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• A listing of some of the more popular articles from the archives of DTG Magazine... the electronic journal of Design, Typography and Graphics; published online since 1990...
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Index Directory

• Patriotic Design - DTG readers post insights, emotions and antidotes about patriotic art and design in their country. ...
• Design Vacation - DTG readers were asked to relate tips, stories and antidotes about their reflections on taking a vacation.
• Summer Reading
• Creative Beginnings - "Creativity" ... Where do all those great ideas come from?
• Color of Spring - DTG readers were challenged with sharing their ideas and feedback on "COLOR."
• Designing Holidays - Design CAFE subscribers comment on their favorite holiday promotions, folding cards, and creative ideas.
• Designing Holidays Part 2 - Design CAFE subscribers to comment on their favorite holiday promotions, folding cards, and creative ideas.
• Fonts & Typography - the topic is fonts and typography; as the Fall Fonts Festival continues! Read about the favorites from September and October's posts where
• More Spring Colors - DTG readers to share a comment or suggestion about color palettes and ideas they use to sell their client's message for a Springtime Promotion.
• March: How Designers Sell - During February we invited readers to relate a comment or suggestion about design techniques they use to sell their client's message. One reader wrote such an extensive reflection we put it on her own page! So here's the results of How Designers Sell
• Did you plan your 'Design' year? - During January, we asked DTG readers to write in and share their "design" planning for the year. From Updating Web Sites, to a Photographic Journey our readers are moving forward. There are some fun ones this month, Be sure to read the entry from Mark and check out the sound clips from the Violet Crown Radio Players in Mark's post! See them all in the
• Choice comments on the BEST of 2004 - During December, DTG readers were asked to submit their favorite shareware, freeware or commercial software discoveries... and we have a great line-up including: PowerPro Win-only FREEWARE; Digital Juice Drops; Fractal Design Print Pro; Nikon & Canon cameras and Converting True Type Fonts! So here are the top posts from December's winning designers on
• Creative Latitude - A new young web site has become a blockbuster in the design community attracting some of the most influential names in the graphic design industry. "Creative Latitude" was started by Catherine Morley, one of our Designing Women this month, and the site features some wonderful content for anyone in communication arts. Check out
• Field Trip: Nature Photo Shoot - Andy Williams, noted nature photographer and a director at CritterZone.com shares his experience and takes us along on a nature shoot to capture some rather striking photos of wildlife...
• March "The Luck of the Designer" - Do you feel lucky? Do'ya? During February our readers competed for prizes by sharing their lucky or unlucky experiences in the design business. Come along and meet the winners and read their winning comments in the Creative Networking department...
• Thoughts on Computing's Past - Naturally, when welcoming a new year we sometimes look back to where we've been. These two articles reach back to the dawn of the computing years, before the internet, and still ring true today.
  * Cary Lu talks about Computing's Holy Wars
  * James Redelfs: Personal Computer Software and Ethics. See:
• Designing Women: Creative Katz - Catherine Morley, one of our original Designing Women makes a return return appearance this month with new stuff and new energy behind
• LA Art Scene: Snap to Grid - Mix the LA art scene with an open show where every entry will be shown, and what do you get? An amazing show of digital art from some of the best -- in the Creative Net department see:
• MSN Search Engine: How Good Is It? - Rusbiz.com's Nowshade Kabir takes us on a field trip to MSN's new search engine... "consider all the new features of MSN that Google does not have yet, its ability to cover natural language queries, quality level and relevance of results, ability to refine searches, you may want to consider
• New Year (Financial) Resolutions - to a Better Financial Future ... Rusbiz.com's Nowshade Kabir says: "This is a good time to set yearly goals and make resolutions -- on making money!" Follow along as he gives you some tips on
• Beware: Online Criminals at Large - You are drawn into a web site appearing to be authentic with familiar graphics and logos... but wait! Something's wrong with this email... something's seriously wrong! Rusbiz.com's Nowshade Kabir demystifies the emerging crime wave of
• Kick off 2004 with a Card Promotion - Promo, promo, promo. Each January we try to take a fresh approach on self promotion. This year we share some proven promotions that can bring a lot of notoriety to your business! If you want to bring those customers and clients in, just try these Promotion opportunities with
• Learning About Color - Color expert Mike Davis of Colorprep knows what to do when color goes wrong... and many times it's the photographer or designer's fault! So what do you do ...
• DTG: Benefits Of A Buddy For The Solo Designer - Are you a home-based studio or freelancer? The benefits are many, but feeling isolated can spell trouble. Janet Bertucci and Julianne Nardone recommend you find a
• Designless in Seattle - So you think it will be easy to get that job in the design field? Bright, young Seattle designer Melissa Mason takes us along on yet another job interview in pursuit of a big agency design job. She relates the experience which leaves her still
• Using Postcards to Promote Your Design Studio - Martha Retallick, "The Passionate Postcarder" -- leading expert on post card marketing shares some important advice on saving a lot of time and money in your marketing. Before you splurge on the Yellow Pages or other media, read Martha's take on Using Postcards to
• Printing Primer for Designers - Originally published in 1989, this printing primer for digital artists has been updated and annotated for today's digital desktop publisher. We've supplied an additional check list for publishing, press-checks, and a collection of references all desktop publishers need to know about:
• Airman Magazine: Patriotic Magazine Design - Airman Magazine takes to the skies with powerful photo journalism and commanding design styling. Take a look at this excellent lesson in putting together a magazine we can truly call
• Digital Gift Idea - Our Single Sheet 16-Page Book is a great idea for any pocket-sized booklet, but during the holidays it's an extra special project for a seasonal gift. It's easy and it takes but a
• New life to that old brochure? - Start your 2004 with a new look to a simple, inexpensive brochure. Get rid of that boring 8.5 x 11 three-fold and generate some excitement with some Creative
• Fantastic Folds: Part Two - Now we take a look at designers' unique expressions of creativity in folding for greeting cards. The first two show some savvy design -- and extraordinary inventiveness in
• Design: Color with purpose - See how careful planning of the photo shoot can save money on great shots. Then a single sheet solution that prints, trims and folds to do a lot more on less money. This catalog printing project for a small business delivers all the collateral materials they need on a very limited color printing budget...
• Fantastic Folds: Part One - Where do you look for creative ideas in crafting a unique, creative holiday greeting and promotional mailing? One of the elements of print media is folding. It comes along with the job, and if you incorporate a unique fold, your piece will be truly memorable. Here's the first part of our series on
• Picture Perfect Holiday Postcards - It doesnt take a lot of time, money or effort to create, print and mail a postcard. But when done right, postcards can be enormously effective
• Design A Successful Holiday Postcard - It doesnt take a lot of time, money or effort to create, print and mail a great postcard. When done right, a postcard can be enormously effective. Read these top tips for a successful
• Design Cafe Logo Critique - What happens when the Design Cafe decides to have a logo contest and let listees propose a new logo? Lots of ideas and fun. Many submitted and these 16 finalists get the once over by other Cafe listees and two rather special graphic design celebrities. But it's not over. More to come next month.
• July: Patriotic Design & Art - JULY is the patriotic month in the U.S.A. because it was in July of 1776 that our Declaration of Independence was signed. So the stage is now set for our July celebration of art and design.
