May 2009
What is Design and looking at improving your design bottom line... This month we have some good content on improving the profitability of your design practice, or, if you're not a professional designer -- ideas to make your desktop publishing experience a bit more fulfilling. We also have some fun and visit some inspiring arts.
Graphic Design: Templates for Profit
Whether you're a new designer, or a new freelancer, you need some basic starting points to answer the questions. The 'old guard' of the design profession shuns pre-designed templates. But I don't shun them when they can turn a $20 per hour profit into an $85 per hour profit! Hey, you might want to think again about Templates for Profit
Design Projects: Easier? Profitable?
The idea is simple. Modifying a well-designed template is far easier and more profitable than starting from scratch. With the professionally designed templates, you tap the talents of designer and author Chuck Green. He has researched, designed, and meticulously formatted over 300 extraordinary layouts in a clean, simple style that it easy to build on. Instead of spending 15 minutes to create a simple layout, you'll spend 15 seconds. For complex projects -- books, newsletters, catalogs, reports -- you'll save HOURS.
Photoshop Picture Packages with InDesign?
Speaking of templates -- a subscriber in the Design Cafe asked how to make creative picture packages. He sent along a sample -- and was expecting us to show how to do it in Photoshop! Here's a free tutorial on making creative photo montages you can sell to your clients. But it's a lot easier using Adobe InDesign rather than Photoshop!
What is design?
All over the web, new bloogers are asking the question "what is design" and pontificating about how they interpret the word. It's an illusive word, yet means something very solid and stable. But with all the interpretations of the word "design" it still means what it always has. And now there's a new way of looking at the definition of any word ... visually!
Photoshop Madness... free plug-ins to collages
In this issue we discover The Princess of Shadows and her remarkably free Photoshop Actions * a good pair of wings * and some * Masterful Manipulations! You'll also learn about * Saving for the Web * light your girl on FIRE * Misprinted Type from Assemblage to Collage. We'll also show you how to Get a FREE PHOTOSHOP BOOK ... and it's all in the MAY edition of Photoshop Madness... What's in your Photoshop wallet?
Aesthetics: MyArtSpace Art News
Scholars in the field define aesthetics as "critical reflection on art, culture and nature." MyArtSpace was established by the New York Art Exchange and helps us understand, digest and discover new Aesthetics with galleries and features by and about artists. This experimental venture hopefully will bring DTG readers lots of inspiration over the months to come. Join us for this edition of the MyArtSpace Art News
Photoshop Tutorials Revisited : Add Depth of Field
We get lots of requests for this series of questions, so we reached into the Photoshop Tips & Tricks tutorial library to update these tutorials. Here, the designer is faced with customer supplied photos -- which aren't always as good as they should be. Three great ways to improve dull photos:
Add depth of field to perk up those dull photos
Depth of Field for Focus Fall-Off
Photoshop Extract Filter aids Depth of Field and color changes
These are just three of our updated and new tutorials in the Photoshop Tips & Tricks Tutorials Library
MAY: Flash on Tap
Flash on Tap, May 28-30 in Boston, will hold a private screening of Oscar-nominated, and Golden Globe award-winning Flash animated documentary feature, Waltz with Bashir. Director of Animation, Yoni Goodman to present the film and discuss the unique Flash-cutout animation technique created for the feature. Flash on Tap
The Poor Man's Photoshop for Mac
We've enjoyed the benefits of owning GraphicConverter for over a decade. This famous and popular image editing and conversion utility for Mac OS X has now been enhanced and upgraded with support for bio-formats -- GraphicConverter, often called the Poor Man's Photoshop
Review: MacSnapper Creates Tutorials
MacSnapper was developed specifically for creating step-by-step tutorials, manuals, kiosks, user guides or even personal notes. MacSnapper will organize everything necessary to describe a project. Screenshots may be taken directly from the application, or images may be easily imported. MacSnapper Creates Tutorials
Scanning with a digital camera
If you can take a picture of something with your camera, you don't need to buy a scanner. Prizmo corrects lens distortion and perspective, it can scan documents of all sizes, including custom portrait and landscape documents indoor and outdoor photographs. This is a handy application -- especially for iPhone users who want to Scan with the camera
Getting control of Adobe InDesign Prepress
Zevrix Solutions is back with powerful applications for Adobe InDesign. This time they present InPreflight, its quality control, packaging automation and preflight reporting solution for Adobe InDesign InPreflight Pro and Studio
Designing Folds to Tell the Story
These days, fund raising is tough enough -- but in this 2-page case study, Fred presents the challenges and solutions for a nonprofit campaign with a compelling story, a rigid deadline, and a very tight budget! The design and the paper itself needed to work harder. The perfect solutions turned out to be single sheets of paper folded into creative folds that tell the story effectively
&ELSE... freebies and cool stuff
This month's &Else includes: * Flash on Tap * Graphic Designer Toolbox * GraphicConverter Upgraded * Hand-Drawn HD Effects for Final Cut Pro * High-Speed scanning for Mac * InPreflight Pro and Studio * Interactive charts for Mac * MacSnapper Creates Tutorials * Master SQL Fundamentals * Money accounting gets better for Mac Leopard * PhotographyTips for iPhone * PhotoUpLink 1.2 for iPhoto * Recover lost photos and tunes * Review: iWork 09 The Missing Manual * Scanning with a digital camera * The Page Director Ad Layout System * Vector Drawing for OS X * A Light Panel In Your Pocket ... and a dozen others! News, Reviews &Else!
