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» Tuesday Things

I know this is a very late post and I’m sorry for the lack of one yesterday. I’m in bed, at home having a cold which I’m really not wanting at all and need to get rid of by Friday and I was feeling such a headache yesterday that I couldn’t bring myself to any posting. However here are some Tuesday things!

Shoot better eBay product shots: a guide

The people over at Photojojo have a very good guide for all of you guys who are active over at eBay, Etsy or similar and who regularily takes product shots and sell things off them. The guide is basically helping you to improve your product shots to make them look much more professional and classy.

Artist Tip: James Quantz Jr.

If you haven’t already, you really should be checking out the works of James Quantz Jr. which are incredible photography/photomanipulations that are just plain awesome!

Adobe Middle East Design Conference

In the coming days Adobe is hosting the Middle East Design Conference over in Dubai with some of the world leading instructors such as Scott Kelby and Joe McNally as well as many more! Definately worth checking out if you are near in that area!

» Learning Wednesday

 Today will be all about learning new things, whether it be Photoshop, Lightroom or web things, I have some learning links saved up for you for today!

• Kelby Training has released a brand new online class that is called "Retouch a portrait in 15 minutes" by Vincent Versace. It is a great class where you’ll learn the secrets to quick and good portrait retouches that is actually used in a workflow environment. I’ve watched the first few lessons in the class myself and I think it looks great! Not for the beginner though but for someone who knows their way around Photoshop.
   
• If you are planning on visiting Photoshop World coming up to Orlando, April 2-4 this spring you should note that the date of the early-bird registration closing is coming up in about ten days. It is a $100 saving, so if you are planning on going to Photoshop World, you should register soon (and to prevent it from selling out before you register!). 
   
• If you are looking to learn a little about Photography then you should go ahead and subscribe to David Zisers totally free newsletter. A new edition is just out and you can click here to subscribe. Also check out his blog, Digital ProTalk!
   
• Over at Smashing Magazine, they have today listed 45 more excellent blog themes. They’re some really good themes so if you are into design, it is a very nice read!

» Fast News Monday

 There have actually been quite a few happenings this time but I’ll only have time for a quick monday post. I’m writing this in the little spare time I’m having of this evening. Two tests tomorrow doesn’t make for a happy me and I just hope I’m gonna do good, it’s some hard stuff though. Anyway, onto the news here.

• Apple have gone ahead and released Aperture 2 that has some pretty cool features. I haven’t had any time to test it yet but once I do I’ll post a little review for you. Plus I’m looking forward to testing it and see how I like it in comparision with Lightroom 1.3.
   
• Incase you are not a NAPP member I want to share with you a recent sucess story of a fellow NAPP Forum member Lisa Sage who rediscovered her passion for art and started drawing in Photoshop (and might I mention, awesome drawings!!) and recently also got to do some drawings for a new hollywood movie that’s coming out soon! Way to go Lisa! Check out her amazing portfolio here.
   
• Finally go and have a look over at XHTML Challenge which is a cool site which lets you create a challenge between two sites based on the code and things, also the users of the site will be able to vote for their favourite as well. I create one between this site and XLD Studios, it’s close as of now. Very simple and yet very fun!

» MacHeist - Software for charity!

 

I found out about this site on the NAPP Forums from Bryan Sproles called MacHeist and it is apprently their second year of doing this. Their mission is to raise money for charity and as of this writing they have raised over $190,000 with an amazing 17,000+ bundles of software packages sold. So the deal is; you buy the software bundle containing the apps for $50 and certain per cent of that goes to charity. It’s a fixed bundle containing the following apps; 1Password, CoverSutra, Cha-Ching, iStopMotion, Awaken, Speed Download, AppZapper, TaskPaper, CSSEdit, Snapz Pro X, Pixelmator and right now they’ve also thrown in an extra game called Wingnuts 2 and the Tiki Wiki Minigolf. That’s some seriously cool apps for only $50 where the retail price of them together would be over $400! So even if you are just interested in like Snapz Pro or Pixelmator, then you’ve saved some money when you buy it for $50, plus you get more apps and you donate to charity.

 

Myself, I just got the package today since it is a good deal and I’ll actually use a lot of the programs (and mostly the ones prized higher than $50 anyway, like Snapz Pro) and I also donated to charity.

» Wednesday News Updates

Photoshop Tip!

Some quick colour shortcuts; when you have a foreground and a background colour. Press the letter “X” on the keyboard to flip them around and press “D” to revert them to the default!

Pixelmator 1.0

Whilst the Mac edition of Photoshop Elements 6 will be released not until early 2008, Pixelmator a new image editor makes a perfect debut. Available for the Mac platform, for just $59 it is a very stylish program that has taken some of the praised Photoshop features it looks to be giving entry-level people an easy time! Check it out at the Pixelmator site!

Adobe Photoshop Elements 6, for Windows only!

Adobe has released their Photoshop Elements, Version 6, so far for Windows only. Apparently Mac users will be getting their hands on a new Elements version, not until early 2008 and that’s because “Elements for the Mac is on a difference development schedule than on the PC” according to Adobe. Anyway, check out the PhotoshopElementsUser.com site for the new learning center they’ve put together to make your learning of Elements 6 quick and painful!

Check out Layers TV!!

If you haven’t already, to and check out Layers TV brought to you by the amazing Corey Barker and Rafael (”RC”) Concepcion. Today they’ve released their second show that is jam packed with a lot of great tutorials on the entire Creative Suite! So go and check it out right here!

That’s it for todays little news update! Now I’m just out to get the Wacom Bamboo tablet since I badly need a new tablet! I’ll write something up on how it works later!

» Recieved prize DVD!!

Last week I won the award “Image of the Week” on the NAPP (National Association of Photoshop Professionals) website, much to my surprise. I was of course very thrilled about just the recognition of me and my image. When I found out that I also got a free training DVD from them, as a prize, I went even happier. So I settled on choosing the Adobe Illustrator CS3 Down and Dirty Tricks by Corey Barker, because I feel I know Photoshop very well, but I would love to learn Illustrator more. Today I received the DVD, which was very fast considering shipping from the US! I just love it! Kudos to Corey for making such a smashing DVD!!

I’m also looking at purchasing a new Wacom Tablet, namely the Bamboo (since my old don’t work on the Mac) because it seems like a great value for the money and it suits my price range! I’ll keep you posted!