Graphics Software

This week's graphics challenge theme is Dog Training, suggested by Ellen (Rostel). She thought it might be fun to use your interpretation of dog training in an image either literally or figuratively. So sit, heel, roll over or take it down the railroad tracks, how you use it is up to you but have some fun with it! Read More...

Adobe Fireworks is an ideal complement to Adobe Dreamweaver or other HTML editors, and even more so with the new Fireworks CS6. Now it's easier than ever to create and update designs and themes for web pages, tablet apps, mobile devices, and more.

Take a look at Sandra's overview of Fireworks CS6 to learn what the new features are and how they can increase productivity in your workflow.

• What's New in Fireworks CS6

This week's graphics challenge theme is Yeah Baby, It's The 60s. Ah, the turbulent 60s. A time of growing up with peace and war, love and hate, groovy and far out man. Surf, funk, soul, and psychedelia. Music revolutions and invasions. Hippies, freaks, men on the moon and so much more. You may or may not have been there, but give us some interpretation of the 60s and make sure you have some fun with it! Read More...

Vision Board Builder is a free application designed to build montages of photos quickly and easily. While it is possible to produce photo montages in image editors like Adobe Photoshop and GIMP, Vision Board Builder is specifically designed for this purpose. This makes it very easy for less experienced users to produce attractive results quickly.
• Free Photo Montage Maker: Vision Board Builder

More than a year ago, Ian Pullen wrote about some of the upcoming features we could expect in GIMP 2.8. Well, now GIMP 2.8 is finally released, with the highly anticipated Single Window Mode as one of the new features. If you had been disappointed with GIMP in the past, it might be time to give it another try. Let us know what you think by posting a quick user review.
• The Improvements in GIMP 2.8
• The GIMP Review
• GIMP Tutorials
• Reader Reviews of GIMP

Adding a Polaroid frame to a photo is a neat effect for when you want to add a little something to a photo you plan to use on the Web or in a scrapbook layout. Check out my tutorial on how to turn a photo into a Polaroid using Photoshop Elements to learn how to create the frame from scratch. Or you can just download my ready-to-use Polaroid frame to quickly add this effect to any photo without having to create the Polaroid frame from scratch. You can use the Polaroid frame in any photo-editing software with layers capability and support for PSD or PNG file types.
• Polaroid Frame Template Download and Instructions
• Turn a Photo into a Polaroid using Photoshop Elements

This tutorial will show you how to use Illustrator to make a cupcake wrapper design for a baby shower. Once you learn how, you can create your own designs to tie in with the theme of any Special occasion, be it a holiday, birthday, or a day to say "congratulations!"

You'll start with a template, and use a variety of tools, such as the Ellipse tool, Rectangle tool, Scissors tool, Line tool, Arc tool, Scale tool, and Rotation tool. You'll also add color using the Color Picker, and add type to a curved path.

• Create a Custom Cupcake Wrapper in Illustrator

This tutorial shows you how to give a photo that soft, dreamy quality. It's especially nice for close-ups and portraits because it softens the photo and minimizes details that might be distracting. In this tutorial you'll work with blend modes, adjustment layers, and clipping masks. Some might consider these advanced features, but you'll find out that it's not so hard!
• Dreamy Photo Effect with Photoshop Elements

This week's graphics challenge theme is Dreams. Let's enter a mysterious world where no one has your emotions or experiences. A place that unifies body, mind, and spirit, and the rules of reality don't always exist. What do you dream about when you are asleep? The idea is to create an image--real or imagined--of a dream. Have fun and watch out for nightmares! Read More...

Use Paint Shop Pro to create a festive banner for Cinco de Mayo with bright Mexican colors and a double outline. The first color outlines each individual letter with a second color outlining the whole word. Additional embellishments can be added to each letter. Of course, this double-outline technique could be used for any message, header or banner, not just Cinco de Mayo!
• Cinco de Mayo Creative Lettering Tutorial for Paint Shop Pro

While you may think you have everything you need for organizing your photos with the default Photos app in iOS, Photo Manager Pro offers a lot of compelling features to improve photo management beyond what the standard Photos app can do. And, for a limited time, it's on sale for $0.99! Check out my review of this excellent iOS app for organizing and storing photos on your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch.
• Photo Manager Pro iOS App Review

Many people feel that their privacy is being invaded when location services is used in iOS, but many photo apps can't be used to their full potential without enabling location services on your iOS device, and within specific apps.

