Design tip bits

Drawing twirls in Illustrator

2010-03-02T17:40:00.005+01:00

In Illustrator you can make your own brushes which makes it so much easier to draw twirly branches and twirls in general. Here's a tut about how to make fancy twirls in Illustrator.

First of all draw a nice curvy line with either the pen tool or which ever tool you prefer.

Make a spiral with the spiral tool. Join the ends of the spiral and the curvy line by selecting the two ends with the direct selection tool (hollow arrow) and either hitting command J or via the menu Object>Path> Join.

Illustrator will join the two lines. If the anchor points are on top of each other then a 'Join' panel will appear. Select the option smooth.

The 'wave' and the spiral have now become one line. Draw some more branches using the method above. make sure the branches overlap each other as shown below.

Now we are going to make a brush.
Draw a triangle as shown below. Select the triangle and drag it into the Brushes panel.

The New Brush panel will appear. Select 'New Art brush'.

An option panel will appear. Be sure to select Tints in the colorization method. This is important or else you won't be able to change the colour at a later stage. give the brush a name and click OK.
The brush will now appear in the Brushes panel.

Select all the branches and click on the on the brush you just made. the strokes will now change, but are still strokes. Select the smaller branches and change the point size to vary the thickness of the branches.

The branches are still strokes and need to be expanded. Select the 'branches' go to Objects> Expand. In the 'Pathfinder' panel click on the 'Shape modes' Unite icon (top left) to make one shape of the branches.
'Pathfinder 'in CS3 works differently then in CS4. In CS3 you will need to delete the middle path before using the 'Pathfinder unite' and then click on 'Expand'.

The branches are now shapes which can be given a fill and stroke. Using the Expand function and the 'Pathfinder Unite' you can add more branches, twirls and shapes.

InDesign tip: Hidden characters

2010-02-11T16:14:00.006+01:00

So you are taking over another persons InDesign project, you change the mode to normal and turn on the hidden characters and whoa, what are all these squiggles and blue characters? It can be quite the puzzel to figure these out, so here's a list with explanations.

A non joiner separates a ligature. Place the cursor between the two leters and add a non-joiner.

Yes! I'm in

2010-01-29T17:49:00.004+01:00

It's fun friday and this film is sooo funny. We see it all the time on TV. The clicking sound of a keyboard and then 'Access denied' flashes across the screen. I don't know about you, but I have never seen that (but it could be a mac thing). And then the exclamation 'Yes, I'm in'. In where?
And don't we all love it when they enhance the image or zoom in on a low res picture and the image becomes so clear that they can identify the suspect in the reflection of a window.
I don't understand why the dutch 'Opsporing Verzocht' a serious TV programme, that is asking the viewers to identify criminals in action who have been caught on tape doesn't 'enhance' the picture or vid so we have a decent image of the person? They do it on CSI. This is a youtube comp (via John Nack) that will be very familiar to you all. The latest craze in solving the crime, 'Enhance that'

Fun Friday

2010-01-22T17:13:00.004+01:00

It already Friday. Don't know about you guys, but time really flies and in fact it is already Friday afternoon on this side of the pond, but still Friday. I was glancing through my tweets and one of my followers had posted the following link to 'Clients from Hell' There are loads of them and some of them are hilarious. One of my favorites is the client asking to print in RGB, because one less colour would be cheaper. Here's the link. Clients from Hell. My thanks to plan2ontwerp.
Have a great weekend.

Illustrator tip. Quick cool waves

2010-01-20T14:25:00.011+01:00

Cool and colourful waves, that may look complicated, but can easily be made in illustrator.

Here's how I made the wave at the end of this post.

Draw a squigly line with the pen tool. make sure the fill is set to none.

Select the line with the Selection tool and while holding down the Alt and Shift keys drag a copy of the line below or above the original.

Double click the Blend tool in the toolbox to open the Blend Options panel. Set the spacing to Specified Steps and enter a value of 6.

Click OK. Click with the Blend tool tip on an anchor point and then on the 'same' anchor point on the other line. (The tip of the blend tool fills when hovering above an anchor point.)

Activate the Direct selection tool (open arrow) click and drag any of the anchor points.

In this example I moved several of the anchor points and changed the colour of the bottom line to create the gradient.

You can even add anchor points to change the shape of the wave.

illustrator tip:Rounded rectangle

2009-12-09T16:27:00.012+01:00

So I haven't been active for a while on my blog, that's because I have been keeping a dutch one for my work. Which I suppose I could easily translate and copy to here, uhmm… bad excuse, however that sounds better then I don't have time because we got a puppy, which is the truth. Boy, puppies need a lot of time, but she is worth it.

Well here's the tip.

When you use the rounded rectangle tool by dragging, the corner radius used is the last value entered in the rounded rectangle panel's corner radius field. The size you determine by dragging, hold down the Space bar to change the position and hold down the Alt key to draw from the centre. Here's how you can alter the corner radius while dragging.

1. Select the rounded rectangle tool and drag a rectangle. Do not release the mouse.2. Use the up arrow to increase the corner radius.use the down arrow to decrease the radius.The left arrow makes it a rectangleand the left arrow gives you the maximum corner radius.Once you release the mouse the arrows function as the always do, to move selected objects.

I will try to be better at leaving tips, I have enough up my sleeve, but look at the picture below to see what's keeping me very busy. Leslie and Minou. And yes, baseball.

Illustrator tip: Resizing your artboard in CS4

2009-06-12T17:20:00.002+02:00

This tip is only for CS4 users. (IMHO it's worth getting if you don't have it yet )
Say you've made an illustration on an A4 sized artboard, but your illustration is a lot smaller and you want to get rid of the excess white paper. That can easily be solved.
In the example below the black stroke is the A4 paper.
1. Draw a rectangle on top of the illustration. This will be your new page size. Make sure the rectangle is selected.2. Select the Artboard Tool (shift o) to select the A4 artboard.3. Double click on the rectangle. The rectangle now becomes the new page size.4. Select the rectangle with the direct selection tool and delete it. You now have an artboard (page) the same size as the rectangle.
And because it is fun friday check out this site Logolounge. Actually this is serious stuff for designers.

Live paint

2009-05-20T15:04:00.015+02:00

Live paint is an function in Illustrator which in my opinion doesn't get enough attention and it is a powerful tool. Pathfinders cut the shapes into separate shapes whereas live paint leaves the objects editable it's non destructive. Here's a simple example of a simple info graphic illustration made with live paint showing the average beer consumption.

1. I drew a typical dutch beer glass.2. With the pen tool i drew a line marking the top of the beer (beer line).3. Select the glass and 'beer line', select the live Paint tool in the toolbox and click to make a live paint group. You can also go to Object> Live Paint> Make.

4. The separate parts of the illustration will now have a thick red border when hovering above them to show you the live paint sections. When selected the anchor points with the crosshairs shows you that it is a 'Live Paint Group'

5. Select a yellow swatch, select the Live paint tool and click in the lower part of the glass.6. Select the 'beer line' with the group selection tool and drag it up or down to change the amount of beer in the glass.Give the 'beer line' a stroke of none to hide it.
The first glass has been copied and the 'beer line' simply dragged down.

How much the average consumption is I have no idea. If I have to go by our last BBQ all the glasses would be filled to the rim and the scale larger ; - ) Cheers.

Nederlands voor DTP'ers

2009-05-18T21:57:00.005+02:00

Ik geef direct toe dat mijn Nederlands ook niet is wat het zou moeten zijn. De tussen-n dacht ik eindelijk onder de knie te hebben totdat men weer een paar uitzonderingen uit de hoge hoed toverde. Daarom maak ik begrijp van allerlei websites en naslagwerken.

