Articles

Exploring self-published photo books: InDesign Magazine article

My friends at InDesign Magazine asked me to explore self-published photography books for the June 2016 issue. In my article Manual Exposure: Eye-Opening Self-Published Photography Books I write about photography books from four countries, focusing on the book designers and their creative approaches.

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Curious about Astropad? I reviewed it for CreativePro.com

Walk into a graphic design or photography studio and you’ll probably see a graphics tablet on the desk. With an app called Astropad you can use an iPad or iPhone as a graphics tablet for a Mac, painting and drawing with your finger or stylus. Astropad even supports pressure sensitivity with a compatible stylus or with 3D Touch on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. But how close does it get to using a Wacom graphics tablet?

To see what I think, read Review: Astropad, published on CreativePro.com.

Astropad review on CreativePro.com

Vexed by Hex Web Colors? RGB is OK! — CreativePro.com article

Every web designer is taught to enter colors in hexadecimal values like #47B56C, but hex code can be like an alien language compared to the traditional RGB and CMYK color values that are familiar to photographers, videographers, and print designers. Luckily, entering colors using simpler RGB values is allowed in CSS, and it’s easy to do.

Want the whole story? Read my article Vexed by Hex Web Colors? RGB is OK! published on CreativePro.com.

Vexed by Hex Web Colors? RGB is OK! - CreativePro.com article

Read my overview of Adobe Comp CC in InDesign Magazine

Read my overview of Adobe Comp CC in InDesign Magazine

It’s a time-honored tradition to sketch a design idea on the nearest piece of paper, such as the back of an envelope or a cocktail napkin. You then have to take that paper over to your computer and manually translate the sketch into a document you can take through production to final output. Today, with Adobe Comp CC on the Apple iPad, you can design layouts by sketching gestures with nothing more than your fingers. You can then send that design directly to Adobe InDesign CC, Adobe Photoshop CC, or Adobe Illustrator CC as a fully editable layout, ready for immediate refinement and production.

I take a step-by-step look at this mobile and fully digital idea-to-production workflow in Issue 77 of InDesign Magazine. If you just want to read the article, Adobe has made it available as a free PDF at this link:
InStep: Adobe Comp CC

Here’s the whole issue (paid):
InDesign Magazine, Issue 77: Fresh Tips

The issue’s called Fresh Tips because it features a long list of genuinely useful InDesign productivity tips…I’m learning from them myself! In addition to my article on Adobe Comp CC, the issue also introduces the new Publish Online feature in InDesign.

The article is part of an issue of InDesign Magazine that you can buy as a single issue or as part of a subscription. You can download a free trial issue, and you can save $10 when you sign up for a 1-year membership by using this coupon code: friend.

InDesign Magazine is a bimonthly PDF periodical devoted entirely to Adobe InDesign and to the thriving community of InDesign professionals. With editorial direction by page-layout guru and author David Blatner and CreativePro.com editor in chief Mike Rankin, InDesign Magazine brings you the in-depth features, reviews, and tutorials you need to master Adobe InDesign.

A Tale of Two Enter Keys — CreativePro.com article

If you use an extended keyboard, you might think that the keys on the numeric keypad are mere duplicates. But in some applications they work differently than those on the main keyboard, particularly the Enter key. If you love boosting your productivity with keyboard shortcuts, understanding the different Enter keys can give you more of an edge. And even though laptops and other compact keyboards lack a numeric keypad, yours may have a hidden second Enter key that you can use.

Want the whole story? Click the link below to read my article at CreativePro.com:
A Tale of Two Enter Keys

A Tale of Two Enter Keys article on CreativePro.com