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The first time I got a taste of Photoshop training, I was producing an animated film for an independent production studio in Merida, Mexico. That was in 1995. We were using Adobe Photoshop 3.0 on Mac computers-state of the art. I was amazed by what graphic designers and digital editors were doing with Photoshop 3. Working with those people changed the way I saw the world. I’m not a visual effects editor or a graphic designer by profession. I was in awe of what Photoshop artists were doing with Photoshop 3.0 back in 1995, and I’m equally in awe of what artists are doing today with Photoshop CS4. I didn’t regard myself as a visually oriented person when I saw Photoshop in use the first time. I thought I was, but I wasn’t-not when I compared myself to the people who were doing such amazing things with Photoshop. I was managing, organizing, planning, attacking logistical problems, taking care of the business end, writing and editing a lot of text in English and Spanish. We were working long days and at times longer nights. I was inspired by what the Photoshop editors were doing. We were using Adobe Photoshop to color and composite animation frames, as Disney did in its animated version of Beauty and the Beast two years earlier. I made a point of sitting next to the Photoshop artists whenever I had a chance. Watching them at work gave me a much deeper understanding of how to use color and how to balance elements in a composition. This inspired me to become bolder and more artistic in my use of graphic images to add value to my text jobs and presentations. I wasn’t doing them with Photoshop, but I was getting more out of all my familiar programs by what I had learned about design, color, and composition from the Photoshop artists I had been working with. Observing Photoshop artists and digital editors changed the way I saw the world; I was becoming a more visually oriented person. And it seeped into everything I did-even the way I laid out text on a page. I developed a much keener sense of how to compose text as I became more aware of the elements of graphic composition. One area made me stronger in the other. It doesn’t matter whether you’re a novice or an experienced Photoshop user, there’s a level of Photoshop training that’s right for you. If you’re just getting started, an introductory Photoshop training course will give you the fundamental skills you need to get the most out of your photos and videos. I guess it’s unlikely that I will ever master Photoshop the way those graphic artists and digital editors had mastered Photoshop 3 back in 1995. When you sign up for Photoshop training today, you’ll be on your way to mastering Photoshop CS4. Even if you’re still a novice like me, Photoshop training will add tremendous value to your life-it might even change the way you see the world. Author runs Adobe Photoshop CS4 training courses and Adobe Illustrator training all over the United Kingdom. |
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Posts Tagged ‘graphics’
How Photoshop Training Can Alter Your Perspective
Wednesday, March 10th, 2010Three Effective Brochure Design Tips
Saturday, March 6th, 2010|
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Have you ever thought that a leaflet can be one of the most influential of all your selling materials? It is a simple piece of paper but the first impact that your leaflet produces is profound. If it’s shabby and subfusc your candidate is left with the same feeling. This will slow your business development. Having a leaflet professionally designed and published is a key to winning in a crowded market. Taking the time to make sure that your brochure presents all the key information in a way that is easily understood is something that only a professional can do. If you are just getting started in business you may be tempted to do your leaflet yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself - not a smart choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even relatively successful. Heed my warning - go professional from day one on your merchandising materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally created materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow - the reason why you are in business. A leaflet has to use eye-catching design. It has to be succinct in terms of the message and last but not the least, it must be successful in tempting people to make that call of action. Here are three key design principles to follow when producing a brochure. Use them and you will see your results flow. 1. The cover: The cover is your sales representative. Brochures are quite inactive tools and you are not often able to ‘walk’ individuals through your brochure. So you need to arouse people to read further. The cover is the starting point so must be tantalising and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question - What’s in it for me. A good design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your leaflet. Analyse these designs to see which stimulates you the most. Ask your supporters their opinion. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t stimulate and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay premiums later. 2. The Content: Once they are past the cover then the message has to become the sales representative. So once again, the pressure is on to be good. Do not opt for cheap ineffectual content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then engage one yourself. Check Out that all the big questions that a potential client will have about your merchandise are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and flood them with too much data at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to energize and get people to call you. 3. The call for action: If your prospective client has read the booklet then you have done a great job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW. Having things like a free call 0800 or’00 number clearly presented (in big letters) can make a important difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are distinctly placed in large clear type. Even give your clients a special voucher on the booklet or reference code can help. But above all, ensure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. People only buy something that is of value to THEM. 4. The piece that got forgotten: I did this on purpose and only said there were 3 points. Well the last point is the one that can get neglected. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your leaflet: Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors? Discover how creative catalog designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified graphic design. |
