An Online Graphic Design Blog About Graphics, Layout and Design, Graphics Software, DTP, and Graphic Design Resources on the Net.

Creditable Graphic Design
by Carla San Gaspar

Everywhere you go you can see numerous paintings and printed materials graphically designed and accurately printed.
With the artistic skillful hands of graphic designers you can merely achieve the kind of design that you want for your projects. Graphic design had been noted to be an exemplary feature that makes any material more good-looking and appealing. On the other hand businesses make use of them in developing attractive promotional tools.

Graphic Design Application Mainly graphic design is not only applicable for printed materials they can also be applied and utilized for web development projects. The vast changes made in technology had paved more businesses to have their services extended online. However bringing up a web page of your own is not as easy as selling hot potatoes. You have to be creative and wise enough in choosing for the right designs and a right content for a perfect presentation.

Getting started with the designs that you want for your project graphic design San Diego can help you out to deliver an effective design performance. This graphic design company crafts an efficient design workflow of professionalism and accuracy.

Web development companies had simply aided to create a good marketing strategy that had resulted to have:

1. Good branding image – a good image is vital in promoting your companies and services. It would also support to market your service efficiently.

2. Visitor friendly site – it simply pertains in gaining more customers and turning them out to be potential customers and ending up with more sales and profit.

Essentially graphic designs are vital in every material made. Let’s say you wanted to make a design that will stand out. Creating a logo for instance, if you want them to be more attractive, appealing and colorful you have to rightfully choose for the right company suited for your job.

Urging to have a prompt response from your graphic design companies’ graphic design San Diego would more likely to answer immediately customer’s questions. Similarly, providing an abrupt response would impinge on the way customers look at your company.

With the many services that are sprouting at present more businesses are aiming to deal with right company. Achieving to have the right company on hand graphic design San Diego professional designer will develop an idea and end it up with a remarkable design.

Sequentially a well designed web site, web page or promotional material can be a key for a more successful business.

Please visit Graphic Designs Unlimited site at http://www.graphicdesignsunlimited.com/ for comments and inquiries regarding this article. Carla San Gaspar may be contacted at http://www.rushprintingservices.com

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Designing a graphic design portfolio
by Vincent Platania

Graphic design is the art of combining design principles, technology and ingenuity to arrive at solutions for a variety of visual communication needs. It is used in making business cards, logos, movie title graphics, websites, user manuals and signage. An attractive graphic design enhances visibility of the product and generates revenue for the client. Therefore, the graphic designer is an important member of the core team working on the campaign.

Most clients would need proof of one’s designing abilities. It is not as much about the list of former clients or award-winning work done before. It is about what the designer is capable of. Hence, every designer needs to compile his design solutions into a portfolio. The portfolio should be put together with care. It is like the business card for a designer.

The potential client is more interested in knowing whether you have the skill to translate his design needs into an effective campaign rather than your list of qualifications. The portfolio should, therefore, reflect the type of work you are comfortable in doing. A beginner or a person who does not work with many clients may not have much to show. In such a case, it is better to include most of the designs, which the person has done in the past.

The most important aspect of compiling the portfolio is to decide the pieces that would go into it. If you do not have many products to show, then it is better to include work, which you had done for friends. As we said before, clients are not concerned about who hired you before. They are just interested in knowing what kind of design capabilities you possess. For a newcomer or a freelancer, there could be possibilities of work done for close family, community organizations and friends. It is wise to accommodate such pieces in your portfolio. They reveal the ability to come up with acceptable solutions within budgetary constraints.

The portfolio should contain actual samples. For example, include brochures, fliers, book covers etc. On every project, obtain one or two copies for sample or portfolio use. File it away neatly. If your work was part of a larger design, such as illustrations in a book, include only those pages, by tearing them off. In case, you are not able to obtain originals, take printouts from your digital files or photocopies. More and more designers work in the area of web design. Include screen shots and high-resolution print outs from the website.

Once the pieces are chosen, one has to assemble them in a portfolio case. The case should accentuate the work rather than distract from it. Size of the case depends on the size of the materials. Place your best work at the beginning and at the end. You can also arrange according to clients or skill types. Always update your portfolio as you complete new projects.

A well-thought out and neatly presented portfolio is the first step towards establishing your business credentials. It indicates your methodical approach and makes you dependable in the eyes of prospective clients.

Vincent Platania
We have a professional team of graphic designers that possess artistic ability and creative thinking for designing eye catching graphic design. Visit http://www.graphic-design.in

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Hello everyone, we have moved the blog to http://allgraphicdesign.com/graphicsblog/ … We will now be posting at least 3 times per week. Archives can still be read here but new articles will be posted on allgraphicdesign.com. Thank you.

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Here is a list of the biggest design mistakes that a graphic designer should try to avoid at all costs. If you make these mistakes your printed materials will turn out ruined. Good luck and make sure to save this article.

1. Using web graphics on printed material. With many young designers coming from a pre-dominantly web design background the transfer over from web design to traditional design for print can bring with it a multitude of design sins. Images supplied at 72dpi and crunched down to load fast on a website are going to reproduce very badly in print you can get away with small thumbnails but blowing things up to any appreciable size is going to be pushing your luck. There are a number of online sites offering free or very cheap quality hi resolution images which are a good source for suitable imagery.

2. Forgetting about or not allowing enough bleed. A very common error is to send to print a document or flattened image that has no bleed at all. Generally speaking you should allow at least 3mm around every cut off edge. Failing to do so will give the printers no leeway and will either crop off the side of the page or give you a white border. It is always a good idea when supplying image files to save layered psd files then if things need extending or cropping you can do this on the background layer and hopefully cut down your work.

3. Using obscure fonts and not embedding or outlining them for output. We’ve all been guilty of this at some point and things are generally fine if you are going to be the only person accessing your artwork or documents. However if someone else needs to amend the files or use your vector logo on one of there publications. Unless you package up the used fonts, they are not going to be able to open the files correctly and some software programs may replace any unknown fonts with a default. This is a particular problem when you need to dig out stuff that was created several years previously and you no longer have your old fonts installed.

4. Supplying print ready artwork using spot colours or rgb There are valid reasons for using spot colours in artwork, logos that need to reference particular pantone colours for example. In general design work however most print is sent through on 4 colour presses CMYK with occasional 5th colour for luminoius or metallic colour or for spot UV varnish. It is very common for lazy designers to just place rgb images into files and expect the vibrant colours seen on screen to reproduce in print.

5. Allowing design illiterate clients to lead you round the houses The customer is always right, goes the old adage. However it is often said with gritted teeth and a sense of patience that recognizes that these morons will at some stage be handing over a fat cheque for your troubles. It is often a good idea when first submitting visuals to throw in a couple of stinkers to hopefully get them to appreciate the design you would like them to accept. There is the very real danger of course of them loving the piece of absolute arsewipe that you knocked up in five minutes to make them think you’ve been earning your money. Still it’s a living.

horatio farquaar may be contacted at http://www.mindtap.co.uk Mindtap Graphic Design Resources is your single point entry into brochure design. A unique site where you can access information on UK graphic design, logo design, leaflet design, catalog design and web design

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Creating a New Logo Design
by Phil Barnhart

A new logo design is the visual substance of what your business represents. When you look at the Coca-Cola swoosh or the bite in the Apple Corporation logo, these symbols encompass the idea behind these individual companies. However, many companies insist on ignoring the importance of identity design for themselves.

A great company logo design can entice possible customers and is the ultimate “first impression” for your business. A great logo creates loyalty from your customers, brings your business credibility, and upholds your identity within the logo itself.

There are three types of logo designs:

Font-based logos, which consists mainly of “type”, logos that literally show what the company does(such as Burger King), and abstract logos. An abstract logo really doesn’t associate with a company until the company shows its customers what they are about… then the symbol becomes apparent! Ultimately, your customers should be able to tell what you do just by seeing your logo!

Start Designing your New Logo Design

There are some basic methods for creating a logo design…

1. Observe the logos of your competitors. Think about the type of image that they convey, and how you would like your logo to be different from these.

2. Decide on the message that you would like to convey about your business. Does your business have its own personality, and what makes it different from your competition?

3. Your logo design should be clean, and should be easily legible on business cards and other printed materials. Also, consider if the logo looks good in black-and-white so it can be photocopied or faxed.

