In my last post, I shared my list of viable tools for videoconferencing. Several clients then requested that we use my preferred tool, Google Hangouts, for our next meeting. The only glitch was that they were unsure about how it worked. Perfect subject for a new blog post! If you don't already have a Google account, I highly recommend that you set one up. Google provides an entire suite of applications, which includes Hangouts, Gmail, YouTube, Drive, and Docs. As a designer/developer, I also … [Read more...] about Let’s Use Google Hangouts for Our Meeting!
Software Tips
Free Videoconferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Overview After I moved to Florida, I taught my graphic design class at Lasell College remotely for the first time. It took a lot of discussion, thought, and research. During the previous year, I completed Lasell's professional development course on online teaching and got my certification. Teaching online doesn’t involve regular face-to-face interactions that adhere to a traditional schedule. Students can do the classwork on their own time, from any location. Teaching remotely has a … [Read more...] about Free Videoconferencing Tools for Remote Teaching
Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document
It's fairly common for a project to have many components, each one a different size. Maybe it's a branding project with a logo, letterhead, business card, envelope, poster, t-shirt, and brochure. Maybe it's a book jacket with 2 flaps, a spine, and back and front cover. One approach is to create a new InDesign document for every separate piece. I would certainly do that for multi-page files like brochures and books. For one-page items, though, you could use another approach: create different page … [Read more...] about Multiple Page Sizes in a Single InDesign Document
The Snowball Effect in Florida: Upgrading to High Sierra
Yes, you can have a snowball effect in sunny Florida! I know this because it happened to me this week. What started as a simple need to install a software program gradually grew into a larger, more complex series of events. Applications and System Requirements I am teaching my Graphic Design 2 class remotely this semester. That's because my students are in Newton, Massachusetts and I now live in Florida. One of the more promising tools I was considering for video conferencing—Skype for … [Read more...] about The Snowball Effect in Florida: Upgrading to High Sierra
Create an InDesign File with Bleeds
Adobe InDesign is my go-to layout program for multiple page print projects, such as magazines, brochures, and books. You can, of course, also use it for single-page documents, and even digital projects. For many years, I used Quark XPress, another fantastic publishing software. I switched to InDesign, because I was already using other Adobe products (Illustrator, Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat) and liked the seamless integration among the programs. What the heck are bleeds? Clue number 1: … [Read more...] about Create an InDesign File with Bleeds
Packaging Illustrator Files
Adobe introduced the package feature for Illustrator with CS6. Prior to this welcomed update, we had to manually duplicate our Illustrator files and collect all of the associated images and fonts into a folder. Talk about opportunities for error! Unless you were extra careful, it was inevitable that a font or image (or two) would be missing from the folder that you sent off to the print vendor. You can't simply email the Illustrator file to whoever needs it. You must provide the Illustrator … [Read more...] about Packaging Illustrator Files
Two Great Ways to Create Masks in Photoshop
Masks are powerful tools for manipulating images. Just as Halloween masks hide and protect areas of the face, Photoshop masks hide and protect areas of an image. You use masks to isolate the parts that you want to change. For instance, let’s say you are designing a magazine cover and do a photo shoot of a musician at the beach. When you get back to your studio, the client decides that the beach is too complex and he/she prefers a simpler backdrop…. Yikes! Instead of doing another photo shoot … [Read more...] about Two Great Ways to Create Masks in Photoshop
How to Create Masks in Illustrator
Called Clipping Paths in Illustrator, masks are shapes that are used to hide areas of color or images. The portion of color or image that lies within the shape of the mask is visible. Designers create masks to clip images and insert images inside text. The benefit of masks is that they are non-destructive. The hidden areas are still in the file (they haven't been deleted) and you can easily edit them. Four Ways to Make a Mask 1 - Mask Button This is an easy way to mask an image with a … [Read more...] about How to Create Masks in Illustrator
How to Create a MailChimp RSS Campaign
MailChimp is a great tool for managing email subscriptions and marketing campaigns. It is free to use, up to 2,000 subscribers. I use it to send out notices about my recent work, upcoming events, and new blog posts. One of MailChimp's wonderful features is the ability to create RSS campaigns that automatically send email notices to your blog subscribers when a new post is written. I'll walk you through the steps of creating and sending an RSS campaign. Create a Campaign Log into MailChimp … [Read more...] about How to Create a MailChimp RSS Campaign
Create an Illustrator File with Bleeds
Adobe Illustrator is primarily a drawing tool for vector art. But, you can also use it as a layout program, and there will be times when you need to include bleeds if the final piece is going to be printed. Posters, magazine covers, business cards, and postcards are some of the 1- or 2-sided layouts you can create in Illustrator. If the project has more than 2 sides or pages, then I recommend using InDesign. Creating a file with bleeds in Illustrator is actually pretty similar to what you do … [Read more...] about Create an Illustrator File with Bleeds
Changing Image Opacity in Photoshop
There are times when you need to ghost back an image so that text can be read when placed on top of it or perhaps even another image can be seen below it. Reducing the opacity moves the image in a 2-dimensional space to the middle-ground or background. It also increases the transparency and enables us to see what lies underneath. There are a couple of simple ways to reduce opacity in Photoshop and the steps are outlined below. Option #1 - Opacity Setting Open the file in Photoshop. Make … [Read more...] about Changing Image Opacity in Photoshop
Create a Seamless Pattern in Adobe Illustrator
I love patterns! There are so many applications for them: website backgrounds and headers, books, posters, CD packages, wrapping paper, iPhone cases, fabric, and more. It's fun making them, too. My tool of choice is Adobe Illustrator and here's how I do it. Create a new document. The dimensions should be square. I usually make mine 600 x 600 pixels. The edges represent the seam. Place your objects around the edges of the square so that part of the object is visible inside the square and … [Read more...] about Create a Seamless Pattern in Adobe Illustrator
Placing a Logo in a Genesis WordPress Header
I use the Genesis framework for the bulk of websites I build in WordPress. The reasons are many, but quite simply Genesis rocks! Fundamentally solid with clean code, it's highly customizable and it has a generous, active, knowledgeable support community. In some cases, depending on the theme, uploading an logo to a Genesis header can be a really simple process. In other cases, it's still simple, but a few additional steps are required. I'll show you both scenarios. NOTE: Be sure to back up … [Read more...] about Placing a Logo in a Genesis WordPress Header
Saving a File From JPG to PNG
JPGs and PNGs are both compressed file formats. I tend to use each of them exclusively for the web. But there are occasions when you might need to send a high-resolution JPG to a someone who will convert it to a TIFF, PDF, or PSD format for print purposes. Digital cameras, for instance, save the file in JPG format. JPGs are terrific for continuous tone images, such as photographs of people, places, and things, as well as scans of artwork. The images have a full range of color or shades of … [Read more...] about Saving a File From JPG to PNG