InDesign FX: Creating custom frames

Published by | Thursday, May 23rd, 2013

One of the challenges in designing any page layout is to make the various elements seem like they belong together. You can do this by making thoughtful choices with color, alignment, and type. You can also bring elements together by literally merging them. In this week’s InDesign FX video, I show how to create custom frames by merging simple rectangles with type outlines and other shapes in Adobe InDesign.

So for example, you can take a photo in a frame with a wide stroke and position it with overlapping text.

Figure 1

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Oh my, how Flickr has changed!

Published by | Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013

We’ve been busy updating our Flickr Essential Training course, including three chapters on the Flickr mobile app alone. However, after this week’s announcement that Yahoo has released a better, brighter Flickr, it appears there’s more work to be done.

The old Flickr user interface.


The old Flickr user interface.

 

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Deke’s Techniques: Animate wings with the Puppet Warp Tool

Published by | Tuesday, May 21st, 2013

Are you ready for another Deke’s Techniques? This week Deke McClelland takes a still photograph of a majestic falcon and creates the appearance of motion by superimposing multiple copies of the wings and adjusting their positions with the Puppet Warp tool in Adobe Photoshop. Get started by watching the free video below and using the companion text to help you along.

Figure 1

 

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Monday Productivity Pointers: Measuring influence with Klout

Published by | Monday, May 20th, 2013

How much do you drive your social media contacts to act? To comment? To discuss, retweet, and share?

Klout is a web app that measures your online “clout”—that is, how influential you are on your social media contacts. You sign up for Klout, connect to all your social networks, and Klout gives you a number between 1 and 100 ranking your online social clout. A 1 would be a user who signed up for a service, but never used it. A 100 might apply to a well-known personality like Kim Kardashian. Your Klout score is always fluctuating based on your online activity (i.e., engaging, commenting, tweeting, and responding), which Klout refers to as “signals.” The score that Klout generates from these signals indicates how influential you are to your followers and friends.

In the first video, I offer some reasons why you might be interested in knowing your Klout score, and show you how to get your social media accounts connected to Klout to start measuring your score.

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Practice your photography in a new weekly series with Ben Long

Published by | Friday, May 17th, 2013

Ben Long - The Practicing Photographer

They say practice makes perfect, though my experience with the piano contradicts that. Still, there’s no question that practice makes you better. Getting out of your comfort zone and pushing yourself in new directions is a great way to learn and discover more creative options.

With this in mind, we introduce a weekly series aimed at helping you grow as a photographer. Hosted by Ben Long, the series is called The Practicing Photographer. Each week, Ben will examine a different aspect of photography. Some weeks will focus on tools, such as a piece of camera gear or a noteworthy new mobile app. Other weeks will focus on technique, like creative ways to work with light and reflections, or the benefits of shooting with a prime lens instead of a zoom.

The topics vary but the goal is the same: to help you broaden your photographic horizons by trying new tools and taking pictures that you might not otherwise take.

In the first installment, Ben shows you how to choose a camera. This isn’t a look at features and specifications, but at the importance of a test drive: handling a camera before you buy to make sure you’re comfortable with it. How bright is the viewfinder? Are the controls comfortable? How does the camera feel in your hands? Are its menus easy to navigate? These and other important shopping considerations often get ignored in the era of online shopping.

Ben is the author of 19 courses in the lynda.com library, with more on the way. The Practicing Photographer brings his insight and wit to you every Thursday. We hope you like it, and we welcome your feedback in the comments field below.

Interested in more?

• Start a 7-day free trial at lynda.com
Ben Long’s courses at lynda.com
All Photography courses at lynda.com

Adobe and Photoshop are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or countries.

InDesign Secrets: Three great Object Styles for any designer

Published by | Thursday, May 16th, 2013

There are three object styles that rule them all—three styles that should be in every designer’s toolbox because you’ll find yourself calling on them again and again no matter how simple or complex the project.

In this week’s InDesign Secrets video, Anne-Marie Concepción shows you how to build these styles from scratch in Adobe InDesign and use them to format images, callout lines, and photo credits.

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Deke’s Techniques: Creating a vivid aura around an entire character

Published by | Tuesday, May 14th, 2013

Welcome back to Deke’s Techniques. This week Deke McClelland takes the 2D character from last week’s tutorial (inspired by the art of video game designer Dan Paladin) and adds a radiant cartoon aura in Adobe Illustrator.

1. Delete the template layer and select the back layer. Option-click or Alt-click the Create New Layer icon to open the Layer Options dialog box. Name the new layer aura and click OK to add the layer to your document.

2. Unlock the body layer. Click in the upper corner of that layer’s row in the Layers panel to select all its paths.

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Monday Productivity Pointers: Selling your handmade goods with Etsy

Published by | Monday, May 13th, 2013

Etsy.com. Etsy is one of the world’s largest online shopping sites for handmade goods. It lets you start your own “shop” for free—without having to figure out how to build a website. This week on Monday Productivity Pointers, I explain how to sell your wares through Etsy, and host a shopping cart on that site.

You’re allowed to sell three kinds of items on Etsy: handmade goods, vintage items, and craft supplies. Etsy handles everything for you. It costs 20 cents to list an item for four months, or until it sells. When you make a sale, Etsy charges a 3.5 percent fee on the sale. To start a shop, all you need is a valid credit card and a product!

In the first video, I show you how easy it is to set up an Etsy shop to start selling your items. I walk you through the options to customize your shop, and then show you how to add your first product.

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