        Our feature presents a star-spangled march through the lives of noted patriotic artists and how their styles and talents served to define a people and their country; Patriotic art is a part of everyone's history. Here we glimpse just a few of the forms of Patriotic Art including the life and times of James Montgomery Flagg, who first made Uncle Sam a household image, and then the wonderful style of J.C. Leyendecker. It all kicks off with
• View: Design From the Edge - Gary Dickson from Epidemic Design provides some noteworthy observations regarding edge-designers, center-designers, their characteristics and their relationship to one another. He asks:
• Inspiration in a Bottle - Discover sources of inspiration that may just take you to the next level of creativity! Designer/Author Gary Dickson asks: "Where does your inspiration come from?" ... then shares his experiences with
• Mailbag: Cheap Logos - C.S. from Columbus, OH asks:
        Fred- I enjoyed the article by Gary Dickson, regarding the true value of good logo design. So why, I must ask, is there ads along the right side of the page advertising cheap $49 logo design? It seems very much like the email spam and junk that you so strongly oppose! I don't understand!
  * LOL... that's the first comment Gary made when he proofed the page. "Well Fred, see what I'm talking about? Right next to the article are 25-buck logos!" Quite ironic -- Google ads promoting what Gary is bashing. Go back and read the article again. Ignore the ads -- or,
• Designing Logos - Gary reflects on designing logos, dispels some myths and shares anecdotes on what a logo really is; how some clients never learn, and what Paul Rand had to say about them. (When you read this one, notice which ads appear in the Google column to the right! LOL) Gary says Logos are magic, but there's
• Design School? Training? - Let's Go... How do you like to learn? Books? CD-Videos? DVD? Or surfing the web? There are hundreds of ways to learn graphic design, Photoshop and other facets of the visual communications industry, and here we take a look at
• Picture to Text Revisited - Following our Picture-to-Text piece last month, Kathy writes from Deer Island, OR, USA to tip us on three others which generate ascii text from an image:
  * Text to image online: an Italian site with the source code: http://pic2text.divxmania.it/
  * text-image.com with a similar software package: http://www.text-image.com, and
  * TOOGLE, a Text version of Googles Image Search that creates images out of the very term that was used to fetch those images. We searched for "Santa" http://www.c6.org/toogle/index.php?phrase=Santa See our column
• Color Photos Converted to Text - The Worlds first colour digital photo to colour text convertor is truly one of the most innovative developments in a long time! You simply must see Simon Leung's Artext Photo Converter
• Illustrator Page Setup and Tiling - How does the pasteboard work? How do I tile my art? Why does part not print? Following questions from a reader, and a discussion in the CAFE, I thought I would post this article with diagrams in the DTG Graphics Department. For new Illustrator users the differences between page-setup and the pasteboard can sometimes be confusing.
• Tips for better scanning - We get a lot of letters, and we like to take care of as many as we can. During January we received seven letters all requesting some tips for better scanning. So, rather than answer them individually, I addressed the problems the writers were having in this updated column on scanning tips.
• Designing A Digital Portfolio - Our featured guest this month is Cynthia Baron, MBA in Marketing, Professor at Northeastern University, designer, author and lecturer. We're discussing the pros and cons of getting that job with a
• Interview: Cher Threinen-Pendarvis - Helping us all celebrate Designing Women Month, artist, designer, author and educator, Cher Threinen-Pendarvis visits to chat about Photoshop, Painter and using a graphics tablet to expand our creative digital painting techniques... we think you'll enjoy getting to meet ...
• Feature: Leslie Cabarga Interview - Frequent questions about type, typography, fonts and lettering in email, the Design Cafe and classrooms prompted us to contact the logo, font and lettering wizard himself; Leslie Cabarga font designer and author of "Logo, Fonts & Lettering Bible" ... join us for this great interview as
• Feature: Creative Color & Texture - This month DTG interviews Jon C. Lund, the creative energy behind the Spring Travelsmith catalog series. You'll love the colors and Jon's methods of applying some creative textures. Then we'll visit Jon's studio and share some of his extraordinary illustrations in the style of the golden era of posters.
• Deke McClelland's Total Training - Reviewer Joyce Evans shares a brief look inside some of the best video training on the planet... with Photoshop expert Deke McClelland and the product called
• Review: Turbo Photo Library and Freebies - Graphic designers on a tight budget may appreciate the new Turbo Photo Library of CD-ROMs, hundreds of high resolution, royalty-free images at very inexpensive prices. We've posted this review along with links to some stock photography freebies in the 
• Euphoria... plug-ins - Here's one of the BEST for 2004 - plug-ins from DigiEffects ... that easily and effectively create the most sought-after effects in the business...
• Software Solutions with Joyce Evans... - This month, noted author and frequent DTG contributor Joyce Evans puts her review pencil to software solutions for designers:
        First, she needed a quick and easy way to write proposals without crunching her busy schedule. Here are her comments on The Proposal Kit
  http://www.graphic-design.com/DTG/Business/proposal/index.html
        Next, Joyce found a super quick and easy way to produce Flash SWF animations with
• Field Trip: Amy after 10 Years - The Gallery revisits Amy Wasserman and her wonderful Photoshop art, after nearly ten years since her first showing in DTG. Amy sent a fantastic demo disk full of goodies back in '96 -- yes, good stuff was being produced back then too... with a smile!
• Meet Designing Woman Mary Baum - Mary Baum is Managing Director of Herbert Baum Integrated Marketing in St. Louis, MO -- she designs with elegant simplicity -- but drives a persuasive message to her loyal clients. Visit with Mary as part of our "Designing Women" series and take a look at her superb design samples!
• Designing Women: Bohtieque Design - Take a look at the next rather special Designing Woman, Julie Tiedens, graphic designer and logo specialist in Black River Falls WI. Come along as we visit
• Designing Women: Carol Catiller - Carol Catiller is the creative mind behind ArtMuvz Illustration Studio in Winterhaven Florida. Carol's art is popular for its fresh and innocent appeal. She sells her art on TShirts, and all kinds of other imprinted goods via the CafePress.com web site. Carol shares some insights into
• Designing Women: corereactive - Now we journey to Toronto Ontario, where we meet up with the graphic design firm specializing in brand identity development under the sublime leadership of Jo Swartz, the ... 
• Designing Words & Folia Graphic Design - If you read the article "Designing Buddies" last month, then you'll already know a bit about Julianne Nardone and Janet Bertucci. Now, let's take a look at their graphic design and the design power behind ... 
• Meet Designer Erin Ferree - Our "Designing Women" section keeps growing and growing... this month see the visually exciting design projects from the studios of San Francisco Bay Area's Elf Design and designer Erin Ferree
• Designing Women: Gina Geick - Canadian powerhouse designer Gina Geick has a good eye for colour and space, but more importantly a good ear for listening to her clients' needs and expectations. . . visit her web design studio,
• Field Trip: The Racing Artist - David F. Kyte is a graphic designer and artist from Detroit Michigan who was published in DTG in the mid-90s. Today he shares some of his remarkable works and we catch up with him in the Design Center Gallery. David F. Kyte is the
• Those Designing Women are back... - You read Melissa Mason's article "Designless In Seattle" last month -- this month let's take look at some of her outstanding design work with a little visit to her studio Semiartist portfolio.
        There are three more to be launched and hopefully we'll get those up before the end of the month.