4. Consider your color choices: Be careful, although a colorful logo may be beautiful to look at, the cost of getting the logo printed may not be cost affective. Two to three color choices should be a strong consideration for the production of your new logo design.

5. There are several logo design sites available on the Internet. The most effective way of choosing a logo company is to find one that suits your needs is to see that company’s logo portfolio. These company logo samples should have logo design samples, as well as examples of logo design in various formats. Be sure that the company that you have chosen can create the needed design.

6. Protect your new logo design by applying for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Web site. Once you have trademarked your new design, you may use it anywhere you mention your company name.

Creating a logo isn’t always easy. Remember your customers and the type of business that you have, when creating your new logo design!

http://www.surelogos.com/ … All Graphic Design Directory … Tutorials Directory

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How to Get the Photo Quality Custom Printing that your Competitors Have

By Michael Joseph, E-commerce Manager, My1Stop (www.my1stop.com)

Your competitors’ custom printing projects have it - their marketing materials are vibrant, photo quality works of art. Even your smaller competitors with smaller marketing budgets have it. Their presentation folders and brochures, even their business cards are photo-sharp. How can they afford the photo quality results they get? Do they have a better marketing team?

Guess what — they probably just know things you don’t. They know more about emerging photo quality commercial printing than you do.

Can you get the same quality? Sure. But it comes from print vendors you might not expect –and it doesn’t have to cost more. In fact, if you find the right vendors, photo quality custom printing can cost less than traditional color printing.

How do you find these vendors and keep costs in-line? Let’s get up-to-speed on photo-quality printing. Then, I’ll offer a few tips to get you started.

What You Should Know

Photo quality custom printing is easy to understand. Printing done with a resolution of 2400 dpi or better is high photo quality. True 2400 dpi printing is what’s giving your competitor the edge. The competitor’s brochures that you envy were not printed at 1200 dpi then enhanced with software to look like 2400 dpi printing. No way. Your competitor knows better. Here are five things that your competitors know:

1. True photo quality printing is reproduction of actual images
2. Not all digital printing is true photo quality
3. Very few print vendors have true photo quality
4. Lots of print vendors “fake” photo quality
5. Most photo quality commercial printing is done on a press – not a copier

Photo Quality Printing Can Save Money

So-called photo quality printing of the past was done on digital presses, copiers and printers. These devices often require special toners, papers and press materials. Special materials mean higher costs. Enter the new era of digital presses. They print on almost any substrate and they use commonly available inks. Waterless inks are used in some digital presses which results in better ink hold out. Using common materials lowers cost. Your competitor has found vendors with these new presses.

Right now, your competitor gets better printing and pays less than you do. Here’s what you can do.

Find a Photo Quality Commercial Printing Partner

Here are some quick tips for finding a photo quality commercial printer.

1. Search the Web for “2400 dpi printing companies” – not “photo quality printing companies”
2. Learn about the presses
3. Ask the press manufacture for their customer list
4. Compare the difference of a hard copy proof versus a soft copy proof
5. Compare pricing – does photo quality cost less or the same?
6. Talk to photo quality printing press manufacturers, and ask for a list of potential vendors

Use the list above and you’ll find true photo quality print vendors who print in true photo quality output.

Get Free Samples from Vendors

Once you do find a vendor, be sure to ask for samples. Do you see the difference in quality or more depth? If a vendor won’t give you free samples, move on to the next vendor. And take the photo quality edge away from your competitors.

About the Author

Michael Joseph is E-commerce Manager for My1Stop (www.my1stop.com), a commercial printing company that provides a complete range of custom printing for presentation folders, brochures, booklets, full color labels and many other products. My1Stop utilizes time-tested print manufacturing as well as the latest digital printing equipment and processes. From spot color printing to better than photo-quality digital printing, My1Stop has a printing solution for any need.

My1Stop, 408 East 23rd Street, Fort Scott, KS 66701, Phone: 800-691-7867

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Wise Business Decision Making: Outsourcing your Logo Design

You’ve been in business for more than a couple of years. You’ve enjoyed moderate success through positive word of mouth and by delivering top-level quality of service, but your industry is becoming more and more competitive and the need for a more professional look is becoming imperative. Sound familiar? The truth is that in today’s market even the best companies need to sell its image and brand in order to succeed. This is achieved primarily via the company logo as it is associated with all of the company media: letterhead, envelopes, websites, business cards, brochures and advertising campaigns.

Many companies will choose to have their logo designed internally. This has the potential of producing good results, but it can depend on the talents of the individuals involved. Often times, it will be hard to come up with a high-quality logo this way. The time and resources spent on the efforts will simply not be worth it. Problems designing a logo in-house stem from the fact that it is often difficult to picture an effective marketing image when one is too closely tied to the business itself, and is all too familiar with the details and inner-workings of the company. This will often complicate the image that is attempting to be portrayed rather than clarify. Remember, a good logo design needs to be simple and eye-catching, yet unique to the company’s core mission.

The question then becomes: why not outsource to a company that specializes in logo design?

There are many companies that now focus their efforts solely on logo design. There are a variety of benefits to choosing this path:

• Cost Savings: Outsourcing your design will cost you a fraction of what it would hiring an independent designer or using in-house staff.
• Faster Turnaround Time: Logo design companies will make your project a priority and have a thorough understanding of the design process.
• Fresh Perspectives: Having someone look at your ideas and concepts from a fresh point of view is always a good idea in logo design.

One of the key benefits to outsourcing your design is often you will have a team of designers work on your project. At LogoBee.com, a team of at least 4-5 professional designers will work on any one project to ensure that the client gets a variety of variations and styles to choose from. In addition, the process is customer-centric so the client is never feeling left out of the picture. Changes to the designs can be requested at any time and are guaranteed to be completed within 24 hours.

Ultimately, the main advantage of working with a logo design company is that it allows you to focus on the most important thing: your core business. The next time you decide to launch a new product line, start a new business or re-brand your company, try it with the help of logo design professionals. The decision could determine the success or failure of your project.

Russell Arsenault is the Director of Marketing and Public Relations for LogoBee, Inc. For further information on logo design and branding visit the articles section on www.logobee.com.
info@logobee.com

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Brief History of Graphic Design
by Bharat Bista

The very first written word of mankind was the beginning of Graphic Design! And its native land was none other then ancient caves and caverns! The very first symbol they had sketched through cave drawings, paintings, markings on boulders, bone, and ivory are the foremost indication and evidence where graphic design was born, nursed, nourished and grown! Nevertheless, the term Graphic Design was named by William Addison Dwiggins in the early 20th Century.

Anthropologists studying prehistoric periods on cave paintings leads us earlier than the Upper Paleolithic period from 40,000 - 10,000 B.C., where our ancestors were learning how to design signs and symbols that could be communicated visually; moreover they were successful on leaving their marks. The pioneers of graphic design are non other then our own ancestors, who had lived in the caves and sketched their drawing on rocks. History of graphics design roots to our own ancestors of ancient era where civilization was cultured in caves, and left their drawings and sketches for us on their canvas of cave walls and ceilings.

The earliest drawings known today are from 6,000 years ago, are that of carved stone and pottery containers. Drawings contained in Egyptian pyramids with signs, symbols and letters are known to all and it leads us back 5000 years.

Furthermore, from 600-250 BC evolution on geometrical shape and structures in Europe played a major role for the development of designing and sketching. As an applied art of arranging images and text for an attempt of visual communication; the hand written copy of the Christian Bible “The Book of Kells”, created by Irish monks in 9th century AD with rich illustrations is a good example of the evolution of graphic design.

Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg, a German metal-worker and an inventor, introduced a printing technology allowing the re-use of individual letters. The first book produced by Gutenberg press was “The Incunabula”. This book became the standard in the history of book printing and publishing and was a giant leap for printing and publication; though, block stamping on sheets of paper with text and signs carved, was in use in Europe and Asia long before 14th century; however, Graphic design of this era was formatting and we today have named it Old Style graphic design.

Guttenberg era of graphic design evolution was sluggish, until the 19th century, in Britain the division created between fine art and applied art boosted this evolution, and they successfully published some of the most major graphic design products through the Arts movement. William Morris made a great deal of business of publishing books with stylish printings and contributed a significant role to attract the potential market as well as commercializing graphic design; in addition he was the pioneer for the separation of commercial design and fine arts.

…nbsp;Another painter from the19th century was Piet Mondrian whose innovation has greatly influenced today’s modern graphic designer. Though he was not a graphic designer, his uses of grids was the origin of modern day advertisement known as the grid system; widely used by graphic designer of our century today.

