DTG JULY 2008 Newsletter .... Fred Showker, Editor

DTG JULY : Fotos & Fractals

JULY: Photos, Fractals and more

When we invited people to send in their photos, we had expected a flood of snapshots from all over. We didn't get nearly as many entries as we hoped -- but out of the pile a number of true talents rose to the surface! We are thrilled to present the works of both Tracy Martin and Jerry Jividen in this month's issue, and next month we'll visit two more astounding studios. We love showing off the works of DTG readers, and continue to encourage you to send yours in.

We're also quite excited to learn all about the totally cool use of fractals in design! Special thanks to Pam Blackstone and Fractallicious for a series of articles on fractals!

WIN prizes for sharing your favorite shots

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!
In July, we'll be showing DTG Reader's photos and art! Send in captions for the art you would like to submit -- be sure to include your web site address, and gallery along with keywords and description. Once we receive that, we may contact you to send the art. Then, DTG readers will really enjoy a field trip to your digital digs... Get your DTG Gallery folio NOW.

Our friends are your friends:

Welcome to the great folks out at Media Lab and their fantastic product SiteGrinder. This is a website creation Photoshop plug-in that converts your designs into standards compliant, CSS-rich webpages with a mouse click -- No coding required. We're proud they are supporting DTG this month, helping bring you high content at low noise! Check out SiteGrinder

July DTG Contents

Designers discover fractallicious fractals!
Photo Folio: Tracy Martin
Photo Folio: Jividen photos save wildlife
Digital Photo depth of field - focus fall-off
Chrome : Photoshop Path Styling
Serif DTP Software comes to the U.S.
Email chains: Check first, click later
Photo-realistic digital frames
Web Design & Reviews new site critiques
Call for Speakers
Photoshop 911 forum topics
Site of the month: Kyle Mueller
Mail Bag: Angry graphic designers
Mail Bag: Retouch with Liquify
Photoshop Goodies: ObsidianDawn.com
Publishers: New copyright technology
Creative Suite 3.3
New DTP program for Mac users
NEXT MONTH: Back to (DESIGN) Education

Designers discover fractallicious fractals!

In the DTG Graphics department, creative digital artist Pam Blackstone specializes in fractal art and begins a series of articles to introduce you to the design possibilities found in the wonderful, colorful, amazing world of fractals. So get ready for some eye-popping good fun with fractals that are Fractallicious!

Photo Folio: Tracy Martin

It's always a pleasure to visit DTG readers and their portfolios -- and sometimes, maybe one out of every so many hundreds of entries, along comes one with true vision. When we looked at Tracy's images were then frozen to the moment. You must experience the Photo Folio of: Tracy Martin

Photo Folio: Jividen photos save wildlife

Jerry's folio submission arrived and we immediately took a little trip over to his photo site where we found a huge diversity of great shots... but the story in this post is saving wildlife through photography! Jerry Jividen: photos save wildlife

Digital Photo depth of field - focus fall-off

In this free Photoshop tutorial we demonstrate the ease of gradient masks, layer masks and blurring to save a one-time-only photograph for a web page. We also utilize the cool photo filter to finish this shot with Depth of Field or Focus Fall-Off

Chrome : Photoshop Path Styling

Our quest for the perfect chrome never really went away. But we really came close here! You need to check out the WOW stuff you can do with Path Styler Pro -- the powerful styling plug-in for Photoshop makes stunning filter effects with a simple click or two... Check out this chrome

Serif DTP Software comes to the U.S.

Serif is bringing its four award-winning desktop publishing, design and graphics software products to the U.S. market! Now, American graphic designers can take advantage of these powerful design tools -- PagePlus X3, WebPlus X2, PhotoPlus X2 and DrawPlus X2.