• Field Trip: Sculptural Statements - Come along as we visit the works of a unique high school student from Kentucky -- his creativity and vision to put a whole new spin on obsolete computer parts making 
• Photography: "Water to quench your thirst" - Speaking of creativity: take a few peaceful moments and enjoy the etherial visions of freelance photographer Shin Terada from Yawata-City, Kyoto Japan -- We think you'll enjoy the experience. But please, take your time. Shin says:
• Designing Women: Sandy Wright - Sandy is a progressive thinking designer and strategist in McKinney, TX, USA. Sandy says: My purpose is to share my artistic vision through the emergent opportunities that exist in today's explosive technology evolution Visit her at 
• Identity Theft: Bad people on the web... - Pay particular attention to this -- its an epidemic and the FTC is now reporting that Identity theft is the fastest growing crime committed each day. There's a new style of "phishing" in your email box, alerting you that someone has inquired about you... beware of this ... 
• Security: Protect Your Identity (WIN) - This new internet protection suite includes all the tools needed to track spyware and combat phishing scams, spam to protect your identity. Phishing and harmful spyware are dramatically on the rise.
• Stuff: high-speed image editing - Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Jasc Paint Shop Pro and others can now get some pretty sweet automated image editing with this simple plug-in called Chameleon -- making the insertion of new objects or the replacement of unwanted elements in digital photos simple. Take a look at 
• Tools: Honey, we've shrunk the Disk Jockey! - The Disk Jockey hard disk duplicator / backup / diagnostic tool is a 7-in-1 tech tool can now easily fit into the palm of ones hand, or the shirt pocket. Use it on Mac or Windows to duplicate, back up, or even erase your IDE USB or Firewire drives.
• CAFE: Remote Proofing - There have been many threads in the Design Cafe looking for proof collaboration solutions -- eProof allows you to proofread and correct original, high-resolution production files in a standard web browser, including PDF, Postscript, InDesign, Illustrator or Microsoft Word Documents! Check out
• Fonts: Trying to Match the 'Perfect' Font? - Searching for a specific font used to take hours for graphic designers, but now can take only minutes with this unique little software tool called
• Books: Home Networking Annoyances - O'Reilly's "Annoyances" series continues with this great little helper with fast relief for the Headaches of
• Free, Downloadable Symbols - The IAN Symbol Libraries has just completed a major update and the total number of symbols has increased from 1000+ to 1500+. The libraries remain completely free for all users!
• Stuff: Photo storage to go? - Still looking for mass storage for all those digital photos? Apple has updated its iPod photo lineup by introducing a new slim 30GB model, holding up to 7,500 photos (and songs), for just $349 -- it's completely cross-platform so Windows users can get on board too!
• Mailbag: Photo Corrections - More than just a few readers often want us to recommend software or plug-ins. For all those wishing to automate image adjustments, try LightMachine. This Photoshop plugin performs all kinds of light adjustments in photos, combining shadow/highlight, virtual lighting and color-based correction tools...
• Mail Bag: LightMachine Photo Plug-Ins - Harald Heim sent me a flash on the new Photo retouching plug-in that combines shadow/highlight, virtual lighting and color-based correction tools for performing sophisticated corrections without the need for time-consuming selections and layer stacks. It lets you selectively correct photos taken under bad light conditions or with inadequate camera settings and achieve results that rival photos taken under the best circumstances. It's called the
• Stuff: Store, retrieve snippets - This Personal Information Manager for Windows, Mac and Linux may help you more than you think. Parsnips allows easy storage and retrieval of text gleaned from web sites, e-mail, chat sessions, usenet news articles, or even files you've received 
• Stuff: The world's smartest photo organizer - So you've been storing your old print snap-shots in a shoebox? Well, now there's a Shoebox for your digital photos that uses Knowledge Base technology to learn what's in each of your photos. Pretty cool...
• Fonts: New Stencil Font with Lower Case - We quite often get requests for stencil fonts... this one was too good to wait until our Fall Fonts Festival... check out Typeco's new 25 font superfamily... 
• Surfing for Valentine's - Come along and see some cool things you can see and do for Valentine's -- neat crafts, art, and idea starters. You'll also see some not-so-cool places and more in Fred's annual
• Mailbag: Font control in OS X ? - Seems like the spring brings new quests for fonts and font resources. Several readers switching from Windows to Mac, or from OS/9 to OS/X asked about a replacement for Adobe ATM. Take a look at Veenix Font Tools - a set of twenty easy-to-use Macintosh OS X font and design tools for graphic designers, web designers, illustrators, typesetters. It may be what you're looking for...
• Typing Acceleration with yType - yType adds typing acceleration, instantaneous spell checking, word prediction, typing logger, inline equation solving in any application - is easy to use, saves time and allows you to
• Feature: Why Black & White? - Featured guest writer Robert Bruce Duncan provides us with a rich commentary on the virtues of black and white photography. Must reading for all graphic designers and photographers. With introduction by Scott Kilborn of Ace Camera Magazine and AceCam.com ... 
• Digital Photo Management - While we're at it, I'll also steer you toward a free digital photo management program, and provide some links to other shareware/freeware downloads for your digital life.
• Living Digital - Most people forget about their digital camera until photo-ops come along. That's certainly a shame; because most of the best opportunities happen almost every day when you are
• Photography 101 - Nature photographer Kelly Paal gives sage advice for those wishing to jump into photography... film photography that is! If you've never realized the thrill of capturing the image on film, perhaps you should. Follow along as our guest author clues you in ... in the
• Learning About Photo Mosaics - Photo Mosaics are photographic images or pictures made up of many, usually hundreds, of smaller photographic images. Last month we asked the DTG readers about the topic and they flooded us with lots of help in ...
• Digital Photos to Presentations - With all the great programs like iView and iPhoto for the Mac, Windows readers wonder what they can use... so, we turn to Scott Kilborn from ACE Camera Magazine, to share some details about
• From the Editor: Digital Photo Vacation - Packing up and heading out for vacation this summer? Take your digital camera and take some great photos with these brief
• Photoshop Feature: Type in your face - Al Ward, author of "Photoshop for Right Brainers" walks you through an extensive tutorial using layers and layer masks for a rather striking image. More than 30 illustrations and Al's competent guidance will show you how to put
• Photoshop: Beauty Retouching - Remove blemishes from photos? Give skin the fashion magazine look? Now we invite you to see some spectacular retouching from the incredibly talented photographer and photo retoucher from Designing Woman, Vinica, Croatia, Marija Matijasec -- as she shares some of her tricks on
• Photoshop vs. Illustrator - When someone asked this question, we thought some explanation was in order! Which is BEST:
• Photoshop Displacement Maps - Dale Glaser -- a skilled Photoshop image-crafter, and a collector of practical Photoshop sites shows us some of his personal visions, and shares tutorials for making displacement maps in Photoshop ... 
• Mail Bag: Thanks for the Pencils - Reader Joshua says: "To Mark Clarkson: Your black and white pencil sketch was awesome. (first time I needed to do one, ever) I had a few difficult ways that didn't look half as good. Sometimes it is hard to keep things simple. Thank you for your contribution of work!" . . . you're welcome, Joshua, we aim to please...
• Photoshop Pixels to Pencil Drawings - Another frequent question we get is how to convert photos to art of some form or another. Answering a distress call from a number of Photoshop 911 readers, we harness the "secrets" of Mark Clarkson, author of "Photoshop Secrets of the Pros" to use blending modes and adjustment layers to convert this photo into a nice Colored Pencil Drawing.