With the decadence of classical style, modern graphic design engrossed in the early 20th century with designs influenced by fine arts. The trademark of early modern fonts is the sans-serif typeface. In 1928, the book “New Typography” written by Jan Tschichold systemized the philosophy of modern typography.

Furthermore, the fathers of modern graphic design are still considered to be typographers such as Herbert Bayer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and El Lissitzky as they broke new ground on typography building techniques and stylizing. Modern computer technology has changed typography production altogether, but for the experimental and evolutionary approach their contribution was highly recognizable.

The booming and flourishing period for graphic design was after World War II; as the American economy thrived, the demand of graphic design, particularly on advertisement and packaging sectors blossomed.

I Love NY ad campaign (1973) and a famous Bob Dylan poster (1968) designed by Milton Glaser are examples of applied graphic design culture and its influence. Progressions in graphic design in the early 20th Century were mostly enthused by technological expansion in printing and also in photography. But at the mid of this century, the raising of the computer era in graphic design has faced little backwards as early computers were far weaker and computer memory was limited. However, within the end of this century with the immense development of computers and its corresponding technologies, modern graphic design has evolved into a business that is done almost entirely on computers.

In mid 1980, the arrival of desktop publishing and the launching of software applications like Illustrator and PageMaker introduced an era of designers to computer image manipulation and 3D image creation. Computer graphic design facilitates instantaneous effects of layout or typography changes.

Today, graphic design the visual communication, is yielded in the rich soil of computer ground, fertilized with latest hardware and software technologies. Graphic designers worldwide plough through computers loaded with the latest gadgets and gizmos, software and hardware, academic and technology, information and communication, and are generating the new history of graphic design in their design laboratories.

With express elevation of the hi-tech industry, the future assures more and today’s designer are contributing their name and effort through their creativity for the next generation. History yet has to write all of her pages for new innovation and invention in this field.

Author: Bharat Bista

Bharat Bista may be contacted at bharatbista@gmail.com.

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Some Graphic design and Prepress tips for Photoshop users

Here are some “must-know” tips for CG people who decide to start doing some pre-press and design for printing. As beginner you have to know that design for printing has some differences than web design or other screen designs.

Always use CMYK
First of all, printing technology uses CMYK color description and screen design use RGB. CMYK (Cyan Magenta Yellow blacK) is used because of printing technology that uses these 4 colors to make picture on paper. This color model is for Reflective surfaces. RGB (Red Green Blue) is for self-lighted surfaces, like screens and TVs.
If you have photos or illustrations in RGB, always convert them using Photoshop’s Image > Mode menu, because Adobe Photoshop gives best result with minimum changes of colors. CorelDRAW, for instance, gives totally different colors if you export drawing to RGB or CMYK. In my opinion, if you have to use some design elements from CorelDRAW, export them in RGB and then convert in CMYK using Photoshop.

Black should be only 100%K, not composite from all colors
You have to keep in mind that printing process has minimum 4 passes (to print full color – in Offset technology), and that alignment of these four passes may not be 100% same. Every pass is one color. So if you make text from 100C 100M 100Y 100K composite, you will have noise at letter’s edges. Photoshop has habit to form black from all composites so pay attention to select only pure black (0C 0M 0Y 100K) when you write text.

Use minimum 300DPI for Offset and 600DPI for Digital printings
Human eye can easily notice granulation of image raster if its resolution is lower than 96 DPI. Common Offset printing plates (machines) support 300DPI, so use this quality and make design in that resolution. Also, some digital printers support more dots per inch so you can make design from 600 to 1200 DPI’s, but it is very hard to notice difference between 600 DPI and higher. In special cases if you make design for buildboard, you can use 30 DPI, because of view distance.

Clean up small composite values
Keep in mind that every colored surface is made from these 4 components mentioned before. If you have on some surface less then 10% of some color, it is better to modify that color component to 0% in order to avoid edge noise. You will make small change on color. Also if you try to print 5% of some composite it is very small chance that something will be printed at all on Offset printing.
Example: if you fill background with gray color: 5C 5M 5Y 5K you will probably bet totally white surface, but, if you use 0C 0M 0Y 11K, which gives very similar color on screen, you will have some gray color on background.
Simply, printing and screening technologies are different

Make from 3 to 5 mm bleed on every edge that should be trimmed
Printing surface is always bigger than required dimensions. When you do screen design you don’t think about cutting, because it doesn’t exist on screen, but, when you do design for paper you have to keep in mind that someone will have to cut edges of your design. So there is Trimmed dimensions and Not-Trimmed. As designer you are thinking in trimmed dimensions, but when you send file on printing you have to make tolerance in case that swings that cuts paper to fit required dimensions make mistake, and, it always make some mistake. If you don’t make your design bigger you will have white stripes at edges of your catalogue or flyer.

Keep in mind that US print shops use the English system religiously. In case you
didn’t know, points and picas come from the English system, and its much easier for us to use all of our technology with those measurements. The bleed (that’s the area of excess design to allow for cutting) is always 1/8″ or less depending on the room on the plates.

In case of flyer, you have to make this bleed for all edges, in case of catalogue, only outer edges should have this because, edge that comes to bending line doesn’t have cutting.

Make margins at least 5mm
All elements of design and all texts should be at least 5mm from edge of cut. I tried with 3mm, it was bad looking because on some places distance was smaller because problem of swings. In some cases you can go up to 10mm of margin.

That is something that I noticed that beginners in graphic design should know. There is also some pure design tips about contrasts and colors, but I’ll leave it for some other tutorial.

Use TIFF as final file format
I advise you to use TIFF format when you send design to printer company. I had cooperation with many printing companies and printing professionals and everybody agree that TIFF / CMYK is most trusted image format for color-safe exporting and transporting from design workstation to film exposition company.

It is safe to use: LZW compression (more compatible) or ZIP compression (less compatible). For final file you can discard layers to reduce file size. Skilled print workers reported that ZIP compression may lead to corruption later on in the process of printing, also that LZW compression is not allowed by some applications (Heidelburg).

Check http://www.omnetwork.net for more tutorials covering this and other design topics.

About author:
Goran Grubic is skilled print and web designer from Serbia running design portal omnetwork.net (http://www.omnetwork.net) which offers for free large unique tutorial library (covering Photoshop, Flash, 3D Studio, Dreamweaver and similar topics), free graphic resources (templates, elements, 3D models etc.), photography (free&royalty free, just use it!) and sounds&music loops for multimedia web development.

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Business Card Ideas

The Simplest Business Card Ideas Are Always The Best

Innovative business card ideas are often misunderstood. The key message intended for prospective customers becomes lost in radical attempts at originality. These attempts at originality can in fact have a negative effect on prospective customers, invoking a deeper discussion about the actual design and presentation of your business card, rather than how your business can actually help others succeed. The last thing you want to encourage when handing out your business card are more questions about what your business does, or why you chose such an idea for your business card in the first place. Many design and communication firms will attempt to awe and inspire others with radical and non traditional business card designs. Ironically, these companies exist to help you better communicate a clear message.

To develop your business card ideas, start by creating a simple business tag line. Grab a piece of paper and pen and start to develop a tag line that either captures the essence of your business, or at the very least, is a broad statement of your business vision, your goal, or something which convinces people that you are a leader in your industry. Sometimes called a “motto”, or in more professional circles, a “competency statement”, your tag line should be short, to the point, sometimes catchy, but always memorable. As an example, this tag line, belonging to an enormously successful Canadian mattress manufacturer, “Why Buy a Mattress Anywhere Else”, is clear and to the point and the tag line is an integral part of their larger marketing campaign, used across mediums including print, television, radio and the Internet. Other tag lines are more abstract, but memorable, such as the McDonald’s campaign, “I’m Loving It!”. A tag line can be simple, as long as it can be used to help build trust in the customer. For example, Jim Smith, Certified Programmer, or, Eric Gibson, Professional Photographer. There is no rule for the tag line, just keep it tasteful, positive, clear, and to the point.

Photo business card images are gaining momentum among business card designs, because people have a tendency to remember visuals over text. For example, if you are a wedding planner, even subtle, full color imagery can be effective to communicate a message without words and can create a lasting first impression. You may utilize a background image of a couple in love at the alter, a detailed and elaborate wedding hall, or a bride in reflection decked in her bridal gown. The right image selection can visually communicate your industry or area of expertise, and then encourage the card holder to read the details.