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How To Make Your Brochures Stand Out
Friday, February 12th, 2010|
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They are all over. They are in shopping malls, airports, grocery store aisles, terminals, conventions, and anywhere else. Brochures of various sizes and colors invade every nook and corner of crowded sites. Sometimes they are neglected, sometimes passersby get them for information. There are even times when people pick them up to beat boredom. But whatever reason they have, brochures are just there when you need them. Brochures are really attention-grabbing. They come in various patterns and loud colors or big text font, and they are located in spots where people flock to. But the real test of a good brochure doesn’t just lie on being an attention-grabber, it is when people pick it up from a bevy of other brochures. There are just a few easy measures to ensure your brochure will stand out from the crowd. The first and most crucial step is knowing your target readers. Maybe you have created the coolest gothic-themed design you could think of, even incorporating a vampire versus werewolf design. But would your target market of males aged 30 to 50 appreciate that, or even give it a another glance? Not learning your intended market is a surefire way to miss readers. Don’t clog your brochure with book-like text. Nothing kills the interest of a forced reader by dull texts. A short title in eye-catching font with an accompanying caption will do. The info on the subsequent pages should also be easy to read, most preferably in a bullet format. Include your business’ name and contact details. Of course, the whole purpose of making a brochure is to get more clients or to create awareness, so forgetting to include your company’s info defeats your aim. Design your brochure on how your intended readers likes it and what your content is all about. How would a pamphlet about food nutrition facts captivate the attention of busy mothers scouring grocery aisles while balancing their tots on their pushcart? If you think cutting your brochure into a figure resembling a grocery pushcart would make them notice it, then by all means, do so. Color and font style should likewise be taken into consideration. And just like data, design overload may also kill your pamphlet. Stick to one idea and use it on all the pages. Lastly, the brochures must be set in an eye-catching site where your target readers generally stay. People won’t bother to pick up a brochure that says about a big mall sale event that is happening in another city. A pamphlet about an eatery’s big buffet event is likewise unlikely to be noticed if placed in a stand near a fitness gym. The mentioned methods are just some of the basic ways to consider in getting a brochure stand out. There are those who would add fancy and gleaming texts, and would have their pamphlets personally handed out by attractive girls, which are just fine. But follow the basics first before adding some more to ensure your brochures and your content would be read by your target market. Do you need advertising that works? Trust yourbrochure and graphic design needs to AskProBrochure. |
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Key Design Considerations For Creating A Catalog With Modern Graphics
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010|
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A catalog with striking graphic design can make it a great marketing tool, which can be at times as effective as a real sales person. A potential consumer can take his time to deliberate upon buying a specific product after having discussed with his friends and relatives by using it. Therefore the catalog should be printed and designed in such a way that consumers find it very appealing and are pulled towards the products printed on it. A catalog should always be able to emphasize the products rather than making them look under-focussed. Hence the first and foremost thing that you should consider is the colour scheme of the catalog and how all other major graphic elements will be laid out in order to make sure that the product images do not look dull. Any contemporary graphic design software can show you how the different variants will appear, and by making use of the colour picker tools, you can comfortably choose a palette that suits you. The other thing you have to focus your efforts on is the text layout of the catalog. Again, by making use of graphics tools, you can work upon a few alternatives with different fonts and colours to figure out what suits and what does not work. The text should contain description in which a brief powerful synopsis of the products is given, with all their interesting features presented in minimum number of words. Adding ornamental designs to the catalog is another key step after the fundamental layout is decided upon. Graphic design that is modern and smart makes the catalog visually attractive to consumers and increases their curiosity about the products displayed. You may either appoint a professional designer to obtain such enhanced designs or if you have the spark of creativity in you, then you can try it out yourself as well. Graphic design software come with specific pre designed elements that can be efficaciously used to design your catalog with ease and convenience. This will ensure that you get superior designs without having to spend a lot of time or money on them. After all aspects of designing have been completed, you must approach a good printing company to get the required number of prints of your catalog to pass them on to consumers. It is always advisable to seek a professional opinion on your catalog design, so you can make use of services of a good designer from the printing firm itself to suggest and make improvements on your design before it goes for printing. Discover how creative Brochure designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified Graphic Design professionals. |