• Changing Colors in Photoshop Elements - People write in wanting to know how to change the color of everything from their cloths to their cars to their houses. Here, we'll show you how to change the color of any object you find, simply by using the
• Now you can simulate Nature in Photoshop - New Photoshop plug-in. Eye Candy 5: Nature includes 10 filters that beautifully render organic phenomena. The second of a three-part upgrade to Eye Candy 4000, Nature simulates fire, smoke, rust, and more. Nature includes four new filters, six totally revamped Eye Candy classics, and hundreds of one-click special effects presets. Eye Candy 5: Nature, and ...
• Tutorial: The Gentle Art of Feathering - Quite often we get calls to the Photoshop 911 hot line wanting to know how to make those nice gradual gradient edges to photos. Most of the time people call them "fogged" edges. Whatever name you give them, you can do it with
• Mail Bag: Removing Blemishes - E.L. from NJ US writes:
        "I am photo retoucher and have problem with the technique which many Gurus suggest in different ways. To remove blemishes and imperfections on skin smooth out or clone or heal and then lower the opacity, BUT if you do so it softens up and blur it slightly as compared to rest of skin texture.
  * You probably read last month's "Glitter Guru" article. When the blemish is surrounded by 'textured' skin that you wish to match, then you'll have to use the cloning tool and sample from a similar area of skin.
  * Another reader wrote:
        "I just tried your "Beauty Retouching" Tutorial, but after smoothening the skin, the spots on the color view tend to look green although I reduced the opacity. maybe you know what I am doing wrong?"
  * Nothing. When there are obvious blemishes which will show through the new smoothed layer, they must be touched out individually. Suzette's tutorial was basically for the skin smoothing, not removal of blemishes. Use the Clone Stamp tool. See ...
• Special Guest: Beauty Retouching in Photoshop - How do you remove blemishes from photos, give skin the glamour look, or just get the fashion magazine look? Well so many people ask that question, we went straight to the source: Suzette Troche --
• Smoothing Skin Textures... - We have received countless inquiries and complaints about our interview with Suzette Troche-Stapp, and her "Beauty Retouching" tutorial. Evidently there's not enough information there for the beginning Photoshop or Photoshop Elements user. Well, one of our April "Designing Women" is expert glamour retoucher Marija Matijasec who's going to present a complete tutorial. Stay tuned!
• Bert Monroy: Merging Large Scans - We had the pleasure of visiting with Bert Monroy recently. Let's peek into his studio, get a look at his set-up, and even pick up on some tips for scanning and merging oversized pictures in http://www.graphic-design.com/Photoshop/monroy/index.html
• Photoshop Assemblage Made Easy - Answering lots of calls about putting images together for montage, collage and assemblage, we thought we would just knock out this quick tutorial that illustrates some of the more easy methods of bringing images into a single file. I've also get a full tutorial on "Layer Masking" almost ready for May's issue. Until then, you can enjoy these tips for Quick, Easy Photo Montage.
• Photoshop: Paint Color to Grayscale - Several readers asked: "How is the best way to keep a color subject, but change everything else to grayscale? Here's the tips and tricks in both Photoshop and Photoshop Elements... we'll even show you several methods for 
• Photoshop: Rusty Type - Author Joyce Evans uses Photoshop style techniques in Fireworks to fashion some old-fashioned typography covered with rust you can almost feel... in the Photoshop department:
• Why are my images jaggy? - This article was also posted late in December, missing that newsletter. This is an interesting piece from the Photoshop 911 team. Again and again people ask why their GIF files don't look so good... here, one surfboard site gets the real poop when we illustrate using Photoshop to
• Photoshop 911 Call Reports - Here comes this month's batch of reports from the Photoshop 911 call line. The most interesting is how one user solves the problem of removing the background from multiple shots of a rotating product for a 3D video... there are seven others, and you'll want to read them all: In the Photoshop
• Photoshop 911: analyzing X-Rays - Although the Photoshop 911 response line continues with brisk traffic, most are quick fixes, tips and how-tos too numerous to publish. However, one letter really got our attention and became a full page article: "Can you analyze x-rays in Photoshop?"
  
  Which led us to not only answer the question, but to learn some interesting new aspects of Photoshop's histogram as well. Check it out.
• Photoshop Tutorials - We had more than 60 new Photoshop Tutorials reported this month -- everything from Clipping Paths to retouching tips and tricks. Some of them are quite good, and many are from reputable EDU sites. (There are also a number of PDF tutorials you can download and use off-line.)
• Photoshop: Fill Type with an Image - There are many ways to achieve results in Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. Here, we answer several readers' frequently asked questions -- in the process you'll learn a number of essential Photoshop tricks with selections and layers for
• Photoshop vs. Elements - We simply got tired of answering the frequent question of Photoshop vs. Photoshop Elements -- it's one of those questions that refuses to go away. So, there was only one most logical professional to ask for help - and we're thrilled that Photoshop expert, author and practitioner Richard Lynch would come to the rescue. So folks, herein we put the long-run debate to rest: Which is best: Photoshop or Elements??
• Designing With Photos: Organic vs. Inorganic - This month I roll out the third installment of "Designing With Photos" as a separate PDF supplement. You'll remember that last month we talked about humanizing your photo layouts. Following that theme, let's ask how companies like General Electric and the Gillette deal with their photo layouts when their product lines are totally inorganic. I'll compare the 2000 and 2001 annual reports, and just for a little variety you'll take a peek at a nice one from Johnson Controls.
       Thanks to all of you who have been following the series, last month's PDF was one of the most popular downloads in the Design Center since 1995.
       You can download this 3rd installment at the Publishers' Warehouse Loading Dock. (By now you should know how to get there! If not, just ask!)
• Fonts: "Rusting in the Rain" - P22 releases a nice new font set inspired by Rod McKuen's latest works, and throws in some fresh drawings (ding-bats) and even some MP3 tunes to sweeten the deal...
• Feature: Typography Masters - Read about the Bitstream OpenFonts collection featuring "Charter" font, then read our tribute to Charter's creator, and the creator of the very font you are now reading ...
• Fonts for the Holidays - Everyone loves the autumn and holiday season! We continue the Festival with more "Heritage Fonts" including: Plymouth a typeface reminiscent of the original Thanksgiving story; Pushkin, aunique font based on the handwriting of Pushkin; Bete Noir a tribute to the sexy screen star of the 20s; Black Jack the casual script that defies its name, and several others! Check them out at the Festival page Oh, and don't forget you can download them in the Publishers' Warehouse!
        We'll also see the perfect "Ornamental" initial caps font for the holidays from
• Congratulations Font Festival Winners - The first half of the Fall Fonts Festival is over, and we continue on through November -- so, if you haven't entered, get to it. The following winners will be receiving the Fonts CD package from Fonteam International --
  Neil Minshall, Ottawa, Ontario; Christopher Quereau, Oneonta, NY; Mark A. Gordon, Rolla, MO; and Nick Seabrook from Pensacola.
  Special thanks to Fonteam for being our anchor sponsor during October and November. Even if you don't win, folks, please take a look at this great fonts CD... which keeps the "deep" discount just for DTG readers. While you're there, you're invited to read the comments from our first five
• Kenn Munk: Alternate Fonts - Kenn Munk designs wonderfully different fonts and dingbats that allow the user to "build" words, or in the case of dingbats - images. This obsesion is probably due to the hours and hours spent playing with LEGO bricks in his childhood.