Professor Print’s free online business card maker can help you develop your business card ideas and experiment with language and presentation using point and click web-based tools. Before you commit to going to print, you can forward your ideas to friends and colleagues in order to solicit their feedback and ensure your business card is one that will not be thrown away.

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Retouching people - by: rami b.a. lady-beetle

No, we are not going to touch anybody, no one will be physically harmed. We are just discussing retouching people’s photos in Photoshop. This one of the most commonly used actions, when people’s photos are incorporated into a graphic design.

In many cases the photos are taken with a home camera, or a digital camera with a low optical quality or low resolution, and people just don’t look as pretty as they should. In this tutorial we will go over one of the techniques for general retouching and improving the overall look. This is a simple, quick, and easy technique, to comprehend and to use.

abstract:
There are many techniques for processing and retouching photos in general and people’s photos in particular. You can reach high levels of picture processing and bring the models to a very high level, even if they are not that beautiful in real life, or that the photo itself is problematic. In this tutorial we will use a very simple technique for retouching portraits. of course you can use this method for different kinds of photos and receive interesting effects.

creating the new file:
we shall begin by opening the picture file, and for your results to come out similar to the ones on this tutorial, you should use the same definitions as we did.

file name: retouching
file size: 400 x 400 pixels
resolution: 300 dpi

lets first look at the original photo.

and now the final result…

We can continue and improve the photo even further, by additional proceesing actions, but in this tutorial we will limit ourselves to the simple technique and let go of the professional methods.

So how was it done?…
For the sake of order we will name this picture layer MyImage.
Now we will duplicate the MyImage layer by selecting the layer and activating the command:

Layer -> Duplicate Layer

Confused? To this new layer we will call ImageEffect and we will define it’s blending mode as Screen.

Good. Now that the new layer ImageEffect is selected, we will activate a blur filter on the layer.

Filter -> Blur -> Gaussian Blur

The filter’s dialog box will appear, where we will choose a radius of 5 pixels (expanding or reducing the radius will affect the blur intensity).

and there… we’re done…

Of course you can go on and proscess the photo in various differnt techniques. here’s the final result again:

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“But I have a degree” - Is it really enough?

There may have been a time when having a bachelor’s degree guaranteed you a comfy design position at your dream firm. By now most of us know, or have found out the hard way, this is far from true. When I began college, you could say that all of the design students were in the top 10 of their major (largely because there were only 10 of us). After a recent visit to my alma mater last month, I found that there are now 58 kids in the program. That is a considerable growth! Unfortunately, there are not enough local jobs to support these bright-eyed, future grads. My challenge to these students was to “go beyond the classroom”. I actually began learning Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver as a junior in high school. While not everyone has this advantage, there are several things you can do to set yourself apart from the rest of your peers.

1. STAY ON TOP OF TRENDS.

a. Magazines. There are plenty of great magazines you or maybe even your department can subscribe to. Some of these include Print, HOW Design, and Dynamic Graphics.

b. Newsletters. There are a plethora of sites that offer a daily or weekly tip. My personal favorite is the daily tip from www.layersmagazine.com. They are short and almost always very helpful.

2. FREELANCE

a. This can be intimidating to students starting out, but shouldn’t faze you juniors and seniors. I would consider doing several pro bono projects in the beginning. Doing these help take the pressure off of you and your client, and it’s a great way to build your portfolio. Freelancing is a exciting experience and it will show a potential employer that you have had the ever-famous “real world” experience. In addition, if you have built good relationships with clients that may come in handy when you begin job hunting.

3. BE MORE THAN A DESIGNER

a. I work for a company that requires the skills I learned outside of design classes almost as much as the ones I learned in them. I have used math, marketing, even a little chemistry, but most importantly communication skills. While I believe that a portfolio is important, my boss told me that it only counted for 20% of my interview. He was more interested in my ability to communicate with others. If you aren’t required to take speech in college, I would certainly recommend choosing it as an elective.

4. LOVE WHAT YOU DO

a. This is most important of all. It is almost always obvious when a designer is passionate and driven to be a success. If you have caught yourself saying “Why did they use a font like Arial on that sign?” or “Oooh, look at that sweet logo” while staring at a box of detergent, you are well on your way. And don’t worry; they make fun of me too.
Separate yourself from the norm. Give them a reason to hire YOU over the other 25 people you are graduating with.

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Visual Branding Keys To Make Your Graphic Design Business Memorable

By Karen Saunders

Have you ever asked yourself why a competitor’s business gets more attention than yours? The answer just may have to do with the elements that go into how memorable the business is. And that has to do with branding.

But exactly what is branding, anyway? Think of branding as predefining what a company is all about in the minds of its clients. Good branding differentiates your products and services in a positive way that really sticks in the minds of potential customers.

Let’s say you are getting ready to run errands on a busy Saturday morning, thinking about the groceries that need to be bought, the dry cleaning that needs to be picked up, and the packages that must get to the post office before noon. The trip to the post office reminds you that your favorite aunt’s birthday is next Wednesday. You need to add buying and mailing a birthday card to your list of things to do. Without a moment’s hesitation, you know exactly where you will buy the card: the local Hallmark store. Why did you think Hallmark?

The answer to that question has everything to do with Hallmark’s branding and two key elements of that branding are:

* An attractive, easy to read, and memorable logo;
* and a great tag line.

Assuming your own product is fabulous, it all comes down to image. Graphic design can play a huge part in that image. But what are some key things to consider?

A great logo is key.

You have given a great deal of attention to your company name and believe it speaks to who you are and what you do. Great! Now you need to wrap a graphic image around that name to carve out a prime piece of real estate in your target customer’s mind. That is exactly what a great logo can do.

Keep in mind that a powerful logo:

* has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that clutter its look;

* is distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance;

* has graphic imagery that looks appropriate for your business;

* works well with your company name;

* is done in an easy to read font;

* communicates your business clearly; and

* looks good in black and white, as well as in color.

Hallmark’s memorable crown logo is one of the reasons that Hallmark comes to mind so quickly when you need to buy a greeting card. It is simple, bold, looks good in either color or black and white, and bespeaks the quality required for something to be stamped with a hallmark, so it works well with the company name. While the image might not have communicated the nature of the business when it was first created, it certainly does now!

A distinctive tag line is key.

A tag line is a 3 to 7 word phrase that accompanies your logo. It expresses your company’s most important benefits and/or what you want your customers to remember about working with you. Think of it as the words you want to linger in your target customer’s mind about you and what you have to offer.

Great tag lines appear to be effortlessly created because they just seem to flow. In fact, creating and refining one takes time, just like designing a great logo. The benefits of taking the time to craft a great tag line lie with the tag line’s stickiness. Great tag lines stick in your memory.

The Hallmark tag line, “When you care enough to send the very best,” appeals to the human desire to be viewed as having good taste and an appreciation for luxury. If greeting cards are a commodity, then Hallmark has found a way to differentiate itself as the choice for quality.

The Hallmark company was founded by J. C. Hall, so the name Hallmark was a natural. It was also brilliant from a marketing standpoint. Hallmarks have been used for centuries as a stamp to denote quality, purity, and genuineness. Could there be a better way to attach the image of quality to a product? The tag line capitalizes on that image well with words that stick in the mind and exemplify good taste.

Creating a great logo and distinctive tag line are critical in creating a brand that provides the perfect image for your company and great ones just might be memorable enough to give your company the beach front property in the minds of your customers that leaves them thinking only of you.

(c) Karen Saunders 2006

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Karen Saunders, the author of “Turn Eye Appeal into Buy Appeal: How to easily transform your marketing pieces into dazzling, persuasive sales tools!” Hundreds of business owners have used her simple do-it-yourself design system to create stunning marketing materials that really SELL their products and services! FREE audio classes, articles and an eCourse on design and marketing tips are available at http://www.macgraphics.net

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Designers know the right colors when they see it.

Ever wonder why there are so many awful color combinations on the web? One might think it is because there are so many bad web designers out there.
Well, they might not be.

They may be using on of the many color matching software’s out there, and trusting it blindly to find the colors they need. Even designers with a good taste of colors may be tempted to use a “safe” match from the color wheel. The truth is the color wheel do not give you the colors you really want, and in end leaves out much of the creativity that should be present in a designer’s world.

