One gazillion years ago (I call it 1989) I used a rather nifty application called Adobe Streamline. It had the ability to convert pixel-based bitmapped images into a vector graphic image. But why would you need that? It is due to the adage of while you can shrink a low-res image, you can't enlarge it. That's because a bitmapped image is made up of pixels. Blowing them up only creates larger pixel areas creating that all-too-familiar crappy Youtube video look. With … [Read more...]
The Pixelmator Challenge: Dr. Roach
January 7, 2009 By 1 Comment
While teaching a recent Photoshop workshop, a local Community College recruited me to conduct a sort of 'finishing up' workshop for students at the end of their second year of Photoshop classes in a strictly Macintosh lab. I was charged with showing them that while they had two semesters of Photoshop behind them, that there were a lot of subtle things yet to be done and which hadn't been covered in their coursework. Sure enough, at the end of the session a question arose, just as I had … [Read more...]
The Pixelmator Challenge: Alicia Vogel
January 6, 2009 By Leave a Comment
I really love Pixelmator as a painting program. It has Photoshop-like brushes and a Painter feel. I popped a sketch I had started in Painter in and was able to fully block it out and have a decent detail pass in a matter of hours. For me, its simplicity is a big plus. With Photoshop and Painter, I get dazzled by all the options and end up forever tweaking all the tools. In the future I'm going to do all my pre-painting in Pixelmator and then tweak either in … [Read more...]
Pixelmator: The Challenge
January 5, 2009 By 1 Comment
A while back, David Alison wrote about Pixelmator. He said it was a good program. I trust his judgment, and in general I've agreed with his assessment of Mac apps. As a result, I began recommending Pixelmator without hesitation to my clients. I have to admit I am a Photoshop snob. I had never actually used Pixelmator. I had all sorts of excuses - didn't want to pay for it, I already own the top image editor on the market so why bother learning a new one, yada yada. AND I own Imagewell from … [Read more...]
Mastering the Nikon D300 By Darrell Young
December 9, 2008 By Leave a Comment
I didn't really need a Nikon D300. I already had a perfectly wonderful Nikon D2x with only about 15,000 actuations on it, plus a great Nikon D80 with about 12,000 actuations. But, when a friend upgraded to a Nikon D700 and decided to sell his two D300's with only about 7,000 actuations on one of them, I bought the latter. I already knew the operations of the D2x pretty thoroughly so I figured I'd breeze right through the D300 set up. In a way, I … [Read more...]
A Long List Of Free (and almost free) Stuff
November 25, 2008 By 1 Comment
This is part of my endless list of free stuff from the web. Believe it or not, most of the graphics offered on the sites listed below are free. HOWEVER they are all offered under different licensing agreements- some require a link back to the designer's website, some required copyright credits, others require nothing at all. Make sure you read the licensing agreements carefully. Don't abuse an artist's intellectual property rights and they will keep sharing their work with … [Read more...]
PRACTICAL HDRI: High Dynamic Range Imaging For Photographers
November 5, 2008 By 2 Comments
Jack Howard should be a familiar name to many of you photographers as he is the Editor of PopPhoto.com/Popular Photography & Imaging where he tests and reviews cameras, lenses, software and a multitude of camera gadgets. HDRI photography (high dynamic range photography) is a growing phenomenon of interest in the photography field. Simply put, it is a method by which the photographer produces an image that has more dynamic range than that which is possible with normal film or … [Read more...]
Photofunia.com
November 4, 2008 By 7 Comments
It never fails. Just as I get rolling on something I need to finish, someone emails me something which completely catches my attention and takes me away from whatever it was that I was doing. (what was I doing?) Distraction du jour: Photofunia.com. There are several online tools which allow you to have fun with images, Dumpr and Gooifier are two free sites that I've used in the past, but Photofunia, also free, offers a more sophisticated selection and I like their interface better. … [Read more...]
Review: Jumsoft Templates and Clipart for iWorks Pages
October 30, 2008 By 1 Comment
I recently added iWorks Pages to my arsenal of design tools. I would like to suggest some add-ons that I recently included in my collection... These babies are available a the Jumsoft Online Store. Jumsoft's packages range in price from $29 (for individual templates) to $ 59 (for The Template Pro Pack). At these prices, they easily add value to your IWork collection of templates and clipart. I have to say my favorite of the three is the very random yet whimsical collection of images in … [Read more...]
iWork! I swear!
October 29, 2008 By Leave a Comment
Okay, so I am a bit of a software snob. I can’t help it. I come from the “right before computers were cool” generation. My first experience with a computer was looking up the Dewey Decimal system on the library computer in High School. Then after flirting with a few PCs in the public lab while writing a few last minute papers for English Lit I moved on to my first Mac in the art lab. After that, there was only one true love in my life. The Apple! … [Read more...]