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Color Layouts
Saturday, December 19th, 2009|
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Finding color layouts online is very easy. Many of them are free, while a few of them cost a few dollars. They are easy to install and download very quickly so you can start designing your site right away. If you are looking to create the look and feel of a real website, you can use many of the designs that are included with color layouts. These designs have become very popular because of social media like Myspace. You really do not even need any technical skills to be able to use these programs either. Creating a cool Myspace page was not very easy before the introduction of color layouts. Now you can create a site in a few minutes quickly and easily without having much knowledge of computers. You’ll be ready to make your profile into the coolest site around and show off to all of your buddies. Even if you would like to simply make your site a little more colorful, this is very easy to do. Just take the time to learn the color layouts software and it is a breeze. If you want to spend a lot of money, you could have graphic designer build a site with color layouts for you. But why would you do this when you can find programs you can use for free? Even a straightforward design will generally cost you a lot with even the least expensive designer. Some of the best color layouts do not cost anything. Not only are they free, but they are extremely user friendly and you can design something on your own in a matter of minutes. If you are not a professional web designer, you probably just want to start out building simple sites to make your color layouts look presentable. Although using a graphics artist will probably make your site look more detailed, it is probably not worth the added expense. You can always pay a small fee to someone on elance later to update your site if you choose. Many of the color layouts sites allow you to upload sounds. You can also play music and add videos if you want. This is a great way to personalize your site and make it very unique. There are so many free color layouts sites that you can try as many as you like. Then you can upgrade to a pay site later. Caroly has written another very practical article that you can read before you download anything from the internet, so make sure you check Caroly Stombrunsios post on color layouts for the rest of this article. For a limited time you can get a lot more information. Visit us to receive your hotfree color layouts. |
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Is Freelance The Way Forward For You? Part 1
Sunday, December 6th, 2009|
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Many graduates and talented artists have an ultimate goal, which is to become a freelance artist (self-employed). So what is it all about then?, what is really involved and ultimately is it really for me?. Being a freelancer is very different from being employed, so consider all of the pros and cons before taking the plunge. There are definitely more risks and responsibilities involved in this type of day to day work. If you decide to work for someone for a fixed project or period of time to help them achieve their goal then that makes you a freelancer. What you are actually doing is selling your skills and time to that particular company. It is your choice whether you get paid by the hour or by the project. You will have to negotiate your desired rates with the company and come to a compromise that works best for both parties. It always helps to contact other successful freelancers to find out how much they charge to give you better idea of how to price your services. You might be wondering what the client gets out of hiring a freelancer, right?. Well, they are a number of benefits, firstly, freelancers are far more flexible than regular employees. Passionate freelancers will be prepared to work all hours in the comfort of their own home or office ,unlike the employee who will go home at a set time each day. It helps to keep a solid relationship with your client by hitting your deadlines and pushing quality work. Companies who hire like the fact that there is little commitment involved, because they are only hiring you for one off jobs. Employees sign contracts which means that they will get paid regardless. If you check out the work and themes of most freelancers in design/illustration or copy-writing, you will find that they tend to specialise in a certain area or style of delivery, which makes them far more valuable and unique. This helps you to stand out from the crowd and get more attention if you building a brand. Freelancers are often used to produce small, one off or regular jobs that do not require the commitment of a full time employee. Another major reason why companies will hire is because it actually saves them money. They do not have to fork out for sick pay or holidays, which all adds up over time. If creative art is for you then check other illustrators and be encouraged by their new illustration. |
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Your First Pamphlet - Key Tips
Sunday, October 4th, 2009|