As the painter Frank Bruno puts it, “Color harmony was thrown out years ago, as restrictive chains were broken forming my free style.”

People working with color know this, but since there are no alternative except extraordinary good taste, the color wheel has been the trusted choice. The problem with RGB is that is was developed for displaying colors in a computer screen. The sensitivities of the eye are different to the RGB system. Equal steps in RGB, results in unequal steps in human perception. Color scientists are aware of this problem, and developed the LAB system to overcome it. LAB works on human perception instead of the technicalities of color measurements.

When selling a product, one should consider color choice just as important as shape.

Psychologists have found out that color impression can account for 60% of the acceptance or rejection of that product or service. It is therefore crucial for a designer to pick the right colors to influence and illustrates the message, mood, and
flavor off their product.

Speaking to designers it was clear that color theory was too simplistic, resulting in highly saturated schemes. Instead of tools that would prescribe the “right” color, they wanted tools to explore. GenoPal was developed to fulfill this need, since designers know the right colors when they see it.

About Genometri Pte Ltd:

Genometri has developed patented color and generative design technology. The company is a spin off company from the National University of Singapore (NUS) and was established in 2004. The company sells software products and provides generative design services.

Genometri Pte Ltd.
No 14 Prince George’s Park Road
Singapore 118412
Phone: +65 67789456

Web: www.genometri.com/color

Email: marketing@genometri.com

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About Flash Templates & The Benefit of Flash Templates in Web Design

It can be hard to stay on top of the constantly shifting world of website design. New technologies are being developed daily, and the websites found throughout the internet reflect this. One of the latest technologies to be commonly integrated into websites is interactivity, or as it is more commonly known, flash. Flash is a process by which a user can modify or click on elements of an image and obtain a response. An entire site can be designed exclusively in Flash.

Although the Flash technology has been circulating the internet for some time, perhaps the simplest way to integrate the tool into a website is through Flash templates. Flash templates are available in great quantities through hundreds of websites and online companies. Much like traditional web templates, Flash templates provide a simplified framework for a user that includes Flash elements.

Although actually creating Flash can be relatively pain-free for professionals with significant knowledge of programming and design, for most individuals, however, this is not the case. It is far simpler to use the services of a company in the business of proving Flash templates along with excellent support and customization. Most providers offer customization as a part of obtaining that company’s Flash templates.

For example, an individual would purchase a template from a reliable online source, and before delivery, that online source would input the relevant company information, such as the company name, slogan, original content, or even a logo into the Flash design. Even with this customization, a Flash template is significantly less expensive than creating an original design through a professional. It also takes considerably less time.

Once the interactive portion of the Flash template has been customized, the buyer would simple modify any remaining portion of the template using simple commands and often without needing any knowledge of HTML coding. Once the template is complete with all relevant content, it is uploaded and the Flash portion will be live.

While these templates might seem more complex than a traditional design template, an individual would actually complete the same type of modification for both. The Flash is already integrated into Flash templates before a customer even receives the framework to modify. Thus, there is no additional work, but the added benefit of the Flash template to a respective website could be significant.

Autor’s Bio:
This article was written by Hasan Saleem sponsored by http://www.templatesfactory.net.
Reproductions of this article must include a link pointing back to http://www.templatesfactory.net.

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Summary: Whether you’re a PR consultant, a web developer or graphic designer, chances are you’ve experienced the time-intensive quest for the perfect image. And I’d be willing to bet that you’ve also experienced the angst that accompanies the quest. Will you find the right image in time? And will it blow your budget? Here’s a fantastic, low-cost solution — high-quality stock photography ….

Stock Photography — Stock photos offer quality, choice, and savings in time, budget and client satisfaction

by Bryan Zmijewski

Whether you’re a PR consultant, a web developer or graphic designer, chances are you’ve experienced the time-intensive quest for the perfect image. And I’d be willing to bet that you’ve also experienced the angst that accompanies the quest. Will you find the right image in time? And will it blow your budget?

Despite your mega Microsoft clip art library, and the vast (and depending on your use, illegal) repository known as Google Images, the just-right image, art or photo has eluded you. Meanwhile, the deadline is fast approaching … and along with budget constraints, there’s no time to hire a professional, and taking the shot yourself doesn’t yield the expert quality you need.

Consider the plethora of images and variety available through low-cost, royalty-free stock photography. Stock photos provide quick access and speedy delivery, superb quality and a broad selection, usually categorized by descriptive keywords or found quickly with a searchable database. With high-quality stock photos starting as low as a buck each, the price just can’t be beat.

Advantages of Using Stock Photography

Save time - Stock galleries provide a way to move quickly from an abstract concept straight to the presentation. Thousands of images and photos are readily available and quickly downloadable via the Internet, so the designer, developer or marketer can leap from the work plan to the storyboard, PowerPoint, brochure or web page.

You’ll no longer need days to set up a photo assignment, or spend the hours it used to take perusing clip art books, graphic files or endless CD-ROM galleries. With most online stock photo providers, you can create an account and download samples or purchase the perfect image in a matter of minutes.

Excellent range of selection & choice - Stock photography provides an unbeatable selection. Just imagine the advantage of having hundreds of photographers, models or designers on staff — along with hundreds of artistic styles and expressions. Stock libraries and galleries allow you to choose descriptive keywords, or combine keywords to get even more specific search results. Do a quick Search at LuckyOliver to see what we mean. And while you’re at it, go ahead and test-drive (or grab a comp of) one of LuckyOliver’s watermarked images — there’s no purchase required for that!

It guarantees a level of quality - Sure, there are plenty of free photo web sites–and many of them are filled with all kinds of garbage, like junky low-resolution photos, animated gif files and other stuff that may not have anything to do with what you need. You can expect remarkable quality from microstock libraries since the providers have high standards for accepting and approving any photo and art submissions.

It’s legal and ethical - Buying stock photos helps you avoid any legal issues associated with copyright. At stock photo suppliers such as LuckyOliver, you don’t have to worry about collecting and filing model releases. You simply make the purchase and use the photo, hassle-free. LuckyOliver and other stock phto galleries compensate the photographer–which saves you time and money once again, with less forms to sign and fewer checks to write.

It’s affordable - Some stock photos are inexpensive, but not cheap looking–though prices do vary. While some stock providers charge a lot — or whatever their market will bear — there’s oftentime little artistic difference between the high-dollar finds and the less expensive stuff.

For use of most stock photographs, prices range from $1 to $12 per photo, with discounts available for bulk purchases. Affiliate programs may also be available, and could prove worthwhile for web developers who offer custom templates to customers or for advertising agencies, marketers and PR firms with clients who want to choose their own images and photos.

About the Author Bryan Zmijewski is the fearless leader of stock photography provider LuckyOliver. After graduating as valedictorian of his high school class and not doing too shabby at Stanford, he started ZURB, a customer experience firm. Not content having one successful business and being a designer/photographer himself, he grabbed another cup of coffee and started LuckyOliver, a place where artists and photographers buy and sell photos and images for as low as $1. Contact him at feedback@luckyoliver.com or visit www.LuckyOliver.com.

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The PDF standard in my line of work (publishing/prepress) has for the last 5 years been a God-send. I have been more than a proponent, I’ve been a pundit. When Adobe Acrobat 4 came out clearing up so many of the fatal flaws that Acrobat 3 was all about, I spearheaded a campaign in my corporation to move as much workflow as possible to PDF. I embraced Enfocus as an arsenal, with its software Pitstop, and I decided never again to send out our work in its native application files.

In my eyes Adobe could do no wrong. With Adobe, there were so few problems with final PDF files and if there were problems, these problems could then be cleared up in minutes. This freed up my work life and gave me the time I needed to investigate other technological areas. There was no question, when Acrobat 5 came out that we would upgrade to it. Then Acrobat 6 came out and once more I recommended that we should shell out the dollars for our hundreds of users. Everyone was using PDFs and everyone was using Acrobat. Nothing was more important to Adobe than making sure everyone everywhere could work in PDF format. It was integrated into everything. It was the time of opensource software. It seemed natural to integrate the PDF into software and Adobe implied that as the standard it was fine, like with so many other standards to have PDF capabillities in everything. Then came Acrobat 7.

