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Should You Switch From Photoshop to Adobe Lightroom?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 10:11:56 +0000

With Adobe changing to subscription pricing for future versions of Photoshop, some photographers may be wondering if they can get by with Lightroom only. Ian's latest article examines the pros and cons for photographers considering making a switch from Photoshop to Lightroom.
• Should You Switch From Photoshop to Adobe Lightroom?
• Readers Respond: Suggestions for Photoshop Alternatives and Switching Pros and Cons

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Make Quick Collages with Free Vision Board Builder

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 09:31:53 +0000

Vision Board Builder is a free application designed to build montages of photos quickly and easily. While it is possible to produce photo montages in image editors like Adobe Photoshop ...

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Graphics Challenge: Summertime

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 22:03:07 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Summertime. For centuries the summer solstice has been celebrated in many different ways. Not one to miss a celebration, our theme this week is ...

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"It's the Manly Thing To Do" Digital Scrapbooking Kit

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 08:42:35 +0000

This kit was made with men in mind when choosing colors and patterns to start the design. With a color scheme of blue, green, mustard and red ...

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Antique Sepia Effect in Photoshop Elements

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 10:13:38 +0000

Learn this simple way to create the ever-popular sepia effect to give your photos an antique look with Photoshop Elements or other photo editors. While there are many ways to create this effect, this simple technique gives you total control over the results. You'll also be shown a few other tweaks you can do to further enhance the antique, aged effect.
• Antique Sepia Effect in Photoshop Elements
• More Sepia Tint Information and Tutorials

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Lightroom 5 Final Release Available

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:31:55 +0000

After two months as a public beta, Adobe has announced the final release of Lightroom 5 for Windows and Mac OS:

"Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5 is available now for immediate download for Adobe Creative Cloud members. Standalone software is available at Adobe.com and participating retailers for US$149 or US$79 for upgrades. For more detailed information about product features, upgrade policies, pricing and language versions, please visit www.adobe.com/go/lightroom."

...

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Road Trip Digital Scrapbooking Kit

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 09:34:44 +0000

An antique wooden car and an old-fashioned straw suitcase make the beginnings of a scrapbooking kit to document a vacation or road trip. These elements and papers can ...

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Graphics Challenge: Lions, Tigers and Bears

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 21:26:01 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Lions, Tigers and Bears. Some of our themes have their start in the strangest places. This week's theme was inspired by a quote from ...

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Combining Two Photos into One Page in Photoshop Elements

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:35:15 +0000

With this tutorial, I show brand new Photoshop Elements users how they can combine two photos onto one page. This is something you might want to do to show a ...

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Semi-Transparent Layer Styles

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:07:02 +0000

Download 42 semi-transparent layer styles for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements. These style sets by Shelby Kate Schmitz would be great for text, shapes, borders, watermarks, frames, or any kind of print or web projects.
• Semi-Transparent Layer Styles

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Line Segment Brushes for Photoshop and Elements

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 10:15:32 +0000

These decorative line segment brushes can be used for a variety of projects. Each set includes 75 unique brushes. They're compatible with Photoshop 7 and higher as well as Photoshop ...

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Graphics Challenge: Jewel Tones

Sun, 02 Jun 2013 21:17:16 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Jewel Tones. Based on a suggestion by Ellen (Rostel), we're going to give you a free hand in creating an image using jewel tones. ...

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Adobe Photoshop CS6 Review

Fri, 31 May 2013 10:46:10 +0000

Photoshop CS6
Photo © Bruce King

Photoshop CS6 offers exceptional speed and numerous features that allow you to accomplish advanced image adjustments, edit motion-based material, produce multiple or complex images, and design ...

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48 Silver Metallic Layer Styles

Thu, 30 May 2013 09:50:15 +0000

Download a set of 48 silver and chrome metallic layer styles for Photoshop and Photoshop Elements by Shelby Kate Schmitz. This set was designed to be used on text rather than larger shapes.
• Silver Metallic Layer Style Set

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HDR Darkroom Pro for Mac

Tue, 28 May 2013 09:54:26 +0000

HDR Darkroom Pro
Photo © Ian Pullen

In HDR photography, two or more photos are captured of the same scene, but at different exposures and these are combined in a photo editor ...

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Graphics Challenge: Moment of Remembrance

Mon, 27 May 2013 11:31:22 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Moment of Remembrance. Memorial Day, observed this week in the U.S.A., was originally known as Decoration Day. It is also called Remembrance Day in ...

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View an Index Sheet of Pictures with Mac OS X

Mon, 27 May 2013 10:07:09 +0000

Many people don't realize there is a built in feature for quickly viewing pictures in Mac OS X. You don't need to open iPhoto or install any third party software ...

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Wacom Inkling Digital Sketch Pen Review

Fri, 24 May 2013 11:32:04 +0000

Wacom Inkling
Photo © Bruce King, used with permission

The Wacom Inkling pen allows you to create digital sketches while working on standard paper or in a sketchbook. Inkling is designed for ...

