Add Dramatic Color to Photographs: Photoshop Tutorial!

This is a tutorial that should really help some of you photographers out there. We will start with a base RAW file from an 8 megapixel low-end Canon digital camera and we will open it with Photoshop and use the Camera Raw editor to make these changes. Learn all about using the Camera RAW editor and what the different sliders do and why/how you can use them to create really bold effects to your photographs.

Create an Explosive Color Swath: Photoshop Tutorial

Be sure to follow along with this quick tutorial because every time you do it you will get something different, sometimes the results will be awesome, other times not so awesome, but any way you slice it you will get some cool artwork. We will talk about some tricks using filters and blend modes, brushes, warping, and even how to get a cool smooth color overlay effect. Follow along and you are sure to have a great time!

Well we have finally set the date for our first meeting for Photoshop Philadelphia. It is going to be happening on January 27^th here in Philadelphia! I hope to see some of you guys show up for the first meet-up, it should be lots of fun and we are going to have some Photoshop training and prizes and other good stuff!

For now go and follow the Twitter feed for Photoshop Philly and then become a fan on Facebook! Both of those pages are brand spankin’ new so virtually nobody is following yet, but it will pick up shortly!

Photoshop Twitter Feed!

Photoshop Philly Facebook Fan page!

Go Join the Photoshop Philadelphia Group!

It’s December! Can I Have Your Help?

That’s right, a whole bunch of time before I sit down with the family and eat dinner together. I guess this really only means anything to folks here in the US, but thanksgiving is kind of an important “holiday” and I hope everyone had both a happy thanksgiving and has had plenty to be thankful for! I should take a moment and thank everyone who sent well wishes to me via Twitter, the website, and any of the other social mediums you guys can contact me through, Thanks guys, you’re the best.

Last Month’s Newsletter:

We have a new newsletter out and it is doing great! As many of you know when the new newsletter comes out I post a link to the last newsletter on the blog. Here is the October-November newsletter: http://tutvid.com/newsletter/issues/octNovTutvidNewsletter.pdf

For those interested here are links to the older newsletters:

May/June

June/July

July/August

August/September

September/October

Make sure you update your Camera RAW Editor:

This is month old “news” (oxymoron anyone?), but I thought I would add it on just to be sure any stragglers are picked up and have updated their Camera RAW to Camera RAW 5.5, yes it came out of Beta… wow, about a month ago I want to say, anyway you can grab it for free from Adobe right here: http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html definitely a good update. Here’s to the update that supports 7D RAW files! It has got to be in the next update Adobe releases; this release was just way too close to when the Camera came out… I guess, anyway, can’t wait until it happens. LINK: http://digwp.com/book/

Digging Into WordPress by Chris Coyier & Jeff StarR:

I don’t usually buy e-books and I don’t know why maybe something to do with me growing up around a lot of book-books. I did however pick up (virtually of course ) Chris Coyier and Jeff Starr’s “Digging Into WordPress” book. I have not completely gone through the book, but I have been checking it out of the past few weeks (since it came out really) and let me tell you, if you are interested in learning WordPress, this book covers a whole heck of a lot (including a lot of things I get questions about) Basics, to not-so basic stuff Chris and Jeff do a phenomenal job of nailing what you need to know and it is a very nice presentation of some really valuable information. For just under $30 it is well worth the price, you should definitely consider picking up a copy for yourself. LINK: http://digwp.com/book/

Philadelphia Creative Guide:

On Thursday, December 3^rd The Philly Creative Guide will be hosting the “2009 Philadelphia Creative Mega Social” which is a get-together of creative types for an evening of fun, games, networking, and of course prizes! I will be there with my friend and co-manager Tony Profeta to work on getting more sign-ups for the Photoshop Philadelphia Adobe User Group and give away a couple books which I actually have sitting right here on my desk, Scott Kelby’s “The Digital Photography Book Vol. 1” and Chris Orwig’s “Adobe Photoshop How-Tos: 100 Essential Techniques”, both are great books full of awesome tips and tricks and useful info.

Space is limited and it’s free to go so RSVP right here before you can’t anymore! http://www.phillycreativeguide.com/rsvp/

Be sure to bring some canned food as well as Philabundance will be there taking canned food donations. I would love to see you around! Stop in and say hello!

