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Unveiling Photoshop Masks * By Thomas Giannattasio * December 17th, 2009 Design is a fluid and shifting process in which layers are constantly modified and tweaked. As complexity builds, so does the need for preserving data in a flexible way. Learning non-destructive editing techniques helps you produce documents that bend along with your creativity. Photoshop Masks are the cornerstone of this process. Not only do they preserve important pixel data, but they allow for the creation of flexible interface elements as well. In this article, we’ll explore the technical aspects and creative advantages of incorporating masks into your workflow. Photoshop offers five methods of masking: Pixel Masks, Vector Masks, Quick Masks, Clipping Masks and Clipping Paths, all of which define pixel opacities without affecting the original data. Each of them has its own pros and cons, and knowing which method to use is extremely important for creating clean, flexible and properly masked layers. via Unveiling Photoshop Masks - Smashing Magazine.

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Working with a Model For the First Time by Guest Contributor At DPS we get a lot of questions about working with Photographic models. In this post reader Andrew Mills from www.andyphoto.co.uk shares some tips on finding and working with models for the first time. Hiring a model for the first time can seem quite daunting, possibly even scary! There’s nothing to worry about though, they are just people like you and me and many are more than happy to work with amateurs and professionals alike. via Working with a Model For the First Time.

6 Reasons Why You Should Do Personal Design Projects

December 18th, 2009 by Isaac Gube There’s a misconception that creativity is always on: that either you have it or you don’t, or that if you produce great work once, you’ll always be able to produce great work. Now if only that were true, right? The truth – and I think most creatives will agree – is that the creative juices that lubricate and facilitate the flow of unique and effective ideas sometimes dries up and you need, from time to time, to refill and ferment those juices before it’s once again ready for public consumption. via 6 Reasons Why You Should Do Personal Design Projects.

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Open Colour Standard: free/open alternative to Pantone Ginger coons writes in about the Open Colour Standard, "an effort to create a new colour standard to help free/open source graphics programs bridge the gap between screen and print." It's like Pantone's spot colour standard [ed: a widely used proprietary system for describing "spot" colors -- that is, colors that need special inks to print. Pantone distributes both the inks and books of color swatches. Designers pick colors out of the book and the printer loads the extra ink into her apparatus at print time], but not necessarily in opposition to it. Just different. via Open Colour Standard: free/open alternative to Pantone Boing Boing.

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12 Websites To Help You Learn Flash/ActionScript July 10th, 2008 by Jacob Gube | 96 Comments | Stumble It! Delicious Adobe Flash is an excellent technology that allows developers to add interactivity and smooth animations to web pages. Its popularity is so immense that you’ll find many websites dedicated to helping developers interested in Flash. In this article, you’ll find 12 wonderful websites that’s worth a bookmark if you’re looking into sharpening your Flash development skills. For each entry, you’ll find three tutorials from the website so that you can see what’s in store for you. via 12 Websites To Help You Learn Flash/ActionScript.

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50 Fresh Useful Icon Sets For Your Next Design * By Paul Andrew * June 7th, 2009 Beautiful and free icon sets always come in handy. Used properly and moderately, icons can be helpful to provide users with memorable metaphors and illustrations that would provide a visual support for otherwise unspectacular text blocks. For instance, in web-applications memorable icons can be very helpful as they can make it easier for users to memorize how to perform some specific task or where to find some specific functions. This large collection of recently released icon sets is supposed to help designers improve their designs on their web-sites and in web-applications. All icon sets are free. Please read the license agreements carefully before using the icons — the license can change from time to time. The icons provided below may turn out to be useful and helpful in corporate designs, portfolios, blogs, magazines and in Web-applications. Please feel free to suggest more icon sets in the comments to this post. via 50 Fresh Useful Icon Sets For Your Next Design - Smashing Magazine.

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The Ultimate Collection Of Maya 3D Tutorials * By Vailancio Rodrigues * August 27th, 2009 * Tutorials Ever wonder how animated films like Ice Age are made? Maya is the answer. Maya (or Autodesk Maya, having recently been acquired by Autodesk) is powerful 3D modeling, animation, texturing, rendering and visual effects software. Maya was developed for the film industry and is now being used for design, visual effects, games, film, animation, visualization and simulation. The most significant thing that sets it apart from other 3D packages — and the reason it is used so widely in these major industries — is that it is highly customizable. Big studios can write custom code to suit their productions using the software’s development kit. This makes Maya highly adaptable to any workflow. Below, we feature tutorials that address most Maya-related topics for beginners and advanced users. These tutorials cover almost everything Maya has to offer, from modeling to the final rendering process. via The Ultimate Collection Of Maya 3D Tutorials - Smashing Magazine.

Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009 Whether making your own lens hood to create custom bokeh, breathing like a sniper to get a blur-free photo, or angling your body to look the best in pictures, we shared some great photography hacks this year. Software and Photoshop tricks are great, but they're a poor substitution for doing things in-camera. Over the last year we shared a variety of hacks for taking better photos, looking better in photos, and ways to get professional results without spending your rent money on camera accessories. via Most Popular Photography Hacks of 2009 - Photography - Lifehacker.

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Free Desktop Background Wallpaper from ArtisanontheEdge.com...

I took a break from the Victory Medical  website job for a while today and designed this desktop wallpaper. Download it from one of the links below.

Enjoy... Lanstorm

Download 1360 x 768 px

Download 1360 x 1024 px

Download 1440 x 900 px

Download 1680 x 1050 px

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We review 10 amazing CSS grid systems Published: Dec 10, 2009 Though grid layouts may not be new to print design and certainly not design in general, CSS grid systems are still somewhat new to the field of web development. CSS grid systems allow the developer to easily and quickly markup and create structured, grid styled websites and layouts. Each grid systems has its pros and cons, and different ways of accomplishing goals. Today, we'll review 10 amazing CSS grid systems. via Check out these 10 awesome CSS grid systems.

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