Friday News
- Microsoft is announcing that in the next version of Office, you’ll not only be able to run normal computer based applications but also login and use the programs over the internet as well. Pretty useful stuff!
- Apple has recently made some updates to its MobileMe service, specifically 27 new updates. The have mainly done some performance upgrades but also some feature enhancements and bug fixes.
- If you are a Mac user who is also using spaces a lot you might want to take a look at this little cool app called Dock Spaces. It will allow you to have a different dock for each space you are in, so that you can see only the apps you need for that work environment.
- Finally do check out today’s quick-tip to find out how you can quickly colour code your layers in Photoshop!
QT: Faster layer colorizing in Photoshop
Did you know that colorizing layers don’t need to be cumbersome. Just right click on the layer visibility toggle (the eye icon) and you’ll get a drop down with all available colours. It makes a lot quicker to organize your layers instead of right clicking on the layer name, going into the properties and changing it there.
No-Blog Thursday with Tutorials
I have my cousin visiting today and tomorrow and won’t get a lot of blogging or work done but one should relax a little though! I’ll try to squeeze in a Friday post tomorrow though! Here are some links to newly added tutorials:
QT: Always open JPEG and TIFF files in Camera Raw in CS4
In Photoshop and Bridge CS4 (from Adobe Camera Raw 5.0 and up) Adobe has added some more advanced options on the control of how JPEG files and TIFF files opens into Camera Raw. Adobe has added some finer control over how that’s done now by separating JPEG and TIFF files and giving them a drop down option box of their own. So in the Camera Raw Preferences you can now at the bottom select for both JPEG and TIFF (individually) whether you want the files to open in ACR always, just if they have any ACR data already in them or simply never. So setting it to "Automatically open all supported JPEGs" for example, will open all JPEGs, regardless of their origin, into camera raw.
Tuesday News Coolies
Here are today’s news and some pretty cool ones:
- For today only, you can get a free serial number for CodeWeavers CrossOver application for either Linux or Mac (it’s their Pro version!). No snags at all and it will allow you to get the full registered version of the program! Pretty sweet, don’t miss it.
- If you are living on the edge when it comes to software, or browsing should I say, you can download the latest Minefield version of FireFox. As it indicates, the minefield versions are far from the stable betas so this is nothing for the product environment just yet. The beauty of it is that it’s reported to run a whole lot faster, really superfast!
- Microsoft has decided to get official with a new cloud operating system that they are calling Windows Azure. The OS is said to be just a piece of the Azure platform which includes services like Windows Live, .NET and SQL services. This is to be rolled out alongside of Windows 7.
First CS4 Impressions
This afternoon came a very plesant surprise namely UPS with my copy of Design Premium CS4. A very welcome thing I must say! Needless to say, I installed it right away and after playing with the different applications my first thought is that I don’t want to go back to CS3 for any moment.
I’m really digging the new features in most CS4 applications although I currently have a bummer. My MacBook doesn’t have a good enough video card meaning that I can’t take advantage of any OpenGL features which are said to be the most awesome ones. That does only give me a good reason to upgrade to a new MacBook Pro as soon as possible.
Throughout the applications I really like the updated interface. It just feels a little better than it was in CS3 and of course a little more unified throughout. The application frame now on the Mac is something I do like a lot but that you get the option of either or is even better. Sometimes there are times I want to skip it.
I must mention Content Aware Scale in Photoshop. While it is a really really cool feature that’s mind blowing and all I just don’t feel that I would use it that much although when I do, I’m probably going to be happy it is there. I’ll be touching on this in a bunch of CS4 videos I’m planning out now.
Throughout the applications I think that the multiple artboards are really cool in Illustrator and I really love the swf export in InDesign as well. I haven’t had much time to get into Flash, Dreamweaver or Fireworks yet so I’ll write more about that later on. If you are thinking about upgrading to CS4, I can only say that it is fully worth the upgrade price. I would not want to get back into CS3 at all after a short time of CS4 useage.
QT: Suit your font needs!
I often get the question where I go when I’m in need of a new font for something. There is one website that has got it all when it comes to fonts and that is Dafont.com. On there you can find a ton of free fonts in a staggering number of categories. Go and check it out!
New Release: Bernskiold Media Forums
Today is a release Sunday here on the site and a pretty major one as well! After a long time of planning, I’m proud to be able to release the big news which is the Bernskiold Media Forums. if you have any questions about Photoshop, Web Design, Graphics or any of the other Adobe apps take a look in there and ask the question. If you just want to discuss topics with likeminded people do venture in there as well. Hopefully we can get a little discussion and talking going there!
Planet Photoshop Photoshop Contest
There’s a great contest starting over at the Planet Photoshop forums with some great prizes that you could win if you enter.
The goal with the contest is to create an image in which you at least have to have a special chosen image in. This image could really be used in any way together with your own creations so get your creative juices flowing! The main rule is that you must only use Photoshop for this (no third-party plugins nor can you use Lightroom) and of course you can only use photos that are your own, or that you have rights to use. There is no theme either, so get the creative juices flowing and come up with something really good and win some great prizes.
Speaking of the prizes, if you win you will get to choose a book from a collection of three great books! The deadline is 24 November so make sure to get over to the Planet Photoshop forums and enter the contest!
QT: HDR Colour Picker
Here’s a little cool tip. If you are working on a 32-bit file, you can use the HDR colour picker to select colours from the raw 32-bit data, something that the normal colour picker wouldn’t let you do. This colour picker activates automatically when you have a 32-bit mode open and shows you a lot of info about the colour that you are selecting.
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