CMX Masterpiece Photo Collection 25: Simplicity
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No doubt, these are very complicated times in our world. We can't possibly control everything around us, so when stress is taking over, why not take some time out to enjoy the simpler things in life? Following are some images that are calming, peaceful and simple.

This collection includes ten high resolution images that can be used for print or web work.

Disco Ball - Part 4
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Disco Balls are very effective in real life; make your own using Adobe Illustrator. In this fourth part we will create the sparkles for the 3D sphere.

Disco Ball - Part 3
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Disco Balls are very effective in real life. Make your own using Adobe Illustrator. In this third part we will create the shading for the 3D sphere.

Snappy Photoshop Eye Retouching
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Got a few seconds? Check out this Photoshop tutorial on using a layer style for adding a little zing to eyes in your portraits.

Zoomify Your Images
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Have you ever tried to load up large detailed files to your web site so people could see the quality of your work? Most of the time Photoshop users will try and accomplish this by either uploading a smaller version of the image(s) or use Save for Web in Photoshop. A smaller file version often defeats the purpose of the exercise and very large files processed through Save for Web can often crash, depending on how current your processor is. So how do you bring up large files with oodles of detail to your site? In a word—Zoomify.

Zoomify is a function of the Export Menu in Photoshop and has been around since CS3. This processor is often overlooked or misunderstood, however it's dirt easy to use and a tiny giant in its capabilities. Let's begin.

Discovering Photoshop - Part 3: Replace Color Tool
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Welcome back to our Discovering Photoshop Series!

Today we will be looking at the Color Replace option from the adjustments menu, we will learn how to quickly select and replace colors while maintaining the natural hues and shadows within the image. We will be working with the Color selection tool and the Add to and Subtract from tools and we will look at how we can use the fuzziness slider to finish off the transformation of our image.

The Discovering Photoshop Series:
Discovering Photoshop - Part 1: Healing Brush Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 2: Magnetic Lasso Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 3: Replace Color Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 4: Patch Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 5: Working with Eyes

Alien Skin Blow Up 2 Review
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Blow Up 2 by Alien Skin – a Photoshop plug–in that produces enlargements of photos, sharper. Using an innovative algorithm, that temporarily converts pixels to a vector representation which results in perfectly smooth, sharp, crisp edges.

Discovering Photoshop - Part 2: Magnetic Lasso Tool
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In the inaugral piece in this series we discovered the healing brush tool, a simple and yet very effective method of photo correction. In this tutorial we will build on that knowledge by continuing to work with photographs, we will learn how to use the Magentic Lasso Tool and how to correctly set the options it contains to enable you to get the most out of the tool in any given situation.

The Discovering Photoshop Series:
Discovering Photoshop - Part 1: Healing Brush Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 2: Magnetic Lasso Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 3: Replace Color Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 4: Patch Tool

Discovering Photoshop - Part 1: Healing Brush Tool
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In this tutorial we will be learning how to correct blemishes with the Spot Healing Brush Tool, this is a great way to fix probem areas in what might otherwise be a great photograph. In this tutorial we will be removing a graze from a child's forehead, the process is extremely simple and very effective.

The Discovering Photoshop Series:
Discovering Photoshop - Part 1: Healing Brush Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 2: Magnetic Lasso Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 3: Replace Color Tool
Discovering Photoshop - Part 4: Patch Tool

Changing the Colour of a Car
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In this tutorial we will look at how we can change the colour of car from its basic colour to an alternate colour. This process won't damage your image in any way at all.

Adding a Frame / Border to a Photo Using Photoshop
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Create your very own borders, in colors to compliment your photos using Photoshop. No plug–in, that's right, no plug–in. The borders are created in seconds using a quick, easy, and very simple technique.