De taalunie heeft haar eigen website. Hier vind je informatie over aanhalingstekens, haakjes en comma's.
Klik op deze link.

Eén van mijn favoriete sites is de website van Onze Taal. Deze site gaat vooral over het taalgebruik binnen onze maatschappij. Dus ook over sms-en, voetbaltaal, etc.
Klik op deze link.

Een boek dat ik vaak uit de kast haal is 'Redactiewijzer' van P.J. van der Horst. Erg handig voor grafici en ontwerpers. Hierin vind je antwoorden op vragen als; hoe zet ik een opsomming, telefoonnummer en postcode?
Klik op deze link.
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Colour Picker

2009-05-12T15:40:00.002+02:00

Via John Nacks blog I was shown a very useful panel for Photoshop CS4. If you install this panel then a Colour Picker panel will be added to Photoshop. This makes it easier and quicker to select colours.
To download the panel click on this link to Anastasiy Safari. You need to extract the zip file. Place the whole folder in Applications> Adobe Photoshop CS4> Plug-Ins>Panels Folder. Restart Photoshop. Open the panel via Window> Extensions
Because it is a CS4 panel it can be displayed in several ways.
For example a simple button.
Now that we are talking about the colour picker. Of course you all know that not all colours seen on screen are printable. To show the un-printable colours directly in the colour Picker go to the View menu> gamut Warning. The colour picker will grey out the un- printable colours.

If you go to Image> Mode> 32 bit the colour picker will look completely different.

InDesign and Illustrator contain a Colour picker dialogue box. Double click on the fill colour in the toolbox to open the colour picker dialogue box.

Dialogue box? Panel? The difference lies in that the dialogue box needs to be confirmed with the OK button and disappears until opened again. The colour picker panel in PS floats above your window.

Alphabetical list in InDesign

2009-05-05T15:14:00.008+02:00

This tip ia about alphabetizing a list in InDesign. InDesign does not have a sort function, so if you need a list in alphabetical order it can be a problem, especially if it is really long. Here's a quick trick to make a list that can be updated at any time.

1. Make a list in InDesign
2. Define a paragraph style and apply it to the list.3. Go to the menu Layout > table of Contents
By default a title will be entered in the title field. Remove this and leave it blank.
4. In the Other styles (right field) select the style and click add.
5. In Entry style choose a paragraph style. This style will be applied to the list. For page number select No Page Number.
6. Click on the 'More Options' button and check the button 'Sort Entries in Alphabetical Order.
7. Click on OK and place the list.
Always keep your original list. If you need to add enteries do this in the original list. Select the table of Contents and go to Layout> Update Table of Contents and the TOC will automatically be updated.

Illustrator tip Mirror images

2009-04-27T15:41:00.003+02:00

Ever heard of the Rorschach inkblot test? Good news you can draw them yourself in Illustrator. Who knows you may find out more about your inner self.

It works as follows
1. Draw an object and select it.

2. Go to Effect> Distort and Transform> Transform.
3. Enter the following values and check the Reflect Y. Make sure the reference point is below and centre and set copies to 1. Click OK. A copy of your image will be placed.

4. Select the object.5. Go to Window> Graphic Styles and click on the new graphic style icon to add the style. Now you can apply this Graphic Styles to any object.

6. You can also apply the style to a layer. Make a new layer. target this layer by clicking on the button. Then click on the graphic style. The style will now be applied to everything you draw.

InDesign CS4 bug or is it a Mac thing

2009-04-14T15:40:00.006+02:00

I had done some work at home on my fairly new imac OSX latest version etc. It was an InDesign CS4 document that I packaged and put on a USB stick. At work I needed to work on the document. It's the same type of Mac, InDesign CS4 english version, but when I opened the document an error message appeared complaining about Condtional text plugin updates and something else. Clicked OK, But InDesign could not open the document and told me to upgrade the plugins or the get lastest version of InDesign CS4. As far as I know we aren't yet higher then CS4 and I always update when prompted. Now it was panic time.
When I asked a collegue what was going and I double clicked to open the document to show him the error, he noticed that InDy CS3 was trying to open the document and not automatically (as you would expect) CS4 (both were open on the computer), therefore the conflict with the plug-ins and new features and telling me to upgrade.
Mac or InDy thing I don't know, but I'm glad I now know what to look out for.

InDesign Tip: Hyperlink to email

2009-04-10T16:41:00.003+02:00

In InDesign you can make hyperlinks that work when exporting the file to PDF. One of the most useful hyperlinks is to an E-mail address. In InDesign CS3 and older it works as follows.

1. Type the text i.e. lindapasteuning@mac.com
2. Select the text with the text tool.
3. Go to Window> Interactive> Hyperlinks
4. Click on the Create New Hyperlink
5. Select URL in the type field

6. In the URL field type mailto:lindapasteuning@mac.com and click OK
7. Go to File> Export
8. Choose PDF and click save
9. Be sure to check the option hyperlinks in the dialogue box
10. Open the PDF and click on the hyperlink and your mail programme will automatically start up.

In CS4 (we love CS4) it's even easier. In the Hyperlink panel there is an option to Link to Email in the pulldown menu. What's even beter is that you can add a character Style.

And because it is fun Friday and almost Easter, check out this site. It takes a while to start, but is well worth it. Once it starts move your mouse. Super cool. Here's the link.

InDesign tip: Quick Apply

2009-04-08T22:03:00.003+02:00

If you want to apply a paragraph style to text, this can be done via several different panels. The paragraph styles panel, the pulldown menu in the control bar and less known via 'Quick Apply". Place the text cursor in the paragraph. Use the keys Command-enter (Mac) Control-enter (Win) and a panel will open with a list of all your styles. Click on the desired style for your paragraph and press the enter key.

As you can see there is a lot more then just styles in the list. You can also select menus, tools, etc.

By typing the first few letters of your style InDesign will find that style for you in the list. That's why you should give your styles logical and sensible names. Press the enter key to apply the style.

InDesign tip: Connecting text paths and fun friday

2009-03-20T16:27:00.005+01:00

You might already know this, but you can place text on a path in InDesign. And just as you can thread text frames you can also thread text paths.

Follow the following steps.
1. Draw a path with the pen or pencil tool.2. Select the Type on a path Tool. This is behind the Type Tool in the Toolbox.

3. Find the beginning of the path. Wait till a plus sign appears next to the I bar (cursor) and click. The path has changed into a text path.4. Duplicate the text path by selecting it with the selection tool (black arrow). Hold down the Alt key and drag. 5. Type Command-Shift-3 (mac) or Control-Shift-3 (win) to repeat this last action and make more text paths.6. Select the first path with the selection tool. To the right and left of the path you will notice two squares. These are called text ports. Click on the right hand port.
Go to the begining of the second path. Place the cursor over the square until you see a link symbol and click. The paths have now been joined.

7. Repeat step 6 for the other paths.

8. Select the Type on a path Tool and click on the first path. Type your desired text and you will see that the text continues on the next text path.Change the shape.
You can also change the way the type looks after it has been placed. Select one or more of the paths and go to Type> Type on a Path and select an option.

Modify the path.
Remember that the path is still a path and can be modified using the selection tools or other tools from the toolbox to change the attributes. In this example I have given the path a double stroke and a colour.

And since it is fun friday check out these statues.

statues This one is missing. It's in Holland and supposed to be Santa holding a Christmas tree, but the locals have named it Kabouter (gnome) Butt plug. Yeah right Christmas tree.

Geometric shapes in Illustrator

2009-03-04T21:19:00.008+01:00

You all know there are several ways to draw a geometric shape in Illustrator. Select the shape in the Toolbox and click and drag across your artboard. Where you click is the top left corner of your rectangle, ellipse or rounded rectangle and it is a fixed point. However a Star or polygon are drawn with the centre as the fixed point. Use the arrow keys, while dragging a star or polygon to increase or decrease the points or sides.

