Photoshop Express public beta now up

Adobe has finally launched a public beta of Photoshop Express, "a free Rich Internet Application (RIA) available to anyone who wants to store, sort and show off digital photos with eye-catching effects. During the public beta period, Adobe will solicit Photoshop Express user feedback on product features and functionality, which will continue to evolve over time. As the newest addition to the Photoshop family line, Photoshop Express has taken much of Adobe's best image editing technology and made it simple and accessible to a new online audience. Photoshop Express allows users to store up to 2 gigabytes of images online for free, make edits to their photos, and share them online in creative ways, including downloading and uploading photos from popular social networking sites like Facebook."
Main site: http://www.photoshop.com/express
Press release: http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/pressroom/pressreleases/200803/032708PhotoshopExpress.html

ABC3D

Once again, I'm ripping something from John Nack's blog: a 3D alphabet book from Marion Bataille. Check out the page-flipping video here.

Looks pretty cool, and reminds me of the cut paper sculpture work done by Peter Callesen.

TwistingPixels plugins for Photoshop

Last year, I tried out some Photoshop plugins from TwisingPixels. My 7-yr-old PC had a tough time with some of the rendering, but I really liked the effects, though I didn't spend enough time with the package to really get a grip on flexibility.

They have a free package you can download, called PixelSampler. The two coolest effects are the Black and White filter, and Tonal Streak. The 2nd one has some nifty algorithms that vary a blur distance based on local brightness.

If you are in to plugins, give these guys a try - I especially like the sky rendering stuff they have. I typically do not bother with plugins of any kind, but TwistingPixels is on my short list, and the only plugins I have currently (though I plan to get a few for image correction and sharpening).

Dropping hints...

Well, somebody has leaked a prerelease copy of Photoshop CS4 into the wild. The screenshots I've seen indicate a build from sometime back in November, and the associated comments seem to indicate that it was a fix or minor enhancement release.

No, I'm not going to post the screenshots... it's enough that I gave you a Google link above. Let me be clear that I do not endorse software piracy, especially when it involves prerelease copies of major software. Lemme 'splain...

Companies work very hard to have a good hold on their share of a given market. Part of that hold involves careful release of information. In fact, releasing information too soon can seriously damage a brand or company. The reasons are many, including having a competitive edge and getting first to market with given features or capabilities. Other reasons involve things that are less obvious; features that are merely experimental and may not make it to a commercial release, or less impact on the buying public.

There are counter arguments, as well. For example, some early releases can help generate buzz, and I'm sure some companies do this, though it's not well known how they control this nor if there are good metrics to decide whether this strategy really works. Adobe's Labs also help get material out in the public and make essentially the entire market a test platform to help iron out bugs or deficiencies before the sales numbers get hit.

Whatever the real cause, the buzz started a few months ago. I'm sure it won't be long before people get antsy about seeing CS4 on Labs (who knows if that will happen again), or other pirated versions start cropping up.

New tutorial in the works, and some logo goodness

I'm working on part 3 of 3 in my masking series at Community MX. This one is going to cover some very cool tricks that many folks have not seen before, including building up edge masks in a few different ways and how to make masks based on non-obvious image elements such as tone or difference.

I'll post a link in a few days, so keep an eye out. In the mean time, here are a couple of links I grabbed from John Nack's blog:

A flickr album of vintage 70's logos.

LogoOrange outlines their view of 10 logo trends for 2008 and beyond.

Jonathan Penney: Print maker extraordinaire

Kevin Connery posted this gem at the PhotoshopTechniques.com forums. It's called Creative Vision and the Printmaker. Great insight about the print making process from a perceptual standpoint; how the photographer's vision is translated through the print.

Another great one is here: Photoshop and your Creative Vision.

Take some time and read all about 'em.

Happy Pi Day!

Well, having a physics degree, I just had to blog about Pi day and Einstein's birthday. Since this purports to be a Photoshop-centric blog, I should also include some graphic goodness, huh?

From 2006: Pi Mapped To Pixels

The Photoshop Chronicles: Intuitive Color Correction Plug-in for Photoshop

Dan Moughamian (The Photoshop Chronicles) found a nifty little Photoshop widget from Nik software, called Viveza:

Intuitive Color Correction Plug-in for Photoshop

Typography for the web neophyte

David Anders at PhotoshopTechniques posted this link from a few days back. It has a nice, compact overview of getting started using type as a design tool online. Given the still-limited nature of typography in browsers, some of this may seem like it's in the "well, duh" category, but it is good info none-the-less.

For a few years, there have been attempts to make type more accessible on the web, but these schemes are difficult to implement at best. Issues range from the technical aspect of actually getting type to display, to the intellectual property aspect of using a font for which the designer has paid (or that the designer created), and keeping people from stealing it. So far, it's been a stagnating battle.

One possible solution is to use Flash, especially with some of the recent advances Adobe has made to the Flash player. I'll blog about that at another time, but it's something in which I am getting more interested. If the search engine problems can be over come, I'd like to use Flash as a primary platform for web pages and data presentation.

Now with added CMX!!

As of February, 2008, I have signed on as a partner/author with CommunityMX, contributing Photoshop and Digital Photography articles, with maybe the odd Illustrator, Flash or CMS tidbit thrown in for good measure.

You can check out a freebie on Photoshop masking here. Part II of the series is available for a small fee (free to subscribers). I've also got an introduction to vectors, same deal.

Look for an upcoming short tutorial about simulated pouring water in a week or so.

Brand new Blogger Install

I gutted the previous blog, since it was mostly a mind map, anyway. This is the new, Photoshop- and Design-centric version of this blog.

Keep an eye here for announcements about new tutorials and articles I've written or have found. I'll also post information about my upcoming book, co-authored with Dan Moughamian.

While it's unlikely that anyone will read this first post, I have to mention that I am always looking for a better way to blog. Google's Blogger stuff is pretty flexible in that it lets you host or use their service, but I really do wish there were a better way to skin the sucker.

Anyway, keep me in mind when you start surfing for PS-related stuff.