Apply Filters and Textures to Your Images using Filter Forge
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Apply Filters and Textures to Your Images using Filter Forge

Making a Pattern with Photoshop CS4 Pixel Bender Plug-in
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It's endless pattern making fun, you will enjoy it! Create an array of patterns in Photoshop CS4. Save a Photo or Design as a Smart Object and apply filters using the Pixel Bender Plug-in (a FREE plug-in). The patterns you can create are endless by using your own photos or art. Patterns can be saved to use over and over again!

CMX Masterpiece Photo Collection 14: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
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Close-up photography is one of my favorite types of shooting. The camera lens can zoom in and focus on details that the human eye is not equipped to see. Plus, a simple image that fills the entire frame can be quite dramatic. Often, I will go out on a shoot with macro/close-up photography as my project of the day and come home with some incredible surprises.

This collection contains ten high resolution images that you can use in your web or print work.

Approximate download size: 54MB

Studies in Noise - Part 1
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Noise!! You can't seem to avoid it in your digital images. Well, guess what? We are going to embrace the enemy! In this two-part tutorial, we'll look at the basics of using noise in creative ways. The first part talks about ways to use Photoshop's filters to generate and manipulate pure noise. The second part will take that information and start building textures.

If you do any photoretouching or need some creative sparks, read this article ;)

The Studies in Noise Series:
Studies in Noise - Part 1
Studies in Noise - Part 2

Alien Skins Snap Art 2
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Turn photos into Sketches and/or Paintings the easy way.

Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 2
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Want to grab some pixels from your 3D objects and sort your images by what lens you shot them with. Really? Of course! Check out these Digital Imaging Quick Tips.

The Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips Series:
Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 1
Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 2
Digital Imagine Tools Quick Tips - Part 3

Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 1
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Let's kick off a set of articles covering some hidden gems in Adobe's digital photography tools: Photoshop, Lightroom, Bridge, Camera Raw. Not all of these will be exclusively for photographers... just mostly. These tasty little tidbits will be coming to you at random, so keep an eye out! After all, a good photographer is always prepared :)

The first of these little morsels looks at workflow tricks, so get your pictures in line and start working these into your routine. You'll be amazed at how much time little bits like this can save!

The Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips Series:
Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 1
Digital Imaging Tools Quick Tips - Part 2
Digital Imagine Tools Quick Tips - Part 3

Photoshop CS4 New Features - Clone Stamp
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Need to manipulate campaign photos? Want to drum up some sympathy for your favorite cause or movement? Well, you've come to the right place. The new clone stamp features in Photoshop CS4 Extended may just be cool enough to get some positive light for once. The public at large will be more than happy to suspend belief while looking at your masterful clone jobs!

Photoshop CS4 - Spring-Loaded Tools
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BOING!!! Come check out one of the neatest UI enhancements in Photoshop CS4!

Photoshop CS4 New Features - Content Aware Scaling
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Cropping is for sissies. Get you some manly scaling with Photoshop CS4's new Content Aware Scaling!

Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 1
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You seriously don't want to read this article. It's got no pictures, and has some touchy-feely stuff about Photoshop and how to use it. You won't get any shortcuts or actions, and there's not one word about HDR or painting with light.

What it's got is some very esoteric nonsense about experimenting with your favorite pixel pusher. You probably won't enjoy learning about how to make Photoshop an extension of your creativity, nor would you want any insights that will speed up your work.

Nope. I wouldn't bother, if I were you. I'm sure you'll do just fine following the crowds.

Heh...

The Experimenting in Photoshop Series:
Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 1
Experimenting in Photoshop - Part 2: Basic Filter Fun

Photoshop Goes To the Movies
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Who would have ever thought Photoshop CS3 could be a video creation tool? In this article, which kicks off an irregular series designed to show you how the tools in the CS3 Creative Suite integrate with each other, we create a video that starts in Fireworks CS3 and winds up in Flash.