To draw a shape with exact dimensions select the shape in the toolbox and click once on your artboard to open the shapes dialogue box. Enter the dimensions. To make a square or a circle you need only fill in one of the dimensions and then click on the word height or width (which ever has not been entered) the text field will automatically be filled with the same value.
As reference point, the same applies when using the dialogue box. Where you click is either the centre or left hand corner depending on the shape.

By default the rectangle, ellipse and rounded rectangles all show a centre point when selected. The polygon and star don't. However if you need to know where the centre point is then select the shape, open the attributes panel and click on the show centre button.

Dotted lines

2009-02-18T15:30:00.002+01:00

Dotted lines should be directly available in all the graphic applications. In the Creative Suite applications only InDesign has the dotted line option. In Photoshop and Illustrator you have to make them yourself.

Dotted line in Illustrator
I used this method in Illustrator 3.2 but it still works in CS4.
Draw a line.
Open the Stroke panel and make sure the options are available.

Set the stroke weight to 2pt

Set the cap end to rounded

Check the option Dashed Line

Set the dash value to 0pt and the gap value to 4pt. Setting the gap value to twice the stroke weight and the dash to 0, a dot will fit exactly in between.

If you are happy with the result then make it a new graphic style.
If you make it a brush it will retain the proportions between the gap and weight all other functions only the dots enlarge.

Dotted lines in Photoshop
photoshop doesn't have a standard dotted line stroke option.

Select the Brush Tool
Go to Windows> Brushes
Select a brush size and set hardeness to100%
Set the spacing to 200%. In this case too a dot will fit exactly in between

Save this as a new brush for further use.
I guess InDesign is the only programme in which you can make contracts where you need to 'sign on the dotted line'?

Photoshop tip: Clouds, Fire and smoke brushe

2009-02-16T16:37:00.005+01:00

Whoa it has been ages since I wrote on the blog. Been super busy, but I do have an arsenal stashed away and I will post more frequently this week. But to keep you busy here are some cool brushes.

Via via I came across this amazing site with great Photoshop brushes.
Especially the cloud, fire and smoke brushes work well.
Qbrushes

Photoshop shortcuts

2009-01-19T21:16:00.002+01:00

In this first blog I will show you a few useful tips for keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop. Comand / Control means Mac users hold down the command key and PC users the Control key.

New Layer
New layer with dialogue box - Shift + Command/Control + N
New layer with out dialogue box - Shift + Alt + Command/Control + N

Moving layers
Move layer down - Command/Control + [
Move layer up - Command/Control + ]
Move to bottom most layer - Command/Control + shift + [
Move to top most layer - Command/Control + shift +]
Select layer below - Alt + [
Select layer above - Alt + ]

Copy layers
Copy layer - Command/Control + J
Copy layer with dialogue box - Command/Control + Alt + J

With a selected item
Copies selection to a new layer - Command/Control + J
Copies selection to a new layer with dialogue box - Command/Control +Alt + J

Delete layers.
Backspace - deletes layer
In CS3 and older it will only work if the Move Tool has been selected

Making layers (in)visible
Alt click on a layers eye symbol and all the other layers will not be visible.
Click again to make them visible again.

Layer opacity
select the layer at type the following numerals
1 through 10 (1+0) = layer opacity at 1-10 %
11 through 20 = opacity at 11- 20%
25 = layer opacity at 25%
zero (0 = layer opacity at 100%

Layer modes
Normal - Alt + Shift + N
Dissolve - Alt + Shift + I
Darken - Alt + Shift + K
Multiply - Alt + Shift + M
Colour burn - Alt + Shift + B
Linear burn - Alt + Shift + A
Lighten - Alt + Shift + G
Screen - Alt + Shift + S
Colour dodge - Alt + Shift + D
Linear dodge add - Alt + Shift + W
Overlay - Alt + Shift + O
Soft light - Alt + Shift + F
Hard light - Alt + Shift + H
Vivid light - Alt + Shift + V
Linear light - Alt + Shift + J
Pin light - Alt + Shift + Z
Hard mix - Alt + Shift + L
Difference - Alt + Shift + E
Exclusion - Alt + Shift + X
Hue - Alt + Shift + U
Saturation - Alt + Shift + T
Colour - Alt + Shift + C
Luminosity - Alt + Shift + Y

Go through the blend modes from top to bottom = Alt + Shift + +
Go through the blend modes from bottom to top = Alt + Shift + -

Merging Layers
Merge all layers to the active layer = Command/Control + Alt + Shift +E
Merge all layers = Command/Control + Shift +E

Fill and transparency
Lock and unlock transparent pixels = /
Fill layer with foreground colour = Alt + Backspace
Fill layer with background colour = Command/Control + Backspace
Fill with foreground colour while maintaining transparency = Alt + Shift + Backspace
Fill with background colour while maintaining transparency = Command/Control+ Shift + Backspace

Adbusting

2009-01-16T15:54:00.004+01:00

It's been a while and I wish you all a fantastic 2009.

To start the new year some fun stuff.
A new thing called Adbusting and a cool title sequence for an English TV cooking show. It's no longer made (one of them has passed away), but the show was so funny. I really like the title sequence.

4 super cool Subway Posters
Several posters in the metro stations of Berlin have been plastered by the FTW crew with Photoshop Panels. This is called Adbusting.

"Adbusting refers to the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements in order to make a statement"

Click on the link below to see details of the Photoshopped poster that has stickers of photoshop panels stuck on them. I wonder which one of the ladies needed the most photoshopping.
Adbusting

Two Fat Ladies Cooking That really was the name of the show.

On monday I will be posting Photoshop short cuts

Photoshop CS4 PixelBender

2008-12-06T17:32:00.011+01:00

On monday 17 november Adobe presented the first version of Pixel Bender Gallery Plug-in for PSD CS4. This new technology can apply filters in real time and super fast. No more watches, hour glasses (egg timers) or twirling candy.
I installed it on my MacBook Pro and all the Pixelbender filters were applied immediately. But if you are working on a PC then Pixelbender works even faster, because a 64 bit version is available for Windows. Us Mac users have to settle for the 32 bit version, but it's pretty fast too.
According to John Nack from Adobe it will also be available for After Effects and Flash. The filters developed for those applications will also work in Photoshop. Resulting in even more Photoshop filters.

Click on this link to download the plug-in.

Must admit Photoshop did crash after I had installed the plug-in, but resetting PSD helped that problem. To reset Photoshop while starting the application hold down Command-Option-Shift (Mac) Control-Alt-Shift (Win) keys.

Here follow a few examples of the PixelBender Filter Gallery.

Original
Kaleidoscope
Spherize
Twirl
Convergence
Tube

InDesign Autocorrect

2008-11-26T13:46:00.008+01:00

What a time saver the Autocorrect function has become for someone like me who has never had a formal typing class. Although I do use more then 2 fingers, I doubt I am even half as fast as the worst typist, on sleeping pills.
I never really used the Autocorrect function in InDesign until recently. I am translating an InDesign theory from Dutch into English and the word InDesign appears on just about every page. Someone suggested that I use the Autocorrect as a keyboard shortcut for the word InDesign.

Here's how:
1. In the InDesign menu go to Preferences> Autocorrect.
2. Check the Enable Autocorrect button

3. Select your language and make sure your document is also set to the same language.

4. Click Add and fill in the fields and click OKWhen your list is done click OK.

Instead of typing the word InDesign, I just type the letters zx (keys next to each other and I don't think the letter combination will appear in the English theory book) and InDesign changes that into the word InDesign as soon as I hit the spacebar.