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Free Transparent Frames to Decorate Your Photos

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:59:51 +0000

Splash Frame © S. Chastain

Download this collection of 10 free frames to decorate your photos. They are transparent PNG files ready to use in your greeting cards, invitations, scrapbook pages ...

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Dynamic Brush Attributes in Painter 12

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:44:33 +0000

Painter 12 now enables the user to set brush size, opacity, angle, and squeeze dynamically on-screen! The circle indicator provides you with a visual reference of the brush size onscreen. ...

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Exporting Files in GIMP

Mon, 20 May 2013 09:50:53 +0000

GIMP's native file format is XCF which retains all the editable information of the files, such as layers and text information. That's great when you're working on a project and ...

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Graphics Challenge: Free for All

Sun, 19 May 2013 21:55:11 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Free for All. We have some random images for you to start with this week, it will be up to you to decide what ...

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What is a Screen Shot?

Fri, 17 May 2013 11:01:00 +0000

"Screen shot" is the phrase used to describe the action of capturing your computer desktop or anything shown on your computer screen to a static image file. In other words, ...

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Out of Bounds Guided Edit in Photoshop Elements

Thu, 16 May 2013 10:15:25 +0000

The out of bounds effect is when a part of the photo extends beyond the frame. It's a popular effect that can add dimension and interest to a subject, and it's easy to create in Photoshop Elements 9 and higher.

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Poll: Do You Customize Your Software Workspace?

Wed, 15 May 2013 11:46:47 +0000

Customizable work-spaces are a common feature in many graphics software programs. Do you generally customize your software workspace, or do you use the default workspace layout? Vote in the poll, ...

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Getting Expressive With Pattern Pens in Painter

Tue, 14 May 2013 10:12:56 +0000

Karen invites you to go crazy and have some fun with Painter's Pattern Pen variants: "Pattern Pen brush variants let you use a brush to apply a pattern to an image. You can vary features such as the size of the pattern and the transparency. This category of brush variants opens up a new and exciting path to creativity."

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Graphics Challenge: Hands

Sun, 12 May 2013 21:43:01 +0000

Lend a hand for this handy challenge. Hands down, you'll have fun... if you can handle it. If you haven't guessed, this week's theme is Hands. We have supplied some ...

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Q&A: What is the Photoshop Scratch Disk?

Thu, 09 May 2013 08:35:00 +0000

Rosie asks: "What is a scratch disk? And more importantly, how do I delete its contents because the program is not letting me use it anymore because apparently the 'scratch disk is full.' Please help, this is an urgent matter!"...

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Adobe Moves to Subscription Pricing for Creative Suite

Tue, 07 May 2013 17:33:58 +0000

This week, Adobe announced that it was doing away with perpetual software licensing (aka "boxed" software) for its Creative Suite line-up of products including Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Dreamweaver, and Premiere Pro. Updates to these products will now only be available through a Creative Cloud membership. The current suite, Creative Suite 6, will continue to be sold and supported for those who prefer a perpetual license, but there will be no "Creative Suite 7." From now on, new features and updates to these products will only be provided to Creative Cloud subscribers.

This move enables Adobe to accelerate the rate of innovation since they no longer have to hold back new technology and customer-requested features until the next release cycle, which was typically every 18 to 24 months. Now these products will get updates and new features several times throughout the year.

For now, the only Adobe products this affects are those mentioned in the first paragraph of this article. Photoshop Elements and Lightroom will continue to be offered as boxed products or electronic downloads with a perpetual license.

Although readers of this site have generally expressed dislike for the software subscription model, it does offer some benefits:

Instead of one large cash outlay every 18-24 months, customers can spread the cost of software over smaller monthly payments. Adobe's Master Collection, which included all Creative Suite titles was priced over $2500 for the boxed collection. This can now be spread out over $50/month payments.
The boxed software had to be purchased separately for Windows and Macintosh. Customers who used both platforms had to purchase the software twice if they wanted to use it on both platforms. Creative Cloud members get access to both Windows and Mac versions of the desktop software without having to purchase multiple licenses. In addition, you can install Creative Cloud applications for any of the supported languages.
Application settings can be synchronized through the Creative Cloud service so the workspace is consistent if you work on multiple computers.
Photoshop Standard and Extended features are merged into the single Photoshop CC product.
There is no longer a need to track serial numbers or deal with product activation hassles and limits. No more calls to customer service if you computer died and you need to deactivate it. Your software is validated with your Adobe ID and password and computer activations can be managed through your online account. (Note: You do not need to be online to use the software. Your software is downloaded and then installed on your desktop computer just as before. Your Creative Cloud membership will be validated at regular intervals to enable continued use of the software. (See FAQ)
User files can be stored, synced and shared between Mac OS, Windows, iOS and Android though the cloud service. Individual memberships come with 20GB of cloud-based storage.
The Behance network is integrated and included with Creative Cloud membership. Behance is an online community for creative professionals which normally costs $99 per year.

