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» Blogging Wednesday

It’s indeed Wednesday today and for me at least a very fine Wednesday. The sun is shining, the music is being played and I have had the day off for a project work. Onto the happenings of today now.

• First off a tip. If you are a coder like me you might definitely like this cool source code editing program called Smultron. It’s totally free and has all of the standard features, plus some that the commercial programs don’t even have. I’ve been using it for a while and I’m in the process of writing a review up on it!
   
• Are you an InDesign user? Maybe you are but are you an InCopy user? If you are then I have a cool site for you. From Anne-Marie Concepcion who has been bringing us the InDesignSecrets we can now go to InCopySecrets as well and it’s really cool especially if you are an InCopy user (otherwise it would be pretty useless although there are a few InDesign tips there as well). 
   
• Do you travel with your laptop? Maybe you go to conferences or you host one? Are you worried that someone in your house might want to use your computer when you are not there? Or maybe you just like cool applications. In any case do check out iAlertU a very cool application that lets you lock and larm your computer so that if anyone tries to do anything with it, a siren like a car alarm will go off. It’s controlled through the Apple Remote and can even take a picture of the intruder through the built in iSight cam!

Summer is getting closer and closer for everyday and it is really starting to get warm outside so I advice you to get out and enjoy the nice weather. Take photos, walk a little, run or just sit still in the sun. Either way, get out and about!

» Wednesday Newsflash

 It is once again Wednesday and this time it is before a long weekend here in Sweden so I have the entire week off form school at least. There is no time off for blogging (it’s fun) or from web design work. I’m also brought in to work in the camera store on Friday and Saturday. Makes for a pretty good long weekend.

• The guys over at Layers Magazine has got a new issue out today. It’s looking pretty cool and has got some really nice articles in it! If you are not a subscriber, definitely go to the Layers Magazine website and check it all out.
   
• A little self-pimping. XLD Studios has revealed a brand new version of their website and client center which are now all fully integrated into the same look and feel. It’s been a lot of hard work on it and there are still a few more goodies to come online for the big hosting anniversary coming later this month on XLD Studios where there’ll be specials the whole month, starting tomorrow!
   
• If you are a Firefox user and wants to be able to view EXIF data for photos on the web, then check this little plugin out. It is called Firefox exIF and once installed you’ll be able to view EXIF data on photos right in the browser, it’s pretty swell.

Also do check out the post before this with a cool old bleached preset, for free. You’ll be seeing about a new preset per week here on the blog and later collected in a resource center. I’ll be spreading the presets over ACR and Lightroom and sometimes perhaps release for booth.

» ACR Preset: The Old Bleached

 

Here is a little cool newly created Adobe Camera Raw preset. We have a ton floating around for Lightroom so I figured I’d create a few for camera raw, because it is just that nice to have presets.

It is called "The Old Bleached" just because what it will do (as you see on the preview up top) is bleach out the photo a bit as well as giving it a higher contrast and shift the tint to a little more yellow look. It’s a little all-in-one.

To install it, open any photo inside of Adobe Camera Raw. Click the little flyout icon in the sidebar at the right of the panel name and in it, choose Load Settings and load the .xmp file that you’ve downloaded into there. You can also copy the downloaded files to the Settings folder, on a mac located here:

Users > [username] > Library > Application Support > Adobe > Camera Raw > Settings

Download Here

» Kelby Training new classes!

 Kelby Training has released a bunch of new classes which are pretty exciting and is something you should check.

• Corey Barker has released a new class called "Mastering the Pen Tool" which teaches you everything about the pen tool and how to use it and work with it better. It’s a really cool class that anyone looking to draw better in Photoshop and using the Pen Tool better should be checking out.
   
• Richard Harrington has a basic Final Cut Pro class and teaches you how to get started in Final Cut and start working on basic projects.
   
• There is also a Going Deeper in Final Cut Pro class available from Richard as well, continuing where the first left off. Some pretty cool stuff that’ll quickly get you in the Final Cut loop!

Go and visit the Kelby Training website and if you want, I have a review of it up.

» Wednesday Goodies

 

I’m proud to announce that I’ll be rolling our a couple of interviews soon with some amazing artists in various medias who I really think you’ll all like. I’m just waiting for the interviews to be completed before I get them out, so expect it in a couple of days!

• Photomatix Pro 3 has just been released and is available as a free upgrade to current 2.x license holders, if you don’t have a license, they are available for $99. Updates in version three includes a much better interface and a lot of cool new features!
   
