29 April 2009

550+ more shortcuts for Adobe Photoshop CS4

2:20 pm Unknown No comments

Adobe Photoshop CS4 packs a ton of fresh features and an updated interface, which alone make it a worthy upgrade for existing users. One of the Photoshop's strengths is that it makes extensive use of keyboard shortcuts.

+ Keys for selecting tools :

+ Keys for selecting tools in extract toolbar :

+ Keys for selecting tools in liquify toolbox :

+ Keys for working with extract,liquify and pattern maker :

+ Keys for using filter gallery :

+ Keys for using the refine edge dialog box :

+ Keys for using the black and white dialog box

+ Keys for using camera raw dialog box :

+ Context menu :

+ Keys for using the curves dialog box :

+ Keys for using vanishing point :

+ Keys for working with blending modes :

+ Keys for viewing images :

+ Keys for selecting and moving objects :

+ Keys for editing paths :

+ Keys for painting objects :

+ Keys for transforming selections,selection borders and paths :

+ Keys for selecting,editing and navigating through text :

+ Keys for formatting types :

+ Keys for slicing and optimizing :

+ Keys for using panels :

+ Keys for action panels :

+ Keys for using the adjustment panels :

+ Keys for using the animation panel :

+ Keys for using animation panel in Timeline mode :

+ Keys for using the clone source :

+ Keys for using the brushes panel :

+ Keys for using the channels panel :

+ Keys for using the color panel :

+ Keys for using the history panel :

+ Keys for using the info panels :

+ Keys for using layer comps panel :

+ Keys for using the layers panel :

+ Keys for using the paths panel :

+ Keys for using the swatches panel :

+ Keys for using measurement :

+ Keys for using the 3D tools :

+ Keys for working with DICOM files :

+ Function keys :

Now Enjoy Photoshop CS4 with these short cuts

Blogumus for your Flickr Photos!

2:58 pm Unknown No comments

If you enjoyed using Blogumus - the animated flash-based widget to display your blog labels - then I'm sure you'll love Roy Tanck's latest widget creation: an animated, cloud style Flickr widget! You can see an example of this in action on the left which uses my Flickr Photostream.

Roy's widget is very easy to customize and add to your blog. Simply visit the Flickr Widget page and use the form to add your Flickr photostream feed URL, then choose the dimensions and background color for your widget.

Once you're done, press the "Generate code snippet" button to be presented with a preview of your widget and the code. You can then paste this code into an HTML/JavaScript widget in your sidebar, or even directly into a blog post (as I have done here).

Roy Tanck created the original WP-Cumulus widget upon which my Blogumus widget is based. He has done a fantastic job in creating this widget. It uses a much smaller file size than the Blogumus/WP-Cumulus widget and doesn't hog nearly as much of your computer memory!

I hope you enjoy using this widget to enhance your own Blogger powered blogs! Let us know what you think about Roy's Flickr widget by leaving your comments below.

Best of the Web – March 2009

2:35 pm Unknown No comments

Create Smokey Typography

Learn how to create cool smokey

typography in 12 simple steps.

Open up a new document (600X250px) and create a new layer called ‘black background’. Fill your entire canvas with black.

Now add some white text to the center of your canvas. I used the font ‘Gill Sans’ set to bold.

Now duplicate your text layer. Select your original and rasterize it (layer>rasterize>layer). Then apply a motion blur to this layer by going to filter>blur>motion blur. Set your angle to 90 and your blur strength to 20. Finally reduce your layer’s opacity to 60%.

This tutorial explains how to create gooey slimy text with an emboss for depth in photoshop.

It’s important for this tutorial that you set up the same size canvas as the effects we’ll apply will vary depending on how many pixels it’s across. To use in smaller or bigger projects you will need to tweak the settings applied throughout this tutorial. Set up a 2500 X 1500 pixel, RGB document at 300dpi.

Select the Horizontal Type Tool, set the colour to a lightish grey and write your word. It’s best to use a fairly uncomplicated and bold font, I’ve gone for Avant Garde in Bold

In this tutorial, I will show you how you can make a stylized 3D textured text effect using various textures to give it a unique look with Illustrator & Photoshop. I will be giving you the step by step instructions along with the links to the resources & stuffs used.

Open up Illustrator, and with the Type Tool type a letter or text, I typed the letter “C” I used the font Adobe Caslon Pro, you can use any font that you like, just make sure that it is a bit thick font to yield better results. I set the font size to 400 pt & scaled it horizontally & vertically to 150% through the Character Palette, though don’t worry about the font size too much because we’ll be pasting it as Smart

Objects in Photoshop so we can adjust the size at any given time.

This tutorial takes an ordinary castle photo and a river scene and blends them together into a mysterious surreal landscape collage.

Open up sky image in Photoshop.
Right click on Background layer, choose Layer From Background.

Go to Image > Canvas Size.
Increasing the canvas size adds space below an existing image.

Transform sky.
Edit > Transform > Perspective.
Choose Filter > Distort > Spherize

Fantastic Disintegration Effect inspired by Watchmen

Tear someone apart with a disintegration effect.

In this tutorial I will show you how to create the disintegration effect using brushes and the blur filter. It’s really simple and you will be able to create nice designs using this sort of trendy style of effect.

Create a new document in Photoshop. For the size I used

1920×1200 pixels. Then fill the background layer with a gradient, you can do that via Layer>Layer Style>Gradient Overlay. Use #5ba1c6 and #4a565b for the colors, 90º for the angle and Linear for the style.

Create a Dark Surreal Illustration with Photoshop

In this tutorial we are going to create a dark surreal illustration using a few techniques and a handful of images. In the end, we will apply stylish color settings and give the illustration that extra polish it needs to give it that finished look.

After you import the image into the document you will see that the width of the image is smaller then the width of the sand image so you will need to duplicate the grass image a few times and then blend each piece together. To do this you first need to erase a few parts of the duplicated grass images using the Eraser Tool (E), merge all of them. Next, retouch the grass and make the images blend in nicely using the Clone Stamp Tool (S).

Glowing Demon Eyes Effect in Photoshop

12:33 pm Unknown 1 comment

Red-eyed demon effect or maybe yellow-eyed demon effect. Just pick your color. Ever watch Supernatural and suddenly you get this sudden desire to turn everyone into a yellow eyed demon? Well, in today's tutorial you're gonna learn how to get this glowing demon eyes effect using Photoshop even on someone as angelic as our Bones star here ;)

to:

1. Open your image. Preferably something with eyes. Duplicate it twice. Set the first duplicate layer yo screen and the second one to soft light. Then hit CTRL+SHIFT+E to flatten the layers.

2. Duplicate the new image. Working with the duplicate layer, go to Image > Adjustment > Hue/Saturation. Set the master saturation to -100.

3. Now zoom in your image (CTRL ++) to 200%. Select the Eraser Tool. Choose a small soft round brush. The brush size depend on the size of the eyes. Mine is 9 pixels. Erase the iris area but don't touch the pupil or the white eye. Picture shown below:

4. Now, still working with the black and white layer, go to Image > Adjustment > Brightness/Contrast. Reduce the brightness and contrast until you find the effect you want on the eyes. This is the setting I use for mine and the resulted effect.

5. Now, blue doesn't seem so scary. How about a yellow eyes demon effect? Or even red maybe. Take your pick. To do this, we need to add an adjustment layer between the top and the bottom layer. Go to Layer > New Adjustment Layer > Color Balance.