The new Creative Cloud CC applications with new features will become available in June 2013. Photoshop CC will offer new features including:

New image deblurring, intelligent upsampling, and improved sharpening with the Camera Shake Reduction tool and new algorithms for Smart Sharpening.
Adobe Camera Raw 8 with Advanced Healing brush, Radial Gradient tool, and Upright tool.
Improvements to rounded rectangles.
Ability to make multiple selections for paths, shapes, and vectors.
Post directly to Behance.
All features released to Creative Cloud members in the past year.

So what are the downsides? Obviously, one is that you have to keep paying monthly. Another is that you have to download the software, which can be very large. This could be an issue if you have a slow or unreliable internet connection, as I do, but even those individuals should be able to get the software either by using a download manager, or by going to another location where they can access a faster connection for downloading.

So let's look at the price compared to the old model of perpetual licenses. To keep it simple, well use the example of a single application user. Let's calculate the cost over time for someone buying Photoshop for the first time, as well as someone who has used Photoshop for 5 years and upgraded once during that time. We'll base this on a price of $620 for the first time and $159 upgrades.

For the first time Photoshop user, they have a hefty outlay of $620 for a version of Photoshop which will be outdated within 2 years. For the single application Photoshop CC membership of $19.99 per month, they would get 31 months or 2-1/2 years of Photoshop use for that same $620.

For the 5-year Photoshop user, let's say he has invested $779 for his Photoshop licenses over the past 5 years. That's $620 for the first time purchase and $159 for an upgrade--we'll assume he skipped one upgrade. We'll use Adobe's discounted introductory Creative Cloud pricing for this user comparison since he currently has a license for CS3 or higher. So a single Photoshop CC license will be $9.99/month the first year and $19.99/month after that. Over 5 years, that comes to $1080, assuming the Creative Cloud pricing stays the same.

So, we see the cost is more for someone who doesn't typically purchase every upgrade. If that same user had upgraded Photoshop twice in those 5 years he'd have invested $938, which is still less, but he would not have the benefit of regular new features and updates every few months.

Now, if you are someone who uses 2 or more Creative Cloud applications, it starts to get more beneficial to go for the full Creative Cloud membership of $49.99/month ($29.99 introductory price for the first year if you own CS3 or higher). With this membership you get access to every application listed in the first paragraph, plus mobile apps and other services. These users typically had to buy a boxed suite for $1200 to $2600.

The customers who will be most hurt by the switch to a subscription model are those who don't want or need the "latest and greatest" and who in the past would skip one or more upgrade cycles to keep using the older version as long as it was working well for them. Judging by a previous polls and discussions, that's the majority of folks who visit this site. And, obviously, users who never bought the software but pirated it instead won't like this.
Vote: How will you get your Adobe Creative Suite 6 software?
Vote: How do you feel about renting software?

Whew! That's quite enough math for me for one day! What will you do? Will Adobe have to pry Creative Suite 6 out of your cold, dead hands, or will you jump onto the Creative Cloud? Hit the comments and let me know, or visit the links below for FAQs and more information.

• Photoshop CC on Adobe.com
• Adobe Announces Creative Suite 6 and Creative Cloud
• Adobe Photoshop CS6 Review
• Answering Your Questions About Photoshop CC
• Upgrade to Creative Cloud by July 31st and save 40%
• For a limited time, students can save 60% on Adobe Creative Cloud.

Make Text Stand Out in Photoshop Elements

Tue, 07 May 2013 08:03:17 +0000

You can make text stand out on a photo better by placing a solid color behind it that subtly fades into the background. This is easy to do in ...

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Graphics Challenge: Out of Border

Sun, 05 May 2013 21:48:50 +0000

This week's graphics challenge theme is Out of Border. The idea is to take a photo or photos and make it appear as if an object is spilling over or ...

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Festive 'Cinco de Mayo' Banner in PSP

Sat, 04 May 2013 09:00:41 +0000

Use Paint Shop Pro to create a festive banner for Cinco de Mayo with bright Mexican colors and a double outline. The first color outlines each individual letter with a ...

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Free Layer Style Effects for Spring

Fri, 03 May 2013 10:51:14 +0000

Download a free set of set of 30 layer style effects in pastels and other Spring colors which would be great for Easter projects. These layer styles are compatible ...

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Custom Cupcake Wrapper in Adobe Illustrator

Wed, 01 May 2013 11:29:29 +0000

This tutorial will show you how to use Illustrator to make a cupcake wrapper design for a baby shower. Once you learn how, you can create your own ...

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Free Frame and Border Custom Shapes

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 08:23:25 +0000

This custom shape collection includes an assortment of 126 frame and border designs for Photoshop and Elements.
• Free Frame and Border Custom Shapes for Photoshop and Elements

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