As part of MacWorld San Francisco 2009, Google has released Picasa 3 for Mac OS X 10.4+ It requires an Intel CPU, 256MB RAM and 100MB available hard disk space. Nice one...
Google also has a Mac Blog with news on Mac versions of their software.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Monday, December 22, 2008
iStudio
The iStudio range is being developed by c:four, a team of graphic designers, publishers, writers and software architects. Who were unhappy with current design and publishing software. They created a design engine, to handle the layout and typography which is capable of creating anything on screen and in print.
iStudio Publisher - helps you create great-looking documents with ease.
iStudio Bookbuilder - makes light work of writing and laying out books.
iStudio Pro - professional creative design and layout application.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Aviary - Online Creative Tool Set
Aviary is a suite of powerful creative applications you can use in your web browser. They're on a mission to make creation accessible to artists of all genres, from graphic design to audio editing.
Phoenix - image editor that has layers, masks, effects and undo history.
An online Photoshop like editor perhaps...
Peacock - does wonderful and amazing things, call it a visual laboratory.
Sounds interesting...
Toucan - color swatches and palettes tool to help you find colors.
Adobe Kuler eat your heart out...
They are also developing new members of the Aviary family :
Just waiting to hatch I guess...
Raven - Vector editor
Woodpecker - Smart image resizer
Eagle - Pixel pattern recognition
Owl - Desktop publishing
Penguin - Word processor
Ibis - Font creator
Pigeon - Painting simulator
Hummingbird - 3D modeler
Tern - Terrain generator
Myna - Audio editor
Roc - Music generator
Starling - Video editor
Find out more, get the book due for release on December 23rd, 2008 :
More Than One Way to Skin a Cat:
Create Eye-Popping Effects Using Aviary (Without Paying for Photoshop!)
by Meowza Katz (Author)
Paperback: 304 pages
Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (December 23, 2008)
ISBN-10: 1598634720
ISBN-13: 978-1598634723
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Divine Proportions
In the art world there is a school of thought about image composition which is based on a mathematical sequence of numbers. The Fibonacci numbers are created by adding two previous numbers in a sequence to create the next number. 0. 1. 1. 2. 3. 5. 8. 13. 21. 34. 55. 89. 144. 233. 377. 610. 987. 1597. 2484. 4181. 6765. 10946. 17711.
This creates divine proportions and is used to create golden spirals, triangles and sections.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Image Composition
Creating digital imagery requires a certain level of planning and concept development. This applies equally to taking pictures with a camera or creating a composition on the computer. Whilst corrections can be made on the computer using Photoshop, it is far better to minimise the amount of work that needs to be done, to fix any imagery, by doing some preparation.
Image Concept
Just like an interface design a digital image needs to have a Theme or Metaphor that the concept is based upon. This is developed using the same design methods that are used for developing interface designs.
That means do a concept sketch first !
Focal Point
When taking a picture or creating a composition try to make one object the focal point of the image. If in doubt, zoom in closer to fill the entire frame. You can also use your knowledge of Photoshop when taking pictures and think of how you will use the software to combine them, for the final composition.
Distracting Elements
Before taking the picture have a look at everything that is in the frame. Keep an eye out for distracting elements. Try to move the frame away from them or keep them to the edge of the frame so they can be easily cropped out later.
Shapes and Lines
When lining up a photograph in the view finder or LCD screen of a digital camera, take some time to have a look at the shapes of the objects that you are about to take a picture of. Think about the positive and negative space that is formed by the object or by the shadows caused by the time of day/night. Also look at the natural lines created by objects within the scene. They can be horizontal, vertical, diagonal and curved, all of which create a sense of depth.
Colour
When taking a picture or creating a composition consider the range of colours that are within the frame. Remember that you can use Photoshop to change the colour of objects, if they clash. Warm colours - red, orange and yellow will bring things forward, whereas cool colours - green, blue and violet will make objects recede back into the picture.
Rule of Thirds
When looking at a scene, the frame can be broken up into nine equal sections, by overlaying a set of two vertical and horizontal lines. Where the lines intersect are considered to be “power points”. Placing the focal point of the image at or near these points will strengthen the composition.
Point of View (pov)
Because photography has been around for over a century, certain compositions have been repeated and become clichés. Be bold and think different. Look for new and imaginative points of view for framing the photo or composition. Think about depth, perspective and the available light or shadows.
Rhythmn & Patterns
Consider the patterns of nature or man made objects. Many things have lines, shapes and levels of repetition or scaling - large and smaller versions within the same object. These are usually the textures of the materials that the object is made of or patterns made by the forces of nature - clouds, mountains etc.
Adobe Kuler
Adobe Kuler is an online Web 2.0 application that can be used to create colour schemes. These can be based on the rules of colour theory to create Analogous, Monochromatic, Triad, Complementary, Compound, Shade or Custom colour sets using up to 5 colours. Very cool stuff. There's also some nice web links on Kolor Theory.
Adobe has also built Kuler into it's CS4 range of programs, making it easier than ever to design the perfect set of colours. Requires the Flash Player plug-in for your Web Browser.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Adobe CS4 Demos Now Online
Adobe has released the 30 day trial versions for Creative Suite 4 and are available for Mac and Windows online to download. The files are quite big this time around for both platforms, Mac 10.66 Gb | Windows 6.95 Gb.
Adobe has also released the 30 day trials onto DVD and is currently offering free shipping till December 1st, 2008.
Master Collection $29Au | Design Premium $26Au | Web Premium $26Au
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