Tools for Photoshopping your lifeand website
While “web design” and “graphic design” aren’t synonymous, the second can have a huge impact on the first. That’s why Photoshop can be such a useful tool, and it’s one of the reasons that a blog named the Webdesigner Depot recently launched BrushLovers.com, a directory of exclusive Adobe Photoshop brushes. Not only can you purchase premium brushes starting at 3, but you can also download free brushes for both personal and commercial endeavors. Some of the most recent free brushes include the seasonally-themed “Fall Leaves” and “Holiday Tags Lite,” the stylish “Grunge Stars” and “Dotted Neon Lines,” and the geometrically appealing “Hard Squares.” Webdesigner Depot is run by designer Walter Apai, while Brushlovers features brushes by Liora Blum with website design by Claudiu Cioba.The newest version of Photoshop (Photoshop CS5) was launched in April 2010. This version featured a new mixer brush and bristle tips, a puppet warp tool, a content aware fill, automatic lens correction, and camera RAW grain control. If you’re just getting into Photoshop, you might be wondering what Camera Raw is. It refers to a special first-party Photoshop plugin called Adobe Camera Raw. This plugin reads and processes raw image files so they can be processed by Photoshop.Other companies have contributed their own plugins over the years. For example, MetaCreations Corp. founder Kai Krause developed Kai’s Power Tools (KPT), a set of filters that includes:KPT Convolver: a filter that changes effects by altering the values of color, tint, hue, saturation, and moreKPT Goo: produces a single frame freeform liquid distortionKPT Gel: synthesizes 3D materials with gel painting (in which brushstrokes pool together when touching)KPT SceneBuilder: produces photorealistic 3D scenes by rendering 3DS filesOther tools include KPT Projector, KPT Materializer, the Equalizer filter, KPT SkyEffects, and, in KPT 6, Lens Flare and KPT Reaction. Krause sold KPT to Corel when MetaCreations closed.Becoming an expert at Photoshop won’t happen overnight, but it can still be fun for new users to experiment with these tools (and any others they happen to find). Just see what you can come up with to make your website stand out above your competitors.