Approximate download size: 8.7MB

Digital Photography - Home Studio DIY Lights
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So, you're ready to go get some lights for your home photography studio. Find out about the options available to the intrepid DIYer, from the obvious work shop lights to not-so-obvious LEDs. What you'll learn in this article is how to think about choosing your lights, what to look for when out hunting, and how to keep it all coordinated. This is really an experimentalist's approach to home studio lighting.

The DIY Digital Photography Home Studio Series:
Digital Photography - Home Studio DIY Concepts
Digital Photography - Home Studio DIY Lights

Native PSD Import into Flash CS3
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Importing Photoshop files directly into Flash is now a reality with Flash CS3. Flash's new ability to import a PSD file by its layers and be able to import them as their own bitmap image as well as editable text layers, and into their own MovieClips, is extremely convenient for anyone who develops their interfaces and designs in Photoshop.

This article is quite similar to my previous article about importing Illustrator files into Flash. There are differences when importing Photoshop files however.

Fireworks or Photoshop?
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A common question that comes up from new users is, "How do I decide whether to use Fireworks or Photoshop for a project?"

It's a good question. In fact, the answer may not be completely black and white (or RGB).

By answering the 5 questions in this article, you will be better prepared to decide not only what software application is best suited to the job at hand, where Fireworks can reside in your creative or production workflow.

Some of these questions you can answer yourself, while some may need to be posed to the client, or even other production partners.

Are you ready? Sharpen your pencil and let's go!

Using the Image Processor in Photoshop or Bridge CS3
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Automating repetitive tasks is something that any good production software should do - or allow for. Fireworks and Photoshop are no slouches in this area; they both offer ways to batch process images in a variety of different ways right out of the box, and give you tools to easily create your own custom automation commands (Custom Commands in FW, Actions in PS).

If you've been watching my Bridge videos, you see that Bridge gives us access to many of the common batch commands available in Fireworks and Photoshop, so long as those applications are installed on your system.

One of the Photoshop tools I use quite often is a command called "Image Processor." This Photoshop script command allows me to select any recognizable graphic file format and batch process it into three other common digital formats; TIF, JPEG and PSD. Follow along in this video tutorial to learn more about how the Image Processor script works.

Notes From the Photoshop File Importer Front
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In this, the fifth of eight excerpts from their new friendsofED book- Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers- Community MX partners David Stiller and Tom Green examine a new feature of Flash CS3. The Photoshop File Importer in Flash CS3 is a welcome addition to Flash CS3. Just be aware there are a couple of "gotcha's" you need to know.

The Foundation Flash CS3 for Designers Excerpts
Motion Tween Effects in Flash CS3
Optimizing Flash Content for Use in Video
Adding Audio to Flash CS3
XML Captions for Video
Notes from the Photoshop File Importer
Create a Soft Mask in Flash CS3
Going Mobile in Flash CS3
Using XML in Flash CS3 to Build a Slideshow

A Photoshop CS3 Sneak Peek - New Features
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There are indeed many new things coming with the release of Photoshop CS3. The phrase "jam-packed" comes to mind. Between new features and improvements to existing features and tools, this is one pretty amazing upgrade. Perhaps the most noticeable is the fact there will be two versions of Photoshop: Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended.

I'll start with Photoshop CS3 and then give a brief overview of the extra goodies in CS3 Extended.

Tag along and see what's in store.

Getting Productive with Adobe Bridge: Fireworks CS3 Integration
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For years, Fireworks users have been clamouring for some method of browsing and previewing files without having to go into Windows Explorer or the Mac Finder. Something seamless, that actually worked with Fireworks. Heck, it got to the point where many of us would have been happy with the equivalent of the Files tab from Dreamweaver. But now, the wait is over.

Now that Fireworks has become part of the Adobe fold, this wish has come true! Adobe Fireworks CS3 is now integrated with Adobe Bridge CS3. I have written several articles on Community MX with respect to Bridge CS2, but at that time, Fireworks and Bridge were not communicating to each other. With the launch of the CS3 Suite, not only is there far more communication between former Macromedia and Adobe apps, Bridge CS3 has gotten a massive cosmetic and functional overhaul. From a visual perspective alone, Bridge CS2 and CS3 look completely different.