• Field Trip: Urban Typography - Kenn Munk designs wonderfully different fonts and dingbats, some of which are inspired by urban typography. Travel to his neighbourhood, Frederiksbjerg Denmark, for an insightful visit with typography of bygone days; urban typography in ...
• Fonts: Ancient Mexico, Durer, the '50s - Visit four new font sets, totalling more than 24 individual faces covering history from ancient Mexican relics, through Durer, into Art Deco and through to the '50s -- it's a fun romp with some rather unique twists and turns you don't want to miss...
• Feature: The Classics come to P22 - You've heard of such names as Frederick W. Goudy, Monotype, Caslon, Giambattista Bodoni, Jensen, and Gerald Giampa? Well P22 has acquired The Lanston Type Foundry, originally under the design direction of Frederick W. Goudy, to revive a remarkable tradition in classic type styles. Enjoy just a brief sampling, and the story of Gerald Giampa's return with
• Famous Names in Typography - A reader in Canada wanted to have names such as Garamond, Bodoni and Jenson put into perspective. So here is our understanding of
• Type: Famous Names in Typography - A reader in Canada wanted to have names such as Garamond, Bodoni and Jenson put into perspective. So here is our understanding of
• Feature: Interview with Max Alexander Kisman - Max is the creative force behind Union Fonts -- bringing lively typography into today's digital world greatly influenced by the "60s" rock-n-roll scene. Amazing new fonts from
• Fonts used in the Design Center - H.M. from Liverpool UK writes:
        "What is the font used for the main bulk of your articles? Its used quite a bit and I can't seem to find what its called?
  * Hmmmm, that's a tough one because the style sheets call for several sans-serif fonts, and what you are seeing depends on what fonts you have installed. Try: Verdana, then Arial then Helvetica. After that you're on your own. :) See ...
• Which Typeface Should I use? - In this article, Fred talks about experiences with some of the greats of typography... and helps to answer the question with a quote from Jan White --
• MailBag: Whither TypeStyler - Chuck Hooker of Daphne, AL writes:
        Hi, we read on line the not so recent but presumably still meaningful D'Lynn review on TypeStyler, a program we've long had but one we feel very under utilized in our office. Efforts to track down a How-To guide, similar to the raft of books for PhotoShop, have not paid off.
        Dear Chuck: No, there are no books about TypeStyler that we know of. But after your inquiry we contacted the Striders to see where they stand on TypeStyler. YES, you'll be happy to know they're still on board with an OS X version ready to launch -- and, yes, we're happy to report that several popular book authors are interested in doing "How-To" books about TypeStyler. So watch the pages of DTG and you'll be the first to know! see:
• Mr. Pixelsmith gives Warm Color Advice - Mr. Pixelsmith gives some warm color advice to this "Mommy" site -- and more than a few solutions! Harmonizing Color for Unity 
• 5 Steps to a Stand-Out Website - Tim Clukey has been teaching web design for over 6 years at the Plattsburgh State University Communications Department in Plattsburgh, NY. He shares som insights into web design ... when crafting messages for the web, it's the steak and not the sizzle that makes a difference. Follow along with his ...
• Seven Steps to Return On Web Design - Quite often these days we her the term ROI - which means "return on investment." One of the important books to come along in a while for web designers is Ani Phyo's "Return On Design." Ani is a Web Designer and founder of SmartMonkey Media and she brings some serious lessons into focus for web designers. We are proud to present Ani's Seven Steps to Return On Design.
• Feature: Ilise Benun interview: "Heads in the Sand Design" - How do you design? With your head in the sand?
        We are super pleased to have Ilise Benun with us this month! This milestone interview opens the gates to discuss what's in the minds of designers.
        Ilise is a recognized expert on marketing for creative professionals and author of "Designing Websites for Every Audience" from HOW Design Books. Ilise has written many articles about online marketing and published The Art of Self Promotion, a quarterly newsletter of nuts'n bolts for manageable marketing, for 10 years. Her landmark book "Self-Promotion Online" (HOW Design Books, 2001) carved out new standards for design and creative community survival in the new world of online marketing.
        This is a superb addition to our "Designing Women" theme, and I hope you enjoy it.
• September Web Site Critique Briefs - This month, Debbie does a pretty thorough critique of the Galvez Family Web site; we get a critique of the Mountain Monarch Adventures site that the Web Review disagrees with; Then we take a look at the NomadLink web site with jerry tamburro; and finally, Linda Rosario gives brief views of Google Yahoo Msn Positioning. See these
• Web Critique Briefs from Readers - This month we also have a collection of quick, Critique Briefs sent in by readers... a design site that claims to be "Part of an award winning Creative Arts team; The Toronto District School Board; a Teen site called Teenopolis; the Alexander Sadoya Art Gallery web site and the Marietta Contact Lens web site. See these ... 
• Readers Critique Web Sites - This month readers look at the Georgetown College Parent's Site; Estate agents in Berkshire (both commented by Gareth Sketty; and a visit to the Urban Arts of Indianapolis with R.J. Rakowski. See these
• Current Web Site Critique Briefs - This month readers look at Painting by Anne Stahl; the James Anderson Unofficial Site; Georgetown University, the Black Hills Pow Wow Association and one the reviewer says "sucks" the Internet personals/dating site. See these
• Designer & Photographer sites - About a third of all sites requesting a review are design or photography sites. They almost always share some common characteristics that may not be to their best interest. In this student design site we point out some serious considerations for improving the
• Web Site Critique: Black Hills Explorer Vacation Guide - Another Web site critique this month comes from Suzanne Fyhrie Parrott from OneWay Advertising and Design. Suzanne says "This site is already good..." then shares some tips and hints to make the site even better. Actually it's a good warm-up for next month's "Design Vacation" ...
• University of Utah gets fine tuning - Reviewer Mike Swope observes that this well organized site could use a little strength in branding and clarity... WDR agrees and adds a diagramed example page with subtle CSS tweaks that add polish and purpose to the CEUU Website.
        Don't forget to take a look at this month's reader web sites... and then post YOUR web critiques or reviews at Web Design & Review ...
• A reader critiques our critiques - From time to time we get an email from a reader who isn't quite as pleased with what they find in the Design Center as most others are. Obviously with the number of visitors the center gets, it would be unreasonable to expect them all to be glad they came. An early lesson learned on the web is that you don't even attempt to please everyone. Nevertheless, we read them all, and when a negative one appears we look closely.
        One such critique came last Saturday from a reader identified as 'Mark' who commented:
       "At first I thought your whole site was a little basic for being about web design. Then I took a look at your critique page and clicked on the first site, Faulty Tower and thought, what an awful site. I'm talking about your site (The Faulty Tower site is even worse though)."
        I've published the entire critique, along with some of my own comments. I also invited Mark to return to the page and give his views on specific design rules broken there.
• Real Estate Web Site Done Well - it's a pleasure to run across and nicely designed web site. This month we visit one that is done quite well, so all you realtors and real estate sites -- if you want to see a real estate site done right take a look at the
• Web Critique: Good Content, Wrong Place... - This month Bennie C. Taylor and Donald Peterson, two distinguished designers, take on a Catering site... but they're too nice and Fred has to get tough. You got to be tough to make a tender
• "Faulty Tower" web site gets a second look - D. Burns is back with us again this month with a 2nd critique of the "Faulty Tower Computing" website! (This time without the "American Idol" slant.) The author made changes and requested we return for a second look! While a step in the right direction, Faulty Tower still has a long way to go.
  That's what WebDesign & Review is all about, folks!
