Tutorials
You suck at Photoshop #1 - Distort and Warp tutorial
Some of you may already know these video tutorial series by Donnie Hoyle. They became well known via Youtube. The great combination of acid comments and superb Photoshop skills made these video series hugely popular.
The first video of the series features a tutorial on Distort, Warp and Layer effects.
If you can’t see this video click here.
Increase your productivity - Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver keyboard shortcuts
It’s a proven fact that by using keyboard shortcuts your productivity with that software increases. This tutorial contains all the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Photoshop CS3, CS2, CS, 7, Adobe Illustrator CS3, CS2 and Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, both Windows and Mac versions.
Adobe Photoshop CS3 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Adobe Photoshop CS2 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Adobe Photoshop CS Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Adobe Photoshop 7 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
Adobe Illustrator CS3 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Adobe Illustrator CS2 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Keyboard Shortcuts
- Windows version - Download PDF
- Mac version - Download PDF
Our Chicago Dreamweaver training and Photoshop training will help increase your productivity around the office. See the list of available Photoshop training Chicago classes today.
How to add a favicon to your blog / website
A favicon, also known as shortcut icon, website icon, page icon or urlicon is a small, square icon, usually 16×16px in size, that is displayed alongside the URL in the web address bar of a web browser.
The reason for using a favicon is branding. Most modern web browsers allow tabbed browsing. This means that a user can open several websites in the same browser window. A nice favicon design will distinguish your blog / website from the other websites.
Some modern browsers also allow favicons to be displayed in the Bookmarks section. Again, this will ensure your website will be distinguished from the others.
Favicon formats
The most widely used favicon format is .ico. Other favicon formats used are .gif and .png. You can also add an animated gif as a favicon, but this is currently only supported by Mozilla Firefox. Even though this is only supported by Firefox, there is the possibility of using multiple favicons. For example you can use an animated one which will display in Firefox and a static one which will display in the rest of the browsers.
Favicon Design
A favicon has a 16×16px size so to design it it’s advisable to use a larger size such as 128×128px and then scale it to 16×16px. For more information regarding the design process view our favicon design tutorial.
Implementation
Most browsers search by default for favicon.ico in the root folder of the website / blog the access. So it’s enough to place your favicon.ico in the root folder without adding additional code and the favicon will be displayed. However the code below should be used, especially if the favicon is not located in the root folder.
The code
Guidelines
- The link elements must be inside the head element in the HTML.
- Use the appropriate resolution and color depth : ICO - include multiple resolutions (the most commonly used being 16×16 and 32×32, with 64×64 and 128×128 sometimes used by Mac OS X) and bit-depths ; GIF - use 16×16 in 256 colors ; PNG - use 16×16 in either 256 colors or 24-bit.
- For XHTML, the link element must be terminated by ” />” instead of “>”.
- The .ico file format will be read correctly by all browsers that can display favicons.
Favicon Inspiration
Making a flowing liquid effect in Photoshop
In this tutorial we will create a flowing liquid effect in Photoshop. We’ll use for this an image of a overturned glass and make it look like the contents of the glass is spilled on the surface the glass sits on.
Step 1
Make a photo of an overturned glass on a surface, just like in the image below, or download one from a stock photo website. I am using a free stock photo from stock.xchng. You can download the image here. I flipped horizontally the original image.
Step 2
Create a new layer (Layer-> New -> Layer or simply Ctrl+Shift+N). We’ll use this layer to create the basic shape of the liquid. This can be a little tricky so take your time with it. Try to imagine how the liquid would pour through the opening of the glass and lie on the table. Use a hard edged brush to create the shape and give it a gray color. The color I am using is #848484.
You can download the PSD file with just the basic liquid shape here.
Step 3
Use the Dodge Tool to add some random highlights to the Shape. Use these settings for the Dodge Tool as shown in the image below (Soft Edged brush, size 45, Range : shadows, Exposure 20%).
The Dodge / Burn Tool menu :
Dodge Tool settings :
The result :
Step 4
Use the Burn tool to add some shadows to the Shape. Use these settings for the Burn Tool as shown in the image below (Soft Edged brush, size 35, Range : shadows, Exposure 15%).
Burn Tool settings :
Interesting? … Continue reading »
Making a web 2.0 logo in Photoshop
This Photoshop tutorial will explain how to make a web 2.0 glossy logo or icon if you like. I tried to keep it as simple as possible. If you have any questions post them in the comments below.
I am starting with a 400×300 px white canvas. Draw your basic shape. I have started with a custom shape from Photoshop’s presets.
Step 1
Fill the shape with a nice orange color (I am using #ff6600)
Step 2
Apply Bevel and Emboss to the layer using the following values :
Structure
- Style : Inner Bevel
- Technique : Smooth
- Depth : 100%
- Direction : Up
- Size : 200px
- Soften : 0px
Shading
- Angle : 120 (use global light checked)
- Altitude : 30
- Highlight mode : Screen, Opacity : 75%
- Shadow mode : Multiply (color : #ff0000), opacity 75%.
Step 3
Stoke the layer with an orange color 3 pixels in size (I am using the same orange as the fill : #ff6600)
Step 4
Apply an inner glow, size 40px.
Step 5
Create a new top layer and using the Elliptical Marquee Tool create an oval over the top of the original shape layer. Fill this layer with gradient from white to transparent (white at the bottom, transparent at the top). Give this layer a 50% opacity. You may rotate this layer so it will look cooler.
Interesting? … Continue reading »