When Acrobat 7 came out, I pulled out my corporate purchasing card, but before I called my software vendor I stopped to think. “Wait, does everyone really need this?” I shocked even myself with this question. As long as I have Acrobat 7, everyone can mark up this document with Adobe reader. If someone needs to send me a PDF, and they have OS X, or Quark, or Office, or so many other programs, they can create a PDF themselves. Sure, my layout people will need it for final files, but other than that I can shave thousands of dollars off of my software budget now.

So, was I surprised when I saw that Adobe isn’t letting Microsoft use PDFs in the next version of Office? Well, yes actually I was. But I shouldn’t have been. Adobe implied that everyone could embed PDFs and we all fell for it and inferred that it could be used in everything without further licensing. Further, I think Adobe even believed that it was going to let everyone continue to use it; however, when it came down to their plans for Acrobat 8 (which should be coming out towards the later part of this year), they realized that their bottom line was going to drop even more than sales did with Acrobat 7, and they realized that they had to test the waters further.

That is what this Microsoft situation is all about, Adobe putting a toe in the water to test public reaction. If Adobe threatened a small vendor using PDFs, they know the design world would show its fury. But Microsoft, everyone hates the big M. People will laugh and cheer us on. Then we will have precedent and we won’t need to sue the others, we will just send them bills to license the PDF, or they will pull PDF out of their software on their own. We won’t need to make waves and we won’t get blamed by the public.

The companies we love will suffer (big ones like Apple and all the little ones that depend on PDFs). The companies we love to hate will suffer too (Microsoft and Quark). Most of all, though we will suffer, we will lose our gains in efficiency, we will lose our time, we will lose what was a wonderful standard. It sucks, but this is just the beginning.

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Today (actually it has taken me about a week) I have put together a huge list of Adobe Photoshop tutorial resources as well as Photoshop directories & search engines. Since Adobe Photoshop is the premiere Image Editing software that almost all graphic designers and web designers use, I feel it is important to make a list of the Adobe Photoshop sites where you can find quality Photoshop tutorials, tips, and techniques. Please post Photoshop sites that we have missed and we will add them to the list. Thank You!!

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL SEARCH ENGINES & DIRECTORIES

WEBSITES WITH ORIGINAL ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIAL SEARCH ENGINES & DIRECTORIES

SEARCH TUTORIALS SELECT -A huge tutorials search engine with over 10,000 tutorials for Adobe Photoshop, Graphics Software, Design, & Web Development tutorials.

CAPITAL TUTORIALS - Adobe Photoshop tutorial index and search engine with over 1,700 links to free Photoshop tutorials for every skill level. Some of the categories that these tutorials are separated into are Photoshop Basics, Text Effects, Special Effects, Web Layouts, Web Graphics, Textures & Patterns, and Photo Editing.

DA TUTORIALS - An Adobe Photoshop tutorials search engine and directory with 1000s of tutorials to look through including Photoshop tutorials for learning how to create & design Web Graphics, Web Layouts, Buttons, Effects,Text Effects, Photo Effects, Color, Photo Retouch, Textures and Patterns, Drawing, Basics, Designing, and Animation.

GOOD TUTORIALS - An Adobe Photoshop tutorials search engine. This one is a favorite of many Photoshop users because it has almost 10,000 Photoshop tutorials categorized and searchable.

KAOZ PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - Search this Photoshop tutorials directory with over 2,500 tutorials and lessons to browse or search through. This Photoshop site is categorized into Buttons, Menus, Text, Textures, Patterns, Drawing, Photoshop Basics, and Photo Manipulation Tutorials.

PHOTOSHOP CITY -
An Adobe Photoshop video tutorials resource site with about 50 video tutorials on Photoshop special effects, photo effects, retouching photos, text effects, web graphics, and other tips and tricks to help you learn how to become a better Adobe Photoshop user.

PHOTOSHOP DEPOT -
An Adobe Photoshop Directory and Search Engine including Photoshop tutorials and other resources. Photoshop Depot has a few hundred Photoshop tutorials listed within the following categories: Special effects, Text effects, Correction/retouch, Web graphics, Templates/interfaces, Adobe Photoshop Basics, Drawing/designing, Animation, Photo effects, and Miscellaneous Photoshop Tutorials.

PHOTOSHOP LOVER - An Adobe Photoshop tutorial portal and search engine with over 6,000 tutorials for learning how to use Photoshop at the beginner level, intermediate level, as well as the advanced level. Some of the category topics include Photoshop Basics, Special Effects, Text Effects, Colors, Web & User Interface, snf Textures & Patterns in Adobe Photoshop.

PHOTOSHOP ROADMAP - Thousands of Adobe Photoshop tutorials categorized into many sub-categories for easy browsing, including Animation and Interactivity, Color correction and color theory
Graphics optimization and compression, Illustration techniques, Interface design, Layers and channels, Photo retouching, Photoshop Elements tutorials, Plugins and filters, Scanning, Special effects, Text effects, Textures and backgrounds, and Tools and commands Photoshop tutorials as well.

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS DOT NET - With over 800 Adobe Photoshop tutorials stacked up in this tutorials database, Photoshop Tutorial Dot Net is the place for graphic designers & digital artists who love working with Adobe Photoshop! And with categories like: Web Graphics, Digital Art, and Special Effects you’re almost sure to find the tutorial you’re looking for.

PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS DOT US - Free Adobe Photoshop Tutorials Directory and Search Engine that lists only quality Photoshop tutorials. The categories listed on this resource includes Adobe Photoshop Effects, Text Effects, Photo Effects, Photo Editing, Web Layouts, Web Graphics, Buttons, Textures and Patterns, Drawing, Photoshop Basics, and Photoshop Design Guides.

PIMP MY COM DIRECTORY - A directory of over 900 Adobe Photoshop tutorials on outside Photoshop resources sites as well as 70+ original Adobe Photoshop tutorials.

PIXEL2LIFE - Another favorite of Adobe Photoshop professionals, Pixel2Life is a Photoshop tutorials portal with thousands of tutorials categorized and searchable. Some of the categories that they offer are 3D Effects, Animation, Basic Help and Navigation, Brushes, Buttons and Interfaces, Color Application, Drawing, Filter Tricks, Forum Sigs, Icon Creation, Photo Editing, Photography Tips, Pixel Art, Poster and Ad Design Tips, Printed Media, Special Effects,Text Effects, Textures and, Tiles, Website Banners and Images, and Website Layouts.

REFDEV PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - A webmaster resources site with an Adobe Photoshop tutorials section. Browse through over 500 Photoshop lesson categories such as Actions, Basics, Buttons, Illustration Techniques, Interfaces, Layers, Metal, Photos, Special Effects, Text Effects, Textures, Backgrounds, Web Graphics & Design Tutorials.

RESIMO PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - A few Adobe Photoshop tutorials with the topics: How to Create 3D Spikes, Brush Installing, Filter Installing, Fresh Font Effect, Isometric Pixel Art Lines, Land Aerial Photo, Pixel Boarder, and Tutorial Screenshots.

RNEL DOT NET - A great Photoshop tutorials search engine and directory with over 3,000 Adobe Photoshop tutorials in its index. The tutorial links are categorized into several categories including Basic Photoshop Techniques, Buttons Nav Bars, Textures Backgrounds, Text Effects, Special Effects, Photo Manipulation, Layout Interface, Animations, Photo Effects, Patterns, and Signature Effects.

TOTAL TUTORIALS - An Adobe Photoshop tutorials search engine & directory with 0ver 400 Photoshop tutorials to browse.

TUTORIAL COLLECTION - A Collection of free Adobe Photoshop tutorials categorized into Special Effects
Text Effects, Photo Editing tips, Web Graphics techniques, how to handle Colors, ideas for creating cool Buttons, using Textures or Patterns, and how to implement drawing into your digital imagery.

TUTORIALIZED - Over 2,500 Adobe Photoshop tutorials are listed in this huge Photoshop tutorials search engine and portal. Some of the Photoshop tutorial category topics listed here are Photoshop Abstracts, Animation, Photoshop Automation, Photoshop Basics, Brushes, Buttons, Color, Digital Art, Drawing, Special Effects, Photo Effects, Photograph Retouching, Photography, Text Effects, Textures and Patterns, Web Graphics, and Photoshop tutorials for Web Layouts.

TUTORIAL KIT - Tutorial Kit is a comprehensive resource and search engine for Adobe Photoshop tutorials and tips to help users of all skill levels reach their full potential. Browse their rich selection of 2,255 high quality professional tutorials to find that exact Photoshop effect or technique you’re looking for!

