Latest Posts in Creative Notes

Artbeats offers daily free stock HD video clip

The following article is excerpted from Digital Arts.

Stock video company Artbeats announced that it is offering a free downloadable HD clip every day at its Web site. Registration is required and is free.

The clips, valued at up to $299 each (according to Artbeats), are taken from the Artbeats and Artbeats FootageHub libraries and are available as a free download for 24 hours. The clips are available in three resolutions: HD (1920 by 1080), NTSC (720 by 486), and PAL (720 by 540). Many of the daily free flips will have higher resolution versions available for purchase.

The free clips have an extra 15 frames at the end with the Artbeats logo. These frames can be removed in a video editing aplication.

By downloading the free clips you agree to the Artbeats End User License Agreement.

Artbeats can also ship the clip on an optical disc, but there is a $40 processing and shipping fee.

InDesign tip: tinting grayscale photos

Changing the colors of photographs in your InDesign project requires Photoshop, right? Not necessarily. If the photo is black and white and saved in grayscale mode in a compatible format, you can tint it directly in InDesign. You can even assign it two colors for an attractive duotone.

A duotone is an image with two colors or tones, effectively a grayscale image, but more accurately one that substitutes a color for black and another color for white or negative space. For example, sepia, a popular effect wherein the main ink is a shade of brown atop a yellowed or off-white background color, is a duotone. While there are varying definitions for the term that have evolved over time, the technique I demonstrate below reflects this interpretation.

Tinting photos in InDesign is easier and faster than working in Photoshop, and it offers more flexibility and freedom for experimentation and adjustment. While tinting in Photoshop gives you superior control because you can use Curves to alter which shades of gray are replaced by which color, tinting in InDesign is a simple duotone process to replace both black (ink) and white (background) with different colors. Here are a few quick steps to get you started. Note that while I'm demonstrating this technique with Adobe CS4, you can accomplish the same thing with previous versions of the software.

Prepare the image. First, you need to use Photoshop to convert your color photo to grayscale (if it isn’t already), and save it in a format that supports grayscale mode—a TIFF, JPEG, or PNG will work. To convert a color photo to grayscale, use the Image->Mode->Grayscale command and then save the image.

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Upgrades for Linotype FontExplorer X Pro and Server

Monotype Imaging has unveiled version 2.5 of its Linotype FontExplorer X Pro font management software for individual users, and version 1.5 of the FontExplorer X Server program for workgroup administrators.

FontExplorer X Pro 2.5

FontExplorer X Pro, which received a 2009 Macworld Editors' Choice Award for its 2.0 version, now includes expanded capabilities. A new print function lets users create font sample books without having to activate fonts in a separate application. This allows users to drag and drop individual elements into a print preview mode, which can also be pre-configured through a set of options. Alternatively, users can choose from a menu of available templates when creating font sample books.

Version 2.5 also features the ability to classify fonts. For example, users can choose to sort fonts and create smart sets with keywords such as "serif," "cover sheet" or other user-defined words or phrases. This feature also facilitates automatic downloads of available font classification information from Linotype.

The main window of FontExplorer X Pro has been redesigned and includes new features, such as a wide mode, which lets users take advantage of widescreen monitors. The main window can also be set to a transparency mode, letting users overlay fonts directly on documents.

FontExplorer X Server 1.5

Designed for workgroups, FontExplorer X Server 1.5 launches with a lockdown feature that allows administrators to limit certain functions of connected FontExplorer X Pro client users. Features include the ability to hide Linotype's integrated font store and the workgroup's local library from view, as well as prevent font imports at specified client workstations.

Administrators can also define fonts for automatic installation and activation on selected clients. Also new in this version is a server replication feature, which lets larger installations distribute the workload across multiple servers.

Backup functions have also been enhanced in this new version. Administrators may now assign without restriction the time of day and locations relating to when backups are conducted. And, the LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) connection has been revised to allow administrators to authenticate users directly from the LDAP server via a domain password. In addition, the interface that controls system settings has been redesigned to boost clarity and handling.

Availability and pricing

The new versions run on Mac OS X 10.4 or later and are available in English and German. Single user licenses of FontExplorer X Pro 2.5 are available for download for $79. A 30-day trial version of FontExplorer X Pro is also available for download for new customers. Pricing for FontExplorer X Server 1.5 starts at $1,599 for a server license that includes 10 FontExplorer X Pro client licenses. Existing FontExplorer X Pro and Server users will receive updates free of charge through the software update function.

HDR PhotoStudio launches for the Mac

Unified Color Technologies has announced that HDR PhotoStudio, its High Dynamic Range software package formerly available only on the Windows platform, is now available for the Mac. The software is compatible with Intel systems running Leopard and Snow Leopard and requires at least a 2.5GHz dual core system with 2GB of RAM (4GB is recommended).

HDR PhotoStudio gives photographers control over the colors within an image, a tool set that helps them address the effects of merging multiple exposures, and an improved workflow, the company says.