Email chains: Check first, click later

60-Second Window: Fred received another email chain letter, and rather than just deleting it, he did a little research and then responded to the email addresses in the chain. Why? First, to set the record straight, and second, to express my disdain for email chains ... here's what he said

Photo-realistic digital frames

ImageFramer custom image framing utility for Mac OS X makes it easy to apply photo-realistic frames to digital images, drawings or any original artwork. Users can add single frames (with multiple mats), watermarks, batch process and more ... Just Frame It

Web Design & Reviews new site critiques

This month's Web Design Review forum looks at more than 60 web sites for readers, with hundreds of tips and insights ... we'll see everything from the Hyperstellar site to a total remake discussion of the Sending Love site. You'll see beginners' personal sites, my beloved angels site, and get reflections on how to improve delivery, as well as a quick lesson in site validation for a 3D modeling site.. It all happens in the Web Design Critique department of the Design Cafe

Call for Speakers

Graphics of the Americas 2009 is opening its call for speakers to participate in the 34th annual event being held February 26-28, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center -- creatives are invited to participate...

Photoshop 911 forum topics

We've had several hundred new members in the past few months, and discussions are getting a lot of help to a lot of new users ... from colour to black/white ; Problems with Image Processor ; CS3 Brushes ; help with transparency ; JPEGs opening in landscape ; Removing Colours from jpeg ; corrupt files ; CS2 not saving EPS as JPG ; and even simulating dymo tape! If you're not a member yet, you may be missing some valuable help from all the pros in the Photoshop 911 Forum

Site of the month: Kyle Mueller

Kile sent in an inquiry about a proposed article for DTG -- which we plan to run -- and in the process of researching his site we see a lot of very special design work. This inspiration for all creatives displays some exciting typography integration into design. Just click your way through this graphic design portfolio

Mail Bag: Angry graphic designers

Last month we ran a story about a web site called CrowdSpring (?). More than a few readers took offense at that posting. Almost all of them referred me to the "No-Spec.com" web site. I had to laugh because back in late 2005 our good friend Kat Morley and I had many discussions about starting the "No-Spec.com" web site, and the anti-spec movement among designers. It was not a new idea -- having heard 'no-spec' issues since the early 1970s. I supported and endorsed the site and the movement.

We do not condone nor endorse purely "spec" work because it takes jobs away from legitimate design professionals. However, I did approve to run the CrowdSpring article because there are practical applications for that genre, and times when it provides a spring-board for young talent. "To every thing there is a purpose." www.no-spec.com

Mail Bag: Retouch with Liquify

Matt Kloskowski sent in this video where he demonstrates using the Liquify filter to remove a potential distraction from your photo -- the Liquify filter is as easy to use as a simple brush -- but be careful. Check it out.

Photoshop Goodies: ObsidianDawn.com

In 2005, our Photoshop Madness column carried a piece about Obsidian last year -- but when we decided to visit the site again, we were surprised! Obsidian has a completely redesigned site with lots and lots more Photoshop Goodies. There's now even a great, low-stress, low-noise tutorials section about Photoshop Brushes! Boy are we thankful we checked those links again... of course, you will be too

Publishers: New copyright technology

The U.S. Copyright Office released new technology to process applications online - eCO and "Form CO" with 2-D Barcode Technology : translation: lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim -- fastest processing time!

Creative Suite 3.3

Yes, it's yet another upgrade for the Adobe Creative Suite! What? Haven't upgraded to CS2 yet? CS3? Now's the time. Creative Suite 3.3 now incorporates Acrobat 9 Pro

New DTP program for Mac users

With all the hubbub over SERIF (mentioned earlier) some Mac users may overlook iCalamus. It's a ndw multi-lingual, frame-oriented desktop publishing solution for Mac OS X -- offering an easy approach to desktop publishing DTP

NEXT MONTH: Back to (DESIGN) Education

yes, it's our annual back to school edition where we focus on a world of online learning opportunities from freebie training to full-scale diplomas and certifications available. We'll also see more reader sites and folios, along with more great Photoshop and graphic design tips and tricks.

The Publishers' Warehouse is open and they've added several hundred new clip art images, fonts, and other stuff for your downloading pleasure. Stop in. If you don't know the directions, you can just ask

For now, have a great time in the July DTG

Don't forget to stay in touch, and thanks for reading...

Fred Showker, Editor / Publisher, DT&G Magazine

A Thought for July is about freedom...