Another frequent 'fast finger' mistake I make is THe instead of The, or THis instead of This etc. So I set these in the Autocorrect dialogue box.Yes I know the Spelling Check will recognise Indesign without the capital D as a mistake as well as THe at the beginning of a sentance, but having InDesign do it immediatedly and not have to do it manually with Check Spelling is quite the time saver.

Okay, so check spelling may be good enough for you, but someone will be grateful for this tip if they have to write a tourist guide for the Welsh town of
Llanfairpwllgwyngyll-gogerychwyrndrobwll-llantysilio-gogogoch
(Llanfairpwllgwyngyll short form) and yes, it does exist.I wonder how big the ticket stubs are? One way ticket to …

InDesign text frames

2008-11-13T14:19:00.008+01:00

I posted a blog earlier about text frames but there's more.

To adjust a text Frame in InDesign
1. Select the Selection Tool (black arrow)
2. It will change into a double headed arrow when hovering over an anchor point. Double click the anchor point.

Her are some examples of what happens. I haven't put them all on but I think you get the point.

If you have too much white space, double clicking the anchor points will automatically adjust the frames to fit.

InDesign tip: Numerals

2008-11-07T12:27:00.009+01:00

When printing was still being done using letterpresses there were two types of numerals available Tabular and Old style.

Tabular
The characters have the same width (occupying the same space). Tabular numerals are typically used to set material in which columns of characters must align vertically with one another.
Old style numerals
Numerals that do not align with one another as the tabular numerals do, but instead mainly occupy the x-height, with some numerals extending above the top of the x-height and some below the baseline.

Old style was used for text and Tabular was used for price lists and forms etc.
Along came DTP and we only had digital versions of fonts. Most of these typefaces only used tabular characters. This did not result in great looking design, the numbers were far too big and prominent on the page. Take a look at the following examples. You must admit that the second line looks a lot better.When InDesign was introduced, especially Open Type, classical typesetting could once again be used. Even more so there are 5 different choices each with their own function. These are best used with the Pro-Typefaces. In this example I have used Minion Pro. If the choices are within brackets then this option is not available for this type face.
Here follows an explantion of the 5 options

Tabular Lining
used mainly for lists, tables and financial listing. All the characters occupy the same amount of space. The numbers are always underneath each other making it more readable.
In the example below the first 2 rows are Proportional Lining and the bottom two Tabular. As you can see the bottom two are prefectly aligned.

Proportional Old Style
This is best used in text. The numbers flow with the characters, like the 9's descending below the baseline.
Proportional Lining
The space occupied by the character varies.The numbers are on the baseline. Use this in text and the numbers jump off the page at you. Most non Open Type fonts use this.

Tabular Old Style
These are Old Style numerals which occupy the same amount of space. This is a question of aesthetics. In general you use Tabular Lining, but you could opt for old Style.
In the following example the top two are Tabular Lining and the bottom two rows Tabular Oldstyle. It's what you think looks better.
Default Figure Style
This is the default setting and uses the numerals available in the typeface.

Photoshop tip: Photomerge

2008-11-04T13:43:00.008+01:00

This weekend was the most beautiful Autumn Sunday and Rudi armed with our simple 4.0 megapixel Camera (Canon Powershot G3), took some photos of the fantastic colours. He used Photoshops Automate>Photomerge to stitch together a poster. (Can't remember how many pixels, but the image was 2 metres by 72 cm at 150ppi).

You can also use Lightroom 2.0 but, Lightroom does need Photoshop's help. Select the photos, go to Photo-Menu>Edit in>Merge to Panorama in Photoshop.

I asked him how many photos he had used and he started to count 1,2,3,4 … 21. I was really impressed. Told him to post it in his blog, upload the colours to Kuler, sell it to Ikea as a door poster etc. etc. etc.
While he was working on his blog, he calls me over and shows me this. An unbelievable photo of Yosemite National Park by Gerard Maynard. He created a 17 gigapixel image using 2000 photos. (Ikea door poster? This could line the Chunnel [tunnel from UK to France]. But he did have to work on a 96,5 Gigabyte document and admits himself that he does have the equipment to do so.

"I have a bunch of RAID systems, so I'm moving data at about 300 MB second," Maynard said. "It takes about 45 minutes to an hour just for one of the large images to load into Photoshop. With a conventional drive, it'd take about two to three hours."

Before you can see the photo you will have to sit through a (few seconds) Obama campaign commercial. Not a problem for me.
Click on the zoomify link. This function is now also available in Photoshop.Click here to see Gerard Maynards photo of Yosemite and for a panorama of Harlem New York. You can almost see the people in their apartements.

Impressive as they, are I'm still proud of Rudi's work and will continue bragging about him anyway. Off to give Ikea a call ;-)

Illustrator appearance panel

2008-11-03T13:40:00.010+01:00

The Illustrator appearance panel I find one of the most essential panels which is often not used to it's advantage.

I was asked to make a promotional flyer for our local Baseball team to recruit young players It needed to be done immediately so no time to go through the proper channels and get the scalable vector logo. You guessed it …Yes, I was given a JPEG.

I used live trace in Illustrator and cleaned it up to make a usable logo. But, Live trace uses loads of compound paths, a white background a lot of excess baggage. I cleared all that clutter using the appearance panel.Here's how I did it.

1. Strip the logo down to just one shape.2. Select the shape. Open the appearance panel. using the flyout menu choose Add New Stroke. The colour is the same as the logo, 3 pts and set to outside.

3. Add New Stroke again, this time set the stroke colour to white, 2 pts, and to outside. Play with the appropriate stroke sizes as long as the top stroke is smaller then the one(s) below.
Now you have single shape.That was fine until I needed to have the white stroke to be transparent. Take away the white stroke and you have a 5 pt blue stroke around your logo.

Here's how to do that.

1. Select the logo. Go to Object>Expand Appearance. The logo is now separated into different objects.

2. Using the Group Selection Tool (white arrow +) carefully select the inside blue shape of your logo, while holding down the Shift key select the outerblue stroke. With both objects selected open the Pathfinder panel Window>Pathfinder and click the Unite button. (Top row left)

3. Holding down the Shift button select the white stroke and click on the minus front button in the pathfinder panel (right of Unite button). The "stroke" is now transparent.

PS Preferences

2008-10-31T12:51:00.004+01:00

Now before the fun stuff, (it is Friday), I would like to ask you a question.

In Photoshop there is a preference that I do not really see the benefit of.
The Use Grayscale Application Icon.

You can find it in Preferences>Interface … The only thing that turns gray is the little PS icon. Does anyone know what the reason is for this preference?

And now some "fun" and cool sites.

Crumbler

From here you can go to the crumpler bags site which is a lot of fun.

Dark Roasted Blend has some really cool stuff too. This one is for tonight.

Halloween

Have a happy Halloween and enjoy your weekend.

InDesign ✓ or - in the Object Style Palette

2008-10-28T12:09:00.008+01:00

Ever wondered what the difference is between the check (✓) or the minus sign (-) in the Object Style dialogue box?
These symbols are used when making a new Object Style. The difference is quite subtle, but it's useful to know. Here's an example.

1. Open the Object Styles palette.
2. Choose a New Object Style.
You will notice that in the Attributes dialogue box by default, Paragraph Styles and Frame Fitting Options have a (-) in the check box and the others have a (✓).The (-) sign means that the function is to be ignored. For instance, if you want to make an Object Style with a fixed fill, but a variable stroke colour and weight. Place a (-) next to the stroke option and InDesign will ignore the stroke when the Object Style is applied to a new object.
Of course you can change the stroke weight or colour of the object after a style has been applied, but when the object is selected a (+) will appear next to the style name meaning some attribute(s) is different from the Object Style. With complicated Styles it may be hard to know what has been changed. Use the (-) function and the (+) won't appear.
Keyboard shortcut. If you only want one Attribute applied, hold down the Option key and click.