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Have you ever thought that a booklet can be one of the most all-powerful of all your marketing materials? It is a simple piece of paper but the initial impact that your pamphlet produces is important. If it’s shabby and unattractive your prospect is left with the same feeling. This will slow your business development. Having a leaflet professionally designed and printed is a key to success in a packed marketplace. Taking the time to make sure that your leaflet delivers all the key information in a way that is easily figured is something that only a professional can do. If you are just starting out in business you may be tempted to do your booklet yourself. When I first started in business I did everything myself - not a smart choice. That is why it took me 12 years before I was even comparatively prosperous. Heed my warning - go professional from day one on your marketing materials. They are an investment and not an expense. Professionally created materials will deliver you customers and the cash flow to follow - the reason why you are in business. A brochure has to use eye-catching design. It has to be succinct in terms of the content and last but not the least, it must be successful in tempting people to make that call of action. Here are three key design principles to follow when making a brochure. Use them and you will see your results flow. 1. The cover: The cover is your sales rep. Booklets are quite passive creatures and you are not often able to ‘walk’ individuals through your pamphlet. So you need to energise people to read further. The cover is the beginning point so must be inviting and sharing the KEY values of WHY someone should read further. It should answer the WIFM question - What’s in it for me. A great design company will show you at least three to four cover designs for your brochure. Take Apart these designs to see which stimulates you the most. Ask your acquaintances their opinion. Does the cover answer the question WIFM? If it doesn’t excite and answer the WIFM question, then skip to another design that works or get it redesigned. Taking the time here to get it right will pay premiums later. 2. The Content: Once they are past the front then the content has to become the salesperson. So once again, the pressure is on to be great. Do not opt for cheap incompetent content writers or ask the designer to write the content or worst still do it yourself. Instead make sure that a professional copywriter is doing the work. If your design company does not have a copywriter then employ one yourself. Ensure that all the main questions that a potential client will have about your merchandise are answered in a way that gets them to call you for more information. Do not go into ‘overkill mode’ and swamp them with too much data at this point in time. Remember the brochure’s job is to energize and get people to call you. 3. The call for action: If your future customer has read the leaflet then you have done a great job. All you need to do now is give them a compelling reason to contact you NOW. Having things like a free call 0800 or 1800 number distinctly shown (in big letters) can make a fundamental difference. Having an email address is a clear bonus. Make sure these two are distinctly placed in large clear type. Even give your customers a special coupon on the pamphlet or reference code can help. But above all, ensure that you add a clear call to action. One way to do this is to readdress the KEY value of your service to your prospect in a way that will get them to take action. Remember value is everything. Individuals only buy something that is of value to THEM. 4. The piece that got forgotten: I did this on purpose and only said there were three points. Well the last point is the one that can get missed. It is the ‘dummy’ one. Have you checked that you have these on your leaflet: Phone number | Fax number | Email address | Web address | Country of operation | City / area of operation | Company name | And have you proof read for typo and grammar errors? About the Author:
Discover how creative Brochure designs can accelerate your business growth using qualified Graphic Design professionals.
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Getting To Grips With Adobe Photoshop’s Magic Wand Tool
Friday, September 25th, 2009|
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The Magic Wand is one of three tools in Photoshop which are dedicated to making selections. When I run courses on Photoshop, tools like the magic wand and the clone tools are usually the ones which everyone finds the easiest to start using because they give such immediate results. The Magic Wand works by selecting colours within the image adjacent and similar to any pixel that you click on. Pixels of dissimilar colour act as barriers to selection and so the selection ripples outwards from the point you click on. As you can imagine, you will not normally completely select your intended subject with one click when you are using the magic wand to make selections. Typically, you will select part of the area that you want and you will then need to add and subtract from the selection, perhaps switching to the other selection tools from time to time. Photoshop offers you two ways of modifying a selection: you can either use modifier keys on you keyboard or activate the modifier icons on the options panel normally displayed below your menu bar. To subtract from the selection, hold down the Alt key and click on the part of the selection which you wish to deselect. To add to a selection, hold down the Shift key while clicking with the Magic Wand on a part of the image which is not yet selected. The selection modifier icons are situated on the left of the options panel at the Photoshop interface. There are four of them: new selection, add to selection, subtract from selection and select intersection. These icons effectively allow you to change selection mode on a permanent basis. Thus, for example, you could click on the second of the four icons when using the Magic Wand and click continually on different parts of a subject until it was completely selected. A simple trick for selecting a subject against a uniform background such as a wall or the sky is to use the magic wand to select the background and then invert the selection by choosing Select - Inverse. A slight variation on this technique is to make a rough selection which completely encloses the subject as well some of the background and then to use the Magic Wand in subtract mode to remove the background from the selection. Sometimes, you will find that the Magic Wand either selects too many or too few pixels for your purposes. The number of pixels which the Magic Wand selects when you click on part of the image can be controlled by changing a setting called tolerance. Tolerance determines how far a pixel can vary from the pixel that you click on and still be included in the selection. The default tolerance is 32 and the maximum is 255. About the Author:
The writer of this article is a trainer and developer with a UK IT training company offering Photoshop training courses as well as Adobe Acrobat training in London and throughout the UK.