Why do so many photography-related apps on iOS require that location services be enabled? Why is the photo editing app you just downloaded telling you it wants to use your current location?

Visit the link below for my answer.
• Why do Photo Apps on iOS Require Location Services?

Adobe Illustrator's 25th Anniversary release, Illustrator CS6, is the biggest and best ever, adding the Mercury Performance System for speed and stability. Adobe has added tons of new features, a completely rewritten interface, and huge improvements on familiar features like Trace and Patterns.

Check out Sara's overview of Illustrator CS6 and learn what the new features mean to your workflow.

• What's New in Illustrator CS6

This custom shape collection includes an assortment of 126 frame and border designs for Photoshop and Elements.
• Free Frame and Border Custom Shapes for Photoshop and Elements

This week's graphics challenge theme is The 1980s. Big hair and Rubik's Cube. Space shuttles and MTV, The Chunnel, Halley's Comet, Cabbage Patch Kids, the Berlin Wall, Compact Discs. These are just a few events of the 1980s, and this week's theme for Graphics Challenge. So, "Don't Worry, Be Happy", and create an image from your best, or worst, memories of the 80s. Read More...

Kubota Lightroom Presets Vintage Delish is a collection of professionally designed Photoshop Lightroom Develop Presets to give your photos a nostalgic flair. The collection includes 42 one-click presets to give your photos a retro look and feel and make your work stand out. Learn more about these presets and see examples of the effects in my overview.
• Vintage Delish Overview and Examples

Rosie asks: "What is a scratch disk? And more importantly, how do I delete its contents because the program is not letting me use it anymore because apparently the 'scratch disk is full.' Please help, this is an urgent matter!"

Read my answer: What to do About the Scratch Disk is Full Error Message

Color Scheme Designer is a free online application for quickly and easily producing harmonious color schemes. Color Scheme Designer offers several intuitive tools that allow you to produce color schemes based on one, two, three or four base colors. This should result in a palette that will give plenty of options for producing an effective color scheme for print or web use.
• Introduction to the Free Online Color Scheme Designer

Also see:
• How to Produce a Color Scheme with Color Scheme Designer
• How to Import a Color Palette into GIMP
• How to Import a Color Palette into Inkscape
• How to Import a Color Palette into Paint.NET

Today, Adobe announces Creative Suite 6 and Creative Cloud, a new way of delivering Adobe Creative Suite software and services. Although you will still be able to buy Creative Suite 6 editions in traditional boxed bundles, you now also have the option of a Creative Cloud membership, which gives you access to all Creative Suite applications along with several additional services, mobile apps, and storage for a monthly membership fee.

Creative Cloud members get download access to every CS6 application available, plus some extras that aren't available in the boxed editions, and all of the Touch apps. In addition, they get cloud sync with 20 GB of storage, a public gallery, the ability to publish anywhere with web hosting for up to 5 web sites, and instant access to updates and new features without having to wait for a major release milestone of the software. Read More...

This week's graphics challenge theme is Playing with Food. You've always been told not to play with your food, but here we encourage it. We have some starting images for you, please play with them to create something new however you like. We promise you won't get in trouble playing with this food, so use your imagination and have some fun with it! Read More...

In this tutorial, we will begin with a template for a cupcake wrapper and dress it up with a pattern and personalized text using CorelDRAW. We will work with the new Object Properties docker in CorelDRAW X6 as well as pattern fills, text on a path, and drop shadows. I will also show you how to duplicate one cupcake wrapper and position it on the page so we can save paper by printing multiple copies on one page.

• Create a Custom Cupcake Wrapper in CorelDRAW

High Dynamic Range, or HDR, is a digital photography technique whereby multiple exposures of the same scene are layered and merged using image editing software to create a more realistic image, or a dramatic effect. Adobe Photoshop and other digital photography software offers special features and tools for generating HDR images from your digital photos, and with Photoshop CS5, you don't even need multiple exposures to achieve HDR-like effects with your photos. If you're new to HDR, you can learn more about it in the glossary, and if you've experimented with HDR before, I've created a form for you to show off your best HDR images in a new gallery.
• What is HDR?
• HDR Pro and HDR Toning in Photoshop CS5
• Reader Submissions: HDR Images
• Submit an Entry: HDR Images

You can make text stand out on a photo better by placing a solid color behind it that subtly fades into the background. This is easy to do in Photoshop using the outer glow layer style effect, but since Photoshop Elements does not give you as much control over layer effects, it is something you will have to do manually.
• How to Create a Faded Blur Behind Text

My apologies for the lateness of this announcement, but I just received word that the Adobe store is having a one day sale where you can get 50% off Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 or Premiere Elements 10.

