We thought this year we’d make a video “card” for all our friends. It’s not something you can put on the mantle, and you can’t hang it off a ribbon, but you also don’t have to get rid of it after the holidays are over.
Rufus Deuchler of Adobe Systems posted an interesting article about his tests with a service that lets you create full 360-degree images using an attachment for your smartphone or tablet.
It’s a fact of the Internet that things can be copied far and wide with very little control. In some respects, that’s fantastic. You can get information about almost anything, any time. Some it is even accurate. But when it comes to betting your business on something you find “in the cloud,” it’s a good idea to be cautious. Designer Steve Douglas recently posted a fine object lesson for anyone looking to get a logo done “on the cheap.” I … Continue reading
Microsoft Office 2010 is now on sale and it is well worth the effort and expense to upgrade if you’re using Office 2007 for your business. The applications are fast, and although the new navigation takes a little getting used to, it makes life much easier for newbies and those who never have attained familiarity with all the different menu options and where they were hidden. For those of us who are very familiar with the ways of Office 2003 … Continue reading
One of the things that messes up a design faster than almost anything else is the choice of fonts. Lots of fonts. As many fonts as the person feels he or she can use. The result is a fragmented mess that screams “amateur!” to anyone who reads it. There are good font choices, and bad ones, but the first bad choice is “Lots!” There are almost no ads, magazines, fliers or other documents that need more than two typefaces, one … Continue reading
I’m often asked by friends and associates to teach them this or that about Photoshop, among other graphics applications in Adobe’s massive catalog of industrial-strength software. I’ll spend half an hour or so going over how to solve the particular problem they’re wrestling with at the time. It’s fun, it breaks up my day a bit, and I enjoy passing on what I’ve learned. But sometimes a beginner, or a not-so-beginner needs more than a quick how-to on a particular … Continue reading
Issues 16 and 17 of the Creative Tips newsletter are now live on the newsletter page. Number 17 covers “capital offenses” — all those places where people commonly use ALL CAPS, but shouldn’t. (Hint: It’s most of the time!)
If you write business letters or other company documents, there are almost certainly some terms (like your company or product name), that you end up typing a lot. This might not be an issue if your company name is “Acme, Inc.,” but something like “Serious Business Strategies” or “Life Enhancement Supplement” might get a bit tedious after the third of fourth time you type it. There’s a solution built into every modern word processor: Auto-Correct. Back in the day, auto-correct … Continue reading
Microsoft recently opened official public beta testing of Office 2010. That means you can download it here if you’re feeling adventurous and you want to see what’s coming.
I’ve been working with Windows 7 for several weeks. There’s plenty in this new version for anyone still on XP, and it’s a no-brainer for Vista users. Win 7 is nimbler than Vista, but it’s the little touches in the new user interface that I really like: things that genuinely help you get work done faster and more easily, let you find things quickly in a screen full of open programs or a system cluttered with thousands of files. The … Continue reading