it. She took to social media quickly after and called out these actions in public.

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