In the Effects for dialogue box, you can have a (-), (✓) and empty. The (-) and (✓) I have explained above. Leaving it empty and InDesign will remove any existing effects from the object.

Fisheye effect in Illustrator and Photoshop

2008-10-27T14:20:00.013+01:00

You are probably familiar with this effect. A fisheye lens is a wide-angle lens that takes in an extremely wide, hemispherical image. You can attain the same effects in Illustrator and photoshop.

Fisheye in Illustrator.

1. Start with a drawing of a skyline.

2. Open the Brushes palette3. Select your drawing and drag it into the Brushes palette. Choose New Art Brush. In the Dialogue box check the Flip Across option. Click OK to save your drawing as a brush.4. Draw a circle.
5. Select the brush you just made and your drawing is placed as a stroke around your circle.

In the dialogue box there are various other options to choose and experiment from. The image below uses the Flip Along option.The Size Width gives you more variations.Fisheye in Photoshop

Make a panoramic montage in Photoshop, or use a panoramic photo. (File>Automate>Photomerge …1. Place the panoramic photo on a separate layer. The longer the image the better the effect. In this example I have mirrored the skyline of San Francisco to make it twice as long.

2. Enlarge the canvas size. See tip 10/13/2008. It works the best if your canvas is square. By the way make sure you have enough sky above the buildings or else the tops of the buildings will be in the centre of the circle. The effect will be very extreme.3. Select the layer with the photo. Go to Filter>Distort>Polar Coordinates. Click OK.

Typography and music

2008-10-25T13:37:00.004+02:00

I haven't posted anything this week because it's Half term vacation at the moment and both boys don't have school. But today is fun Friday.

Here are a few video clips I found on You Tube, that combine music and typography.

This is from a band named Cuarteto de Nos. They use an Egyptienne in their clip. You can recognise an Egyptienne by the straight serifs. The name Egyptienne is from the 20's when Egypt was very popular because of the discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb.

The typeface Impact is always good for attracting attention. It was used a lot on posters. I think Citizen Cope uses Impact.

Jean-François Coen's uses type from the streets for the lyrics. A well made vid worth seeing.

Enjoy your weekend.

Fun Friday

2008-10-17T13:53:00.003+02:00

Yeah it's Friday, day for fun stuff.

Type
My nine year old son wanted to make his own birthday invitations. A collage of fast cars, Sponge Bob, a cool DJ and Babes (his words not mine). The theme of the 'disco party' is Bling Bling. While helping him make his e-invite, we couldn't find a 'Bling Bling' type typeface in my font file. So I looked on the web and found this site.

Bling Bling

Just what his e-invite needed. I have not experimented with the different settings, but what I liked most is that you can save the file as JPEG, PNG with transparency, and as a PSD file with layers!

Hey for a nine year old's invite it was fast and did the job.

Fun site
Here's a great site for a department store in Holland. (If I have to compare it's like a Walmart or Woolworths) Give a while to start.

Hema

And to watch during your lunch break ; -)
Master of photography

Quick Illustrator backgrounds

2008-10-16T11:24:00.007+02:00

Okay so you need a quick fancy background for your illustration. Try this.

1. Place a photo in Illustrator. Important is that the Link button is not checked or it won't work. The image has to be embedded.
2. Select the photo with the Selection Tool.

3. Go to Object>Create Gradient Mesh the photo now becomes a vector gradient with a mesh.
4. Turn on the Preview and experiment with the dialogue box settings. Click OK.5. With the Direct Selection Tool you can adjust the mesh to get the effect you want.6. The effect is especially useful as a background for an illustration.

Photshop Brushes 2

2008-10-15T13:04:00.006+02:00

I thought I had found the best site for brushes, which I posted earlier. Guess not.
Scouring the web I have come across a few more. Here follow a few links

PSBrushes
Categorized and very practical.

Brusheezy

MyPhotoshopBrushes.com
Also categorized with instructions on 'How to install'

brushes.500ml.org
These are actually more like Stamps then brushes. It's best to just click when using these 'brushes' instead of dragging.

Saving the best for last.
At the link below you can find brushes that are 2500 pixels wide! Ideal for water colors or other painterly effects. This site also has vector brushes for Illustrator.This is the link for Photoshop brushes

Here are a few handy keyboard shortcuts when using brushes.

Type B = selects Brush Tool

Brush diameter
[-key = smaller brush diameter
]-key = larger brush diameter

Hardness
Shift + [ = softens brushes
Shift + ] = increases hardness

Opacity
Type 1 = 10%
Type 2 = 20%
etc.
Type 0 = 100%
Type a quick 65 = 65%

Straight lines
Drag while holding down the Shift key = horizontal or vertical stroke
Click while holding down the Shift = a straight stroke between clicks

InDesign tip: combining two documents

2008-10-14T13:52:00.006+02:00

I was translating a Photoshop theory for a client, 'Photoshop_english'. Half way through the client decided to eliminate 2 chapters that I had already finished. I saved the doc. as 'English_2', keeping the first version.

In 'English_2' I deleted the extra pages and continued translating and replacing Dutch screen shots with English ones.

When 'English_2' was finished the client decided he also wanted the extended version. Great, now I needed to put back the 2 'deleted' chapters into the finished document 'English_2'. (Thank goodness I had saved the half way done version).

Quickly adding pages from one document to another without copy pasting.

1. Open both documents. Go to Window>Arrange>Tile.

2. Activate the document with the pages you want to copy.

3. Select the pages in the Pages Palette. Drag the page icons on top of the document that you want to add the pages to. It doesn't matter where, InDesign will automatically add the pages to the end of the document.
4. In the flyout menu select Move Pages.
5. Enter the range and where you want to insert them. Click OK.
6. File>Save As … to keep both this new extended version and the shorter one.

Photoshop: The F -key

2008-10-13T12:42:00.009+02:00

In my previous blog I mentioned the F key. This is the keyboard shortcut for different screen modes.
Photoshop has four different screen modes that all have their own function.

Standard Screen Mode
The first time you open a file in Photoshop it will show on your monitor in this mode.The image will have scroll bars, information about the document, a title bar and the window can be scaled by dragging the bottom right corner.

This mode is super handy if you want to use several images to make composites.
Here's what I do.
1. Open the images I want to use.
2. Go to Window> Arrange>Tile Horizontally and they tile underneath each other or Tile Vertically and they go next to each other.
Drag one image on top the next. A copy of that image is placed on a separate layer. Close the original file and type the F key to go to the next Screen Mode.

Tip: hold down the Shift key when dragging the image and Photoshop will place the image in the centre of the file.

The benefit of working like this, is that you don't have any unnecessary files open and you can start working on your montage.

Maximized Screen Mode (1 x F)
This is the same as clicking on the maximize button in Windows.
Full Screen Mode with Menubar (2xF)
This gives you a Full Screen view including the menu bar.

This is by far the most practical mode. You can use the Hand Tool (key-H or temporary Spacebar) to move the image on your screen.This creates enough room for dialogue boxes which now don't cover your image.

Full Screen Mode (3xF)
I call this the Presentation Mode. The area around your image is now black.

Tip: Press the tab key and all your palettes disappear. Press again to retrieve them. This also works in InDesign and Illustrator.

Changing the background colour.
If you want you can even change the colour of your background area. Select the Paint Bucket Tool, choose a colour and while holding down the Shift key click in the background.