“In response to requests from photographers, we are excited to introduce HDR PhotoStudio to the Mac faithful,” said Alfred Zee, CEO of Unified Color Technologies. “With HDR PhotoStudio, Mac users can finally produce full-color HDR images that they envision, without concern that their dynamic range or colors will be clipped or shifted by applications constrained by traditional narrow gamut color models. With our technology, photographers can unlock the full color spectrum while preserving a realistic look and feel to their images.”

HDR PhotoStudio’s 32-bit floating-point technology and Beyond RGB color space is designed to accurately depict and edit all the colors the human visual system can recognize. While the current evolution of HDR photography has often been characterized by oversaturated and unnatural-looking images, the makers of HDR PhotoStudio say their software enables photographers to provide a more true-to-life look for their HDR images. "Most other offerings are forced to reduce image quality to bring an HDR photo into a color range it can manage, often losing image data and clipping the full scope of colors in the process. While the current evolution of HDR photography has been dominated by oversaturated and unnatural-looking images, mainly due to these software limitations, HDR PhotoStudio enables photographers to unlock their complete photographic vision," the company explained.

The program’s tools aim to address some common difficulties in HDR photography. These include a halo reduction slider to fight the haloing problem of HDR images; a patented HDR noise reduction technique; the Veiling Glare adjustment designed to cut down on image haze from compounding lens glare; a Color Tone Equalizer which allows simultaneous management of saturation in six basic color channels; and a customizable recipe button to save macros.

HDR PhotoStudio supports Unified Color’s native BEF file format which enables efficient HDR image compression, so photographers can easily manage and archive the large files, according to the company. The package includes a BEF-converting Photoshop plug-in, which enables the final HDR image to be applied to a Photoshop project. The program also supports RAW files from all the major camera manufacturers as well as TIFF, JPEG, BMP, and OpenEXR formats.

Available for immediate download via the company’s Web site, the Mac version of HDR PhotoStudio is being offered for an introductory price of $100 throughout the month of February. After that, the price goes up to its regular $150.

Wacom announces Intuos4 Wireless pen tablet

Wacom has introduced the Intuos4 Wireless professional pen tablet, featuring Bluetooth technology. The device will cost $399 and begin shipping in the U.S. and Canada by early March. It’s compatible with OS X 10.4.8 or higher.

Targeted to the creative community of photographers, designers, and artists, the device is designed for collaborative work, classroom settings, home and office, and any occupation in which users want freedom of movement without having to attach the tablet to their computer. Bluetooth, a communications protocol, lets the tablet communicate reliably over a range of up to 33 feet, according to the company. The Intuos4 Wireless features USB charging directly from the computer.

“Professional and serious creatives are drawn to the intuitive nature and overall experience offered by the Intuos4,” said Don Varga, senior product manager for Wacom’s professional products. “By combining the successful Intuos4 pen tablet design with Bluetooth wireless technology we are able to provide users with the flexibility and freedom to work in the most comfortable way for drawing, editing, painting, retouching, or general computer work.“

Design details

Available in medium size only, with an active area of 8.8 by 5.5 inches, the Intuos4 Wireless has a slim, ergonomic, and asymmetrical design that puts its Touch Ring and customizable ExpressKeys on one side of the tablet. This makes them all available to the user’s non-dominant hand. The application-specific ExpressKeys give users easy access to commonly used commands.

Illuminated (OLED) displays remind users of the function of each ExpressKey. The settings are application-specific, and the displays update as the user switches between applications. To switch the tablet from right-hand to left-hand use, the user can rotate the tablet 180 degrees and change the orientation of the illuminated icons within the Wacom Tablet driver software.

The Touch Ring can control up to four different functions in any program. A button located in the center of the ring toggles the ring between application-specific functions such as zoom, scroll, brush size adjustment, or canvas rotation. The position of the illuminated LED along the Touch Ring's perimeter indicates the current function.

Intuos4 Grip Pen

The Grip Pen that ships with the Intuos4 Wireless features the company's proprietary Tip Sensor technology. The pen offers users near-zero (one gram) starting pressure and has 2048 levels of pressure to enhance feedback and control in applications that support pressure sensitivity. The Grip Pen also features a pressure-sensitive eraser and two customizable side switches that can be set for commands such as double-click and right-click. A clip-on pen holder secures the pen to the tablet when not in use. A weighted desktop pen stand functions as both a pen holder and a twist-off storage compartment for pen nibs and a nib removal tool. The tablet ships with standard, felt, stroke, and flex nibs.

Software and accessories

Besides the tablet driver, Wacom has also included a choice of bonus software via download at no extra charge. Buyers can download Nik Color Efex Pro WE6 and Wacom Brushes 3.0, both plug-ins for Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. They can also choose two out of the following three programs: Abobe Photoshop Elements 6, Autodesk SketchBook Pro 2010, and Corel Painter Sketch Pad.

The iPad: great for designers and illustrators

The following article is excerpted from Digital Arts.

So the long-anticipated Apple iPad is finally here. It's a device that's supposed to take on netbooks at their own game and win, prevent working on the train or plane from being an ergonomic nightmare, and make Apple fanatics feel special again for owning one now the world has an iPhone. But it's also a useful tool for designers, illustrators, and digital artists looking to get creative on the move.

