Photoshop: Studio Quality Results without the Studio

In this tutorial you’ll learn how to take an average photo of an average object and make it look like it was shot in a studio on a white background with expensive lights and an even more expensive camera.  And you do this all from within Photoshop CS4 using layer masks, adjustment layers and layer effects.

Photoshop: Studio Quality Results without the Studio from Paul Trani on Vimeo.

Download source files

OnDemand Recording: Creating Rich Interactive Experiences

The eSeminar is now OnDemand on Adobe’s site for you to view at your leisure. Check it out:

http://www.adobe.com/go/cs4ondemands

Description: Learn how your company can stay ahead by creating rich interactive customer experiences using Adobe Flash® CS4 Professional and the many groundbreaking Web design tools for animation and interactivity within Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium software. In this session I will show you some easy steps you can do to get your brand from print to web to mobile all while maintaining design integrity and adding rich interactivity. You will learn how to:

  • Create Flash files from InDesign
  • Animate in Flash
  • Add interactivity
  • Edit video with Photoshop CS4 Extended
  • Import into Flash
  • Understanding mobile design

33 Inspirational Design Resources

Sometimes you can get stuck in a rut with your design work.  Mantaining the status quo and doing what you know works. Knowing this I’ve compiled a list of inspirational sites that will hopefully inspire to go beyond “what works” and produce something even more amazing.

  1. http://www.thefwa.com – Favourite Website Awards.  Mostly dynamic Flash sites for created for promotion.
  2. http://www.designmeltdown.com – Probably my favorite site because everything is categorized into just the areas you might be interested in.  Mainly focused on web design.
  3. http://www.creatiu.com – Get up-to-date in visual arts.  The best in sites, videos and design schools.
  4. http://www.semipermanent.com – International conferences on Film, Art, Illustration, Web Design, Photography, Visual Effects, Animation, Graffiti, Motion Graphics, and Stop Motion. Great videos posted on the site.
  5. http://beta.dailycolorscheme.com – An every day color resource.
  6. http://www.brandnu.co.uk – Art direction, illustration, design showcase.
  7. http://www.levitated.net – Daily visual and interactive inspiration including source samples to download.
  8. http://www.colourlovers.com – Community that creates and shares colorspalettes and patterns, discuss the latest trends.
  9. http://www.behance.net – Vast resource of creative portfolios and projects.
  10. http://www.dafont.com – Free fonts as well as some for purchase.
  11. http://www.themeworld.com/fonts – Free fonts!
  12. http://www.soundrangers.com – Just purchase the exact button sound and music tracks you’ll use… for cheap!
  13. http://www.toxel.com – Great inspirational design site full of wonderful installments.
  14. http://www.serialcut.com – Graphic design images. Great desktop backgrounds.
  15. http://logopond.com – Logo and identity inspiration.
  16. http://www.planetphotoshop.com – The URL says it all.
  17. http://www.customize.org – Inspirational wallpapers, icons, themes.
  18. http://www.thrillist.com – It pays to keep up on all trends in media.
  19. http://www.coolcapitals.com – Trends in some of the supposed coolest capitals in the world.
  20. http://laughingsquid.com – Art, culture and technology.
  21. http://www.visualdata.org – Animated visual content based on topic.
  22. http://www.core77.com – Design magazine and resource.
  23. http://styleboost.com – Inspirational sites from around the web.
  24. http://www.keepsmesane.co.uk – Love the URL of this designer’s blog.
  25. http://www.bamagazine.com – Making graphic design easy to understand and fun!
  26. http://www.nothingsomething.com – Agency producing great work.  Their homepage is worth it.
  27. http://www.jumpola.com – a resource full of links to other inspirational resources.
  28. http://www.computerarts.co.uk – Magazine of digital arts.
  29. http://www.dynamicgraphics.com – Create magazine.
  30. http://www.appliedartsmag.com – Canada’s visual communication site.
  31. http://designarchives.aiga.org – Archives for American Institute of Graphic Arts.
  32. http://www.commarts.com – Communication Arts magazine.  Very nice resource on all visual and environmental arts.
  33. http://www.designerstoolbox.com – Resources and designed files you can purchase.

Stream Live Presentations to your iPhone/iPad with Connect Pro Mobile

Adobe Acrobat Connect Pro Mobile is now available for download from the iTunes store!

With Connect Pro Mobile, participants can watch and listen to live presentations including real-time meeting webcam video and screen sharing demonstrations. Mobile users can see who is in the meeting at any given time, and chat with others using the live text chat. VoIP meeting audio will broadcast straight to iPhone or iPod touch devices over a WiFi or 3G connection.  Meeting hosts also have the ability to give participants the option to join a telephone conference call.

Connect Pro Mobile was built using a pre-release of the next version of Flash and was published as a native iPhone application. In fact, it’s the first publicly available Adobe-authored application that uses the Packager for iPhone technology! Also, because it was built in Flash, it can be published as an AIR app and put on other devices. Last week at Mobile World Congress for instance, Adobe demo’d Connect Pro on a number of devices, including Android!

The UK’s Best Handheld for 40 Years

Look out iPad!  The Sun is here.

Very clever advertising from one of UK’s best reads.

Flash Player on Tablet Devices

Imagine taking a Flash project and porting it to the web, desktop and even tablet devices.  The Flash platform has got you covered.

View on AdobeTV.com

Just Released on Lynda.com: Creating a Portfolio Website in Flash CS4


Just release today!  The thing I love most about this title is the fact that the gallery is XML driven.  Which means you don’t have to open Flash and publish an swf anytime you want to update your portfolio.  Other cool features include:

  • Displaying a random background on each page visit
  • Adding unique ActionScript animation
  • Implementing a video portfolio
  • Portfolio that includes description and title per image

Plus, one thing the description on lynda.com doesn’t mention is the fact that it comes with 2 bonus sites you can take and modify to your liking (premium subscribers only).

View the course here

View the site here

eSeminar: Creating Interactive Experiences

The eSeminar is now OnDemand on Adobe’s site for you to view at your leisure.  Check it out:

http://www.adobe.com/go/cs4ondemands

Learn how your company can stay ahead by creating rich interactive customer experiences using Adobe Flash® CS4 Professional and the many groundbreaking Web design tools for animation and interactivity within Adobe Creative Suite 4 Web Premium software. In this session I will show you some easy steps you can do to get your brand from print to web to mobile all while maintaining design integrity and adding rich interactivity. You will learn how to:

  • Create Flash files from InDesign
  • Animate in Flash
  • Add interactivity
  • Edit video with Photoshop CS4 Extended
  • Import into Flash
  • Understanding mobile design

Interactive Design Using Photoshop

Learn how to use Photoshop to create interactive design content for web and mobile.
Photoshop for Web

Tricking Out Photoshop

Trick Out Photoshop