TUTORIAL MAN - With more than 1,500 Adobe Photoshop tutorials in the Tutorial Man Arsenal, searching for a Photoshop tutorial has become so much easier. Some of the category topics include Creating Web Graphics with Photoshop, Photoshop Basics, Creating Designs & Layouts in Photoshop, Special Photoshop Effects, Creating Digital Art with Photoshop, and Creating Textual Effects with Photoshop. There is also a section of the site for Original and Unique Tutorial Man Photoshop tutorials, this section contains about 70 Original Photoshop tutorials for you to browse through.

TUTORIAL OUTPOST - A searchable directory of over 2,000 Adobe Photoshop tutorials with categorized Photoshop tutorials for Drawing, Special Effects, Photo Editing, Basics, Text Effects, and Textures & Patterns.

TUTORIAL POD - Tutorial Pod is a search engine and directory of Adobe Photoshop Tutorials in the following categories - Special effects, Basic Photoshop, Text Effects, Layouts, and Web Graphics.

TUTORIO - A search engine for tutorials with over 400 pages of Adobe Photoshop tutorials to learn the craft with.

VINOM - An Adobe Photoshop tutorials site that has about 30 Photoshop tutorials for you to explore directly on their site.

WEBSITES WITH ORIGINAL PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS

ADOBE DOT COM - Well, of course we have to include Adobe’s Photoshop tutorials, lessons, tips, and helpful guides. A huge selection of helpful tips that will get you on the right track with Adobe Photoshop.

UPDATED ABOUT DOT COM ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS TUTORIALS - About.com has an amazing collection of original Adobe Photoshop tutorials…in fact, About.com has one of the largest collection of original Photoshop tutorials that I have seen so far. Take a look and remember to bookmark this link…it is a keeper!

ADOBE EVANGELISTS TIPS AND TRICKS - This is an excellent resource for Adobe Photoshop Users. This site can be used as a guide to Photoshop as it is really put together very well including power shortcuts, how to automate repetitive Photoshop CS tasks, Cool stuff available in Adobe Photoshop, Where things are located in Photoshop, and a lot more helpful tutorials and guides.

ADOBE PHOTOSHOP CS2 KILLER TIPS - “The hottest collection of cool tips and hidden secrets for Adobe® Photoshop”, produced by The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP).

ABSOLUTE CROSS - The skills you’ll learn by working through these tutorials will help give you a firm grasp of what makes Photoshop tick. Hopefully by the time you’re through, you’ll know your way around Photoshop and will be ready to take on more challenging projects.

80FOUR PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS -A listing of about 2 dozen quality Adobe Photoshop tutorials including Original Photoshop Tutorials of 3D Text, Gel Text, Chrome Text, Ice Text, Tunnel Effect, Perforated Ball, Gel Button, Duotone, Reflection, Dreaming, Metal Texture, Scratched Text, Stroked Text, Eroded Text, Stencil Text, Chunky Bevel, Shattered Text, Tools, Crescent, Pixel Stretch, Light Burst, and Water Texture.

ANDERS QVICKERS -A great resource for quality Adobe Photoshop tutorials including about 50 original tutorials for the following Photoshop lesson topics : Wood pattern, Layer/blending options, Plastic button, Dropshadows, Chromed pipe, KPT 5, Inner bevels, Artistic filters, Outer bevels, Seamless backgrounds, Sphere, Chrome/gold letters, Dynamic Interfaces, Silver coin, Stone Letters, Complex shapes in 3 different ways, Glassie sphere, Rusty Letters, Tube, Cast shadow, Fire text, Screw, Eye Candy, Burned edges, Glass text, Rusty Lattice, Combine 2 photos, Metal Text, Golden pipe, Photo edges, Outline text in 2 different ways, Metal plate, Vignette, Plastic text, Push button, Dust & Scratches, The Texturizer, TV-Screen, Radial Blur effect, Frame corner, Wires, 3D-Photo effect, Change color, and Multiplying Photoshop Effects.

BIORUST - Over 80 Original and colorful Adobe Photoshop tutorials in this basic principles, interface concepts, special effects, textures & backgrounds, digital artwork, and photographic effects.

BLOCK NINE DOT NET - A small collection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials, I think. This site kept freezing up for me, but at least it didn’t crash my browser, it just never fully loaded. Please let me know further details about these tutorials if you are able to fully browse the site. Thank you.

BLUE SHOUT - Site is being reconstructed now so everything is a little sparse. However, there are over 20 Adobe Photoshop tutorials present for you to use.

BLUE SFEAR - Almost 250 original & unique tutorials for Adobe Photoshop tips & techniques.

CANEN ART - A very brief Adobe Photoshop tutorials section, however they are all unique to this site. The Photoshop tutorials that they have listed on their site are as follows, Shrink your Photos down with Paint, How to download photos, 5 easy steps to set photos as desktop backgrounds, Cleaning Photos with Adobe Photoshop, Aperture Priority - How to blur your background of your picture, Shutter Speed - Using shutter speed for dramatic effects, and Color Filters - How to dramatically add life to your photos

CONCEPT VISIONS - A very small selection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials that are original to this site. Some of the tutorial topics including How to Create a Software Box, Futuristic Trendy Signature, Multiple Image Resize / Web Gallery, Image Extraction / Wallpaper Creation, Medieval Wall Painting, Animated Contacts, Photo Album Cover, Animated AIM Buddy Icon, Binder Paper, Comic Book Page, Create Website Business Layout, School Mascot / Logo Design, Coat of Arms / Family Crest Design, Scanline Effects, 3D Effects, and How to Design a Trendy Signature Design.

COOL JEBA - An Indian online Graphics Community with a large set of original Adobe Photoshop tutorials. These tutorials are written for novice users whom are just starting to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop.

DEPICTION - If you are looking for high quality Adobe Photoshop tutorials then this index of over 50 free high quality original tutorials for Adobe Photoshop is will interest you.

DESIGN CORE - A few Adobe Photoshop tutorials for creating special effects such as translucent 3D material, glowing gel, twirly lines, twirled rings, simple vortex effects, and futuristic headers.

DESIGN WORLD PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - About 150 original Adobe Photoshop tutorials in the following categories: Designing Logos with Adobe Photoshop, Web Design & Web Graphics with Photoshop, Photoshop Textures, Fonts and Text Effects, Photoshop Filters, Photo Manipulations, and General Photoshop Tutorials.

DESIGN TUTORIALS - This tutorials website is a resource for different graphic design & web design related tutorials. Their Adobe Photoshop tutorials section has a few hundred Adobe Photoshop tutorials listed by date submitted. These tutorials aren’t categorized but are searchable.

DESIGNER PHOTOSHOP TODAY - In this tutorial site you will find excellent Adobe Photoshop tutorials and training, as well as Photoshop tips, tricks, techniques and effects. Our writers work hard to provide free Photoshop training for you! These tutorials cover Photoshop 5, Photoshop 6, Photoshop 7, Photoshop CS and Photoshop CS 2.

DEVIANT ART - This Resources gallery is a massive library of Adobe Photoshop (as well as other applications) brushes, software actions, tutorials, textures, fonts, and more for artists everywhere. This is in a message board setting.

DEVPPL - Over 2,500 Adobe Photoshop tutorials categorized into a lot of subtopics to make it easier to find the tutorial that you need. Some of the Photoshop lessons categories include Animation, Photoshop Basics, Buttons, Color, Designing, Drawing, Effects, Photo Manipulation, Text Effects, Textures and Patterns, and Web Layouts.

DR. PHOTOSHOP - A few dozen Adobe Photoshop tutorials including lessons for Creating Photoshop images, including tutorials for Photo Adjustments, Create OS X Icons, Colorful Abstract Images, Design Layout, Correction (Video) , Change Colors, Vector Art, Torn Photo Effect, Color Swatches, Birdhouse Skateboard, Retro Dot Photo, Pixel Stretching, Photo Guide, Paint Swirl, World Night Light, Curved Lines, Import from AI CS2, Lamp Animation, iChat Icon, Guide to HDR, Graffiti, Adding Foreground, Flag Orb, Drawing tutorials, Dot Patterns, Cork Board Creation, Create a 3D die, Create a folder layout, Photoshop Web Layout 1, Creating Laminated Cards, Guide to Bridge CS2, How to Create a black aqua interface, How to Create an iPod person from a commercial, and more.