Before we kick off, here's a quick rundown of the what Apple has dished up. The Apple iPad is a slate PC that looks like a big iPhone. It has a home button and an aluminium bezel like a MacBook. The 9.7-inch touchscreen is made of glass. It's only half an inch thick, and weighs about 1.5 pounds (about half a smallish laptop).

It contains a 1GHz Apple A4 chip, which is both processor and graphics. The Apple iPad will come with 16GB, 32GB, or 64GB of flash solid state storage. There's 802.11n Wi-Fi for use at home and in cafes, Bluetooth 2.1 for keyboards and other peripherals (there's also a hardware keyboard dock), and optional 3G for connectivity on the move. You can run iPhone apps on it, as well as iPad-specific tools such as a custom version of the iWork office suite—and download e-books like the iPhone's capabilities for music and videos.

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Create your own navigation bar in iWeb

You might think you can’t fully customize iWeb’s themes. You can, but it's not easy. It involves making extensive changes to documents inside the iWeb application package, and even if your original design works in the current version of iWeb, there's no guarantee that it will survive the next upgrade.

But if you can build the navigation bar in the guide below, you’ll be able to radically change the standard iWeb pages into something uniquely expressive. Note that iWeb's limitations make it tricky to globally re-theme pages with the application’s built-in tools. For example, not all pages re-theme quite the same way and new podcast and blog entries may have to be re-edited to match the custom appearance. The simpler your changes, the easier it is to adapt even complex pages to suit your new look. The examples below are meant to be basic prototypes to give you an idea of how to approach the task of truly personalizing your pages with relative ease. So let's get started.

1. Add pages Select File -> New Site and choose the White theme. Start with a Blank page, then select File -> New Page to add another Blank page, and then add a Photos and Movie page, and any other pages you want. Double-click the two blank pages in the leftmost sidebar and rename them Welcome and About Me. Delete the black hairline at the top of each page, but leave each page’s placeholder headline.

Select View -> Show Inspector. In the Page inspector click the Page button and uncheck “Display navigation menu,” and repeat for all pages.

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Design your own T-shirt

It's fun to wear your own artwork on a T-shirt, and easier than ever to do so without resorting to poor-quality, iron-on transfers. Services such as Zazzle, RedBubble, and Printfection (and many others) let you upload artwork, choose a color, and place an order.

Designing your tee

A good tee design has clean lines and crisp contrast; ideally, you want people to be able to see and comprehend the shirt design from 20 feet away. Text should easy to read (unless you intend it as a background element) and characters, creatures, and objects should be easy to identify. You’ll also want to design with a specific shirt color in mind so that your final artwork really pops; for example, white text stands out on a deep green shirt whereas navy text would be lost.

Because tees are a different medium than print, there are a number of technical considerations to keep in mind as you design your shirt.

1. Choose a service and a style of shirt before you jump into the design process. Once you know the target resolution, you can create a new document with those exact dimensions. In Photoshop CS4 () choose File -> New and enter a name for your document. Enter the pixel width and height along with pixels-per-inch (ppi) resolution (if that has been specified) and then click OK. In Illustrator CS4 (), choose File -> New. Give the file a name, enter the width and height in pixels, and click OK.

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Color-correct your video in iMovie

Today’s cameras make it easier than ever for shooters to get good-quality footage, but sometimes the camera misreads the brightness or color balance, or the environment’s lighting introduces a color tint.

iMovie ’09 () (and iMovie ’08) can help you correct your footage without turning to advanced tools like Apple's professional Color () application. iMovie doesn’t offer the same level of control or quality, but it works well for fixing common issues.

To access these features, select a clip in either the Project Browser or the Event Browser and press the V key. You can also click the Action menu (the button with a gear icon in the lower-left corner of a clip when your mouse pointer is over it) and choose Video Adjustments. The Inspector appears with the Video tab selected.

Adjust brightness

To make a scene brighter or darker, a few options are available. Drag the Exposure slider to increase or decrease the values of the highlights and shadows. Drag the Brightness slider to adjust the overall light level.

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Verdana Pro: Not just another pretty face

The typeface Verdana was released in 1996 as an easy-to-read font for Websites, and in the intervening years, it has been used and misused in just about every imaginable way. For example, the Swedish furniture retailer Ikea recently began using Verdana in its printed materials, which caused an uproar among designers around the world. Because Verdana was designed for low-resolution on-screen use, its wide-open letterspacing make it inappropriate for use in printed materials, they claim. Also, its four limited styles of regular, italic, bold, and bold italic just don't provide enough options for a sophisticated design.

In Ikea's 2010 catalog, the company replaced the venerable Futura font family with Verdana, which has just four styles: regular, italic, bold, and bold italic.

As fortune would have it, right now the team behind the original Verdana is working on an improved, expanded Verdana typeface family designed for use in both print materials and on screen. The expanded Pro version is expected to be available in the first quarter of 2010, along with an expanded version of the Georgia typeface (Verdana’s serif companion).

Here's a hint

One of the reasons for Verdana's tremendous success on the Internet is that it was designed specifically for on-screen legibility. There are two main features that contribute to Verdana's clarity:

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