A Look at The Integration Between Fireworks and Photoshop CS3
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Communication – that’s what this industry is all about. For years, Fireworks and Photoshop have been like those two brothers who never really talked to each other and wouldn’t share their knowledge either. With the release of CS3, these two applications have finally buried the proverbial hatchet and are clasping hands – if somewhat tentatively at times.

Many graphics professionals use more than a single application to create their work. Personally, I’m always moving from FW to PS, depending on my client’s needs and the goals of the project. This shuffling back and forth has become much easier with CS3. A great deal of effort was put into making Fireworks and Photoshop more compatible in this release. Here’s the list in brief:

• Improvements to the Photoshop Import and Export functions within Fireworks
• Hierarchical Layers panel
• FW support for Photoshop Layer Effects, with the Live Filters menu.
• Support for commonly used Photoshop blend modes
• Bridge/XMP Data Integration

Follow along in this Sneak Peek article for more reasons to consider upgrading.

Dashed Line in Photoshop
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We all know those people who do everything in Photoshop and although it is possible to create almost anything in Photoshop it's not always the best option. For example some tasks, such as drawing graphics, may be more difficult to do in Photoshop then in other vector-based applications, such as Illustrator or Freehand.

Often Photoshop artwork may include a combination of photos and graphic elements. With the integration between Photoshop and the other Adobe applications this is now easier then ever to do.

In this tutorial we will add a dashed line to an image that has been created in Photoshop. Creating dashed lines in Photoshop can be a bit tedious so we will export a path from Photoshop then use Illustrator to create the customized dashed line. We will then place it back into Photoshop creating the final graphic with much less time and frustration.

Retouching in Photoshop - Part 2 - Image Adjustments
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It's pretty much an undisputed fact that Photoshop is the king of bitmap editing tools - especially for high resolution, print-destined images. Photoshop CS and CS2 have some very cool and useful tools (seen in Part 1) and commands that can help you fix or clean up almost any image that is supplied to you. In these article (Part 2 and Part 3) we will look at Image Adjustment commands - some of which you will recognize if you are a veteran Fireworks user - and some which you will probably say, "Holy Image Adjustment heaven, Batman!"

This article is intended as an introduction to some of Photoshop's image adjustment commands (with visual examples) and should not be considered an exhaustive exploration of these features.

In this article we will look at some of the not-so familiar commands:

• Auto Contrast
• Auto Color
• Color Balance
• Match Color

The Retouching Tools in Photoshop Series:
Retouching Tools in Photoshop CS2: Part 1
Retouching Tools in Photoshop - Part 2: Image Adjustment
Retouching Tools in Photoshop - Part 3: More Image Adjustments

Using Illustrator and Photoshop to Age Artwork
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From t-shirts to web pages, the "I've been around for 100 years" look has become quite popular. On web pages, the effect can be used to add some texture and interest to graphics; on t-shirts it creates that favorite old t-shirt feel right off the rack. Whatever the resulting artwork will be used for, this method is easy to do and can be customized to suit any application.

The first time around in Wear it Out - Create a Worn Out Look Using Freehand, I demonstrated this technique in Freehand. In this article, I will use Illustrator and Photoshop to show a different method of producing a similar result.

Illustrator and Photoshop streamline this process, allowing you to create great results in just minutes. Included with this tutorial are four textured images which can be used to create aged artwork or you can use the Photoshop steps provided to create your own textures.

Approximate download size: 1MB

Fireworks Is Better Than Photoshop! Challenge #1
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A few weeks ago Brian Edgin set forth a challenge: Send him any Web design created in Photoshop and he will show you how to do it more efficiently in Fireworks. Craig Hartel was the first to respond to the challenge and provides a good first example for us to look at.