Photoshop Tip: Changing your Canvas size

2008-10-13T11:26:00.009+02:00

For many of you this tip might be old hat, but here goes. Of course you know that the crop tool is used to make your canvas smaller. But you can also use this tool to enlarge your canvas.

1. Make sure you have a grey area around your canvas. Type F twice for a full Screen Mode with Menu Bar.

2. Drag with the crop tool the size of your canvas.

3. Hold down the Option key and drag an anchor point to enlarge the crop.

4. Hit the return key. Photoshop adds to your original canvas.

Of course you can use the Image menu Canvas Size … But this is so much quicker.

The extra space is filled with the background colour which by default this is white, however in this example the background colour was set to black.
A few keyboard short cuts:
The D key sets the background colour to white and foreground to black.
The X key swithches the back and foreground colours.

5. Use the Option palette if you want a specific size. Enter the size of the canvas you want and drag the Crop Tool. Hold down the Option key and drag an anchor point. The canvas will automatically be the size you entered.

What's even beter is that you save your crop size as a preset. Handy for re-occuring projects, Powerpoint or Web pages.

1. Enter the size and resolution in the Options palette.

2. Select from the preset menu (see diagram) the page icon.

3. By default Photoshop will enter the size and resolution as name, but you can enter any name you want. Click OK.

This crop size will be saved as a preset, ready for use at anytime.

InDesign Tip: Adjusting Text Frames

2008-10-09T15:38:00.004+02:00

Here are a few tips on how to quickly adjust a Text Frame in InDesign. Many times the text frame is too small to fit all your text. InDesign warns you with the little red cross. You can drag the text frame to fit the text or you can simply double click the white anchor point at the bottom of the frame. InDesign will automatically adjust the frame to fit the text. One condition, the text does have to fit on the page. This also works if your text frame is too big.

Vector drawn maps 2

2008-10-09T13:09:00.002+02:00

In an earlier post I gave you a link to vector drawn maps. Here's another link I found.
Always handy.

Pantone Fashion colours 2009

2008-10-09T12:54:00.003+02:00

I know I promised the trivia about stars which I will give you, but I thought this was more useful for you designers, than the story of stars.

On the Pantone site you can download an interesting PDF about the latest fashion colours 2009. And Pantone would not be Pantone if they didn't have the matching PMS numbers.

The description of the colours alone makes it well worth the read. Could be something for the next pitch.

"Taking a cue from its lemony neighbor, friendly and approachable Salmon Rose also conveys an optimistic outlook.

Think sensual and seductive Fuchsia Red for clothing, as well as lipstick and nail polish selections, this spring. With its blue undertones, this cool red is a real show-stopper, adding a sense of elegance to the palette.

Vibrant Green, the quintessential spring hue, brings a true verdancy to the palette in a time of revitalization."

Go for it Pantone.

Click here for the PDF.

Zig Zag Stars

2008-10-03T11:30:00.004+02:00

Ton Fredericks gave a good tip about adjusting stars in Illustrator.
Instead of using the Star Tool you can simply draw a circle. Then go to the Effects menu> Distort & Transform>Zig Zag. Using this option you can make perfect stars.

The Absolute value is the distance from the outer point of the star to the edge of your circle and from the inner point to the edge of your circle. In this example 6mm.

Relative is the same distances expressed as a percentage of the size of the circle.

Example: A 50mm circle and a Relative value of 20% = 10mm from point to circle edge.

These stars are adjustable using the Appearance palette. Double click on the fx icon to open the Zig Zag palette and change the settings.

The only drawback of making stars this way is that you can only make stars with an even amount of points, so no 5 sided stars … That's a lot of flags.

Thanks anyway for sharing Ton Fredericks.

Stars

2008-10-02T16:24:00.026+02:00

The other day the subject of drawing stars in InDesign came up. Which was followed by a discussion about the meaning and symbolism of different stars. That inspired me to write this blog. I will give you a few tips about making stars in InDesign, Illustrator and Photoshop. After googling about stars I soon found out that a star is not just a star. Stars have many meanings and you may find yourself sending the wrong even unwanted message with the shape of your star. If you want to know more about stars then check out this wikipedia link.

Illustrator Stars
The Star Tool is found behind the Rectangle Tool.
To make a star, select the Star Tool and drag diagonally. Whilst dragging, to increase or decease the number of points click the arrow keys up or down. This also works for the Polygon Tool.
By holding down the Option key while dragging, Illustrator will try to keep the lines of the star horizontal. This does not always work, however with the 5 pointed star it it does just what we want.Holding down the Shift key while dragging and a point will 'point' straight up.
Hold down the Spacebar and you can reposition the star while you are making it. This can be done in combination with the Shift and Option keys.If you know the dimensions of the star you can select the Star Tool and click in your art board. A dialogue box will appear in which you can enter values.

If the number of points is divisible by 4, your star will always have points facing North, East, South, and West, handy for drawing a compass or maps.

The Radius 1 value determines the outer points of the star, Radius 2 the valleys (inner points) of the star. The greater the difference the sharper the star.
If the value for Radius 2 is higher then Radius 1 then the valley of the star will be at 12 O' Clock.
Adjusting a star.
Now here's the drawback for this tool in Illustrator. Once you have made the star you cannot change the number of points. You can change the Radius using the Direct Selection tool or the Lasso Tool
• Select the outer or inner points
• Double click the Scale Tool
• Change the values in Uniform. The easiest is to select the field and use the up or down arrows to get the result you want.Stroke around a star
If you add a stroke around a star you will probably notice that the points are blunt. In this case raise the Miter limit in the Stroke Palette. At a certain point you will see the 'point' again. (No pun intended)But this can cause memory problems when printing. The dreaded Limit Check Error. To be sure the points print properly I outline the stroke. Object>Path>Outline Stroke. The stroke now becomes a shape.

InDesign Stars

InDesign does not have a Star Tool. The option is 'Star' is hidden in the Polygon Tool.
Double click the Tool, enter the number of points and a percentage.

This percentage determines the sharpness of the star. The lower the value the less 'sharp' the Star. This star too cannot be altered. The only thing I can give you is the following trick.

• Go to Window>Objects>Shapes
• Click on the rectangle symbol to change the shape into a rectangle
• Go to the Toolbox and double click the Polygon Tool.
• Enter the desired star specs. and click OK
• Click on the Polygon Tool in the Palette
• The rectangle is converted to a star with the values you chose.

That's a lot of steps for something so simple. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a script to be found somewhere.

Photoshop Stars

I will show you how to make vector stars. If you want to draw stars using a brush then have a look in the Brush Presets in assorted brushes.

For vector stars use the Custom Shape Tool found in the Option palette. Select Shape>Symbols. Here you will find several preset stars.

To make a your own star select the Polygon Tool in the Options palette.

In the field Sides enter the number of points you want.

Click on the triangle at the end of the 'toolbox' and a pop up window appears. Check the star button and enter values in the fields. You can also enter a value for the 'pointiness' of the star. Checking Smooth indents and you get the blow fish, smooth corners and you get the daisy.By the way I see I have a Dutch version for some of the images. The word Straal is 'Radius'

Enough for today tomorrow I will fill you in with some info and trivia about stars.

Photoshop a quick swimming pool effect

2008-09-08T10:34:00.010+02:00

As you can read in my profile I work closely with Rudi who also has a blog on design tips, but in Dutch. Not only is he an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) and a brilliant teacher, his blog is really good too, but … in Dutch.
We decided that I will translate certain articles which are not specific to the Dutch market, so as not to deprive the non Dutch readers, (which are a lot of you), of his tips and tricks.
For those interested he also teaches in English. See www.opatel.nl … in Dutch, but there is an email address and phone number for info in English.

