Archive for June, 2006
Monday, June 26th, 2006
This is the last couple of hour for my tenant from BlogExplosions.
i\If your wondering what I am talking about, then here is a brief explanation on what I am blabbing about. Blog Explosion is a community of blogger that get together and do numerous things. Whether its for traffic, friendship or points, its a good place to meet others. HauntedHouseDressing.com was a tenant of mine for 7 Days, in BE we post up available space for other bloggers to promote themselves for a certain amount of points. The persons Icon/Thumbnail resides on your site generating clicks/visitors. Sometimes you will get lucky and get the same tenant again, but sometimes others will out-bid then depending on how popular your Blog is. Go and check it out, its a fun community in every way…let them know that Jay from Urban Grafix Blog sent ya 
Posted in Off Topic News | No Comments »
Monday, June 26th, 2006
Layers magazine Tip of the Day - Adobe Illustrator CS2 Tip – A Spiralling Zig Zag.
Anyone who has read my Layers tutorial “Spiral Tool Mysteries - Solved!” – knows about my fascination with this mysterious tool. Well, here’s a new twist. If you select a Spiral and add a Zig Zag Effect (Effect > Distort and Transform > Zig Zag), the Ridges will get closer and closer together as the Zig Zag spirals inward. This is because the look of the Effect is set up on the basis of Ridges per Segment. The Segments in a Spiral get shorter and shorter as the path winds inward so the same number of Ridges are packed tighter and tighter together.
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel
Posted in Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
Monday, June 26th, 2006
While Adobe Illustrator is in no danger of being unseated anytime soon as the leading vector illustration application, sometimes another drawing app that provides less of a strain on both system resources and the pocketbook can make sense. The newly-dubbed Lineform is one of a handful of Mac vector illustration programs that try to zig while Illustrator zags, by providing core Bézier drawing tools along with some bells and whistles, while remaining lightweight and affordable. For example, Lineform runs natively on Intel-based Macs, something Illustrator won’t do until 2007.
The new version provides significant new functionality, including SVG import and export, support for AppleScript and Spotlight, the inclusion of a new media browser, more artistic brushes, image optimizations and the inclusion of OS X Core Image filters.
Lineform 1.1 can be purchased on the Tribar software site for $79. A demo version is also available for download.
Posted in Graphic News | No Comments »
Monday, June 26th, 2006
Adobe Further Extends Leadership in Digital Photography Raw File Workflows
Press Release: SAN JOSE, Calif. — June 26, 2006 — Adobe Systems Incorporated (Nasdaq:ADBE) today announced it has acquired the technology assets of Pixmantec ApS, makers of digital imaging software that provides advanced workflow management and processing capabilities for digital camera raw files. The acquisition strengthens Adobe’s leadership position in raw processing. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. (more…)
Posted in Graphic News, Network News | No Comments »
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
I was surfing the net when I came across this article this very interesting article by “The Undersigned”.
The explains how and what you need in starting your own creative blog. From “what would be my topic” to “Publishing you article” - Thomas from The Undersigned gets straight to the point! So if your interested in getting into blogging and maybe one day getting together with a publishing network, keep these steps in mind and you’ll surely be successful.
How do I start Blogging
Posted in Advertising, Network News | No Comments »
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
New age restrictions on MySpace.com provide a fragment of the real security measures needed to make this and other social-networking Web sites safe from sexual predators.
MySpace users age 18 and over will no longer be able to communicate easily with underage users. They will not be able to request to be on a 14- or 15-year-old’s friends’ list unless they know either the youth’s e-mail address or full name. After several highly publicized incidents of sexual predators using MySpace to find victims, it would seem the Web site is responding to calls to beef up security. (more…)
Posted in Network News, Off Topic News | No Comments »
Saturday, June 24th, 2006
Let me switch the topic for a minute. Lets talk about “JumpDrives” or ” Jump Drives“…whatever. No matter how I spell it you all know what I am talking about. Yes, this is that little piece of technology that has improved our way of storing or backing up important stuff from our computer(s).
I can’t tell you how many times this small piece of hardware has saved my day and made things easier for me. From backing up my server to taking shots for print over to the photo-lab, JumpDrive has done alot for me. Many companies have produced different versions of this small wonder, and they come in different sizes as well. Starting at 8MB’s all the way to 4GB’s you can’t ask for more in such a small portable harddrive.
Many of them also come with software, to keep all your files and data fresh, safe and secure. If you don’t already have one I suggest you look into getting one today. Their small, don’t take up any space, you can carry them in your pocket, keychain or even in your purse and then thank yourself for having such a cool product backing you up. So when go over to BestBuy, CompUSA, K-Mart or WalMart and find yourself in the technology section, remember this small article and go and get a JumpDrive.
Posted in Technology Stuff | No Comments »
Thursday, June 22nd, 2006
I was surfing around Google Video and came across this video on iPods. It’s titled, “What if MS designed the iPod packaging?” I found this not only interestingly true, but hillarious aswell. Check it out for yourself, It’ll make this better for you if you’ve had a bad day.
Happy Thurdsday! 
Posted in Off Topic News | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
Quark Inc. announced today a strategic alliance with Digicomp Inc., a forms and security-document solutions company. Digicomp, an existing XTensions software developer for QuarkXPress, has expanded its relationship with Quark to harness the power of Quark Dynamic Document Server (QuarkDDS) and design a next-generation suite of forms design and workflow applications, enabling them to meet growing customer needs for on-demand form solutions.
“We are very excited to extend our relationship with Quark and bring this flexible, open, and intuitive Web-based forms solution to market,” said David Leland, president of Digicomp. “We have been working with QuarkXPress since our inception and value Quark’s decision to embrace open standards. This Digicomp solution will enable our customers to replace their outdated, manual systems and adopt an automated and user-friendly solution through QuarkDDS.”
Read more on this merger over at Designer Today News
Posted in Graphic News, Plugins & Software | No Comments »
Wednesday, June 21st, 2006
Layers Magazine Tip of the Day - Adobe Illustrator CS2 Tip – Creating a Mask From Multiple Objects.
Creating a Mask using a single Path is easy. Put the path that will become the Mask in front of the object(s) to be masked and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make and Presto – a Mask.
But what if you want the Mask to be made up of more than one Path. The trick is to first combine these paths into one path before making the Mask. Select all the paths that you like to be a part of the masking object and go to Object >Compound Path > Make, combining all the selected objects into one Path. Next, in order to use this Compound Path as a Mask, you have to make sure it’s in front of the objects to be masked. So select the Compound Path with the Selection tool, Copy it (Edit > Copy), and press your Delete key. Now select the objects to be masked and go to Edit > Paste in Front (Command + F, Control + F on PC). Move your Compound Path into position above the other objects. Select the Compound Path and the object(s) to be masked and go to Object > Clipping Mask > Make. The objects will be Masked by the combined shapes of the Compound Path.
Source: Layers magazine.
Posted in Tips & Tricks | No Comments »