The cost of freedom is always high,
but Americans have always paid it.
And one path we shall never choose,
is the path of surrender, or submission.
-- John F. Kennedy (1917-1963)

PS: if you've made it this far, excellent! The folks at the Publishers Warehouse are telling us that they have sailed away to Bimini! Will be there the first week of August for the opening of Lobster week! So we'll chase them down at "bimini".

Advertising in the Design Center: When you advertise, your small contribution to the Design Center helps us continue the mission... and get's you lots and lots of traffic and visitors to your web site! Just ask us how.

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 email newsletter, and each month we'll send you a low-key text email with all the happenings in the Design Center along with regular columns like the Mail-Bag, Reader-Tips, and "Cool Sites"
SUBSCRIBE to the Designers' CAFE email discussion list (listserv) and join the ongoing discussions about design and publishing

DT&G: Vol. 18, Number 7, July, 2008 ~ The eZine for Design, Typography, & Graphics (since 1990)
DEPARTMENTS: DT&G Magazine Design Business Graphic Design Typography Photoshop WebDesign & Review Photographic Gallery Photoshop 911 Creative Networking Design Books Designers' Cafe Product Reviews Submit NEWS Design & More Genuine Fractals Design Primer Info Design Seymour Chwast Logo Basics The Color of Spring. Racist Design Design Strategy Typography Vintage Type Chris Costello Type Tour Fonts Festival Metroscript font Type Questions New Typography Type Voice Friends of DTG (Hover!) Meet Our Friends Meet Our Partners YOUR LINK HERE? ...the folks above became "A Friend to the Design Center" ... if you would like your link here, just say yes! NEWSLETTER MAKEOVER CLINIC: Let the DTG Design team give you a critique of your publication and provide helpful advice on how to make it the best it can be! Get started today HOW BAD DOES YOUR WEB SITE SUCK? You'll never really know, until you ask a professional Previously ICANN crime Stacey Dyer Dutcher Design Designing Women Designers talk Ceramic Design LightZone Type with Character Type and Lettering Photoshop Madness Type video George on Fonts Outlining Type Ornaments, Symbols	DTG JULY : Fotos & Fractals JULY: Photos, Fractals and more When we invited people to send in their photos, we had expected a flood of snapshots from all over. We didn't get nearly as many entries as we hoped -- but out of the pile a number of true talents rose to the surface! We are thrilled to present the works of both Tracy Martin and Jerry Jividen in this month's issue, and next month we'll visit two more astounding studios. We love showing off the works of DTG readers, and continue to encourage you to send yours in. We're also quite excited to learn all about the totally cool use of fractals in design! Special thanks to Pam Blackstone and Fractallicious for a series of articles on fractals! WIN prizes for sharing your favorite shots 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! In July, we'll be showing DTG Reader's photos and art! Send in captions for the art you would like to submit -- be sure to include your web site address, and gallery along with keywords and description. Once we receive that, we may contact you to send the art. Then, DTG readers will really enjoy a field trip to your digital digs... Get your DTG Gallery folio NOW. Our friends are your friends: Welcome to the great folks out at Media Lab and their fantastic product SiteGrinder. This is a website creation Photoshop plug-in that converts your designs into standards compliant, CSS-rich webpages with a mouse click -- No coding required. We're proud they are supporting DTG this month, helping bring you high content at low noise! Check out SiteGrinder July DTG Contents Designers discover fractallicious fractals! Photo Folio: Tracy Martin Photo Folio: Jividen photos save wildlife Digital Photo depth of field - focus fall-off Chrome : Photoshop Path Styling Serif DTP Software comes to the U.S. Email chains: Check first, click later Photo-realistic digital frames Web Design & Reviews new site critiques Call for Speakers Photoshop 911 forum topics Site of the month: Kyle Mueller Mail Bag: Angry graphic designers Mail Bag: Retouch with Liquify Photoshop Goodies: ObsidianDawn.com Publishers: New copyright technology Creative Suite 3.3 New DTP program for Mac users NEXT MONTH: Back to (DESIGN) Education Designers discover fractallicious fractals! In the DTG Graphics department, creative digital artist Pam Blackstone specializes in fractal art and begins a series of articles to introduce you to the design possibilities found in the