Photoshop Philadelphia: Photoshop User Group:

Speaking of the Photoshop Philadelphia User Group, we are gearing up for the first monthly meeting in January of 2010, right around the corner! I will continue getting you guys details, but we are planning some very cool stuff, and maybe even stuff where we can get Photoshop Users outside of Philly involved with the Adobe Community and what we are doing here as well. It is going to be very cool. I will try to keep everyone updated as stuff happens and as we get stuff together for the web you guys will be sure to see it. LINK: http://groups.adobe.com/groups/020002a345/summary

What do you want in the new Tutvid?

Alright, I have asked this question a million times and I have gotten a whole bunch of great suggestions and requests, but I want to put it out there again.

What do you want in the new Tutvid site?

Your answer can be what you want it to look like, the content, or really any ideas you have and think are worth sharing. As I build the site I will be trying to take in as much as I can and make this thing a really great site for you guys and anyone who is looking for tutorial information. I will have to include a nice little digital plaque on the new site thanking you all for the ideas, inspiration, and ideas you have given me. Thanks fellas! LINK: http://www.tutvid.com/contact/

Flash Tutorial: Growing Vines Flourish Animations Tutorial

In this tutorial we will use Flash to create the oh-so popular growing vines animation look. We will do it in two different ways; first, we will do a quick masked shape and shape tween under the mask after that we will do it the “right” way and build a frame-by-frame animation that makes this little flourish look like it is really growing. If you want to learn how to animate this effect, this is the tutorial for you. Enjoy!

Spry Collapsible Panel: Dreamweaver CS4 Tutorial

In this tutorial we will learn about a very cool widget in Dreamweaver CS4 that will allow you to create a very cool and easy to edit Collapsible Panel which basically allows a user to click and tab and a content box drops down below it and the user it able to click the tab and retract the box so it is just the tab again. It is really a cool way to display some content and adds a neat little effect to your website. Go ahead and grab the files from this link: http://tutvid.com/tutorials/dreamweav…

Photoshop Tutorial: Create a Warm Grungy Background!

Here we have a great tutorial on creating a textured grunge style background for web and photo use and even create a little place-holder for images form scratch.

Link to the metal photo: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/424649
Link the the Brush Pack: http://www.brusheezy.com/brush/471-De…

We will talk about applying texture to colored layers, a little dodging and burning, Smart Objects, Custom Brushes, and more!

Tuesday News n’ Stuff

-Tutvid Redesign:

I have started in earnest the re-design of Tutvid.com. The new site is going to be a bit simpler and very, very easy to use and very easy for me to update. Because of how the new site will function there will be a whole bunch of cool new aspects of the site that I can’t wait to show you guys. The new site will also take much less time to keep updated so I will have a lot more tutorials (written and video), resources, free downloads and more that will be available. Long story short the new site should really kick some serious butt. You guys will love it. I am hoping to have the final design finished and all setup by early next year, but it may come even sooner.

-FlashCamp Philadelphia:

Well it’s that time! FlashCamp Philadelphia is upon us! This Saturday we will get together and have a grand time! If you are interested in going get your ticket(s) now because there are barely any tickets left at all, so go to the site and get your tickets now!

http://flashcamp.pfpaug.org/

-Newsletter Archive coming soon:

I have been getting a whole bunch of requests for the older newsletters and I really don’t have a great way of displaying/showcasing them on the site so they are easily accessible. Pretty soon I am hoping to get a some kind of a nice way for folks to check out the older newsletters.

-HDR Photography DVD Course to be released:

I have been talking about this HDR Photography Course on DVD (it will be available as a download as well) since early Summer and I finally think I will have it finished and ready for download and viewing at the end of this month. Some really great stuff in the course and a lot of you should really enjoy it.

Well that is it for now, it’s been a bit of a crazy start to the week with my 3 month old nephew in the hospital as I write, but everything should be OK and he should be home in about a week, but I hope you guys have all had a great week so far! Enjoy!

Flash Tutorial: Create, Drag a Mask with Actionscript 3.0

Here we have a tutorial taken from the Tutvid.com July August newsletter. We will use Flash and Actionscript 3.0 to create a mask that can be dragged around to reveal an image underneath. Very cool, very easy, and very easy to edit as well.

Create a Cool 3D Ice Effect: Photoshop CS4 Extended Tutorial

Another tutorial taken right from the August September Tutvid newsletter. Here we go ahead and work with Photoshop CS4 Extended, specifically the 3D construction and editing engine. We will create a cool abstract 3D shape which is different every time you make it and we then check out some cool techniques to convert it to a smooth icy looking shape. Really a quick neat technique.