Photoshop Elements is Adobe's photo-editing software for amateur photographers, digital imaging enthusiasts, and small business users. As the name implies, Photoshop Elements is built around core elements of Adobe Photoshop, excluding some advanced, professional-level features and adding unique features for photo-hobbyists. Available for Windows and Macintosh, it includes a fully featured photo editor, photo organizer, project templates, artwork and themes, and sharing options.

• Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 Review
• Adobe Photoshop Elements 10 Revealed
• Reader Reviews of Photoshop Elements

This week's graphics challenge theme is Free for All. We have some odd starting images for you to chop, slice, dice, puree and use however you like in a new image. The only rule is to use at least two of the starting images in your project. Use your imagination and have some fun! Read More...

Cupcake wrappers are all the rage at the moment and they can help to dress up the plainest of cupcakes for any special occasion. Once you know how to make cupcake wrappers, you'll be able to produce your own special designs that will tie in perfectly with the theme of your special occasion. The tutorials below will show you how you can create a personalized cupcake wrapper using the free software GIMP or Inkscape.

© Ian Pullen

• How to Make Cupcake Wrappers in Inkscape
• How to Make Cupcake Wrappers in GIMP

In this tutorial, you will use Fireworks to turn a color photograph into one that is black and white and partially in color, and use features such as Levels and Curves to adjust its tonal range. You'll be given the option to stop there or continue on for the added bonus of learning how to change one color into another color by adjusting the hue and saturation, and turn several colors into a single color of various tones by changing the blending mode. This will give you a few images that you can then import into a single file to make yet another image, with an artsy look.
• Fireworks Pop of Color and Pop Art Tutorial

Something Old Something New, that's our challenge theme for you. So use your software and this theme to come up with a clever scheme. The idea is to create an image with something old and something new related along the same line, either directly or indirectly. Use your imagination and have some fun with it! Read More...

Download a free set of set of 30 layer style effects in pastels and other Spring colors which would be great for Easter projects. These layer styles are compatible with Photoshop 7 and higher, or Photoshop Elements 2 and higher on Windows or Mac and can be customized to change the color, scaling, and more.
• 30 Layer Style Effects for Spring

In this tutorial you will use Fireworks CS4 to create a shadow and reflection, and apply it to a line of bold text. You'll also add color to the text, and use Live Filters to add an outer bevel. You'll distort the shadow, add a gradient to the reflection, and create a mask to hide part of the reflection. You'll make a selection with the Polygon Lasso tool, and discover how to bring the selection to either the foreground or background simply by rearranging the layers in the Layers Panel.
• Create a Text Shadow and Reflection in Fireworks

This kit was designed not only with Spring in mind, but the family memories that are created and remembered. Colors used are soft pastel peach, green, and yellow tones.
• "A Comfy Spring Day" Digital Scrapbooking Kit

This week's graphics challenge theme is Easter Eggs. Eggs have been viewed as symbols of life and fertility through the ages. It is believed for this reason many ancient cultures used eggs in their spring festivals. Eggs have been dyed or painted for many symbolic reasons by different cultures...we're going to do it because it's fun! We have some images for you to get started, have fun and don't drop them! Read More...

Are your portrait orientation pictures displaying sideways on your computer or online? Learn how to get those vertical photos to display correctly instead of sideways.
• How to Ensure Correct Orientation of Digital Photos

Download several sets of free brushes and shapes for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. These shapes and brushes are based on Christian symbols and include crosses, doves, fish, stars, and many more Christian objects and symbols. Perfect for your Easter projects...

Free Brushes:
• Christian Cross Brushes
• Christian Dove Brushes
• Christian Stars Brushes
• Christian Symbol Brushes 1
• Christian Symbol Brushes 2

Free Shapes:
• Christian Cross Shapes
• Christian Symbol Shapes
• Christian Fish Shapes
• Christian Star Shapes
• Christian Dove Shapes
• Christian Assorted Shapes

Patterns in Illustrator are easy to use, and they can be applied to fills, strokes, and even resized, rotated, or repositioned within an object. Illustrator comes with a large variety of preset patterns, and you can make your own from symbols or your own artwork. Let's look at applying patterns to an object, and then see how easy it is to resize, reposition, or even rotate the pattern within an object.
• Using Patterns in Illustrator