• Web Site Critique: Lessons in Color - In this critique Bennie C. Taylor visits the "Night Photography by David Baldwin" web site and sets the stage for a lesson in color. The photography is striking, but the presentation may be improved with some brief
• July Web Design Critiques - Reviewer Bennie C. Taylor says:
        "at first glance this site seems to be well-organized; but the categories turn out to be inconsistent and confusing" ... perhaps some organization is needed in the Northwest Indiana Catholic newspaper site ... 
• Joyce Evans is back with Sweet Deco - Joyce returns to the Web critique department with some good news and some bad for the Sweet Deco of Austria web site. As usual, Joyce does a superb job pin-pointing aspects on various pages of Sweet Deco.
• An American Idol Web Site Gone Bad? - The Web Design & Review team visited the web site of an up and coming young vocalist, but what they found was not what they expected. They had to ask: "What if Randy, Paula and Simon to this web site to evaluate an 'American Idol' contestant? What would they say?" This critique says "wonderful voice!" But to the designer they borrowed Donald Trump's famous phrase: "You're FIRED!" Follow along as WDR critiques the web site of...
• Joyce Evans: Tomatoes anyone? - This month Joyce takes a look at the Tomato-Cages web site with a healthy reminder of the right recipe for success. Even Fred can't argue, all web designers need to look at
• Testing: See how CSS boxes work - As part of the on-going quest to learn CSS, a test page is now available that illustrates the use of margin, padding and borders around CSS objects... and you can turn them off and on. Note they do NOT validate with the W3 validation page. If you have tips or suggestions on fixing the broken coding, please let us know. You are invited to experiment, copy, save and learn from these Testing Sheets for 
• Karen Dodds on: Audience & Content - Karen Dodds first wrote for DT&G back in 1995 after we discovered her considerable skills in identifying the true essence of design. Here are her views on ...
• Feature: Website Redesign Without a Nervous Breakdown - Former Netscaper John Marshall, CEO of ClickTracks sent in this great article saying:
        It doesn't matter whether you're working for a company or working as a freelancer with clients. It happens to all of us. That sigh of relief we breathe when the website we've been designing is finally 'finished.' Truth be told, a good website is constantly in flux, taking advantage of the web's fluid and flexible nature.
        Agreed! Check it out at:
• Feature: MenuMachine for GoLive 6 - Mike Swope, founder of Inetreviews.com and frequent face in the Design Cafe, sends in a whopping review of MenuMachine for GoLive 6 from Big Bang Extensions. If you're a web designers and happen to use GoLive, check this one out.
• A note to those who post sites: - May's input of web sites at the review form also brought an onslaught of web designers posting their own sites. In fact, more than 60% of the entries were from designers who wrote descriptions as if to sell their services rather than obtain feedback and suggestions from readers.
        Please remember that this department of WebDesign & Review is not for web designers (or anyone else for that matter,) to merely evangelize their own sites. This is not the venue for that purpose. From time to time we allow artists, photographers or other creatives portfolio sites in -- but only when they suggest a need for peer review. If you want to get exposure in the Design Center as a web (or other) design firm, please contact me personally or visit Graphic-Design.net for your own Web-Folio.com web design folio.
        There's a "mission" statement posted in the web site that outlines what this is all about. I invite you to share it.
• DT&G is brought to you by the color RED - Red. It's hot, it's appetizing, it's aggressive, it's RED.
        He's red in the face... I'm seeing RED... I don't have a red nickel -- So many expressions using the word 'red' all seem to say something similar. Red has always been the "STOP" color... emergency, alert, mistake... they're in the red means they're in trouble.
        It's versatile, and attention-getting. It's also HOT. Have fun with RED in June.
        Have fun, and PLEASE send in YOUR favorite color combinations.
• Mr. Pixelsmith Duz Colors - Oh by the way: This month, Mr. Pixelsmith spent some time building a collection of web pages that briefly cover the entire spectrum of color in HTML HEX tables. These show the colors, and their hex code .
        As readers of this column, DTG, and friends of the Design Center, you're free to utilize these pages for your own web activities... HOWEVER, please don't use them for posting on other web sites. Linking to them is okay, and encouraged.
• Web: Spring HEX Color Charts - The WEB department is forever getting inquiries from readers about how to build this or that color. Many want to have a matching PMS color too. Mr. Pixelsmith has gone to great effort to put together over 1,000 HEX colors in these
• 10 Years Later: The Anatomy of a Spam Site - It's been ten years since the "Web Design" seminars spread the Ten Deadly Sins across America. Since then, a lot has changed and a lot hasn't. Even usability guru Jacob Nielsen has changed his Deadly Sins three times since his first appearance in 1996. Let's revisit after ten years on the web Anatomy of a 
• Mail: Reply to Spam Column - Tom Dalton from Provo, UT wrote in response to our "Time to go after those spammers" piece last month to say:
       
        "While your assertion that few websites pay for your bandwidth is certainly true, your implication that this shifts an unfair burden onto consumers seems incorrect. Few real-world stores pay for your gas. The website does have to pay for its own hosting, as a real-world store must pay its own rent and utilities. I don't think that invalidates the basic framework you're using to evaluate sites for spam, but your argument is stronger without the assertion."
        Reply: Tom, it is generally accepted that the end user must bear the cost of spam. If you compare it to the alternatives available to the advertiser the cost of advertising via email is all but nonexistent. The end user pays for it in terms of bandwidth. He was referring to the article:
• Time to go after those spammers! - For those of you with a propensity for fighting spam -- the new Can Spam law is in effect, but we've seen no slow-down in the spam epidemic. So, it's time to start stirring up trouble for those spammers. If your spam has an advertised link, then start complaining loud and hard. Follow these instructions to Find Your Spammer's
• Design CAFE discusses Web Design - This rather long piece is from the Design Cafe list (July, 2004) wherein a listee asks "how do you learn web design creativity?" ... the following thread sheds interesting light on new design attitudes from a diverse group of
• Got Photoshop Questions? Who do you call? - This month we open the doors of Photoshop 911's new blog. Now you can follow along as the Photohsop 911 team fields questions and problems -- you can comment on posts, and even lend a helping hand where needed! It's growing almost daily, and you don't want to miss it... Who do you call?
• Biz: How to implement e-business solutions - Nowshade Kabir, Ph. D. in Information Technology brings has posted a good article in the UGN last week. In column in his series on e-business, he says: "When a massive e-business solution installation goes wrong, the management of the business is to blame."
• New: Nik Color Efex Pro - Nik MM offers this suite of digital photo filtering tools for most major photo manipulation applications. Adjust tone, sky effects and, my favorite, a polarizing effect are among the filters offered in this complete package callled 
• Bad Spyware: Are You At Risk? - Many of you know that I've been an avid supporter and activist in the computer user group community for the past 20 years. Recent member and non-member inquiries about spyware and adware has brought this issue to my attention. It has also gotten the attention of the Federal Trade Commission. Read their testimony given to the Senate Subcommittee last week...
  http://www.aacug.org/safenet/spyware.html
        Then read my three-page white paper titled: "Spyware? Are you at risk?" 
• Security: Little Snitch for Mac OS X - If you run ethernet, broadband, or any "always connected" network on the Mac OS X, then you need to monitor outgoing network connections. "Once you see how many people are trying to get into your system, you'll gladly pay the shareware fee for 
• The only good spammer is a canned spammer - Hoorah for the U.S. Federal government who have nabbed four people and two spam operations that have clogged the Internet with millions of deceptive messages and bogus weight-loss products.