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Photoshop CS4’s Magnetic, Polygonal and Freehand Lasso Modes
Thursday, September 24th, 2009|
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There are three main tools for making selections in Adobe Photoshop: the Marquee, the Magic Wand and the Lasso. The Lasso is one of those tools with several options. To reveal the different modes it offers, click on the tool and hold. The three different modes of the Lasso are freehand, polygonal and magnetic. Freehand mode, as you can probably imagine, puts the onus on the user to manually trace the shape of the area to be selected. If using a mouse, it requires a steady hand; not to mention a decent mouse. This mode works best if used in conjunction with a graphic tablet where the mouse is replaced with a pressure-sensitive pen. As the name suggest, Photoshop’s polygonal Lasso is used for drawing polygons, shapes made up of straight lines. This tool is great for selected elements in an image which have straight edges, such as boxed products, pillars and buildings. Unlike the freehand Lasso, where you hold the mouse button down as you outline the area to be selected, with the polygonal Lasso you simply click repeated around the area to be selected and Photoshop joins the points you click on. Magnetic Lasso mode is the cleverest option that the Lasso tool offers. In this mode, Photoshop recognises edges within the image automatically and creates a shape as you move the cursor around the area to be selected. It creates the shape by automatically placing points around the area to be selected. You can also click yourself to add points if Photoshop occasionally doesn’t seem to understand where you want the points to be placed. If Photoshop plain gets it wrong and places a point where it’s not suppose to be, just press the Backspace key to remove the point and the segment of the path that comes after it. Whichever mode Lasso mode you use to make a selection, Photoshop offers two ways to close and complete the selection. The first method is to click on the point you started from. To make this a little easier to achieve, when you position the cursor in exactly the right place, Photoshop displays a tiny circle next to the cursor. The second method is to double-click at any point. This technique causes Photoshop to unceremoniously close the shape by drawing a straight line from the point on which you double-click back to the point you started from. About the Author:
The writer of this article is part of an organisation that offers Adobe InDesign training courses as well as Photoshop training in London and throughout the UK.
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Vinyl Lettering and Graphics for Your Car
Friday, August 28th, 2009|
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Looking for a new way on how you can spruce up your seemingly forgotten vehicle? You can now easily change the way your vehicle looks by simply adding vinyl lettering and vinyl car graphics to it. If you want a more overall change of look you can even apply vehicle wraps to your car, van or truck. Yes, the newest trend in making vehicles attractive comes in the form of vinyl. Gone are the days when you laboriously needed to spray paint over your car and do the whole thing again once you realize that a certain speck is not in place. These days, you simply need to contact your local vinyl printing company and ask to have a certain design laid out on vinyl and you can instantly have that installed to your favorite vehicle. Designs of vinyl car graphics and vinyl lettering can vary from the most simple to the most intricate and everything else in between. Whatever the design may be, you can be sure that these vinyl lettering, graphics, and wraps will come out extremely eye catching. You can choose any design you want with all the different kinds of colors you prefer and you can easily have them printed on vinyl. From simple stripes to flashy flame designs to racing themes, you will definitely find vinyl graphics that will suit your taste. If you are thinking about the length of time that these vinyl lettering will last, you can be sure that they can continue clinging to your vehicle five to ten yeas longer than paint. A new technology has been introduced to this kind of business wherein you can have your vinyl art laminated with UV protection so it can be more weather resistant. There are also special inks and films that act as additives to make these vinyl wonders last in the outdoors much longer. How does one contact a vinyl lettering and graphics printer? There are lots of printing companies in your area who can help you in having your favorite saying or picture printed on vinyl. You simply need to ask them if they will be able to cut out a certain font or pattern given the specific colors. You can also have them ordered online through surfing internet sites that offer vinyl printing services. The rates they charge can vary and some might not cover shipping fees. Before you decide to choose a certain vinyl printing service, always ask how long it will take them to ship your order. About the Author:
Vinyl lettering can make your home unique and personal. Vinyl letters can be permanent or removable and give a professional look to a your walls. They are also great to use for crafts and even car decals. Look into it today.
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