wonderful, colorful, amazing world of fractals. So get ready for some eye-popping good fun with fractals that are Fractallicious! Photo Folio: Tracy Martin It's always a pleasure to visit DTG readers and their portfolios -- and sometimes, maybe one out of every so many hundreds of entries, along comes one with true vision. When we looked at Tracy's images were then frozen to the moment. You must experience the Photo Folio of: Tracy Martin Photo Folio: Jividen photos save wildlife Jerry's folio submission arrived and we immediately took a little trip over to his photo site where we found a huge diversity of great shots... but the story in this post is saving wildlife through photography! Jerry Jividen: photos save wildlife Digital Photo depth of field - focus fall-off In this free Photoshop tutorial we demonstrate the ease of gradient masks, layer masks and blurring to save a one-time-only photograph for a web page. We also utilize the cool photo filter to finish this shot with Depth of Field or Focus Fall-Off Chrome : Photoshop Path Styling Our quest for the perfect chrome never really went away. But we really came close here! You need to check out the WOW stuff you can do with Path Styler Pro -- the powerful styling plug-in for Photoshop makes stunning filter effects with a simple click or two... Check out this chrome Serif DTP Software comes to the U.S. Serif is bringing its four award-winning desktop publishing, design and graphics software products to the U.S. market! Now, American graphic designers can take advantage of these powerful design tools -- PagePlus X3, WebPlus X2, PhotoPlus X2 and DrawPlus X2. Email chains: Check first, click later 60-Second Window: Fred received another email chain letter, and rather than just deleting it, he did a little research and then responded to the email addresses in the chain. Why? First, to set the record straight, and second, to express my disdain for email chains ... here's what he said Photo-realistic digital frames ImageFramer custom image framing utility for Mac OS X makes it easy to apply photo-realistic frames to digital images, drawings or any original artwork. Users can add single frames (with multiple mats), watermarks, batch process and more ... Just Frame It Web Design & Reviews new site critiques This month's Web Design Review forum looks at more than 60 web sites for readers, with hundreds of tips and insights ... we'll see everything from the Hyperstellar site to a total remake discussion of the Sending Love site. You'll see beginners' personal sites, my beloved angels site, and get reflections on how to improve delivery, as well as a quick lesson in site validation for a 3D modeling site.. It all happens in the Web Design Critique department of the Design Cafe Call for Speakers Graphics of the Americas 2009 is opening its call for speakers to participate in the 34th annual event being held February 26-28, 2009 at the Miami Beach Convention Center -- creatives are invited to participate... Photoshop 911 forum topics We've had several hundred new members in the past few months, and discussions are getting a lot of help to a lot of new users ... from colour to black/white ; Problems with Image Processor ; CS3 Brushes ; help with transparency ; JPEGs opening in landscape ; Removing Colours from jpeg ; corrupt files ; CS2 not saving EPS as JPG ; and even simulating dymo tape! If you're not a member yet, you may be missing some valuable help from all the pros in the Photoshop 911 Forum Site of the month: Kyle Mueller Kile sent in an inquiry about a proposed article for DTG -- which we plan to run -- and in the process of researching his site we see a lot of very special design work. This inspiration for all creatives displays some exciting typography integration into design. Just click your way through this graphic design portfolio Mail Bag: Angry graphic designers Last month we ran a story about a web site called CrowdSpring (?). More than a few readers took offense at that posting. Almost all of them referred me to the "No-Spec.com" web site. I had to laugh because back in late 2005 our good friend Kat Morley and I had many discussions about starting the "No-Spec.com" web site, and the anti-spec movement among designers. It was not a new idea -- having heard 'no-spec' issues since the early 1970s. I supported and endorsed the site and the movement. We do not condone nor endorse purely "spec" work because it takes jobs away from legitimate design professionals. However, I did approve to run the CrowdSpring article because there are practical applications for that genre, and times when it provides a spring-board for young talent. "To every thing there is a purpose." www.no-spec.com