This is one of Rudi's
A quick swimming pool effect

During the summer vacation, while lying by the pool I remembered a quick and easy Photoshop effect of water. This is not mine but Peter Kentie's who wrote monthly tips in MacWorld. So the honours go to him. If I am not mistaken, he is now manager marketing and media for PSV in Eindhoven and has a blog about WiFi.

Here's how you do it.

Open a New Photoshop document, max. 150 ppi (It doesn't seem to work at a higher ppi, so won't do for offset printing).

Choose the Gradient Tool.

Click on the gradient preview to open up the Gradient Editor window.

Make your pool water, a gradient of lighter blue to a darker one.

Fill your document with this gradient.

Add a new layer and draw various white crosses with a soft paintbrush.

Go to the Filter menu to Distort, Ripple. Set the Size to large and the Amount high (900%). Click OK.

The squiggly lines will now have to be rotated to get the effect you want. (Command/Control T).

The effect is very simple and easy to apply your own variations.

Agates

2008-09-01T16:33:00.005+02:00

In InDesign CS3 we now have the Agate, new to many especially Europeans.
For us designers who have been around a while, remember the Schaedler precision rule with inches, millimetres, picas and that odd one Agate lines? The others we could place but Agates? There were numerous discussions about the use of the Agate line measurement. We knew it was used for newspapers, at least in the USA (and still is today), but for those new to the Agate here's the story.
1 Agate is 1.814mm, 5.5pt and there are 14 Agates in an inch. According to wikipedia an Agate is the smallest point size that remains readable on newsprint. It is used for statistics and legal documents (also known as the "fineprint" when it comes to contracts.)

In About.com I came across the following:

"Definition: Still used as a unit of measure in advertising space in some newsletters, an agate line is one column wide by one agate in depth. An agate is 5 1/2 points or 1/14 of an inch. 14 agate lines equal one linear column inch. Because the column width can vary, the overall size of an agate line is not absolute."

In 2001 The Wall Street Journal hired Jonathan Hoefler and Tobias Frere-Jones to design a typeface for their financial tables the result was Retina.

"DISTORTED WHEN MAGNIFIED, The Wall Street Journal’s Retina typeface was designed to keep ink from blurring the tiny agate type of stock tables."

Click on the following link for the full story.
The Atlantic

I just remember that when the subject of the Agate came up in the Studio, that Mark and Bill's contribution was that the average length of a man's member is 84 Agates.
Looking for that old ruler?

By the way Hoefler and Frere-Jones have a very good site about typography.

Align in Illustrator

2008-08-05T12:59:00.009+02:00

If you want several objects on a page to align you can select all the objects go to the pull down menu Window Align and a palette will appear with various different ways of aligning; Horizontal left, right, centered, etc. and choose the one you need. When choosing Horizontal Align Right the objects will align with the most right object; the most left, for align left, the top one for top etc.

But say you want to have the objects shown below to Vertically Align Bottom, however not with the bottom one (green) which is what would happen if you clicked on the Vertical Align Bottom button in the Align palette, but with the yellow one.

Select all the objects, click once on the object you want to align with, in this example the yellow rectangle and then click the Vertical Align Bottom button in the Align palette. The objects are now aligned bottom with the yellow rectangle.

This also works for the other align buttons in the palette.
If you change your mind and want to align with the blue rectangle after having clicked on the yellow one, then go to the triangle in the Align palette and choose Cancel Key Object and click on the blue rectangle. The objects will now align with the bottom of that object.

For a bit of inspiration

2008-07-31T10:39:00.002+02:00

Here's a link I received via via with movie leaders. The one's I have seen I find inspiring and brilliant, of course haven't had the time to see that many, but here's for you to enjoy.

http://www.artofthetitle.com

Guides in InDesign

2008-07-29T11:40:00.011+02:00

I presume you know that guides can be dragged out of the rulers on the left and top of your document but here are some handy shortcuts and tips.

Key commands for guides
Command ; hides shows the guides
Alt Control ; locks and unlocks guides
Shift Command ; makes them magnetic (snap to guide)
Command L locks only the selected guides
Double click on the ruler on the left and a horizontal guide will be placed, the top ruler will place a vertical guide

Next to or on the page
If you drag a guide out of a ruler and release on the page the guide will go across the page, release the mouse button next to the page and the guide crosses the entire pasteboard, which is handy when using spreads. Dragging an existing guide or one out of the ruler while holding down the command key and it will always cross the pasteboard.

Whole numbers
Dragging a guide while holding down the shift key and the guide will always be placed on a “whole” number when using millimetres and on increments of 1/8 inch when using inches and 6pts if using points etc.

Moving guides and selecting guides
Guides can be locked and unlocked with either the pull down menu View Grids and Guides or the key combination command shift ;
When unlocked they can be selected with the selection arrows and moved by either dragging and releasing or by selecting the guide and placing the cursor in the x or y palette and using the up/down, left/right keys.

Hold down the shift key and the guides will move in larger increments depending on your preferences. The increments can be changed in the keyboard increments panel found in the pull down menu InDesign, preferences, units and increments.

Duplicating guides
Select the guide and place your cursor in the x y palette and hold down the option key and press the up or down keys. With the option and shift keys held down the steps become larger. Guides can also be copied Command C and pasted into other documents Command V. They are placed on the same x or y coordinate.

Deleting guides
If there are no other elements on the page all the guides can be selected with the key combination Command A. For this reason I often use a separate layer for guides. However to get rid of all your guides without having to select each and everyone when there are other elements on the page. Go to the Layout menu Create Guides check the Remove existing Ruler guides and fill in Rows 0 and Columns 0.

Guide scripts
guides can automatically be put around any object using scripts. Select the object go to the pull-down menu Window Automation Scripts. There are many handy scripts there amongst them AddGuides.jsx In the script there are many options for the guides.
In CS3 these scripts are automatically installed, in CS2 they are on the CD in extra’s and have to be installed. Just drag it to the folder Scripts in the InDesign folder.

Step and repeat
We all know the step and repeat function. This can also be used for the guides. Select the guide go to Edit Step and Repeat or use the key combination Option Command U.
You can also evenly distribute the guides between two points using the Align palette. Place the first guide where you want to start, the second guide where you want to finish, add more guides randomly between the two. Select all the guides and using the align palette click on Distribute Spacing and the guides will be evenly distributed between the top and bottom right and left guide.

Guides in the library
If you have a layout using guides and would like to use this for other projects for example a monthly news letter then you can keep the layout with guides in a library. Place the guides where you want them. Under File New choose Library. Give it a logical name and store it in an equally logical place. A palette will appear with the name you just chose. Using the fly-out menu (little triangle) choose Add Items on Page. These guides can now be placed in a new document by going to File Open choose the file (ending in indl) and using the fly-out menu Place Item(s).

If your guides are on the pasteboard you will see only a white rectangle in your library (centre image) however the guides will be placed.

Arial or Helvetica and games friday

2008-06-27T13:37:00.009+02:00

All designers know Helvetica and when to use it, then came the knock-off computer font Arial along with the pc- do it yourself "designer" and Arial appears on every word document and flyer.

Can you see the difference? Test yourself at:

http://iliveonyourvisits.com/helvetica/

Want to know more about Helvetica and Arial then go to:

http://www.ms-studio.com/articles.html

And then of course you can read about the Helvetica film:
http://www.helveticafilm.com/

Then try the ultimate typeface game, (but not on the bosses time)
http://fontgame.ilovetypography.com/

Now get back to work ; D

illustrator swatches

2008-06-04T13:56:00.002+02:00

Here are some handy key command shortcuts in Illustrator.