        See:
• News: Macworld Expo San Francisco 2004 - For those of you who missed Macworld, user group guru Dan East gives a pretty good report on the Apple announcements at Macworld Expo, San Francisco. He mentions: G4, G5, GarageBand, Xserve, the new iPods and Steve Jobs' keynote at Moscone -- plus his "coolness factor" discoveries like SqueezeBox, SlimDevice, Piximation and Toast with Jam. Then he reflects on the Macworld Expo "Party for The People" at
• Shareware/software: Photos, Body Painting, etc. - As you know we don't do much on shareware in the Design Center. There's just too much to cover. But if you're a Mac person, you may want to check in on my part-time column at the User Group Network. Each week, the "Shareware Manager" does a quick round-up of likely shareware winners. This week: Photo Albums, prints from iPhoto, BodyPainting; and some new personal productivity updates in Alarms, examining your files, and the clipboard. Mariner is here with new stuff and we end with your garage sale on eBay!
• (Mac) GraphicConverter Gets Better - Speaking of "batch converting" GraphicConverter views, edits, converts most image formats to most other image formats! I call it the Swiss Army Knife for Mac graphics. It's the longest established and most popular image manipulation shareware program in the history of the Macintosh. The original developer, Thorsten Lemke (Germany), has continued to improve and add so many features over the years that the program comes close to rivalling even Photoshop. And, now it's been upgraded once again ...
• Ideas: Postcards from the Road - Do you spend a lot of time on the road? Are you sick of taking pictures sending them back in emails? Send a post card instead with 
• Shareware: Quickie Web Albums - Sick and tired of seeing all those drag-n-drop iPhoto gallerys on the web? We cringe each time a someone sends an invitation to their gallery. But they don't have to be boring. Quickie Web Albums are easy to create and offer a lot of power for customization including CSS style sheets! Also at 
• Shareware: ViewIt is fast and easy - View your images through this unique, intuitive interface including full screen mode, quick image sorting, printing -- with easy digital camera import. (Mac OS X) ... also at 
• Laptops vs. Desktops? Which to buy? - I love my new 15" Aluminum Powerbook G4! But while getting used to it I'm having to learn some new manners! I'm discovering lots of things I like about it, and lots of things I really liked about my Wall Street PowerBook. This Old Mouse is a column I write over in the User Group Network web site and I thought it would benefit many DTG readers.

60-Second Windows

• Password is not a 4-letter word - If you are not a subscriber to the Design Cafe, then you probably haven't read about my ordeals last week with a relative's case of stolen identity. It's an important story -- about identity theft and protecting your passwords. Read it then pass this link it along to others
• 60 Second Window #167: Creative Jiuces - What do you do when you need an idea and you need it quick? Suffering from the creative doldrums? Grab these tips in just 60 seconds, and ... 
• 60-Seconds: Photo Ethics? - Then, 60-Second Window this month asks if you think it's getting more difficult to recognize reality in photographic journalism these days... #168 Ethics in Digital Photography
• Mail Bag: Zombies Spoofing DTG - This reader 'thinks' we sent spam selling illegal software. Spam is deceiving people with forged sender addresses. The reader writes:
        I noticed your advertising for OEM software are you aware that these software packages are illegal? Here is the article: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/06/03/oem_software_scams/ So what do you think about this?
        We think it's disgusting, dishonest and illegal. However this is the result of Windows computers becoming infected with a virus-like program called a "zombie" -- it sits in wait until the spammer sends the key which initiates sending spam to everyone in the victim's address book. Worse yet, the zombie forges the "sender" address using those same addresses. We get literally dozens each day, some of it sent to us -- from us. Look at the headers and you'll see it was NOT sent from graphic-design.com. All such spam should be reported to the SpamCop who in turn reports it to the manufacturer of the OEM software being pirated. See:
• 60-Seconds #169: SpamCop Full Circle - When my spam load hit 1,000 spams a day, I gave up the fight against spam and just started deleting them all. I was ashamed of myself because I had stopped helping my fellow netizen. But then I returned to SpamCop, and that began the rest of the story...
• 60-Seconds #170 We The Media - ... OR, who's to blame for Kerry's defeat? Just listen to the media and you'll hear all kinds of opinions on why Kerry lost the campaign. But if you take the designer's approach to branding a candidate, you'll agree the media had more to do with it than they're letting on...
• 60-Seconds: TEN Years Later, still lonely - Email from a disgruntled reader sends Fred back ten years to learn that the internet is still a lonely place. Herein he suggests one all-important tidbit of advice for anyone wanting to be found on the web. Yes, it's
• Speaking of spam... read this: - Top Ten Signs You're About to be RIPPED OFF
        Fred tracks the illusive spammer! With the influx of thousands of new UCEs ('Unsolicited Commercial Email" -- aka: SPAM) hitting the Graphic Design Network servers, our spam-hunting team decided to track a few of these low-lifes down, and find out where it's all coming from.
        What we found was rather alarming, and out of more than 7,000 UCEs gathered since January 1st -- so far -- we haven't found but ONE honest person. But we've found hundreds of them who would sell their mother for a quarter, or stab you in the back for a nickel. Not a pretty sight.
• 60-Seconds: Accountability - What would it be like if automobiles didn't require a license or registration? Sound crazy? Why did we let the online world get that way? This month's column applauds ICANN for their new online policy regarding false or delinquent registrations in the whois.
• Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Clubs - Pump some new life into that local civic organization or club with any or all of these resolutions... (this one is posted a bit early, actually it's for January, 2004 -- so you can pass it along during December!)... #165
• Top 10 New Year's Resolutions for Clubs - Pump some new life into that local civic organization or club with any or all of these resolutions... (this one is posted a bit early, actually it's for January, 2004 -- so you can pass it along during December!)... 
• A New Kind of Threat - Dispite all the news about legal actions against spammers the online email marketing industry seems to have no end to creative methods of sucking email users into their webs -- you'd better watch out, they're coming to get YOU. This article was posted late in December, some of you may have already seen it -- but it needs repeating:

Design Bookshelf

• The Graphics Master is Back - Now in its 8th edition, Dean Lem's industry bible is simply the best print production workbook ever produced! Through twenty-three printings of seven editions, the latest volume links the new digital prepress applications with essential traditional printing information. If you print, you need the
• PC: Blast Away Your PC Annoyances - For every user who has ever felt even a twinge of animosity toward his or her PC, Bass's book affirms the frustration (as any good friend would) and then alleviates it (as any solid resource should).
• Security: Silence on the Wire - There are many ways that a potential attacker can intercept information, or learn more about the sender, as the information travels over a network -- this groundbreaking security book goes beyond the norm to
• The Spam Letters - THE SPAM LETTERS by Jonathan Land is a totally humorous book that fights spam, one email at a time -- entertaining correspondence (and some bewildering replies) to people who send out mass junk e-mailings (a.k.a. spam). Jonathan Land has done what none of us would want to do to beat spammers at their own game ...
• Editor's Choice: Deke is Back! - Deke McClelland is the hardest working man in the Graphics biz. His latest book is the finest hour in Photoshop training and actually includes two hours of Total Training video, and full-color, step-by-step instruction. Visit some choice quotes and insights into ... 