Mail Bag: Retouch with Liquify Matt Kloskowski sent in this video where he demonstrates using the Liquify filter to remove a potential distraction from your photo -- the Liquify filter is as easy to use as a simple brush -- but be careful. Check it out. Photoshop Goodies: ObsidianDawn.com In 2005, our Photoshop Madness column carried a piece about Obsidian last year -- but when we decided to visit the site again, we were surprised! Obsidian has a completely redesigned site with lots and lots more Photoshop Goodies. There's now even a great, low-stress, low-noise tutorials section about Photoshop Brushes! Boy are we thankful we checked those links again... of course, you will be too Publishers: New copyright technology The U.S. Copyright Office released new technology to process applications online - eCO and "Form CO" with 2-D Barcode Technology : translation: lower filing fee of $35 for a basic claim -- fastest processing time! Creative Suite 3.3 Yes, it's yet another upgrade for the Adobe Creative Suite! What? Haven't upgraded to CS2 yet? CS3? Now's the time. Creative Suite 3.3 now incorporates Acrobat 9 Pro New DTP program for Mac users With all the hubbub over SERIF (mentioned earlier) some Mac users may overlook iCalamus. It's a ndw multi-lingual, frame-oriented desktop publishing solution for Mac OS X -- offering an easy approach to desktop publishing DTP NEXT MONTH: Back to (DESIGN) Education yes, it's our annual back to school edition where we focus on a world of online learning opportunities from freebie training to full-scale diplomas and certifications available. We'll also see more reader sites and folios, along with more great Photoshop and graphic design tips and tricks. The Publishers' Warehouse is open and they've added several hundred new clip art images, fonts, and other stuff for your downloading pleasure. Stop in. If you don't know the directions, you can just ask For now, have a great time in the July DTG Don't forget to stay in touch, and thanks for reading... Fred Showker, Editor / Publisher, DT&G Magazine A Thought for July is about freedom... The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, is the path of surrender, or submission. -- John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) PS: if you've made it this far, excellent! The folks at the Publishers Warehouse are telling us that they have sailed away to Bimini! Will be there the first week of August for the opening of Lobster week! So we'll chase them down at "bimini". Advertising in the Design Center: When you advertise, your small contribution to the Design Center helps us continue the mission... and get's you lots and lots of traffic and visitors to your web site! Just ask us how. 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 email newsletter, and each month we'll send you a low-key text email with all the happenings in the Design Center along with regular columns like the Mail-Bag, Reader-Tips, and "Cool Sites" SUBSCRIBE to the Designers' CAFE email discussion list (listserv) and join the ongoing discussions about design and publishing	Good Guys: ............... JULY Fotos and Fractals... The nerve of some people! Julius Caesar renamed Quintilis (in Latin) to July because he was born in that month. But seriously folks, did you know July starts on the same day of the week as April every year, and January in leap years? Cool! ? July is brought to you by the colors "Red, White and Blue" ... July is brought to you by the letter "J" again, in case you didn't see it in June! --------------- Did you miss us * Last Month? Previously: Discuss it Eye Candy Maggie Macnab Decoding Design More Color Color Palettes Changing Colors Clip a Hole Faded Photos Remove Backgrounds Google How To: Photo Tricks PS Motion Blur CS3 Color Balance Light Codeless web Color palette? Reflections Join Images Drop Shadows B&W from Color Underexposed photos Painter Woodcut Gradient Maps Matching Color Business: Difficult People Biz Tips Marketing Mistakes Computer Tune-up Padding Press Icograda Software Tips Design/Copywriter About Freelancing Freelancing Tips Freelancers Union Reviews: Retouch Kit Color Schemes Morphing Images ZeusDraw DrawIt iMaginator and Create DropFrame Flip Video Digital Cameras Viewsonic Display Web Design: Critique: Web Critiques TL Domains Color Influence Critique: Vatnsdal Deco Spirit Web: Tightline Back Issues: June, 2008 May, 2008 April, 2008 March, 2008 February, 2008 January, 2008 December, 2007 November, 2007 October, 2007 September, 2007 August, 2007 July, 2007 June, 2007 May, 2007 You haven't even started. There are 3,945 items in the DTG directory alone.

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