• Adobe has released their new version 1.0 of the Adobe Meda Player now featuring a lot of cool free content among others, from Lynda, Total Training, Kelby Training and more. What’s also cool is they have a new channel called Adobe TV as well!
   
• I was looking in my Feedburner statistics for this site’s feed and my podcast feed and I was stunned to see the podcast has over 700 subscribers! Thanks to everyone who has subscribed (although I doubt you are reading this since this site only has 12 subscribers :D) in just two weeks!
   
• I just finished writing a massive tutorial (over 14,000 characters) on how to create a simple website with only code which will be expanded on in future tutorials. I just posted it up for all NAPP members on the NAPP Member Forums to see what kind of reactions it gets and if it is all good, I’ll get it up here as well!

» Friday App Tip: BannerZest Pro

 

 I came across a cool Mac application the other day from a french company called Aquafadas that basically lets you create flash galleries, slideshows and banners on the fly! The application is called BannerZest Pro and is available for $49 for a standard version and $129 for the pro version from today and on! I have a review up of the program right here so check it all out!

» Weekend Website Updates

Photoshop Express Learning Center

Firstly, the Photoshop Express Learning Center here on Bernskiold Media is now fully loaded with the complete tutorial series on Photoshop Express! You can visit the learning center on the link or by clicking on the image above to get up to speed with the new Photoshop Express right now!

Name Change and new header!

 As you may have noticed, the site has got a brand new name now. I have decided that considering content and all, it is now best to name the site Bernskiold Media which also more clearly defines what the site is about. The domain however, will be staying the same as before and no updates are required to view the site for you!

Also updated is the header with a little more modern navigation bar, that is perhaps a little bit more interesting than the previous. Expect some smaller design updates to be coming this week on with some cool smaller features as well.

Website backend updated to WordPress 2.5

The backend has been updated to the brand new release version of WordPress which is version 2.5. It features a redesigned admin panel and some new features for the end viewer as well, which I’ll be working on incorporating in the near future, but don’t expect a ton, most of the updates coming are planned ones

» Photoshop Express Learning Center goes live!

 

Our own Adobe Photoshop Express Learning Center goes live now on the website! I’m working on a lot more video tutorials but the first parts are up and more are coming as  they get processed and uploaded on the video site! The learning center will also be published over at the Photography Corner because of a partnership we’ve done with them when it comes to tutorials. So go and check out the first parts of the Photoshop Express Learning Center now!

» Photoshop Express Beta goes online!

It’s the day many have been waiting a long time for. Back a year ago at Photoshop World, we got to see the first sneak peak of the Photoshop Express, online image editing program from Adobe. Today, the beta version of Photoshop Express has rolled out, for free, on the web. Let me tell you, it is great, however be reminded:

It is by far everything you can do in Photoshop. Forget the layers, the panels, the toolbars and most of the tools as well. What you really have is a simple interface that allows you to sort, edit and share your photos in a really powerful way still with Photoshop technology!

You can adjust exposure, white balance, hue, do touch ups, distort your images, do black and whites and a lot more in Photoshop Express and you can do it in a really cool way. What you get is basically a slider and thumbnails with an instant preview of the effect at various different degrees. It really works, and is really simple and intuitive.

It is all about sharing though, really. When you sign up, y ou get your own URL (yourusername.photoshop.com) with your own gallery complete with albums and personal styling, all in flash. The slideshows when sharing are really classy and really well done.

If you have a lot of photos on the popular sites, Facebook, Photobucket or Picasa, you can load them right into Photoshop Express and start editing them, sorting them and showing them off, quickly! Adobe is giving you 2 gb of space with your account when you sign up!

So no, it is not a replacement for Photoshop but what you have is an incredibly cool way of editing photos, online as well as sharing them. Without a doubt the best way of doing it so far, for all free!

Oh and by the way, I’m working on a full training center for Photoshop Express to go online either this evening or early tomorrow (depending on how fast the video upload site is). Stay tuned!

» Brand new Pixelmator tutorials!

 I’ve updated the tutorial section today with a couple of brand new Pixelmator tutorials after a lot of requests for those. I’m working on a bunch more of tutorials at the moment as well and if you want to see any special one, leave a comment here or on the contact form Below here is a list of the just added tutorials!

 

• Combine two images easily
• Make a gleaming sunlight effect - Part 1
• Make a gleaming sunlight effect - Part 2
• Create a Zoom Burst effect