PHOTOSHOP How-To Tips & Tricks

The Design & Publishing Center . / . Photoshop Tips & Tricks . / . Seminars: How was it done

Our modified June Graphic from Photoshop We get questions all the time from readers asking how this or that was done. Rather than reply via email, and decided to post it here.

How was it done?
This month's key art comes to us from the Dynamic Graphics Electronic Clipper CD for March 1997. (Their art is always the best, and always two to three months in advance.)

Utilizing art however is an art in itself. First always look for images that would
A) be appropriate for the topic
B) fit the size of the opening in the design
C) fit the editorial 'tone' of the topic.
D) and hopefully be enjoyed by our readers.

An original graphic from Dynamic Graphics We always take a 'light' tone, so an illustration or graphic is always welcome. This month's 'Beach' theme was just right for June... with everyone bolting to seashores around the world.
At left is the original art directly from the CD. (Please note the rather pasty look of the colors... we'll address that once we jump to Photoshop on the next page.)

Changes in Illustrator

First we needed the art to point into the content area. So FLOP the image.The bird was pushing the width a bit (we knew we needed 121 pixels for our splash-page table cell) so either kill it or move it. We opted to move it up over the sun.

Still a bit wide in aspect ration, we squeezed the whole thing by 10% horizontally for a more vertical look. 10% doesn't show much, and we locked down the sun before the squeeze. (Viewers could easily detect a squeeze on a circle!)

Next we knew the border would not be strong enough to carry the art once rastered to 72dpi. So thanks to DG's nice layering/grouping of the objects, we were able to isolate the frame and colorize it black with a single click. Now we're ready to go.

You'll note we did all the above modifications in Adobe Illustrator before rasterizing into Photoshop. This is because we needed the increased control that Illustrator allows us so, we could isolate various objects in the suite. Besides, it's just plain faster. A comparison test between Illustrator 7 and Illustrator 3.2 showed us that doing the exact same modifications in version 7 will take you as much as 4.2 times LONGER to accomplish the exact same steps. That's why we keep 3.2 on hand for such routine art modifications.

On to the Photoshop part (next page)

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		We get questions all the time from readers asking how this or that was done. Rather than reply via email, and decided to post it here. How was it done? This month's key art comes to us from the Dynamic Graphics Electronic Clipper CD for March 1997. (Their art is always the best, and always two to three months in advance.)
	Utilizing art however is an art in itself.	First always look for images that would A) be appropriate for the topic B) fit the size of the opening in the design C) fit the editorial 'tone' of the topic. D) and hopefully be enjoyed by our readers.
		We always take a 'light' tone, so an illustration or graphic is always welcome. This month's 'Beach' theme was just right for June... with everyone bolting to seashores around the world. At left is the original art directly from the CD. (Please note the rather pasty look of the colors... we'll address that once we jump to Photoshop on the next page.) Changes in Illustrator
	First we needed the art to point into the content area. So FLOP the image.The bird was pushing the width a bit (we knew we needed 121 pixels for our splash-page table cell) so either kill it or move it. We opted to move it up over the sun. Still a bit wide in aspect ration, we squeezed the whole thing by 10% horizontally for a more vertical look. 10% doesn't show much, and we locked down the sun before the squeeze. (Viewers could easily detect a squeeze on a circle!) Next we knew the border would not be strong enough to carry the art once rastered to 72dpi. So thanks to DG's nice layering/grouping of the objects, we were able to isolate the frame and colorize it black with a single click. Now we're ready to go. You'll note we did all the above modifications in Adobe Illustrator before rasterizing into Photoshop. This is because we needed the increased control that Illustrator allows us so, we could isolate various objects in the suite. Besides, it's just plain faster. A comparison test between Illustrator 7 and Illustrator 3.2 showed us that doing the exact same modifications in version 7 will take you as much as 4.2 times LONGER to accomplish the exact same steps. That's why we keep 3.2 on hand for such routine art modifications.
		On to the Photoshop part (next page)