ELATED PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - Elated’s Photoshop tutorials will teach you lots of cool techniques and skills for Adobe Photoshop. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or Photoshop expert, you’ll find loads of useful Photoshop tips here.

EYES ON DESIGN - Over 30 Adobe Photoshop tutorials on this beautifully designed website. Some of the Photoshop lessons include topics such as Ways to Convert Your Photos to Black and White, Techniques for Creating Soft Desaturated Colors, How to Create Chrome Buttons, How to Create Cool Web Interfaces, How to Create a Pixelated Shadow, How to Create Button Bars, How to Use the Photoshop Liquify Tool, How to Slice Images in your Web Design Projects, How to Implement Patterns in Your Photoshop imagery, How to Create a Screw, and many more Adobe Photoshop Tutorials, Tips, and Techniques.

EYEWIRE PHOTOSHOP TIPS AND TRICKS - Follow step-by-step on featured tips and tricks for Adobe Photoshop Users including tips on how to create multiple shadows in Photoshop, Wrapping Graphics around an object, Using selections to create a mask, creating straight strokes, faster layer navigation, retouching resized images, displaying online designs, faster contrasting, Photoshop palette tips, creating recessed graphics, and more.

FOTO EFFECTS - All original Photoshop tutorials with hundreds to choose from from beginning to advanced level. These Adobe Photoshop tutorials are categorized into Photoshop Basics, Drawing, Infrared Effects, Photo Effects, Photo Retouching, Scripting, Special Effects, Text Effects, Vehicle Effects, and Web Development.

FREE WEBMASTER RESOURCES - 19 Adobe Photoshop tutorials including topics such as How to Create 3D Globs, Actions and Batching, Box Art, Brushes, Chromage, Colorburst, Colorize, Fire Text: Tutorial, Grunge: Tutorial, Ice Text: Tutorial, Keyboard Shortcuts: Tutorial, Lighting Effects: Tutorial, Masking: Tutorial, Micro Buttons: Tutorial, Neon Glow Text: Tutorial, Creating Outlines, Paths: Tutorial, Seamless Water Texture: Tutorial, and Texture Wrapping: Tutorial.

GFX^TM - About 20 Adobe Photoshop tutorials including tutorials on the topics : Saving a Proper PNG, Ray of Light, Text on a Curve (Circle), Selection Secrets, Selection Secrets 2, Rounded Corners, Saving Transparent GIFS, ImageReady Animated GIFs, Easter Eggs, 304 Photoshop 6 Tips, Tips & Tricks and hidden features of Photoshop 6, Layer Masks & Blending Modes, Ray of Light², Realistic Digital Displays, Animated Digital Displays, Actions: Automating Tasks in Photoshop, Animated Rollovers, Black & White to Color, A Matter of Preference, Photoshop Tune-Up, and a tutorial on Using the PNG File Format in Adobe Photoshop.

GRAPHIC ADDICTS - About 40 original Adobe Photoshop tutorials included within this website for Photoshop users. Some of the tutorials included are for creating 3D text, animate lightening, making an Aurora Borealis effect,colorizing photos, creating Faux 3D Objects, making an infusion, manipulating images in Photoshop, and more.

GREY COBRA - With nearly 200 High Quality Lessons, GreyCobra.com is a leader in teaching users across the globe the basics, advanced techniques, and the same graphical effects which the professionals use in Adobe Photoshop. With the help of our Lessons, you can learn to become a professional digital artist in no time!

HEATH ROWE - A collection of over 170 original Adobe Photoshop tutorials with lessons spanning several categories, including Photoshop tutorial topics for Automation, Color Manipulation, ImageReady, Knockout Power Tricks, Layer Blending Styles, Other Tools Techniques, Painting Techniques, Pattern/Texture Techniques, Pen Tool Techniques, Shape Tools Techniques, ShortCuts, Tips & Tricks, Type Tool Techniques, and Web Design Techniques.

IDESIGNTHIS PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - About 100 unique Adobe Photoshop tutorials that are neither searchable nor categorized. However, these tutorials seem as if they are quality lessons.

INFINITE DESIGNS - Including about 50 Adobe Photoshop tutorials, this Photoshop resource includes the help that you might be looking for to improve your Photoshop skills.

INSIDE GRAPHICS - A large selection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials for beginning to advanced level Photoshop lessons including topics on Learning Tools, Image Effects, Digital Arts, Retouching, Text Effects, Frames, Web Buttons, Textures, and Plugins tutorials. There is also an Advance level free Photoshop training course as well as a Free 75 lessons Beginner’s and Intermediate Photoshop Course provided on this site.

INVANO - A nice listing of about 50 original Adobe Photoshop tutorials, including How to Create Glowing Text, How to Use the Clone Tool, How to Create a Glossy Button, How to Add a Tattoo with Photoshop, How to Blend Images, How to Add Focal Range, How to Use the Background Eraser, How to Create Icy Text, How to Create a Clean Layout, Creating Metallic Navigation Bars, How to Stretch Pixels, and many more Photoshop tutorials.

JAY ARRAICH’S PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS & TIPS - A great selection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials that are both original as well as very helpful to beginning and intermediate Photoshop users. Some of the tutorials include: Using Photoshop Brushes, Photoshop Basics, Reference: Tools, Reference: Palettes, Reference: Filters, Reference: Effects, Selections, Channels, Basic Layers, Basic Pen, How Much?, Color Management, Color Correction, Curves, Levels, or Brightness/Contrast?, Combining Images, Combining Images II, Combining Images III, Compositing in Photoshop, Perfect Blend, Multicolor Fill, Dodge and Burn, Duotones, Styles On Masks, Organic Textures, Abstract Background, Make a Frame, 3D Wire Text, Doodling, Older Tutorials, Quick Mask, Rubber stamping, More Adjustments, Sharpening, Filters, and Color Tutorials.

KENETIX CYBERNEXUS - A very small collection of Adobe Photoshop tutorials, including only 6 tutorials about Pixel Stretching, Creating a Stylish Glass Bar, Designing Reflective Text, Creating a Signature with Video, Making a Wire in Photoshop, and Creating AC/DC Sigs in Photoshop.

FX ZONE - Learn how to use Adobe Photoshop better with these original & unique Adobe Photoshop tutorials. They are also now starting to have Live IRC Photoshop tutorials so let us know if you try it and if it is a good way to learn Photoshop.

KEV DESIGNS - About 20 great Adobe Photoshop tutorials listed on this site, including tutorials for Stylish Tech, Installing Fonts, Brush Inside of Text, Add Night vision Goggles to a Pic, Extracting a Render, 3 Awesome Borders, Vanishing Text, Grunge Sig, Abstract Sig, C4D Motion Blur, Abstract Sig, Pixel Fonts, Retouch a Face, Text Glint, Glowing Text Tutorial, Pattern Tutorial, Blending a Render, and Blending a Render.

LAURIE MCCANNA’S ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TIPS AND TUTORIALS - Many of these tutorials are for older versions of Adobe Photoshop back to version 5.0, but most of these tutorials are still applicable to current version Adobe Photoshop CS.

LOGATIC - All of these Adobe Photoshop tutorials are clearly written and structured so you can accomplish the chosen effect without any hassle. There are only a handful to choose from, including topics such as how to create cool web buttons, content boxes, navigational graphics, website wallpaper, and special effects.

LOGO SHACK - There are only 19 Photoshop tutorials located on logo-shack.net, however I think that they look like good tutorials. Some of these tutorials are Pen Tool, Blending Renders, User Bars, Pop Out Sigs, Unique Coloring, Vertex Swirl, 3D Text, Basic Borders, Soft Signature, Soft Blended Text, Vortex Effect, Create a Business Layout, Leaf Brushing 101, Text Effect, Easy Render Blending, Blended Render, Blended Text, Mirror Text, and Blended Text.

LUNACORE ADOBE PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - About 30 original Adobe Photoshop tutorials including lesson topics such as How to Turn photos into line drawings, how to create realistic rainbows, how to create transparent 3d objects, how to smooth edges, and more.

METICULOUS DESIGN PHOTOSHOP TUTORIALS - Only 7 Adobe Photoshop tutorials with the following topics, creating a retro effect, creating tentacles, sketching, scanlines, creating a reflection, applying eye color, and how to create an affiliate button.

MICKM - Hundreds of original Adobe Photoshop tutorials to search or browse through. All of the tutorials are rated so you know whether or not to bother with them.