Changing the colour mode of swatches
Want to change the colour mode of your swatch? Click twice on the swatch in the swatch palet to open up the swatch options or via the flyout menu swatch options. Press the shift key and click in the colour of the swatch palet (under the word colour mode) and with each click illustrator will show you the swatch values in different modes and change the swatch to the chosen mode. It also works for pantone colours although I would not use this method for print, best is to refer to the pantone swatch books.

Want change the swatch to the complimentary color. Use the method above but this time hold down the command key

To invert the swatch
open the swatch options palet and click in the colour or the swatch while holding down the Command and Shift keys

Changing the colour of objects
If you want to invert the colour, change it to it's greyscale equivalent or the complmentary colour of an object.
Select the object and press and hold the same key combinations as above but this time click on the colour ramp (spectrum) at the bottom of your colour palette.

To add a colour to your swatch palette.
Select the object in your document with the colour you want to make a swatch of and then click on the new swatch tab at the bottom of your colour palet. To make it a spot colour do the same while pressing down the command key.

Photoshop history

2008-05-22T12:34:00.004+02:00

Finally a post.
It has been quiet from this side of the pond at least blog-wise on the home front it has been quite noisy. The kids have had two weeks vacation and then it was catch-up time. But hope you enjoy the following tip.

Photoshop is a perfect program to experiment in. Sometimes applied effects give the perfect result, but we can't always recall exactly how we did that? You could of
coarse write down the whole process, or better yet let Photoshop do it for you.

Photoshop can keep track of every action made. You, however must activate this option yourself by going to Photoshop-Preferences-General and activate the option History log.
Then choose either Metadata, Text file or both.
With Text file the actions can be read in a (printable) TextEdit file.
The Metadata information can be found by going to File- File info…- History. There you can see every action applied and it's completely digital.

Edit Log Items choose detailed to get a detailed description of what you did. This option records all the settings chosen.

Click OK. Now photoshop will track all your actions (right or wrong).

The History log option is extremely handy to let collegues know how you achieved a certain look and for you to be able to apply it again and again and again ….

The Nike Swoosh

2008-04-18T14:25:00.001+02:00

Here's a fun website about logos and also shows how some changed over the years. I like the Apple and Nokia.

And of coarse the real story behind the Nike swoosh. Did she really only get 25 bucks? Find out here.

worlds best logos

Lot's of logos

2008-04-18T14:21:00.001+02:00

On the web there are several sites where you can download logo's one of them is

http://www.brandsoftheworld.com

Here's a great site where designers place their logo's and ask for comments from collegues.

http://www.logopond.com/gallery/

A few Illustrator shortcuts

2008-04-08T09:43:00.000+02:00

Want to change a fill or stroke to none.
1. Indicate whether you want to change the fill or stroke in the tool menu
You can toggle between the fill and stroke by pressing the x key

2. Select the object and press the / key.

Applying the same fill and stroke
You can apply the same fill and stroke to an object without it being selected.

1.Select the eyedropper tool

2. Click in the object that has the colour and stroke that you wish to apply to other object(s)

3. Hold down the option key and click in the (unselected) objects.

If the object you want to change has no fill, then you will have to click on the path in order to change the appearance.
(This is why I always advise using smart guides see tipbits tuesday april 8)

Applying the colour of a stroke or fill with another colour used in your document.

1. Indicate whether you want to change the fill or stroke in the tool menu
You can toggle between the fill and stroke by pressing the x key

2. Select the object you want to change

3. While holding down the shift key click on any colour you want to change it to. This can be a stroke colour or a fill colour depending on which you click.
(Hard to explain in words, I guess just try it in Illustrator.)

Illustrator and smart guides

2008-04-08T09:39:00.001+02:00

In Ilustrator you have the option of activating Smart guides. I find this feature very helpful. Here's how they are best used.

1. Go to preferences Smart guides and Slices. I find the text label hints the most useful. I also use the Contruction guides option. The angles can be entered in the angles pull down menu.

2. Choose View, Smart guides or option u.

When the cursor passes over an anchor point, path, centre point, page edge Illustrator will highlight this. If however, this function does not work, it's most likely that you have activated the snap to grid option. Illustrator does not find the smart guides function necessary if you are using Snap to grid. Turn it off and voila, your smart guides are visible again.

Illustrator maps

2008-04-01T11:41:00.006+02:00

I just got a tip from a friend. Take a look at the website planiglobe where you can download maps as illustrator (vector) files.

Quick gradient changes in Illustrator

2008-03-20T13:24:00.003+01:00

There are several ways to change the colour of a gradient. You can select the colour in the swatch palette and drag and drop it on the gradient stop. Easier yet is to select the stop and while holding down the option key click on the colour in the swatches palette.

You can also pick up the colour from an object in your document

1. click on the gradient stop

2. select the eyedropper in the tools palette

3. hold down the shift key and click with the eyedropper in the object containing the colour you want to use. Clicking on the stroke will apply the strokes colour.

Altering the pattern, but not the object in illustrator

2008-03-17T15:16:00.003+01:00

Have you ever filled an object with a pattern but then wanted to change the size or angle or shape of the pattern without altering the object? Here's how to do it.

1. Select the object
2. Select the desired tool from the toolbox (scale tool, rotate tool, selection tool if you want to move the pattern)
3. Click and drag holding down the (`) accent grave key

Holding down the (`) and the shift keys makes sure your pattern is enlarged proportionately, or rotated at fixed angles. Using the section tool (black arrow) the pattern can be positioned where you want it within the object.

However be aware. If you have changed the attributes of the pattern the next object made will contain the altered pattern! The selected object will once again have to be filled with the original pattern

Dictionary

2008-03-07T13:19:00.000+01:00

I had read it somewhere but had forgotten the key commands (which, by the way were not the same as those below ) In text edit, stickies and internet, those I know of so far, you can select a word and find the dictionary definition of it using a key command.

1. Select a word

2. keep the cursor over the word

3. Hold down the control key and click

Up comes a menu with alot of cool options including a dictionary. This is an Apple feature and I have no idea if it works on anything other than a Mac.

Gravity in InDesign

2008-02-22T20:50:00.000+01:00

I have often put type on a path in InDesign and then chosen a different "Type on a Path Option". (The default is Rainbow.) The other options look fine if that's the look I want, but when I choose the gravity option either nothing happens or aaargh … click that one away. The problem was I had no idea what it was doing to the type.

Until the other day I came across this podcast at www. mogo-media.com and was blown away. Rufus Deuchler also shows you the correct use of the drop shadow. Not as an effect behind type like 'I've seen on too many pizza take away folders and flyers.

Here's the link

http://www.mogo-media.com/podcasts/indesign/gravity_effect/

Thank you so much Mr. Deuchler

Cool brushes for Photoshop

2008-02-12T14:08:00.001+01:00

You can make your own brush tips in Photoshop. I personally always make an oval one that I can change the angle of depending on where I need it.

Select the brush tool, open the Brushes menu- Brush Tip Shape - the arrow rotates the brush and the 2 little "vector points" are for changing the roundness. The brush size can be enlarged using the ] key and decreased using the [ key.

On deviantART's website there are some interesting and free downloadable brushes.

Check out:

http://javierzhx.deviantart.com/gallery/resources/?order=9

Place the downloaded files in Photoshop- Presets-Brushes

Where's my type gone?

2008-02-01T18:02:00.001+01:00

Have you ever experienced the following situation? Your InDesign file uses 2 columns, you want to change this into 3 columns, but when you do this, a portion of your type disappears and the red square with an x appears. No "insert break character has been used, no new paragraph, the columns are wide enough to fit the type. There just seems to be no reason why the type doesn't flow on. Here are some possible causes.

1. The No break option has been applied to a word or words. This option ensures that words are never hyphenated and stay together including the spaces before or after the word(s) if they too have been selected.

2. In the hyphenation settings menu "the before last" number has been set too high.