Brochure Design Layouts and Templates
These days, survival and success depend on getting your client's jobs through to finished printing with as little time as possible. We have updated our selection of Brochures, Tri Fold Brochures, Newsletters, Business Cards, and all kinds of professionally designed layouts
READY TO GO, complete with professional photography, integrated graphics and style sheets for Quark XPress, Adobe InDesign or Apple's new iWork / Pages!
New titles include : Post Card Campaigns; marketing for Lawn Care, Massage Therapy, Health Insurance & Financial Services; all new collection of Tri Fold brochures; Women's Health Care Marketing; Brochures for Youth Group Outreach, summer camp, field trips; campaigns for Hair Stylists, hair salon, make over, tanning; templates for education in the arts, Arts Councils or Arts Institutes; Staffing Agencies or human resources campaigns; templates for construction, building and contractors: construction industry, roofing contractors ... and a lot More!
Newsletter Critique & Makeover Clinic
It's been several years since I came in off the road doing my national "Newsletter Makeover Clinics." I had thought that by now, everyone already knows how. Well, today there's a new need for it, so we've opened the clinic again, and can help you take your newsletter or publication to the next level. I guarantee you'll like what you learn at our Newsletter Critique & Makeover Clinic
What's in your portfolio?
Here is your opportunity to show and tell DTG and Design Center readers about your photography, graphic design, illustration or image editing experience and skills! Send in your three or four best pieces of digital photography, image editing, or photo-illustration, and we'll enjoy a field trip to your digital digs...
Last Month:
- Photographic: Find the right photo in the stock photo jungle
- Web Design Virtuosity: cre8d design team
- Design with a conscience: Wendy Wetherbee
- All about design: Amanda Keating and Ferris Wheel Creative
- Designing Women: Nuts & Bolts: Sheila Quinn Wilson
- Graphic Design: Green Graphic Design
- Designing Women field trip! Part 1 and Part 2)
- Photoshop: Deke McClelland Is Singing in the Droplets
- Business: Your Book as Your Business Card
- Photoshop Field Trip: Alien Skin Case Studies library
- Review: Bay Area Graffiti eye-candy feast
- How to: Scanning Negatives and Slides
- DTP: Fonts in InDesign made Easy Adobe InDesign Font Catalog
- Pictorial: Black History. African American Artists & Designers
- MORE: on the next page...
Real Help for Photoshop Users
tips & tricks, real-world solutions for reader problems -- as well as resources, tutorials, techniques and effects come your way each and every day in the Photoshop 911 Emergency Room!
Photoshop Questions Need Answers
Photoshop 911 has been overwhelmed with questions from readers -- looking for answers! If you are a Photoshop guru, we urge you to stop in and tackle some of the many Photoshop and Photoshop Elements questions from the Photoshop 911 Help Line. Help us Answer Questions from Readers
Participate in your Design Center
Lots of fun and information for all... don't forget, any community is only as good as the participation of its members. We invite your tips, tricks, comments, suggestions and camaraderie.
- Ask for the DT&G Monthly: to receive news about DT& headlines, happenings in the Design Center and regular columns like the "Mail Bag" and "Cool Sites"
- Join the discussion : in the Designers' CAFE discussion forums
- Link to this site, and then show us the link. We'll send you any of our current door prizes, just for your trouble.
- Help Support The Design Center: with your donation, we say thank you with free books, listings, and even links on the front page!
- Does your Web Site Suck?: Let the WDR Design Team give you a critique of your web site and get helpful advice on how to make it the best it can be!
YOUR LINK HERE? your products or services among these pages! Just see the "Partner" section of our "Friends" page.
- Continues on the NEXT PAGE
David Pogue, in Macworld Magazine said
"DT&G is a one man tour de force of advice, instruction and how-to's pertaining to all things graphic! . . . There are other ezines about design and art. But none approach the usefulness of this one."
