Pixel Dance

For my Photoshop gurus in the audience, I have a quick tip. Many of you know you can make black and white shapes and art elements into brushes. Well, I save the logos of my clients as Photoshop brushes. This allows me to quickly drop the logo onto a Web graphic, or a Photoshop file for a t-shirt or background. I still use the crisp Illustrator file for things like cmyk printing, but it’s great for lower-res functions. Here’s how:

1. Open a Photoshop document and place the logo.
2. Select with the marquee, and go to Edit>Define Brush Preset. It’s now in your brushes palette. You can change the size of the brush, and therefore the size of the logo, at the top of the palette.

See? Easy. And I feel smart.

Speaking of smart Photoshop people, I love the geniuses at the NAPP – the National Association of Photoshop Professionals. I’m an NAPP member, and love their training. Even if you don’t join, visiting photoshopusertv.com, or layersmagazine.com (covering all Adobe products) is well worth your time. Each has a weekly 30 minute “tv” program with tips, Web site references and product information – free for the watching.The NAPP also hosts two conferences a year – one in Orlando, the other in Las Vegas. You train with the best in the business – photo retouchers, illustrators, photographers. Darryl was so impressed with the food styling class, we’re still styling our macaroni at dinner. Even if you just dabble, it’s great information. Those are my tips for the week.

I’m looking forward to Friday, when I will begin highlighting my favorite artist friends. You won’t want to miss it. Thanks for swinging by.