• Chuck Green: Graphic Workshop - Chuck Green is back with a major blockbuster -- his Design-it-yourself GRAPHIC WORKSHOP is a delightful instruction manual for non-designers, and a healthy shot of creative energy for the pros... don't miss it!
• Communication Design Principles - Someone requested that we publish an article on design principles. But you really can't portray the scope of the topic in a single aritcle -- at least one that people would read on the internet. The best advice is to pick up this month's Editor's Choice; Jorge Frascara's
• Good-bye Gutenberg - Valerie Kirschenbaum has authored, designed and published a milestone book that is really more than just a book - it's a cultural heirloom for the whole family. It's about design, publishing, printing ... and saying
• Congratulations "Design School" Winners - We wanted to say congratulations to all our winners in the September "Back to Design School" giveaway. A special thanks goes out to Peachpit Press work helping sponsor the promo, and for sending out copies of their books to all the winners.
  * Brian Fuschetto of Norwood, NJ takes the GRAND PRIZE, taking home copies of ALL the books in the "Design School!" Congratulations, Brian.
  * Susan Oakes from Lake Grove won The InDesign for QuarkXPress Users Book
  * Max Gilbert, Little Rock, AK, gets The Non-Designer's Design Book
  * Catarina Telendyl-Schneider in Florida gets the Photoshop 7 Killer Tips Book
  * Kitty Garrett wins The Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Standard Classroom in a Book...
• The Painter behind Painter WOW - Our big news is the wonderful visit with Cher Threinen-Pendarvis, author of Painter 7 WOW Book, and well known traditional/digital artist. I think you'll enjoy this one -- and perhaps discover that Photoshop isn't the only software doing WOW stuff!
        The interview is in the PDF edition of DTG Magazine, and over in the Designer's Bookshelf we have the interview with a number of added pop-up windows showing some of the luscious art you'll find in the Painter 7 WOW Book.
• Quark XPress, InDesign & PageMaker Ideabooks - Here comes an absolutely fabulous trio of books! Each book includes more than 300 ready-to-go templates on CD-ROM for the most sought-after graphic design projects -- from the legendary Chuck Green and his incredible Idea Books
• Mail Bag: Digital Photography Hacks - M.J. from Yardley PA writes:
        "Hey Fred! Nice issue and I like the new look and breadcrumb trail at top. Your issue was heavy on digital photography and I wanted to add to the pile! Just got a new book called Digital Photography Hacks by Derrick Story (OReilly Press). I loved his little digital photography pocketbook. This new one is great... lots of tips for the digital camera picture taking experience as opposed to a glut of after-the-shot photoshop tips like most books. You can browse through and pick the tip you want to work on--the organization is well thought out. Using househould objects for camera filters (sunglasses, pantyhose!), how to take a good panorama without a tripod...NEAT STUFF. Design cafe list member since forever!
  Excellent! Yes, we agree!
• Adobe Photoshop CS For Photographers - Martin Evening's latest Professional Image Editor's Guide to the Creative Use of Photoshop for the Mac and PC is a blockbuster with no padding or fluff -- all solid Photoshop training and pure inspiration for even the fine arts painter.
• Editors Choice: Photoshop for Right Brainers - Want to expand beyond typical tips and techniques? Tired of those "hot" tricks without a reason or purpose? Al Ward's technical expertise gives you precision training and a creative jolt in the arm that won't quit...
• Editor's Choice: Logos & Fonts - I predict this book by Leslie Cabarga will become a required classic for the graphic artist, designer, desktop publisher and signer. RUN, don't walk to get this book NOW:
• Editor's Choice: Celebrating U&lc - This stunning new book from John Berry will enlighten the graphic design field with the story and wonderful visuals from the pages of U&lc, the ITC publication that literally changed the face of graphic design as we know it today: U&lc Influencing Design & Typography
• Carrie Cooper wins the Web Fonts Online Book - Congratulations, Carrie! (who wrote in to say:)
        There are so many great free font sites on the Web, it's hard to pick just a few. Here are some favorites:
  * CybaPee Creations out of Germany(http://moorstation.org/typoasis/designers/cybapee/cpc.htm) has several fun retro fonts, such as Pachyderm and Sunny Side. The handwriting font InkyDinky is great set in a large size on name tags. This is also the site to visit if you want fonts based on ancient alphabets (such as Stoertebeker, Postmoderne Fraktur, Pegyptienne, Oetztype, Krasni Fellows, Greex, and more).
  * To help you select a font, visit Daniel Will-Harris' Esperfonto on the Web at http://www.will-harris.com/esp1.htm. He walks you through the process of deciding the right tone. (This is a good one, Carrie -- Daniel is a good friend and colleague of the Design Center!)
  * Finally, http://www.fontgarden.com/ has a ton of free fonts, specializing in handwriting fonts. They also have the funniest and most diverse collection of quotes used to illustrate the fonts.
  * Keep up the good work, Fred. I'm a total font junkie and greatly look forward to getting each issue of DTG.
        Well Carrie, you'll be getting more than DTG this month... you'll be getting a free copy of Kathleen Ziegler and Nick Greco's fabulous **Designer's Guide to Web Type: Best Fonts Online** book.
        This is one of the unique books in today's book marketplace -- divided into two sections: first, background on the font, its foundry, the artist, and an example of the font's use. Next, part 2 displays each font in an alphabet much like any other specimen book.
        Hope you enjoy it... and again, THANK YOU for entering our FONTS outreach.
• Editor's Choice: HTML Complete Course - Author, Donna L. Baker chats about her latest book: HTML Complete Course; part of the Wiley/Seybold Complete Course series -- and discusses key issues of
• Web: Firefox Hacks - Tips & Tools for Next-Generation Web Browsing -- Firefox Hacks is ideal for power users who want to take full advantage of Firefox from Mozilla, the next-generation web browser that is rapidly subverting Internet Explorer's once-dominant audience.
• BEST Awards for 2004 - Here's where we look at the best books from the past year. There are some real stand-outs here so take a stroll through the
• BEST OF 2003 - Unlike last year when Pamela Pfiffner's blockbuster book "Inside The Publishing Revolution: The Adobe Story" which was the unanimous winner -- this year we had quite a bit of difficulty deciding on a single "Best" for the year.
        We had to step back and reevaluate the very mission of this web site. What book is most worth buying to advance the skill set most essential to all those in visual communications, graphic design and other creative endeavors? We arrived at the conclusion that our focus is all about two essential elements that makes for true greatness. Most importantly, ideas and creativity. Secondly, but equally important, is responsibility. So what we ended up with was two 'books' of the year! These two books reflect the ultimate in those values and goals.
  Book of the Year: Idea Revolution
  Book 2 of the Year: Citizen Designer
  Both are highlighted along with

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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"
• SUBSCRIBE : to the Designers' CAFE email list

About The Design & Publishing Center: First established in 1994 to provide an online web site for DT&G Zine. DT&G was originally published each month on AOL and Compuserve for attendees of Fred Showker's design and publishing seminar and conference appearances. Click here to contact us   DT&G welcomes your articles, comments and contributions. Our "Writer's Guidelines" are available for those of you who would like to be published in The Design Center Publications. This is a Spam-Free web site. Help support a healthier Spam-free environment! Please read our Legal Trademark Notice & Copyright Notices. The Design & Publishing Center is owned by Showker Graphic Arts & Design, Harrisonburg, Virginia, USA, established in 1972 -- 540-433-8402. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED, Copyright 1994 - 2003 Showker, Inc.